Gina Crusco, Artistic Director
CrossCURRENT
A Concert Featuring Vocal Music of Composer in Residence Justine F. Chen
CrossCURRENT, a concert interfacing new American music and traditional arias, will be performed by Underworld Productions Opera on Saturday, March 31, 2012 at 7:30 at the Shrine Church of St. Anthony of Padua, 154 Sullivan Street in the SoHo section of New York City. The music of Justine F. Chen, UPO’s 2011-2012 Composer in Residence, will be featured. Following the CrossCURRENT concert, Ms. Chen will engage in Q&A and discussion with the audience; Suzanne Martinucci will moderate.
The CrossCurrent concert will feature selections from Chen's opera Jeanne based on the life of Joan of Arc; New York Scenes; and her short opera with text by Ken Gass, Voice for a Future Nightingale. Additional selections by living American composers on the program include "The Well-Tempered Woman" by Stefania de Kenessey - cabaret songs written in each of the 12 keys; Ben Yarmonlinsky's songs on poetry by Samuel Menashe; and works for soprano and clarinet by Henry Papale. Traditional operatic arias will provide a foil for these works. The works will be performed by UPO Resident Artists and guest singers including Nils Neubert, tenor and Barry Robinson, baritone, with Elizabeth Rodgers, piano and Kostja Kostic, clarinet.
Ms. Chen, a twice-featured composer/librettist in New York City Opera's prestigious festival VOX: Showcasing American Composers, said "I am very excited to be involved with as wonderfully thoughtful and forward-looking a company as Underworld Productions Opera." During the 2011-2012 season, Ms. Chen is coaching the emerging professional singers in UPO's Resident Artist program as they prepare her own scores and those of other living American composers. Ms. Chen said that she is "especially thrilled to work with the Resident Artists, and to have this precious opportunity to nurture a contemporary sensibility in opera."
Tickets: $25 Prime Seating / $20 General Seating
Nils Neubert, tenor, earned his M.A. from Columbia University, Teachers College and B.M. at the Juilliard School. He has studied at the Mozarteum, Festival de Musica Clasica in Spain, and Scuola Leonardo Da Vinci in Italy. Mr. Neubert's awards include First Prize, 2010 Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition; Award recipient, 2010 Gerda Lissner; 2009 Friday Woodmere; and 2005 Puigcerda International Vocal Competitions. The New York Times praised his performance in Underworld Productions Opera's Pygmalion thus: "...his attractive tenor, beautifully controlled vibrato and amusing, flexible portrayal of Pygmalion carried the evening." The East Hampton Star noted his "clear, effortless high register."
Barry L. Robinson, baritone, is a Recipient of the 2008 Audience Choice and second place prizes at the Harlem Opera Theater Vocal Competition, and has also shown an affinity for American Opera. He debuted with the Opera Company of Brooklyn as Bob in Menotti's (The Old Maid and the Thief) for the company's 2010 season and was also seen as Mr. Gobineau in their production of The Medium. Especially sought after for his interpretations of Mozart's complex characters, Mr. Robinson was recently showcased as Don Giovanni, Il Conte (Le nozze di Figaro), and Don Alfonso (Cosi fan tutte) in excerpts for Opera Noire's televised gala with maestro Willie A. Waters. He has additionally received acclaim for his portrayals of Leporello, also with Opera Noire, and Il Commendatore with Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater.
UPO Resident Artists featured in this concert include Lauren Alfano, Gregory Armstrong, Tara Bobiak, Christoper Eaglin, Sarah Hawkey, Diane Lynn, Stephanie McGuire, and Juliana Valente.
Funded in part through New Music USA's MetLife Creative Connections program.
Saturday, March 31, 2012 at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $25 Prime Seating / $20 General Seating
Artist Bios
- Composer/violinist, Justine F. Chen has been commissioned and performed internationally by organizations such as New York City Opera, New York City Ballet, The Juilliard School, New York Festival of Song, New Juilliard Ensemble, Washington Ballet, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Concertante, Spring Autumn Music Festival (Taipei), Long Leaf Opera, Chants Libres (Montréal) and Tapestry New Opera (Toronto). She began her training in violin and composition at Juilliard’s pre-college division, and in dance at the School of American Ballet. As a dancer, she performed in various productions with New York City Ballet. Her unique inter-disciplinary background has predisposed her to artistic collaborations which began with her incidental score for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible (1991). In 2002, Trilemma, her collaboration with digital artist Ye Won Cho, was screened at such prestigious venues as the Hiroshima Animation Festival, the New York Expo, the Student Academy Awards, and broadcast on PBS’s “Reel New York”.
- Stefania de Kenessey, Composer, is a leading figure in the revival of neoclassicism; her most recent CD Shades of Light, Shades of Dark received rave reviews as "fully worthy to share a program or disc with the masterpieces by Mozart or Brahms" (Fanfare). Her music has been presented in Europe, Australia, Singapore and China, as well as throughout the United States, and she has been honored repeatedly with awards from ASCAP.
- Ben Yarmolinsky, Composer, has written chamber music, choral music, orchestral music, film scores, and five operas. Before graduating from Harvard, he had two years of private study with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. He taught music at the American School of Tangier, studied with David Del Tredici, Robert Starer, and Ned Rorem, and is a professor of music at Bronx Community College.
- Henry Papale, Composer, has written five operas including Julia, The Nose, and Bandilyebonu, hundreds of Art Songs, 10 String Quartets, a dozen Quintets and Trios for all manner of instrumental combination and 200 piano pieces. His chamber opera, Balloon, received eight performances in Toronto; other performances of his works include Four Poems for Chorus & Orchestra, by The Bach and Madrigal Society of Phoenix; 10 Silhouettes from the Tempest for Solo Violin at John Harms Theatre, Englewood, NJ; The Shovel Toothed Witch in Toronto, Canada, 29 Variations on a Theme of Paganini at the Duquesne University Recital Hall; Four Songs, Synod Hall, Pittsburgh; and 4 Songs for Mixed Chorus, The Northern Highlands Voices, Thomas Paster, Director.
- Elizabeth Rodgers, Pianist, holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Manhattan School of Music and is currently on faculty there. A versatile ensemble player, Ms. Rodgers has performed with The Metropolitan Players, Downtown Chamber Players, Friends and Enemies of New Music, Music Under Construction and The Lark Ascending. She has participated in the preparation and performance of operas with The Little Orchestra Society, Center for Contemporary Opera, and American Opera Projects. She has recorded with Opus I, CRI, Grenadilla, Musical Heritage, New World, Aurora, Albany, Avant and Mode.
Moderator Suzanne Martinucci’s interest in opera started at 15 when she sat down with a piano score to follow a recording of La Bohème and had an epiphany. Later she heard a lot of opera through ushering at the Metropolitan Opera for 20 years and along the way wrote Met broadcast scripts for Peter Allen, synopses for the Met broadcast guide, and also played the chimes to end the "Opera Quiz" on Saturday afternoon broadcasts. Since leaving the Met, she has been a regular panelist on the Quiz, and makes occasional speaking appearances on opera and cultural subjects.
Underworld Productions Opera has twice created stage premieres of works by living American composers, but this is the first season in which the company has named a composer in residence. UPO's Artistic Director Gina Crusco said that doing so is a way of continuing the company's commitment to contemporary music during seasons when premieres are incubating. "Justine Chen is among those brilliant pacesetters who keep the art of opera evolving. Her coachings, open rehearsals, and outreach concerts embed contemporary music into UPO's season programming."
