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Pianist
Kevin J.
Miller,
Mezzo-Soprano
Chrystal
Williams,
Metropolitan
Opera star
Eric
Owens,
&
Tenor Chase
Taylor
gave a Sneak
Preveiw of
the
Glimmerglass
Opera
Festival
2012 Season
at Harlem's
acclaimed 5
and Diamond.
Photo by:
Karli Cadel
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The
Glimmerglass
Festival
Season
Preview
Reception at Harlem’s 5 and Diamond
Acclaimed
Opera
Company
Brings
Greater
Diversity to
the Stage
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The
Glimmerglass
Festival’s
Artistic &
General
Director
Francesca
Zambello
and Managing
Director
Linda
Jackson
hosted a
lovely
intimate
cocktail
reception
and a sneak
preview of
the
world-renowned
opera
festival’s
upcoming
2012 Season
at Harlem’s
critically
acclaimed 5
and Diamond
Restaurant,
2072
Frederick
Douglass
Boulevard
Street on
Thursday,
March 29.
The
restaurant’s
owners
Lia
Sanfilippo
and
Selene
Martinez
were on hand
to greet
guests to
their chic
restaurant
that has
become the
haunt of the
arts set on
New York’s new
Restaurant
Row.
Guests
mingled in
the charming
bistro
sampling the
delectable
treats
created by
Valencia-born
Executive
Chef
David
Martinez,
whose recent
trip to his
homeland
clearly
infused his
hors
d’oeuvres
selection –
mussels
Ceviche,
truffled mac
& cheese,
chilled
watermelon
gazpacho,
short rib
mac &
cheese, mini
Chesapeake
crab cakes,
Old Bay
Aioli
and spoons
laden with
fresh
berries atop
chocolate
mousse and
little cups
of. White
Chocolate
Mousse
strawberries
and whipped
cream.
Ms. Jackson,
the first
African-American
woman to
head a major
opera
company
welcomed the
guests and
spoke
passionately
of the
Glimmerglass
Young
Artists
Program
which this
year had
over 1,000
applicants
for 39 slots
in the
program.
She proudly
shared that,
of this
group, 15
are
African-American
and 5 from
South Africa.
Ms. Jackson
then
introduced
Artistic &
General
Director
Francesca
Zambello
who charmed
everyone
with her
casual
request to
get comfy
and enjoy
the music to
follow. She
then gave a
brief
preview of
what
visitors to
the pastoral
setting at
Glimmerglass
would hear
this summer
and
introduced
the
country’s
most
prominent
African
American
bass-baritone,
Metropolitan
Opera star
Eric
Owens.
Owens who
will be this
season’s
Artist in
Residence
shared how
he was
“blown away”
to be
following
the
incomparable
soprano
Deborah
Voigt
who served
in that role
last year.
Then he
launched
into a
powerful
rendition of
"Infelice!.e
tuo credevi"
from Verdi's
Ernani
that had
passersby in
the streets
stopping in
their tracks
to hear his
soaring
vocals.
At
Glimmerglass,
he will
perform the
role of
Amonasro in
Aida
in his role
debut, and
he will sing
the role of
Stephen
Kumalo in
Kurt Weill’s
Lost in
the Stars.
He was
recently
seen as
Alberick in
the
Metropolitan
Opera’s
Götterdämmerung.
Following
Owens’
breathtaking
solo,
Chrystal E.
Williams
who will be
in the 2012
Young
Artists
program not
only scored
with her
gorgeous
voice but
her
delightful
humor on two
numbers:
Composer's
Aria "Sein
wir wieder
gut" from
Ariadne auf
Naxos
and "C'est
ca la vie,
C'est ca
l'amour"
from Toi
C'est Moi
, an
operetta in
two acts, by
Moise
Simons.
Her fellow
Young
Artist, the
handsome
Chase Taylor
took to the
stage and
thrilled the
crowd with "Ch'ella
mi creda"
from La
Fanciulla
del West
and had
audience
members
weeping with
his powerful
rendition
of "This is
the Moment"
from the
musical
Jekyll and
Hyde.
Owens then
closed the
performance
program with
the haunting
“Some
Enchanted
Evening”
from
South
Pacific
that brought
the crowd to
their feet.
The four
singers were
accompanied
by 2012
Young
Artists
pianist
Kevin J.
Miller
Among the
enraptured
guests were
Glimmerglass
Board
President
Sherwin M.
Goldman
and Trustee
Martin L.
Senzel;
The Johnny
Mercer
Foundation
Vice
Chairman,
composer
Jonathan
Brielle
with his
wife
Cherie King
founder of
The
Development
Wing; NAACP
Award winner
playwright &
director
Kenyetta
Lethridge
whose new
drama
Innocent
Flesh is
garnering
critical
acclaim with
her producer
Diana
Zollicoffer,
arts
patroness
Joyce
Mullins
Jackson
and her
husband
The
Honorable
Bernard
Jackson,
The Event
Office’s
producer
Scott Perrin,
Dawne
Marie
Grannum,
actress
Cassandra
Seidenfeld,
German
producer
Markus
Behrendt
and his
fiancé
Melanie
Konegen
(the duo
tied the
knot in
Central Park
the next
day!),
writers
Owen Levy
and
Vevlyn
Wright.
GL!MMERATA,
THE
GLIMMERGLASS
FESTIVAL
2012 SPRING
GALA will
take place
on
Tuesday,
April 10,
2012 at The
Metropolitan
Club 1 East
60th
Street.
New York, NY. An evening of music, dinner and dancing
with
performances
by:
Klea
Blackhurst
mezzo-soprano.
Ginger
Costa-Jackson
mezzo-soprano,
Dwayne Croft
baritone,
David
Daniels
countertenor,
Elizabeth
Futral
soprano,
Karen Jesse
soprano,
Eric
Owens
bass-baritone,
Sean
Panikkar
tenor
and
Dominick
Rodriquez
tenor
and
dancing to
the Peter
Duchin
Orchestra
to
benefit the
Glimmerglass
Young
Artists and
Summer
Internship
programs
Hosted by
Francesca
Zambello
2012
Gala Chairs:
Patricia
Kavanagh and
James Grant
& Estelle
Parsons and
Peter
Zimroth.
The 2012
Glimmerglass
Festival
mainstage
productions
include
Verdi’s
Aida,
starring
Eric Owens
and 2011
Metropolitan
Opera
National
Council
Auditions
Winner
Michelle
Johnson
as Aida;
Willson’s
The
Music Man,
Lully’s
Armide
and Kurt
Weill and
Maxwell
Anderson’s
Lost in
the Stars
in
conjunction
with the
Cape Town
Opera of
South
Africa. The
productions
will run in
rotation
July 7
through
August 25 in
the Alice
Busch Opera
Theater in Cooperstown, New
York.
For more
information
please visit
www.glimmerglass.org
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