Juilliard Singers, Mezzo-Soprano Naomi O'Connell and Soprano Emalie Savoy, Win Juilliard Vocal Arts Honors for 2009-2010 and are Featured in Duo-Recital at Alice Tully Hall on Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 8 PM
Program Includes Songs by Henri Duparc, Gustav Mahler, Hamilton Harty, Havelock Nelson, John Hind, Thomas F. Savoy, Giulio Caccini, Francesco Cavalli, and Hugh Wolf
The Juilliard School announced the winners of this season's Juilliard Vocal Honors -- mezzo-soprano Naomi O'Connell and soprano Emalie Savoy -- both graduate students in Juilliard's Vocal Arts program. They are presented in an Alice Tully Hall duo-recital on Thursday, March 18, 2010 at 8 PM.
Ms. O'Connell and Ms. Savoy were nominated by the Vocal Arts faculty and selected by a panel of distinguished judges: soprano Harolyn Blackwell, John Beeson (assistant conductor of the Metropolitan Opera), and Jeremy Geffen (director of artistic planning at Carnegie Hall). Naomi O'Connell recently made her debut with the New York Festival of Song in their January program at Juilliard, entitled Killer B's: American Song from Amy Beach to the Beach Boys, and played Mezzo 3 (Witch/Mother) in the Juilliard Opera production of Conrad Susa's Transformations in Juilliard's Willson Theater. Emalie Savoy appeared in the role of Anne Sexton in Transformations in Juilliard's Willson Theater, and next month she appears in the Juilliard Opera production of Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmelites in the role of Madame Lidoine.
Pianist Brent Funderburk accompanies Ms. O'Connell, who sings songs by Henri Duparc, Gustav Mahler, Hamilton Harty, Havelock Nelson, and John Hind (arranged by Herbert Hughes). Pianist Nathan Brandwein accompanies Ms. Savoy, who sings songs by Giulio Caccini, Francesco Cavalli, and Hugo Wolf. She also performs songs by her father, composer Thomas F. Savoy, set to texts by Shakespeare.
FREE tickets are available beginning March 4 at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard, located in the lobby of 155 West 65th Street. Box Office hours are Monday through Friday from 11 AM - 6 PM. For further information, call the Juilliard Box Office at (212) 769-7406 or visit the Web site at www.juilliard.edu.
One of America's most prestigious programs for educating singers, Juilliard's Department of Vocal Arts offers young artists programs tailored to their talents and needs. From bachelor and master of music degree programs to advanced artist diploma programs in voice and opera studies, the School provides frequent performance opportunities, featuring students in Juilliard recitals and opera productions, as well as on Lincoln Center's stages.
Pianist Nathan Brandwein, a native of Kansas City, is currently a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow in collaborative piano at Juilliard, where he studies with Jonathan Feldman, Margo Garrett, and Brian Zeger. He graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of music degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where was studied with Angela Cheng, and completed his master of music degree and professional studies diploma at Mannes College of Music as a student of Piano Department Chair, Pavlina Dokovska. In 2004, he was the grand prize winner in the Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Piano Competition, sponsored by Steinway & Sons, and has performed in concert with singers and instrumentalists as a collaborative artist throughout the United States, Europe, and Japan. For the past three summers, Mr. Brandwein has both served as distinguished chamber music coach and performed in concert with the string faculty of the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France.
In addition, since 2005, Mr. Brandwein regularly has appeared in concert with violinist Brad Repp as part of Duo Moderno, which has performed throughout Italy and makes its American debut on April 25 on the Serenade Concert Series at Christ Church on Staten Island.
South Carolina native Brent Funderburk currently is pursuing a master of music degree in collaborative piano at Juilliard, studying with Brian Zeger, Margo Garrett, and Jonathan Feldman. He is a young collaborative pianist with extensive experience in both vocal and instrumental repertoire, holding various positions as rehearsal pianist, coach and music director, in addition to performing numerous recitals while completing his undergraduate studies. In the summer of 2008, Mr. Funderburk was selected as a vocal piano fellow at the Music Academy of the West, where he worked with renowned artists Warren Jones and Marilyn Horne and served as rehearsal pianist in the West Coast premiere of William Bolcom's opera, A Wedding, under the direction of George Manahan. He made his New York debut in 2009 performing with the Mimesis Ensemble, giving the U.S. premiere of Tobias Picker's song cycle, The Rain in the Trees. He graduated magna cum laude in 2009 with a bachelor of music in piano performance and a bachelor of arts degree in biology from Lawrence University.
Irish mezzo-soprano Naomi O'Connell currently is pursuing a master of music degree in voice and opera at Juilliard, where she studies with Marlena Malas. She will be continuing her study in September in Juilliard's Artist Diploma in Opera Studies program. Ms. O'Connell recently made her debut with the New York Festival of Song in January at Juilliard. Last June, she competed in the Hans Gabor International Singing Competition in Vienna where she won the Operetta competition, as well as prizes awarded by the opera houses of Düsseldorf, Klagenfurt, and La Scala. In 2007, Ms. O'Connell was the winner of the inaugural IAWS John McCormack Vocal Bursary (10,000 Euros) and also won three prizes in the Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition. A first class honours graduate from the Royal Irish Academy of Music, where she studied with Mary Brennan, Ms. O'Connell has performed widely throughout Ireland, appearing with the RTE Concert Orchestra on national broadcast in 2007. She has been awarded the Anna Case Mackay, Mel Silverman and Lorner Memorial Scholarships from Juilliard this year. She also is sponsored by the Bank of Ireland Millennium Scholarship Trust and her generous sponsor, Tom Cavanagh. Ms. O'Connell's operatic roles include L'enfant (Chautauqua, 2009), Dido (Norfolk, UK, 2007), Cherubino (Montalto, Italy, 2006), and Marcellina (Juilliard, 2009).
Soprano Emalie Savoy, a native of Schenectady, New York, is completing her master of music degree at Juilliard where she is a student of Marlena Malas. Her operatic credits at Juilliard include: Erste Dame in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte; Susan B. Anthony in Thomson's The Mother of Us All; Doriclea in Cavalli's La Doriclea; and the Countess in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. At Chautauqua, she sang the role of Giulietta in Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffman. She also performed the role of Norah in Shield's The Poor Soldier with a group called The Musicians of Ma'alwyck. Ms. Savoy has participated in classes with artists such as Renée Fleming, Roger Vignoles, Stephanie Blythe, Sir Andrew Davis, Craig Rutenberg, and Edith Wiens. She has performed in such venues as Alice Tully Hall, the New York Society of Ethical Culture, and in May of 2010, she makes her Carnegie Hall debut as the soprano soloist in Mendelssohn's Paulus with The Oratorio Society of New York. Additional Juilliard opera appearances include Anne Sexton in Conrad Susa's Transformations and Madame Lidoine in Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmelites in April 2010 (Wednesday, April 21 and Friday, April 23 at 8 PM and Sunday, April 25 at 2 PM in Juilliard's Peter Jay Sharp Theater). Ms. Savoy appears in the title role of Ariadne in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos at the 2010 Tanglewood Festival led by James Levine, and in September of 2010, she becomes a Lindemann young artist in the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera. At Juilliard, she is a recipient of the Jerome L. Greene Fellowship, the Albany League Scholarship, and the Mario and Rosalinda Scholarship in Opera Studies.
FOR LISTINGS:
JUILLIARD VOCAL ARTS HONORS RECITAL
NAOMI O'CONNELL, Mezzo-Soprano
Brent Funderburk, Piano
EMALIE SAVOY, Soprano
Nathan Brandwein, Piano
THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 8 PM, ALICE TULLY HALL
FREE tickets are available beginning March 4 at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard. For further information, call (212) 769-7406 or go to www.juilliard.edu.
Henri Duparc L'invitation au Voyage
(1848-1933) Au pays où se fait la guerre
Gustav Mahler Frühlingsmorgen
(1860-1911) Liebst du um Schönheit
Erinnerung
Lob des Hohen Verstandts
Hamilton Harty Sea Wrack
(1879-1941)
Havelock Nelson Dirty Work
(1917-1996)
John Hind A Cradle Song
(arr. Herbert Hughes) The Leprechaun
(1882-1937)
Naomi O'Connell, Mezzo-Soprano
Brent Funderburk, Piano
-Intermission-
Giulio Caccini Occh'immortali
(1551-1618) Udite amanti
Francesco Cavalli Vaghe Stelle
(1602-1676)
Hugo Wolf from Mignonlieder
(1860-1903) Mignon I: Heiss mich nicht redden
Mignon II: Nur wer die Sehnsucht
Mignon III: So lasst mich scheinen
Mignon IV: Kennst du das Land
Thomas F. Savoy Three Songs on Shakespeare Texts
(b. 1955) Blow, blow thou winter wind
Shall I compare three to a summer's day?
It was a lover and his lass
Emalie Savoy, Soprano
Nathan Brandwein, Piano
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