Four Singers from the Steans. It was a delightful production of The Tales of Hoffmann at the Lyric, which featured young singers such as Anna Christy, Erin Wall and Mathew Polenzani, that reminded us again of the excellent Singers program at the Steans Institute of Music. In one of our previous posts we wrote about the Steans, Ravinia Festival's summer conservatory. We’d like to present to you four young singers who studied and performed at the Steans in the past couple of years.
Mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta is a member of The Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio. She’s a winner of the Ottawa Choral Society New Discoveries Auditions, the Royal Conservatory Orchestra Concerto Competition and the Lilly Kertes Rolin International Vocal Prize. She has appeared with the Toronto Classical Singers, the Regina Symphony, the Aspen Music Festival and Mooredale Concerts. Here she sings Canción de cuna para dormer a un negrito, from Cinco Canciones Negras by the Catalan composer Xavier Montsalvatge. Daniel Schlosberg is on the piano.
Tenor Steven Ebel, a Wisconsin native who grew up coming to Ravinia, is currently a member of the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at London’s Royal Opera House. He has also been heard in Italy and across the United States. A champion of new music, he has presented many world premieres and is the first singer in the history of the Royal Opera House to perform his own composition there, Diary of a Young Poet. His awards include prizes from the Concours de Montreal, New York Oratorio Society, Joy in Singing, Tanglewood Music Center and the Metropolitan Opera Auditions. He sings Robert Schumann’s Liebeslied, Op. 51, No. 5 (here). Mr. Ebel is accompanied by Daniel Schlosberg.
Mezzo-soprano Liza Forrester’s busy career includes performances with New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Glimmerglass Opera and the Cincinnati May Festival. The New York Festival of Song and the Caramoor Festival have presented her in recital. She holds a doctor of musical arts degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the Norman Triegle Corbett Opera Competition and the Atlanta Music Club. Here she sings another song by Robert Schumann, his Er, der Herrlichste von allen, from the cycle Frauenliebe und -leben. The pianist is Jonathan Ware.
Baritone Michael Kelly won this year’s Joy in Singing Competition and was featured in Acis and Galatea with Boston Early Music Festival, in recital at New York's Trinity Church, in John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles in Aspen, in Schubert’s Winterreise in Houston, and with his group SongFusion. He’s also a winner of the Liederkranz Foundation’s Song Competition in 2010. Michael Kelly has performed with Opernhaus Zurich, Chicago Opera Theater, and Tanglewood, and has presented recitals in the US and Europe. Here he sings Samuel Barber’s song A green lowland of pianos, from Three Songs, Op.45. The lyrics are by the Polish poet Jerzy Harasymowicz and were translated into English by Czeslaw Milosz. Mr. Kelly is accompanied by Jonathan Ware.
October 31, 2011
Four Singers from the Steans. It was a delightful production of The Tales of Hoffmann at the Lyric, which featured young singers such as Anna Christy, Erin Wall and Mathew Polenzani, that reminded us again of the excellent Singers program at the Steans Institute of Music. In one of our previous posts we wrote about the Steans, Ravinia Festival's summer conservatory. We’d like to present to you four young singers who studied and performed at the Steans in the past couple of years.
Mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta is a member of The Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio. She’s a winner of the Ottawa Choral Society New Discoveries Auditions, the Royal Conservatory Orchestra Concerto Competition and the Lilly Kertes Rolin International Vocal Prize. She has appeared with the Toronto Classical Singers, the Regina Symphony, the Aspen Music Festival and Mooredale Concerts. Here she sings Canción de cuna para dormer a un negrito, from Cinco Canciones Negras by the Catalan composer Xavier Montsalvatge. Daniel Schlosberg is on the piano.
Tenor Steven Ebel, a Wisconsin native who grew up coming to Ravinia, is currently a member of the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at London’s Royal Opera House. He has also been heard in Italy and across the United States. A champion of new music, he has presented many world premieres and is the first singer in the history of the Royal Opera House to perform his own composition there, Diary of a Young Poet. His awards include prizes from the Concours de Montreal, New York Oratorio Society, Joy in Singing, Tanglewood Music Center and the Metropolitan Opera Auditions. He sings Robert Schumann’s Liebeslied, Op. 51, No. 5 (here). Mr. Ebel is accompanied by Daniel Schlosberg.
Mezzo-soprano Liza Forrester’s busy career includes performances with New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Glimmerglass Opera and the Cincinnati May Festival. The New York Festival of Song and the Caramoor Festival have presented her in recital. She holds a doctor of musical arts degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the Norman Triegle Corbett Opera Competition and the Atlanta Music Club. Here she sings another song by Robert Schumann, his Er, der Herrlichste von allen, from the cycle Frauenliebe und -leben. The pianist is Jonathan Ware.
Baritone Michael Kelly won this year’s Joy in Singing Competition and was featured in Acis and Galatea with Boston Early Music Festival, in recital at New York's Trinity Church, in John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles in Aspen, in Schubert’s Winterreise in Houston, and with his group SongFusion. He’s also a winner of the Liederkranz Foundation’s Song Competition in 2010. Michael Kelly has performed with Opernhaus Zurich, Chicago Opera Theater, and Tanglewood, and has presented recitals in the US and Europe. Here he sings Samuel Barber’s song A green lowland of pianos, from Three Songs, Op.45. The lyrics are by the Polish poet Jerzy Harasymowicz and were translated into English by Czeslaw Milosz. Mr. Kelly is accompanied by Jonathan Ware.