HARWOOD MANAGEMENT GROUP INC.
ARTIST NEWSLETTER
July 2010 - September 2010
 

Soprano LYNNE ABELES was a member of the Opera Studio at Dicapo Opera Theatre in NYC where she was heard this season as Sophie in Tobias Picker's Emmeline, and Veronique in Pasatieri's Hotel Casablanca.  She will be singing Nadina in The Chocolate Soldier in her debut with the Bard Summer Music Festival.  The show opens August 5.

Baritone DARRELL BABIDGE is a professor of voice at Brigham Young University.  He sang Betto in Gianni Schicchi in hyis debut with Utah Opera on May 15, 17, 19, 21, and 23.

Director JOE BANNO recently directed plays at Studio Roanoke in Virginia.  He returned in March to direct Dear Abe, a new play by Adam Hahn. He is currently working at the Adventure Theater, DC's longest running-children's theater company, on the American Premier of David Wood's musical adaptation of Eric Hill's popular "Spot the Dog" chidren's book series. "Spot's Birthday Party" runs from September 17th  through October in Glen Echo Park, Maryland.  His feature film " Sleeping and Waking" is now on Netflix as a streaming video. He will be doing a "Meet the Filmmaker" screening of the film on June 30th at the Cinemo Arts Center in Huntington, NY. The film has enjoyed much success in San Fransisco; Charlotte, NC; Roanoke, VA; Harrisonburg, VA; Washington, DC; and Columbia, MD.

Mezzo Soprano SEPTEMBER BIGELOW performed the music of Christof Bergman, including selections from his opera, Piazza Navona, in Cancun, Mexico.

Countertenor BIRAJ BARKAKATY is a member of ARTEK, a vocal ensemble based in NY that performs and tours regularly.   He recently performed  Tolomeo in Handel's Giulio Cesare with Bel Cantanti Opera in Washington, D.C.  He performed as soloist in Bach's St. John Passion with Herb Dimmock's Bach Concert Series also.
 
Baritone TIMOTHY ROBERT BLEVINS performed the roles of the Beggar and Happy Mac in Duke Ellington's Beggar's Holiday at Pittsburgh Opera Theatre in December.  In March he performs Crown and Sportin Life in Porgy and Bess with El Paso Opera.  He then traveled to Virginia Opera for performances of Crown in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.
 
Conductor THOMASZ BIERNACKI was recently the Music Director at the Gliwicki Teatr in Glowice/Poland.

Bass-baritone BENJAMIN BLOOMFIELD is a graduate student at the Julliard School.  On March 14 he performed Beethoven's Mass in C with Mid-America Productions at Carnegie Hall.  He sang the title role in a concert version of Thomas Pasatieri's Signor Deluso with enCanta on Sunday, March 28 at 2:30 PM at St. George's Chapel.  On May 22, Ben sang Morales in a semi-staged concert performance of Carmen with Connecticut Grand Opera.

Mezzo Soprano LAURA BRIOLI performed the Verdi Requiem in Palais des Festivals et des Congres de Cannes on Mrch 2.  Following this was the Rossini Stabat Mater at both Santuario di Carvaggio as well as Basilia St. Nicholas in Montecarlo.  In May and June she performs Amneris in Verdi's Aida with Staatsoper Hamburg.

Bass baritone ROLAND BURKS traveled to Pittsburgh  for performances with Pittsburgh Opera Theatre in a new production of Duke Ellington's Beggar's Holiday. In March he performed Porgy in Porgy and Bess in his debut with El Paso Opera.  He sang Lawyer Frazier in Porgy and Bess with New Jersey State Opera on May 21 and 23.

Soprano REBECCA CARR recently made her debut at Carnegie Hall as soloist in the Vivaldi Gloria  with Mid-America Productions. Rebecca will present her new series "Opera for the Unitiated"  in the special studies program at the Chautauqua Institute this Summer.

Conductor/Pianist RICHARD CARSEY is Music Director of Skylight Opera in Milwaukee, and the Summer Pops Artistic Director of the Racine Symphony Orchestra in Wisconsin. He is the Music Director of A Little House on the Prarie for the National Tour of the US and Canada. He is also Music Director of another new musical, Minister’s Wife, by Josh Schmidt and Jan Tranene at the Writer’s Theater in Chicago. In March he was Music Director for The Wiz at First Stage in Milwaukee.  He also did new orchestrations of the show for children and  The Wiz Foundation.  On May 8 he was a guest conductor with the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra.  On August 27th, he leads a pops concert with the Racine Symphony.

Tenor VINCENT CHAMBERS returned to Townsend Opera as Danilo in Lehar's Merry Widow. He performed as soloist in Mozart's Requiem with State University of California at Chico.

Tenor BRETT COLBY is president of the local Arts Council in Asbury Park, NJ.  .

Director JONATHAN EATON is artistic and general manager of Pittsburgh Opera Theater.  He is artistic director of Regie !SING - DAY OF SONG Ruhr Kulturhauptstadt Europas..  The 2009-10 season was busy at Pittsburgh Opera Theater with several new productions.  The first was Brundibar,  followed by Duke Ellington's Beggar's Holiday and The Love Spell by  Montemezzi.  In May he directed Porgy and Bess for New Jersey State Opera.

Soprano ROBIN FISHER recently presented a seminar on Audition Strategies at the invitation of the Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute in San Francisco. In July she leads her annual workshop, "Empowering Singers," at Sacramento State University. In September she will collaborate with San Francisco pianist Steven Bailey in an evening program of American art songs set to American poetry to be performed at several venues in the San Francisco region. In October she will commemorate the life and works of Jane Austen under the auspices of the Sacramento Public Library in a soiree presentation of Jane Austen's favorite music.

Baritone LARS FOSSER recorded his CD entitled The Bad Guy with the Ruse Philharmonic Orchestra in Bulgaria, which includes arias and scenes from the Italian repertoire of villains. Upcoming: From July 2-4, Mr. Fosser joins the International Operafestival in Fredrikstad, Norway, for several opera gala concerts and a performance as Scarpia of Tosca in concert.  Mr. Fosser will sing Leporello in Don Giovanni with the Steyr Music Festival in Austria from July 22-August 14.

Tenor DAVID GAGNON joins the Bear Valley Music Festival in California as Camille in The Merry Widow on August 14. He made his debut with Boheme Opera New Jersey as Frederic in Pirates of Penzance on  April 17.

Tenor DAVID GUZMAN he returned to Opera in the Heights for performances of Rodolfo in La Boheme.  He also performed a gala concert for Lake George Opera, followed by Jose in Carmen with the Rapides Symphony Orchestra in Louisiana on May 1.  He returned to Natchez Opera as Rodolfo in La Boheme on May 30th and. on June 3, he performed in a gala concert, Bravissimo!, with Opera in the Heights. On Sept 11th, he will perform a concert with El Paso Opera. Then, He will  sing the World Premeir of To Cross the Face of the Moon with Houston Grand Opera.

Soprano SUZAN HANSON returned to Long Beach Opera for performances as Mrs. Mueller, Kati, Mrs. Kakonya, and Sergent in Robert  Kurka's The Good Soldier Schweik, which was also the opera's West Coast premiere.  On March 20 and 28 she portrayed Pat Nixon in Adams' Nixon in China at Long Beach Opera

Soprano SONYA HEADLAM made her debut as Musetta in La Boheme with Fargo-Moorhead Opera. On April 17 she made her Carnegie Hall debut with DCINY ( Distinguised Concerts in New York) as soprano soloist in vaughn Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem ans Haydn's Paukenmessa.   On June 4 and June 6 Ms. Headlam performed Les nuits d'ete with One World Symphony in Brooklyn and Mannhattan.

Tenor JEAN HEBERT sang as tenor soloist in Orff's Carmina Burana at Hunter College in New York City in December.  On May 22, Jean sang Raimondado in a semi-staged concert performance of Carmen with Connecticut Grand Opera.

Tenor ELIAS HENDRICKS was recently in Ellington's Beggar's Holiday at Pittsburgh Opera Theatre, and at Birmingham Opera as the Messenger in Aida and Don Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro.  In April he sang a gala concert for New Jersey State Opera. Following this is the Natchez Opera Festival Education Program in Mississippi.  In May he is Mingo and Crab Man in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess at New Jersey State Opera.

Soprano LORI CELESTE HICKS performed a benefit at Westminster Church in Detroit, Michigan.  She also took part in an African American Women Composer's Symposium at the University of Dayton.  She made her debut as Serina in Porgy and Bess with El Paso Opera. She recently stepped in at the last minute for Leona Mitchell to sing a guest artist recital at Benedict College in Columbia, SC.

Bass ERIC JOHNSON is head of the opera department at Syracuse University

Soprano EUN HEE KIM recently made her debut with Sol Opera Company in Korea as Liu in Turandot. She performed in an opera gala with Sol Opera, where she also won an Artist of the Year Award.

Conductor DANIEL LIPTON  was guest conductor of The Orquesta Filarmonica de Bogota in May.  He begins a busy Fall season leading performances of Verdi's La Traviata with Opera de Columbia.  Immediately after this is Trovatore with Opera de Quebec.

Soprano VALERIE MACCARTHY made her debut with English National Opera in London as Renee/Alice in the new opera Lost Highway by composer Olga Neuwirth. It is based on the movie directed by David Lynch, and this production was directed by  Diane Paulus.

Conductor  MATTHIAS MANASI is Music Director for Orchestra Camarata Italiana in Napoli. . 

Director  JAMIBETH MARGOLIS  directed Gilbert and Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance at Boheme Opera in NJ this Spring.  She also directed a new play, Family Dinner, at the Beckett Theare at Theatre Row from June 21 through July 3, 2010.

Soprano ANTONI MENDEZONA was a member of the Opera Studio at Dicapo Opera Theatre in NYC. On May 22, Antoni sang Frasquita in a semi-staged concert performance of Carmen with Connecticut Grand Opera. This July, she will be performing La Pincessa in  Xavier Montsalvatge's El Gato con Botas the Gotham Chamber Opera.

Bass-baritone JESSE MERLIN can be seen this Fall performing a cameo role  in the feature film "Jackass 3-D." Recently he has returned to Long Beach Opera  for performances as Police Officer, 3rd Psych, Col. Zillergut, and Military Doctor in Robert Kurka"s The Good Soldier Schweik, which was also the opera's West Coast premiere. He was recently on tour with Opera A La Carte in HMS Pinafore March 4-9

Bass-baritone MORGAN MOODY is presently a resident artist with Operahaus Zurich.

We welcome NIELS MUUS to our distinguished roster of conductors.  He is Music Director of Festival Steyr in Austria.  He is also conductor for the Morphing Chamber Orchestra in Vienna.  In April he is doing master classes in Las Palmas, ajudicating the Izmir Vocal Competition in Turkey, conducting Schubert with the Steyr Festival and doing master classes in Vienna.

Conductor PAUL NADLER returned to the Metropolitan Opera.   During the current season he will conduct Die  Zauberflöte on April 15. He is also responsible for preparing many operas including Il Trittico, Le Nozze di Figaro, Aida, and Elektra.  This past season he returned to Montreal Opera as conductor for Tosca.   He is spending the summer in Virginia, Isreal, and Montreal with IVAI, for which he is a co-director. He will also conduct performances with the Bucharest and Iasi Philharmonic in  November 2010.

Soprano AMBER OPHEIM will perform with the Bad Hersfeldern Opernfestspiele in Germany this Summer.  She will perform Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte and Anna in Nabucco.

Baritone DARREN PERRY performed the title role in Philidor's Sancho Panza at the Rose Building in NYC and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.  He also recorded this for Naxos. Darren also performed as soloist in the Faure Requiem with Columbia Pro Cantare in Maryland.

Mezzo-soprano MARGARET PETERSON was a member of the resident artist program t with Dicapo Opera Theatre this past season.  She performed a Broadway Gala concert at MSM conducted by Paul Gemignani, where she sang "I Remember" by Sondheim.  Margaret also sang Mercedes in a semi-staged concert performance of Carmen with Connecticut Grand Opera

Italian soprano CRISTINA PIPERNO sang the title role in Turandot at Arena di Verona. In September she will be singing Tabarro and Cavalleria Rusticana at the Teatro Petruzzelli  in Bari, Italy.
 
Conductor FERNANDO RAUCCI conducted an Opera Gala concert with the Ukraine Philharmonic Orchestra of Dnepropetrovsk on December 27. He also conducted a Commemorative Concert of the 50th Anniversary of Mario Lanza's death on December 29.  On June 5 he led a concert to celebrate the 50'th year of the Princeton Youth Orchestra.  This is a concert in the Princeton Festival.

Tenor CHARLES REID is a fest singer at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. This season he sings Tamino, Don Ottavio, Macduff, and Cassio. In February he joined Musica Viva for an Opera Gala in Bremen's Glocke. On May 20 he made his debut performing Guido Bardo in a concert version of Zemlinsky's Eine florentinische Tragödie with the Radio Symphonie Orchestrer Vienna under the baton of Maestro Bertrand de Billy. Mr. Reid is also engaged next season at the Metropolitan Opera covering Pylade in Iphigenie en Tauride.

Bass NATHAN RESIKA will be performing Il Commendatore in the mainstage cast, and Leporello in the matinee cast, of Don Giovanni with Opera North, this August. This Fall, he will sing Simpson in La Tabernera del Puerto with Harrison Friends of Opera in New York.

Director/Composer SCOTT RICHARDS's has had several of his operas performed at the New York City Opera VOX Festival.

Soprano MARCY RICHARDSON is performing Papagena in Mozart's Magic Flute with Opera Vivente in Baltimore in May.  On June 19 and 27 she made her debut as Dalinda in Handel's Ariodante with Princeton Festival in New Jersey.

Conductor NICHOLAS ROSS is Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Northern Arizona.  He led several concerts of chamber and orchestral music at UNA.  He returns as a violinist to Glimmerglass Opera this Summer.  He is also  on a trip to Prague and  other cities in Europe.

Soprano, MICHELE SEXTON performed in a Broadway concert at the Lincoln Center Public Library on Sunday May 16.

Bass-baritone SAM SMITH returned to Lake george Opera for a gala performance.  Mr. Smith sang Ramphis in a concert version of Aida with Coro Lirico on May 8.

Soprano ERIN STEWART performed outreach concerts for the Fingerlakes Concert Series.  She then sang Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls with New Harmony Theater in Indiana.  She is currently the female swing (Anne u/s, Petra u/s, Charlotte u/s) with the new production of Sondheim's A Little Night Music on Broadway.  On April 26, Erin performed the world premiere of Georgia Shreve's Oratorio: Portraits of the Twentieth Century at Carnegie Hall.

Soprano ALISA THOMASON recently sang Haydn's Creation Mass with Southern Nevada MusicalArts Society in Las Vegas.  She also performed Adina in L'elisir d'amore with Opera Las Vegas.

Conductor ALESSANDRO TORTATO is very busy conducting operas and symphony orchestras in Italy.

Conductor ERIC TOWNELL is currently Music Director of the Rochester Choral Society and the Master Singers of Milwaukee. The Master Singers of Milwaukee continues it's season on March 6 with a concert in collaboration with the Ko-Thi Dance Company.  The Rochester Choral Society continues it's season with the Mozart Requiem.  Then was a program of Pergolesi, Schumann, Dove, and Rutter and finally the Verdi Requiem with the Rochester Philharmonic.  Their chamber group, Resonanz, has also been performing extensively in the area.

We welcome Tenor BLAKE FRIEDMAN to our roster.