Bravo V: Ode to Joy

Sponsors

This evening’s concert is generously sponsored by:

Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC

and

Nancy Anne Branton

 

Ms. Santiago’s appearance is sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Jackson in honor of Sr. Dorothea Sondgeroth

Ms. Keen’s appearance is sponsored by
Dr. and Mrs. George Mychaskiw

Mr. Clement’s appearance is sponsored by Dr. William L. Kopp

Mr. Walter’s appearance is sponsored by
Julie D. and J. Mitchell Collins

Hospitality for the choirs courtesy ATMOS

 

Complimentary wine at intermission provided by:

E. & J. Gallo Winery

Accommodations provided by:

Symphony Lovers Parking provided by:

Program

Benjamin Britten: Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Purcell, Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

Intermission

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, op. 125, Choral

1. Allegro ma non troppo
2. Scherzo: Molto vivace
3. Adagio molto e cantabile
4. Presto – Allegro assai

Theresa Santiago, soprano

Catherine Keen, mezzo-soprano

Richard Clement, tenor

Mark Walters, baritone

University of Mississippi Concert Singers

Jackson State University Chorale

Millsaps Singers

Theresa Santiago

New York-based American soprano THERESA SANTIAGO has attracted international attention for her highly individual style and beautiful, seamlessly integrated lyric soprano voice. Recently issued on the Musical Heritage label is her first solo CD featuring works by Spanish composers. She has sung recitals at London’s Wigmore Hall, New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Frick Collection, Washington, D.C’s Kennedy Center, Boston’s Gardner Museum and on the distinguished Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and Detroit Pro Musica series.

Opera remains a special love, and she has enjoyed particular success as Mimì in Puccini’s La bohème, a role for which she was engaged by the New York City, San Francisco and Piedmont Operas, Opera Omaha and the New Jersey Symphony. Other Puccini roles include Liù in Turandot with Opera Colorado and the Virginia Opera, Magda in La rondine at the Washington Opera, and the title role of Suor Angelica at the Longview Opera. She has also sung Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, as well as at Michigan Opera Theatre and the Washington and Toledo Operas. She has also appeared at Opera Theater of St. Louis and the Connecticut Grand Opera.

An equally accomplished concert singer, Ms. Santiago has been guest soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic (Schubert’s Salve Regina), New York Philharmonic (Mendelssohn’s Elijah), Colorado Symphony (Berlioz’ Les nuits d’été and Poulenc’s Gloria), Seattle Symphony (Mendelssohn’s “Lobgesang” Symphony), American Symphony (Rachmaninoff’s The Bells), Cincinnati Symphony (Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and a program of Verdi Arias), Louisville Orchestra (Elijah), Phoenix Symphony (Brahms Requiem), Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (Bach’s B Minor Mass) and Puerto Rico Symphony (Haydn’s Die Schöpfung and Bach’s Magnificat). She also performed a Stravinsky chamber program with members of the New World Symphony. Among the distinguished conductors with whom she has collaborated are David Atherton, Leon Botstein, Jesus Lopez-Cobos, John DeMain, Klaus Donath, Hal France, Heinz Fricke, Eugene Kohn, Kurt Masur, Hermann Michael, Gerard Schwarz, Uri Segal, Duain Wolfe and Hugh Wolff.  Recent highlights include Poulenc’s Gloria with the Mississippi Symphony, a Puccini program with the Queens Symphony, Vaughan-Williams’ A Sea Symphony with the Illinois Symphony, the Verdi Requiem with the Santa Rosa Symphony and Orlando Philharmonic and Concert Artists of Baltimore.   In addition she made her National Philharmonic debut in Bach's St. Matthew Passion, her Harrisburg Symphony debut in Vaughan-Williams' Dona nobis pacem and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony; and her Delaware Symphony debut in the Mozart Requiem.

Awards include placing first in the Naumburg Competition and prizes in the D’Angelo and Puccini Foundation Competitions. Ms. Santiago holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School.

Catherine Keen

Acclaimed for her rich, opulent voice, American mezzo-soprano Catherine Keen appears regularly with many of the most prestigious opera companies of North America and Europe.  Trained as an Adler Fellow at the San Francisco Opera, she has returned regularly to that company, showing off her versatility as an actress and as a musician, in a variety of roles including Fricka in Die Walkuere, Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Kundry in Parsifal, and Venus in Tannhäuser, Maddalena inRigoletto, Magdalene inDie Meistersinger, MistressQuickly in Falstaff, and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly . 

Her international career was launched in performances of the title role of Samson et Dalilaat the Deutsche Oper Berlin, a role which she has performed subsequently at the Netherlands Opera.  With that company she also has appeared  in Luisa Miller, Otello and Wagner’s Ring Cycle. 

Operatic engagements of recent seasons also have included Tannhäuser at the Royal Danish Opera, Luisa Miller with the Grand Théâtre de Genèvre, Samson et Dalila at the Florida Grand Opera and Washington Opera, her Italian debut as Amneris in Aida and Fenena in Nabucco at the Arena di Verona, Aida with the Houston Grand Opera, and the role of Cornelia in Washington Opera’s presentation of Giulio Cesare. 

Ms. Keen enjoys a rich collaborative relationship with the Cincinnati Symphony having performed a wide range of repertoire from de Falla’s El Amor Brujo and Wagner’s Wesendonk Lieder to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Schubert’s Rosamunde.  With the Symphony and James Conlon she has sung Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Das Lied von der Erde and she has assayed the role of Brangäne in concert performances of Tristan und Isolde under the direction of Jesus López-Cobos.  With Donald Runnicles, she has sung Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde in Paris and Symphony No. 8 at the Edinburgh Festival,  and Dresden.

Most recently Ms Keen performed the role of Kundry opposite the Parsifal of Plácido Domingo, and Herodias in Salomeat the Washington Opera, Rigoletto and Samson et Dalila at San Francisco Opera, The Rape of Lucretia at Seville’s Teatro de la Maestranza, Aida at The Hollywood Bowl, Die Walkuere in Madrid, Samson et Dalila in Lithuania, and  Madama Butterfly (which has recently been released on DVD) with the Netherlands Opera,  Suor Angelica and Madama Butterfly with Los Angeles Opera, the role of Preziosilla in La Forza del Destino  and Beethoven’s SYMPHONY No.9, Federica in Luisa Miller with James Conlon and the Cincinnati May Festival and Mahler’s Symphony No.8 with the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival.

Richard Clement

Grammy-winning American tenor RICHARD CLEMENT has performed with most of America’s major orchestras and music directors, bringing tonal beauty and superb musicality to repertoire from the baroque to the contemporary.    He recently earned particular acclaim for the title role of Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius with the North Carolina Symphony and Sacramento Choral Arts Society and Orchestra.  In addition he premiered--and recorded--Theofanides' The Here and Now with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony, including performances in Atlanta and at New York’s Carnegie Hall (he has also sung Messiah and concert performances of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic with them).   Among the most in-demand tenors for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, invitations include the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; New Jersey, Milwaukee, San Antonio, Oregon, Memphis, San Diego, Baltimore, Nashville, Phoenix, Colorado and Toledo Symphonies.  He sang Elijah with the Memphis and Charlotte Symphonies; the Verdi Requiem with the the Santa Rosa and New Jersey Symphonies and Chautauqua Music Festival Orchestra; Beethoven's Missa solemnis with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra and National Arts Centre Orchestra; and Haydn’s  Die Schöpfung with the Colorado and Puerto Rico Symphonies.  In addition Mr. Clement has performed Belmonte in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Leonard Slatkin and the National Symphony; Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with Jeffrey Kahane and the Colorado Symphony; Orff’s Carmina Burana with Neeme Järvi and the Detroit Symphony,  and two Mozart programs with  Boston’s Händel & Haydn  Society under Grant Llewellyn.  He also sang  Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht and Second Symphony with Kurt Masur and the Israel Philharmonic; Toch’s Cantata of the Bitter Herbs with the Czech Philharmonic; the Mozart Requiem with the Saint Louis and Delaware Symphonies;  Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex with Charles Dutoit and the Montreal Symphony; Kernis’ Millenium Symphony with the Minnesota Orchestra; Tippett’s A Child of Our Time with Jeffrey Kahane and the Santa Rosa Symphony; The Bells with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall; Haydn’s Seven Last Words of Christ and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.  He has been guest soloist with the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras; Houston, Toronto, San Francisco and Cincinnati Symphonies, and collaborated with such conductors as Wolfgang Sawallisch, Jesús López-Cobos, Bobby McFerrin, Daniel Harding, Christopher Hogwood, Carlo Rizzi,  John Mauceri, Marin Alsop, Hugh Wolff and James Conlon.

Festival engagements include Tanglewood (concert performance of Act III of Verdi’s Falstaff), Beethoven #9 at both Grant Park and the Hollywood Bowl, and the Bach B Minor Mass with Seiji Ozawa at Japan’s Saito Kinen Festival.

Mr. Clement’s considerable operatic credentials  include Pedrillo in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail with Sir Colin Davis and the New York Philharmonic; Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at Belgium’s De Vlaamse Opera and with the Colorado Symphony.  At the Vancouver Opera his roles include Nanki-Poo (The Mikado), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Little Bat (Susannah) and Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni); Ernesto (Don Pasquale) at Glimmerglass Opera; Vanya (Katya Kabanova) and To-No-Chujo (Tale of the Genji) at Opera Theater of St. Louis; Belmonte (Entführung) with the Boston Baroque; Lensky (Eugen Onegin) and  Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore) at Opera Festival of New Jersey; Candide, Lockwood (Wuthering Heights) and Fenton (Falstaff) at Boston Lyric Opera; and Albert Herring with the Atlanta Opera.

Mr. Clement studied voice at Georgia State University and the Cincinnati Conservatory, where he received his Master of Music degree.  He was a Tanglewood Music Festival Fellow, has been a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio and was a recipient of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Jacobson Study Grant.  Recordings include Britten’s War Requiem with the Washington Choral Society, Bartók’s Cantata Profana with the Atlanta Symphony (both Grammy winners) and Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame. Mr. Clement is currently on staff as a visiting lecturer at Atlanta's Georgia State University.

Mark Walters

Opera News describes Mark Walters as “a force to be reckoned with…heroic.” The Chicago Sun Times depicts Walters as “vocal fury.” The Salt Lake Tribune says “The tall, handsome singer possesses a magnificently resonant voice and unforced dramatic ability." Walters has sung over 50 roles in the baritone repertoire and with this season’s performances of Rigoletto, Il trovatore and La traviata, he is a singer to watch in the demanding Verdi arena. Future engagements for Walters include the title role of Rigoletto with Florida Grand Opera. He makes company debuts with Arizona Opera as Valentin in Faust and with Opera Naples as Escamillo in Carmen. He will be featured on a Richard Tucker Music Foundation concert and with Opera Tampa in A Night of Stars gala honoring the career of Placido Domingo. He will also be heard in the cast recording and world premiere of Rappahannock County by American composer Ricky Ian Gordon and will appear in the US premiere of Rockland by Finnish composer Jukka Linkola. Some highlights of Walters’ career include his European debut as Germont in La traviata with Den Nye Opera in Bergen, Norway and his Asian debut in the title role of Don Giovanni in Osaka, Japan. He debuted at Carnegie Hall in Orff’s Carmina Burana and the Fauré Requiem conducted by John Rutter and he portrayed the Reverend Olin Blitch in a special 50th year anniversary production of Susannah, personally overseen by Carlisle Floyd. He has been seen in leading roles with Florida Grand Opera, Cleveland Opera, Virginia Opera, Sarasota Opera, Toledo Opera, Nashville Opera, Dayton Opera and Opera Memphis. Concert highlights include solo recitals with the Bechstein Vocal Series in New York, the Upclose, Onstage recital series with Sarasota Opera and the NATS Southern Regional Conference. He has performed Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Tallahassee Symphony and the Messiah with the Mississippi Symphony and the Handel Oratorio Society. Walters has been involved with the premieres of Corps of Discovery by Michael Ching with Opera Memphis, Good Neighbors by Robert Taylor at the Cumberland Playhouse, Blake by Leslie Adams with the Cleveland Choral Society and The Children of the Keweenaw by Paul Seitz with the Pine Mountain Music Festival. Walters has also had the pleasure to premiere the song cycles Of Passion’s Tide by Canadian Composer Laureate Jeffrey Ryan, 4 Poems of Rossetti by Marty Robinson and Love’s Cycle by Mark Henkin.

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