Cal Performances Presents
Sunday, April , , pm Hertz Hall Th eater in Song Music by Jake Heggie & Ricky Ian Gordon with special guest artist Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano Jake Heggie & Ricky Ian Gordon, piano
Kristin Clayton, soprano Marnie Breckenridge, soprano Zheng Cao, mezzo-soprano Nicholas Phan, tenor Kyle Ferrill, baritone Dawn Harms, violin Carla-Maria Rodrigues, viola Emil Miland, cello
* * *
PROGRAM
Part One Music by Jake Heggie (b. )
I. At the Statue of Venus () Libretto by Terrence McNally West Coast Premiere Kristin Clayton, soprano; Jake Heggie, piano
Cal Performances’ – season is sponsored by Wells Fargo.
CAL PERFORMANCES 1 Program
II. Four Songs from Winter Roses () Winter Roses (Charlene Baldridge) Sleeping (Raymond Carver) To My Dad (Frederica von Stade) Sweet Light (Carver) Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano; Jake Heggie, piano
III. Here and Gone () West Coast Premiere Th e Farms of Home (A. E. Housman) In Praise of Songs Th at Die (Vachel Lindsay) Stars (Housman) Th e Factory Window Song (Lindsay) In the Morning (Housman) Because I Liked You Better (Housman) Th e Half Moon Westers Low (Housman) Nicholas Phan, tenor; Kyle Ferrill, baritone; Dawn Harms, violin; Carla-Maria Rodrigues, viola; Emil Miland, cello; Jake Heggie, piano
INTERMISSION
Part Two Music by Ricky Ian Gordon (b. )
Ring-a-Ding-Ding, from Dream True () Ricky Ian Gordon & Jake Heggie, piano four hands
New Moon (Langston Hughes) Marnie Breckenridge, soprano; Zheng Cao, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; Kyle Ferrill, baritone; Ricky Ian Gordon, piano
Joy (Hughes) Marnie Breckenridge, soprano; Ricky Ian Gordon, piano
A Contemporary (W. S. Merwin) Nicholas Phan, tenor; Ricky Ian Gordon, piano
2 CAL PERFORMANCES Program
Th ree Floors (Stanley Kunitz) Kyle Ferrill, baritone; Ricky Ian Gordon, piano
Open All Night (James Agee) Zheng Cao, mezzo-soprano; Ricky Ian Gordon, piano
Sometimes, from My Life with Albertine () (lyrics by Ricky Ian Gordon & Richard Nelson) Nicholas Phan, tenor; Kyle Ferrill, baritone; Ricky Ian Gordon, piano
Th e Red Dress (Dorothy Parker) Marnie Breckenridge, soprano; Ricky Ian Gordon, piano
Bus Stop (Donald Justice) Kyle Ferrill, baritone; Ricky Ian Gordon, piano
Souvenir (Edna St. Vincent Millay) Zheng Cao, mezzo-soprano; Ricky Ian Gordon, piano
Heaven (Hughes) Nicholas Phan, tenor; Ricky Ian Gordon, piano
Dream True (Tina Landau), from Dream True Nicholas Phan, tenor; Kyle Ferrill, baritone; Ricky Ian Gordon & Jake Heggie, pianos
Resumé/Wail/Frustration (Dorothy Parker), from Autumn Valentine () Zheng Cao, mezzo-soprano; Kyle Ferrill, baritone; Ricky Ian Gordon & Jake Heggie, pianos
Virginia Woolf (James Schuyler) Zheng Cao, mezzo-soprano; Ricky Ian Gordon, piano
Poem (Frank O’Hara) Marnie Breckenridge, soprano; Ricky Ian Gordon, piano
Will Th ere Really Be a Morning? (Emily Dickinson) Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano; Marnie Breckenridge & Kristin Clayton, sopranos; Zheng Cao, mezzo-soprano; Nicholas Phan, tenor; Kyle Ferrill, baritone; Ricky Ian Gordon, piano
CAL PERFORMANCES 3 Program Notes
Jake Heggie Susan Shamos for Opera Colorado and received its premiere September , , with soprano Th e theatrical journey of a song has always Kristin Clayton and pianist Jake Heggie. fascinated me. It was during the composing of Winter Roses was commissioned by Luci and Dead Man Walking that I realized with great Richard Janssen for Frederica von Stade and joy that I’m a theater composer. It then became Camerata Pacifi ca in . Th e cycle features clear to me why I was drawn to certain texts poetry by Charlene Baldridge, Emily Dickinson, and stories: because they are innately theatri- Raymond Carver and Frederica von Stade. I cal and transformative. Ricky Ian Gordon has have been collaborating with Flicka (Ms. von that same response to text. We became friends a Stade) since , when she began championing few years ago, when we shared a concert at the my songs. She and I have worked together ex- Ravinia Festival, and our friendship has become tensively, and it has been one of the most deeply a source of support and joy for both of us. Last meaningful collaborations and friendships of my year, we shared another concert at Carnegie life. When I received this commission to create Hall and then at the Library of Congress. When something for her, I asked if it would be all right Robert Cole asked me about being part of the to base it on her own personal struggle to come Composer Portrait series, I suggested a program to terms with the loss of her father in World War shared with Ricky. We have a mutual admira- II before she was born. She agreed, and then did tion society, and I feel our styles complement me the honor of writing two of the texts. To each other’s very well. Besides that, we have so make the cycle more universal, I structured it so much damn fun together, and there is sheer joy that it tells the story of somebody who has lost in the music-making. a loved one too soon, too young. Th e poetry of For my half of the program, I wanted to Charlene Baldridge set it all in motion, and the present big scenes and cycles that off er a the- fantastic words of Raymond Carver summed it atrical arc. At the Statue of Venus was my fi rst all up. collaboration with Terrence McNally after Dead Here and Gone was commissioned by the Man Walking in . We were asked to create a Ravinia Festival for the Steans Institute in . new piece for the opening of the Ellie Caulkins Th e cycle is a deeply personal journey of missed Opera House in Denver for September . connections and unrequited love between two We were both deeply honored and hugely chal- men. Th is is told through the beautiful poetry lenged by that great honor. We decided to write of the British poet A. E. Housman and the a scene inspired by the great concert scenas of American writer Vachel Lindsay, who lived at Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Britten. An at- about the same time and touched on similar tractive woman waits in a museum by a statue of themes in their writings. Th e piece received its the Goddess of Love to meet a man she has never premiere in August with tenor Nicholas seen. Her thoughts and emotions are a jumble Phan and baritone Andrew Garland. of hope, uncertainty and self-doubt. Will he like her? Will she like him? Why did she—a proudly successful modern woman, probably Ricky Ian Gordon divorced—allow her friends to convince her that they had found a Mr. Right for her? We Th e truth is, because I saw that Jake was doing all know that Mr. Right doesn’t exist—or does cycles and behaving in a very organized man- he? Nothing ventured, nothing gained. To be ner, I thought it would be a fun and interesting willing to be judged by another person—does contrast, to make the second half sort of a mé- anything make us more vulnerable but human, lange—well, even, if you will, a hodgepodge. I too? Th e piece was commissioned by Jeremy and knew we had four singers, my request from the
4 CAL PERFORMANCES Program Notes beginning, so I thought of doing solos and en- In “Dream True,” we meet Peter Emmons sembles in diff erent combinations. Some of the (Peppy) and Vernon Dexter (Verne) who were songs are from theater pieces I have written, as close childhood friends in Wyoming, tragically listed, and some are just single songs, poetry set- separated at a tender age, and traumatized by it. tings, and some are from cycles…but here, they As children, they discovered a kind of dreaming are put together in my own skewed logic to tell that enabled them to be together in their dreams. what ever story they tell in this order, not only After years of separation, an accidental meet- about me and my work, but about the poets and ing and sighting puts them back in each other’s the performers. Th e only two songs that I believe lives, and this duet song is their rediscovery of need a little context, are “Sometimes” from My one another, and of “dreaming true” again. Life with Albertine and “Dream True,” from the Th e songs, poetry settings, stand on their show of the same title. own, I believe…but perhaps, in the case of My Life with Albertine was written with “Th ree Floors,” it might be helpful to know, that Richard Nelson using sections from Marcel when Stanley Kunitz’s mother was pregnant Proust’s Remembrance of Th ings Past. It is about with him, and very close to giving birth, his fa- young Marcel’s obsession with the both at- ther shot himself in the head with a rifl e, in a tainable and very unattainable Albertine…and public park!…so the dominant topic pervading here, in this song, “Sometimes,” both the young many of his poems is the absent father he never Marcel and his older self, watch the exquisitely met, who died so violently and inauspiciously. beautiful Albertine take a nap. Afterwards, a One other thought…when James Schuyler trio of women (sirens) sing of their obsession wrote “Virginia Woolf,” he was suff ering from with Albertine as well, the same song in a slight- the same form of depression that drove Woolf ly diff erent version, thus, letting Marcel in on to suicide, but the medical treatment that saved a little secret…Albertine sleeps around, and not Schuyler was not available in her time. His poem just with men! is one of compassion from one artist to another.
CAL PERFORMANCES 5 Texts
Jake Heggie (b. ) Was a real woman this artist’s inspiration? Or was she imagined? Look at the way he expressed her beauty. I. How must it feel to be idealized and treasured? A woman beyond measure. At the Statue of Venus I love the way he saw into her heart. Look at all these Libretto by Terrence McNally women!
A WOMAN enters. Her name is ROSE. She wears well-cut black Th ere’s a woman as seen by Titian. slacks, low heels and a crisp white blouse with a reasonable Th ere, another woman as painted by Matisse. cleavage. A modest necklace and earrings complete her look, Manet, Monet, Degas, which is best described as open, honest, direct. She stands Warhol, DeKooning, Chagall. a moment, looking around and getting her bearings, then All so beautiful. All inspired. looks at her watch and begins to wait. Who wouldn’t want to be loved like that? A source of inspiration. rose: And knowing someone once saw in you a masterpiece. A masterpiece. What will he see in me? Th e slacks were a mistake. Too late now. Brazen it out. Look him in the eye, make him see what you want him Look at all those women. Any other day there I’d be, to see. It’s not about how you’re dressed, it’s about who One of all those women passing by, hardly glancing at you are, and who I am right now is a woman who wishes Venus. she wasn’t wearing slacks. Weren’t wearing slacks. Wasn’t But not today, I’m trying to see myself the way he’ll see wearing slacks. Weren’t. Wasn’t. Whatever! me: A woman. Just a woman in slacks hoping for love. God, I hate that expression. What if he uses it all the time? I’ll kill myself. * * *
Meeting a blind date at the statue of Venus, wearing It’s him. It’s him! No, it’s not. I wish I were dead. No, black slacks. Way to go, Rose. invisible, so I could be looking at him the way he’ll be looking at me. What were my options? Th e yellow dress? Too cheerful. Black is so severe. Th e blue Chanel was perfect. But it (Looking at “the man”) looks expensive. It was expensive. Why am I suddenly so embarrassed I can aff ord my own clothes? Th ere’s a bald spot. You know, a few hours at the gym wouldn’t exactly kill you, either. I’m too old for this. I haven’t felt this way since high You say you voted for who? I just can’t imagine why our school. I’m being judged for all the wrong reasons. What friends thought I might like you. on earth possessed me to wear slacks? It’s him. Coming straight toward me. It was a sexy voice: “I’ll meet you at the statue of Venus. Oh God, please let it be him. Th is is the moment. Let’s say fi ve-ish, shall we?” He’s beyond my wildest dreams. Th is is the one. Th ere he is, even more handsome than I pictured he’d I liked the “shall we?” Th e “fi ve-ish” not so much. Don’t be. gay men say “fi ve-ish”? My friends would never do that A face to match the voice on the phone: sexy and gentle. to me. “You two should meet. You’re really perfect for each other. He’s a Pisces. You’re a Scorpio. You both love He’s here, though not on time. Not on the minute. the ballet.” Another warning sign? No. Lots of straight But now there’s no waiting, no more fear, men like the ballet. Name one, Rose. Name one. If he’s He’s fi nally here. And now I can breathe again. gay it won’t matter I wore the slacks. Th is is the.
Look at all those women. Out with friends. Th is is a man greeting another woman in slacks. Looking at art. Not me. Look at all those women. Happy. Life is not fair. But wait, here’s another one. Able to be who they are, not meeting a stranger at the Oh God don’t let it be him, this is a nightmare. statue of Venus. Th is is exactly what I was afraid of. Run for your life!
6 CAL PERFORMANCES Texts
Here he comes. Nowhere to hide, and I’m stuck by this Will I know him? Of course I will. He’ll be a man I can stupid Greek statue. laugh with and be myself with. Maybe it’s not. Too late, it’s him! He’ll be handsome which only means when I look at him my heart will smile, and I’ll feel happy to the tips of my Th e what? Th e men’s room? I wouldn’t know. I don’t fi ngers. Th at’s all “handsome” is: happiness. work here. Th e slacks just make me look like it. Life is not fair. How will he know me? Th at’s easy. He’ll listen for my laughter and be happy to know he’s What if he’s been here and gone? Seen me and changed the reason I laugh. his mind? He will know the vastness and fullness of my heart. I’ve been judged and found lacking without a defense. Together we’ll know beauty and drink of it deeply, over Well maybe you’re not to my liking either, whoever-you- and over. are-thinking-your-God-almighty, judging and leaving We will keep each other hopeful and brave. and making me wonder if it’s me or the slacks as I stand Together. We will brave this world together, the rest of here and wait for a date I don’t want at the statue of our days. Venus. At the statue of Venus! I have a judgment for you: not so terrifi c yourself. I’m leaving. I’ll meet you at the statue of Venus.
* * * accompanist/conductor: Rose?
If I leave now, I’ll never know. And where am I going? rose: Yes?
At night we dream of love, of loving and being loved, the end Like when we were children, if we were lucky, as I was. I knew my parents loved me, and I loved them. I felt safe and protected. II. I knew that morning would always come, And I knew I was loved. Four Songs from Winter Roses Oh God, I was a lucky, lucky child.
Sunday night dinners over at Grandma’s, we’d all be Winter Roses together. Text by Charlene Baldridge Playing piano, singing along, not in tune or too much in measure. Winter roses are saddest of all, Wrestling with cousins. Th e stories we’d share. Th e night seldom knowing a full fl owering before frost comes. Randall kissed me. My edges are sere and unintentional as theirs. I am content to drift, to walk in early morning; to ponder Th en pretending to sleep in the car riding home with my love. father and mother. Ponder my own love, so long ago, when I held my fi rst Wanting to hear the secrets they’d share, babe. But mostly just wanting to be carried upstairs in my Ponder Mary. My grief, my loneliness nothing, compared father’s arms, to hers. Th en he’d kiss me and say: Perhaps love only seems to fade for a time. “Good night, my little pumpkin. Perhaps it will redeem the world, eventually. Sleep soundly, my little love. Amen. Angel from heaven. Star from above.” And I’d sleep. Th at love is what I’m seeking; Sleeping To feel again I am safe and protected. Text by Raymond Carver To wake each morning fi lled with hope. And to know I am loved. He slept on his hands. Oh God, I was a lucky, lucky child. On a rock. On his feet. * * * On someone else’s feet. please turn page quietly CAL PERFORMANCES 7 Texts
He slept on buses, trains, in airplanes. Locking it away forever. Slept on duty. Nobody knows what happened to me Slept beside the road. out here, sea. Only you and I know. Slept on a sack of apples. At night, clouds form in front of the moon. He slept in a pay toilet. In a hayloft. By morning they’re gone. And that sweet light In the Super Dome. I spoke of? Th at’s gone, too. Slept in a Jaguar, and in the back of a pickup. Slept in theaters. “Winter Roses” © by Charlene Baldrige. Used by In jail. permission. On boats. “To My Dad” © by Frederica von Stade. Used by He slept in line shacks and, once, in a castle. permission. Slept in the rain. In the blistering sun he slept. “Sleeping” and “Sweet Light” published in All of Us: Th e On horseback. Collected Poems of Raymond Carver (Th e Harvill Press He slept in chairs, churches, in fancy hotels. & Knopf, ) © Raymond Carver , ; © Tess He slept under strange roofs all his life. Gallagher , . Used by permission. Now he sleeps under the earth. Sleeps on and on. Like an old king. III.
To My Dad Here and Gone Text by Frederica von Stade Poetry by A. E. Housman and Vachel Lindsay
I hope you don’t mind that I don’t miss you. For I don’t miss you. Th e Farms of Home I’ve come too far for longing. And I don’t miss you. Text by Housman I am a diff erent soul now. We’ve little left to share. I’ll never know your fear, your hurt, your pain Th e farms of home lie lost in even, To die so far away from all you love you. I see far off the steeple stand; So many love you. West and away from here to heaven You’ll never know my fear, my hurt, my pain Still is the land. To live so far from you. Th ere if I go no girl will greet me, No comrade hollo from the hill, Sweet Light No dog run down the yard to meet me: Text by Raymond Carver Th e land is still.
After the winter, grieving and dull, Th e land is still by farm and steeple, I fl ourished here all spring. Sweet light And still for me the land may stay: Th ere I was friends with perished people, began to fi ll my chest. I pulled up And there lie they. a chair. Sat for hours in front of the sea.
Listened to the buoy and learned In Praise of Songs Th at Die To tell the diff erence between a bell, Text by Lindsay And the sound of a bell. I wanted Everything behind me. I even wanted Ah, they are passing, passing by, Wonderful songs, but born to die! To become inhuman. And I did that. Cries from the infi nite human seas, I know I did. (She’ll back me up on this.) Waves thrice-winged with harmonies. Here I stand on a pier in the foam I remember the morning I closed the lid Seeing the songs to the beach go home, on memory and turned the handle. Dying in sand while the tide fl ows back,
8 CAL PERFORMANCES Texts
As it fl owed of old in its fated track. Because I Liked You Better Oh, hurrying tide that will not hear Text by Housman Your own foam-children dying near: Is there no refuge-house of song, Because I liked you better No home, no haven where songs belong? Th an suits a man to say, Oh, precious hymns that come and go! It irked you, and I promised You perish, and I love you so! To throw the thought away.
To put the world between us Stars We parted, stiff and dry; Text by Housman “Good-bye,” said you, “forget me.” “I will, no fear,” said I. Stars, I have seen them fall, But when they drop and die If here, where clover whitens No star is lost at all Th e dead man’s knoll, you pass, From all the star-sown sky. And no tall fl ower to meet you Th e toil of all that be Starts in the trefoiled grass, Helps not the primal fault; It rains into the sea, Halt by the headstone naming And still the sea is salt. Th e heart no longer stirred. And say the lad that loved you Was one that kept his word. Th e Factory Window Song Text by Lindsay Th e Half-Moon Westers Low Factory windows are always broken. Text by Housman Somebody’s always throwing bricks, Somebody’s always heaving cinders, Th e half-moon westers low, my love, Playing ugly Yahoo tricks. And the wind brings up the rain; And wide apart lie we, my love, Factory windows are always broken. And seas between the twain. Other windows are let alone. No one throws through the chapel-window I know not if it rains, my love, Th e bitter, snarling, derisive stone. In the land where you do lie; And oh, so sound you sleep, my love, Factory windows are always broken. You know no more than I. Something or other is going wrong. Something is rotten—I think, in Denmark. End of the factory-window song. INTERMISSION
In the Morning Text by Housman Ricky Ian Gordon (b. )
In the morning, in the morning, In the happy fi eld of hay, Ring-a-Ding-Ding Oh they looked at one another For piano four hands By the light of day.
In the blue and silver morning New Moon On the haycock as they lay, Text by Langston Hughes Oh they looked at one another And they looked away. Th ere’s a new young moon Riding the hills tonight. Th ere’s a sprightly young moon please turn page quietly CAL PERFORMANCES 9 Texts
Exploring the clouds. Under the roof a wardrobe trunk Th ere’s a half shy young moon whose lock a boy could pick Veiling her face like a virgin contained a red masonic hat Waiting for a lover. and a walking stick.
Bolt up-ight in my bed that night Joy I saw my father fl ying; Text by Langston Hughes the wind was walking on my neck, the windowpanes were crying. I went to look for Joy, Slim, dancing Joy, Gay, laughing Joy, Open All Night Bright-eyed Joy— Text by James Agee And I found her Driving the butcher’s cart Wake up Th reeish, In the arms of the butcher boy! Clean up the sink Such company, such company, Air out the bedroom As keeps this young nymph, Joy! Pour out a drink Drink to the daylight Sit down and think A Contemporary I’m Open All Night. Text by W. S. Merwin Go to the movies, What if I came down now out of these Stroll in the park solid dark clouds that build up against the mountain Watch the kids playing day after day with no rain in them Wait for the dark, and lived as one blade of grass Th en I remember in a garden in the south when the clouds part in winter A fellow named Clark from the beginning I would be older than all the I’m Open All Night. animals and to the last I would be simpler Buy me a mirror frost would design me and dew would disappear on me Make up the bed sun would shine through me Order the white rock I would be green with white roots Get myself fed feel worms touch my feet as a bounty Prink up and sit down have no name and no fear And wish I was dead turn naturally to the light I’m Open All Night. know how to spend the day and night climbing out of myself all my life Sometimes, from My Life with Albertine Text by Ricky Ian Gordon & Richard Nelson
Sometimes Th ree Floors I watch her take off her clothes Text by Stanley Kunitz and throw them on a chair. Sometimes… Mother was a crack of light Sometimes and a grey eye peeping. I will put out the lights and sit I made believe by breathing hard and watch her there. that I was sleeping. Sometimes… Her hair caresses me so Sister’s doughboy on last leave like the wing of a morning dove had robbed me of her hand. Inside my mouth Downstairs at intervals is her tongue, she played “Wa-rum” on the baby grand.
10 CAL PERFORMANCES Texts
Now this is what I call true love. Summer. Sometimes A change in the upholstery, I unbutton her chemise the fi refl ies, the crickets, before we go to bed. the neighbor with the hose, Sometimes… and watching father doze, Sometimes I kiss her little breasts my hair up off my neck, until I am well fed the wicker on the deck, Sometimes… Oh! Sometimes I touch the hollow that lies between the thighs. Summer. Sometimes I open wide the door Remember at the seashore I’ll hear the hinges sigh the sunlight’s blinding shimmer, Sometimes! Sometimes! Sometimes! and later when we parted? Sometimes I touch and watch Summer. as two white legs I hold you in my pillow. like swans necks bend Th e dawn begins to glimmer, Oh, sometimes. and I am open-hearted. Sometimes they push up hard and then back down again. December is forgotten Sometimes. Th e August breezes sizzle. No trouble on my brow. I wish it were summer now. Summer Text by Ricky Ian Gordon Summer. Th e sand and salty ocean Summer. become a sort of potion, Will you be there to meet me, but seasons take their bow. when I am in my white dress, I wish it were summer now. and I am picking fl owers?
Summer. Th e Red Dress Th e sun beats at the window. Text by Dorothy Parker A lady comes here calling and we can talk for hours. I always saw, I always said If I were grown and free, Summer. I’d buy a gown of reddest red A child spilling soda, As fi ne as you could see, and slamming shut the screen door, while mother dries the china. To wear out walking, sleek and slow, Upon a Summer day, Summer. And there’s be one to see me so Th e heat is like a curtain And fl ip the world away. that willows in the lamplight between the Carolinas. And he would be a gallant one, With stars behind his eyes, Th e baby’s always sticky, And hair like metal in the sun, and daddy’s always singing, And lips too warm for lies. but mama forgot how! I wish it were summer now. I always saw us, gay and good, High honored in the town. Summer. Now I am grown to womanhood… Th e nakedness, the linen. I have the silly gown. You touched me and I shivered. Th e night became an echo. please turn page quietly CAL PERFORMANCES 11 Texts
Bus Stop Heaven Text by Donald Justice Text by Langston Hughes
Lights are burning Heaven is In quiet rooms Th e place where Where lives go on Happiness is Resembling ours. Everywhere.
Th e quiet lives Animals Th at follow us— And birds sing- Th ese lives we lead As does But do not own— Everything.
Stand in the rain So quietly To each stone, When we are gone, “How-do-you-do?” So quietly… Stone answers back, And the last bus “Well! And you?” Comes letting dark Umbrellas out— Black fl owers, black fl owers. Dream True Text by Tina Landau And lives go on. And lives go on vernon (spoken): Peppy, tell me your dream Like sudden lights At street corners peter: I lie in my bed,
Or like the lights vernon: arms behind head. In quiet rooms Left on for hours, peter (spoken): What? How do you know…? Burning, burning. vernon (spoken): Go on.
Souvenir peter: I fall asleep, Text by Edna St. Vincent Millay deep, deep… My day whizzes by— Just a rainy day or two open an eye— In a windy tower, And you appear. Th at was all I had of you- Here, here… Saving half an hour. You say—
Marred by greeting passing groups vernon: “Follow me; stay near.” In a cinder walk, Near some naked blackberry hoops peter (spoken): Yes, how did you know…? Dim with purple chalk. vernon (spoken): It was my dream too, Peppy. I remember three or four We had the same dream. Th ings you said in spite, And an ugly coat you wore peter (spoken): What…? Plaided black and white. vernon: We come to a land, Just a rainy day or two Both: Back of my hand. And a bitter word. Peter: I see a boy, Why do I remember you Both: Joy, joy… As a singing bird?
12 CAL PERFORMANCES Texts peter: My mother is there, both: Dream True Glowing red hair. Now I’m here with you; And he’s there too; Dream more real than reality, You, you! Dream, of two children running free, You say— Dream, to the Moon and Sun, Dream as one, vernon: “Learn from me; Dream True.” Dream of me and you, Dream True. peter (spoken): Dream True—that’s it—of course— I remember now! Resume/Wail/Frustration vernon: Dream True Text by Dorothy Parker Like we used to do; Dream of places we used to share, Resume Dream of turning to fi nd me there, Razors pain you; Dream, we both have one night, Rivers are damp; Dream of light, Acids stain you; Dream of me and you, And drugs cause cramp. Dream True. Guns aren’t lawful; Like lifting a veil, Nooses give; Vivid detail. Gas smells awful; You might as well live. peter: Mama’s sweet voice, rejoice, rejoice… Wail You start to awake; Love has gone a-rocketing. I start to ache— Th at is not the worst; Our time is through; I could do without the thing Both: You, you… and not be the fi rst. You say, Joy has gone the way it came. vernon: “I’ll come back. Dream True.” Th at is nothing new; I could get along the same— (Th ey stand facing forward, and perform the Dream True Many people do. gestures slowly, majestically.) Dig for me a narrow bed. both: Dream True Now I am bereft. And I’ll stay with you; All my pretty hates are dead, Dream, as long as infi nity, And what have I left? Dream of love that will always be, Dream, beyond time and place, Frustration Dream of grace, If I had a shiny gun Dream of me and you, I could have a world of fun Dream True. Speeding bullets through the brains Of the folk who give me pains; (Th ey look at each other, in joy, in relief, fi nally letting in the reality of the moment…) Or had I some poison gas, I could make the moments pass peter: And somehow I knew— Bumping off a number of People whom I do not love. vernon: I knew it was you— But I have no lethal weapon— peter: I knew in my heart— Th us does pain our pleasure step on! So they all are quick and well vernon: Th at we’d never part— Who should be by rights, in hell.
please turn page quietly CAL PERFORMANCES 13 Texts
Virginia Woolf Will Th ere Really Be a Morning? Text by James Schuyler Text by Emily Dickinson
I wish I had been at Rodmell Will there really be a “Morning”? to parlay with Virginia Woolf Is there such a thing as “Day”? when she was about to take Could I see it from the mountains that fatal walk: If I were as tall as they? “I know you’re sick, but you’ll be well again: Has it feet like Water lilies? trust me: Has it feathers like a Bird? I’ve been there.” Does it come from famous places Would I have off ered of which I have never heard? to take her place, for me to die Oh some Scholar! Oh some Sailor! and she to live? Oh some Wise Man from the skies! I think not. Please to tell this little Pilgrim Each has his “fi ery particle” Where the place called “Morning” lies! to fan into fl ame for his own sake. So, no. But still I wish I’d been there, before she fi lled her pockets with stones and lay down in the River Ouse. Angular Virginia Woolf, for whom words came streaming like clouded yellows over the downs.
Lana Turner Has Collapsed! Text by Frank O’Hara
Lana Turner has collapsed! I was trotting along and suddenly it started raining and snowing and you said it was hailing but hailing hits you on the head hard so it was really snowing and raining and I was in such a hurry to meet you but the traffi c was acting exactly like the sky and suddenly I see a headline lana turner has collapsed! there is no snow in Hollywood there is no rain in California I have been to lots of parties and acted perfectly disgraceful but I never actually collapsed oh Lana Turner we love you get up
14 CAL PERFORMANCES About the Artists
certo Holy the Firm: Essay for Cello and Orchestra (for Emil Miland and the Oakland East Bay Symphony). Upcoming are collaborative projects with the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center Th eater, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, San Francisco Opera, the Ravinia Festival and London’s Wigmore Hall. Mr. Heggie’s recordings include Dead Man Walking (Erato), Th e Faces of Love (RCA Red Seal) and Th e Deepest Desire (Eloquentia). In addition to Th e End of the Aff air, Heggie’s songs will be fea- tured on three new recordings due later this year. Singers he collaborates with as pianist and com- poser include Frederica von Stade, Susan Graham, Audra McDonald, Joyce DiDonato, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Patti LuPone, Kristin Clayton, Zheng Cao, Nicolle Foland and Bryn Terfel. Jake Heggie lives in San Francisco. For more informa- tion, visit www.jakeheggie.com.
Jake Heggie is the composer of the acclaimed operas Dead Man Walking (libretto by Terrence McNally), Th e End of the Aff air (libretto by Heather McDonald, Leonard Foglia and Heggie), To Hell and Back (libretto by Gene Scheer), At the Statue of Venus (libretto by McNally), more than art songs, plus orchestral and chamber music. He is the recipient of a – Guggenheim Fellowship, among other awards. Mr. Heggie’s op- eras have been performed by more than a dozen American companies, including San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Baltimore Opera and Seattle Opera. Recently, the operas have been fea- tured in international productions by major com- panies in Australia, Canada, Germany, Sweden and Austria. In alone, Dead Man Walking will receive more than performances. Th e End of the Aff air was recently seen in a new production in Kansas City, and those performances were re- corded live for release later this year. © Sheila Wolff © Sheila Wolff Other major works include the theatrical song cycle For a Look or a Touch (libretto by Gene Ricky Ian Gordon was born on May , , in Scheer, based on stories from the fi lm Paragraph Oceanside, New York, and raised on Long Island. ); the song cycles Th e Deepest Desire (poetry In love with poetry and fascinated, from an early by Sister Helen Prejean), Statuesque and Rise and age, by all forms of opera and music Th eater, he at- Fall (poetry by Gene Scheer), Here and Gone (po- tended Carnegie Mellon University as a piano ma- etry by Housman and Lindsay); and the cello con- jor, but soon realized that his true vocation was as
CAL PERFORMANCES 15 About the Artists a composer. After college, he settled in New York February , , in a production that travels City and quickly emerged as one of the most suc- to Utah Opera in May. Commenting in Th e Los cessful writers of a kind of vocal music that strad- Angeles Times, critic Mark Swed writes: “…the dles the world of theater and art song. sense of excitement was unmistakable…the great- His unusual ability to fi nd the musical core est glory of the opera is Gordon’s ability to musical- of a poem or lyric and express that essence in ly fl esh out the entire -member Joad clan…Each an appropriate musical style has given his songs has a distinct musical style. Each is sympathetic. great appeal to singers of all styles and persua- Gordon’s other great achievement is to merge sions. Mr. Gordon’s songs have been performed Broadway and opera…and it is greatly enhanced and or recorded by such internationally renowned by his fi rm control over ensembles and his sheer singers as Renée Fleming, Dawn Upshaw, Audra love for the operatic voice.” MacDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Andrea Marcovici, Harolyn Described by Th e New York Times as “one of Blackwell, Betty Buckley, Margaret Lattimore, America’s fi nest artists and singers,” Frederica Stephanie Novacek and Mary Philips, among von Stade continues to be extolled as one of the many others. music world’s most beloved fi gures. Known to His accomplishments in musical theater are family, friends and fans by her nickname, “Flicka,” also very notable, with shows such as My Life with the mezzo-soprano has enriched the world of clas- Albertine, Dream True, Th e Tibetan Book of the sical music for three decades. Dead, Only Heaven and Morning Star having been Ms. von Stade’s career has taken her to the successfully performed. stages of the world’s great opera houses and con- On March , , Mr. Gordon was pre- cert halls. She began at the top, when she re- sented at Lincoln Center as part of the American ceived a contract from Sir Rudolf Bing during the Songbook Series in a concert devoted to his music, Metropolitan Opera auditions, and since her debut entitled “Bright Eyed Joy: Th e Music of Ricky Ian in she has sung nearly all of her great roles Gordon.” About the music, Stephen Holden, writ- with that company. In January , the company ing in Th e New York Times said, “If the music of celebrated the th anniversary of her debut with Ricky Ian Gordon had to be defi ned by a single a new production of Lehár’s Th e Merry Widow spe- quality, it would be the bursting eff ervescence in- cifi cally for her, and in , as a celebration of her fusing songs that blithely blur the lines between art th anniversary, the Metropolitan Opera created song and the high-end Broadway music of Leonard for her a new production of Pelléas et Mélisande. Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim…It’s caviar for a Ms. von Stade has appeared with every lead- world gorging on pizza.” ing American opera company, including San His hour-long song cycle in two acts, Orpheus Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Los and Euridice, was given a very well received stage Angeles Opera. Her career in Europe has been no debut as part of the Lincoln Center New Visions/ less spectacular, with new productions mounted American Songbook series under the auspices of for her at La Scala, Covent Garden, the Vienna the Great Performers series on October , . It State Opera and the Paris Opera. She is invited was directed and choreographed by Doug Varone regularly by the fi nest conductors, among them and performed by soprano Elizabeth Futral, clari- Claudio Abbado, Charles Dutoit, James Levine, netist Todd Palmer and pianist Melvin Chen. Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, André Other recent works include and fl owers pick Previn, Leonard Slatkin and Michael Tilson themselves…, fi ve songs for high voice and orches- Th omas, to appear in concert with the world’s lead- tra on poems by e. e. cummings (commissioned ing orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, by Michigan State University and fi rst performed Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New there by Melanie Helton on October , ), York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San and Th e Grapes of Wrath, a full-scale opera with li- Francisco Symphony, London Symphony and the bretto by Michael Korie based on John Steinbeck’s Orchestra of La Scala. celebrated novel. Th e Grapes of Wrath had its huge- Ms. von Stade has eff ortlessly traversed an ever- ly successful premiere at the Minnesota Opera on broadening spectrum of musical styles and dra-
16 CAL PERFORMANCES About the Artists matic characterizations. She is an unmatched styl- Opera House, replacing Renée Fleming, for whom ist in the French repertoire—a delectable Mignon the work had been commissioned. or Périchole, a regal Marguerite in Berlioz’s La Ms. Clayton’s most recent engagements include damnation de Faust and, in one critic’s words, Th e Magic Flute for Opera Colorado, a joint recital “the Mélisande of one’s dreams.” Her artistry has with Donald Runnicles in San Diego and a return inspired the revival of neglected works such as to San Francisco Opera for Ariadne auf Naxos, Così Massenet’s Cherubin, Th omas’s Mignon, Rameau’s fan tutte and I Pagliacci. Upcoming engagements Dardanus and Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in include the world premiere of a new Jake Heggie patria. Her repertoire is continually expanding to opera with Houston Grand Opera, Mahler’s include the works of contemporary composers. She Symphony No. with Sarasota Symphony and created the role of Tina in Dallas Opera’s world Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brazilianas at the Amelia premiere production of Dominick Argento’s Th e Island Chamber Music Festival. Aspern Papers (a work written for her), as well as She made her San Francisco Opera debut in the role of Madame de Merteuil in Conrad Susa’s , singing in the world premiere of Susa’s Th e Dangerous Liaisons and Mrs. Patrick De Rocher Dangerous Liaisons (telecast nationally on PBS’s in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, both for San Great Performances) and as Wellgunde in Das Francisco Opera. Rheingold during the company’s Ring festi- She has made over recordings with every val. Also in San Francisco, she sang and recorded major label, including complete operas, aria col- Massenet’s Herodiade with Placido Domingo and lections, symphonic works, solo recital programs Renée Fleming (Sony Classical) and performed in and popular crossover albums. Her recordings the San Francisco Opera Center Showcase produc- have garnered six Grammy Award nominations, tions of Tippett’s King Priam and Handel’s Ezio. two Grand Prix du Disc awards, the Deutsche Other recent engagements include a Schwabacher Schallplattenpreis, Italy’s Premio della Critica Debut Recital; the world premiere of Heggie’s song Discografi ca and “Best of the Year” citations by cycle, Eve Song; and a concert with the Chamber Stereo Review and Opera News. Music Society of Lincoln Center. Last season, Ms. von Stade gave her fi rst-ever Her orchestral engagements with the San performances of the title role in La Grand Duchesse Francisco Symphony have included performances de Gerolstein with Los Angeles Opera in a new pro- of Bernstein’s On the Town, conducted by Michael duction directed by famed movie director Garry Tilson Th omas. In Europe, Ms. Clayton has sung Marshall. Th at season also brought her fi rst per- Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Leningrad State formances of Ottavia in L’Incoronazione di Poppea Conservatory Orchestra, Mozart’s Requiem with with Houston Grand Opera. the Belgrade Radio Symphony Orchestra and an Frederica von Stade is the holder of honorary evening of arias with her husband, baritone Bojan doctorates from Yale University, Boston University, Knezevic, in Belgrade. the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (which Ms. Clayton was the soprano soloist in the holds a Frederica von Stade Distinguished Chair United Nations th Anniversary Celebration con- in Voice), the Georgetown University School of cert, performed for President Clinton and telecast Medicine and her alma mater, the Mannes School live throughout the world. She is also featured on of Music. In , Ms. von Stade received France’s a new recording of songs by Jake Heggie, Th e Faces highest honor in the arts, when she was appointed of Love (RCA Red Seal), and sang the role of Sister as an offi cer of L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and, Helen in workshops of Jake Heggie and Terrence in , she was honored with an award given at McNally’s opera Dead Man Walking. the White House by President Reagan in recogni- Kristin Clayton is a native of Atlanta, Georgia, tion of her signifi cant contribution to the arts. and she studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She makes her home in San Francisco, Lyric soprano Kristin Clayton created a sensation where she lives with her husband and children. when she sang the world premiere of Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s At the Statue of Venus Soprano Marnie Breckenridge’s pure and supple for the grand opening of Denver’s new Caulkins voice, excellent musicianship, eff ervescent person-
CAL PERFORMANCES 17 About the Artists ality and dramatic intensity have rapidly estab- Mezzo-soprano Zheng Cao is a regular guest lished her as a rising young artist. of leading companies in the United States and Ms. Breckenridge began the season sing- abroad. A personal favorite of Seiji Ozawa’s, she has ing solos with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra in appeared with him as Marguerite in La Damnation a concert marking years of U.S.-Russian rela- de Faust at the Saito Kinen Festival, as mezzo-so- tions at the U.S. State Department. Soon after, she prano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for sang the role of Lucia in Britten’s Rape of Lucretia the Winter Olympic Games in Japan, and as under Lorin Maazel at his theater in Castleton, Suzuki in Madame Butterfl y for her debut with the Virginia. Most recently, she debuted with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Berkeley Symphony in Unsuk Chin’s Cantantrix Ms. Cao began her professional career as an Sopranica, under the baton of Kent Nagano. Adler Fellow at San Francisco Opera, where she In addition to her debut in Ned Rorem’s Bertha has subsequently performed Idamante in Idomeneo, and Th ree Sisters with Black Box Opera Th eatre, Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Dorabella in Così in she premiered a new opera written for fan tutte, Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Hoff man and her, Chrysalis, by Clark Suprynowicz, at Berkeley Siebel in Faust. She made her debut with Houston Opera. Th at year, she also made her European op- Grand Opera in as Varvara in Katya Kabanova, era debut as Cunegonde in Candide at the Prague returning in as Magali for the world premiere State Opera, to which she was invited back this production of Daniel Catán’s Salsipuedes and in season. In , she sang the debut role of Susan in as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro. Next the South American premiere of Lennox Berkeley’s season, she will return to San Francisco Opera as A Dinner Engagement with the Brazilian Opera Ruth in Th e Bonesetter’s Daughter, based on the Society in São Paulo. novel by Amy Tan. Ms. Breckenridge made her Davies Symphony On the concert stage, she has performed Hall debut singing the soprano solos in Handel’s many times with Maestro Ozawa and the Boston Messiah under Michael Barrett. She has appeared Symphony in Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s in recital throughout California, as well as in Dream, as well as in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy at Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Italy. Tanglewood for Ozawa’s farewell concert. She has In , she sang solos for the th Anniversary performed Mozart’s Requiem with the Philadelphia of the United Nations at San Francisco’s Orchestra, Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with Grace Cathedral. the San Francisco Symphony and Handel’s Messiah Her commitment to performing the music of with the National Symphony and the Warsaw living composers has fostered relationships with Philharmonic. She has also appeared in recital at Ricky Ian Gordon, Bruce Rockwell, David Conte, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Kurt Erickson, D’Arcy Reynolds, David Garner, Ms. Cao holds a bachelor’s degree from the Daniel Brewbaker, Michael Kaulkin and Henry Shanghai Conservatory of Music and a master’s Mollicone. A favorite of Jake Heggie’s, she has per- degree from the Curtis Institute of Music. She formed a number of his works with the composer was a Metropolitan Opera National Council at the piano. Auditions fi nalist and a winner of the Palm Ms. Breckenridge is a Regional Finalist in the Beach Opera International Vocal Competition. Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the winner of the IIE International Travel Nicholas Phan is quickly establishing himself as Award, a Loren L. Zachary National Grand an important tenor among America’s next genera- Finalist, a MacAllister Awards Regional Finalist tion of singers. A recent graduate of the Houston and Mu Phi Epsilon Winner. She received her Grand Opera Studio, Mr. Phan has appeared in bachelor’s degree from Pacifi c Union College many productions there, including the world pre- and her master’s degree from the San Francisco mieres of Daniel Catán’s Salsipuedes and Mark Conservatory of Music, and furthered her training Adamo’s Lysistrata. He recently made his de- at the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist Program buts at New York City Opera as Damon in Acis in and the Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel and Galatea and in Europe as Don Polidoro in a Aviv in . new production of La Finta Semplice directed by
18 CAL PERFORMANCES About the Artists
Christoph Loy at the Frankfurt Opera. He made Rorem’s Aftermath as part of the composer’s th his professional operatic debut with Glimmerglass birthday celebration. Mr. Ferrill’s passion also Opera as a member of their Young American extends to new art songs, in performances of the Artist Program. music of Argento, Musto, Liebermann, Bolcom, Th is season, he debuts at the Atlanta Opera in I Hersch and Hoiby. In , Mr. Ferrill attended Pagliacci, Los Angeles Opera in L’Incoronazione di Songfest, an intensive song literature program in Poppea and the Chicago Opera Th eater in Il ritor- Malibu. While there, he worked with compos- no d’Ulisse in patria, and returns to the Frankfurt ers Ricky Ian Gordon, John Harbison and Jake Opera as Lurcanio in Ariodante. Next season, he Heggie; coaches Rudolf Jansen and Martin Katz; returns to Houston Grand Opera as Pedrillo in Die and Bach specialist Craig Smith from Boston’s Entführung aus dem Serail. Emmanuel Music. After a return to Songfest in Also active on the concert stage, Mr. Phan made June, Mr. Ferrill will spend August studying art his debut this season with the St. Louis Symphony song at the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival under David Robertson. He made his debut with in Chicago. the Chicago Symphony during the – An alumnus of Butler University, Mr. Ferrill season, singing Iopas in a series of concert perfor- received his master’s degree and doctorate in vocal mances of Les Troyens under Zubin Mehta, and has performance from Florida State University, where since appeared with the the Orchestra of St. Luke’s his dissertation analyzed the career of William and the National Symphony. Parker and Th e AIDS Quilt Songbook. Deeply Mr. Phan was one of two singers selected to committed to teaching, Mr. Ferrill is Assistant represent the United States at the BBC Singer of Professor of Voice at Mercer University in Macon, the World competition in Cardiff , Wales, in , Georgia. He is married to soprano Lexa Ferrill. where he appeared with the Welsh National Opera Orchestra under Carlo Rizzi. In , he was the Dawn Harms (violin) leads an active musi- recipient of a Richard F. Gold Career Grant from cal life as a violinist, violist, chamber musician the Shoshana Foundation, and he placed third in and conductor. A member of the San Francisco the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Opera Orchestra and the New Century Chamber Competition for Young Singers in . Orchestra, she also performs as co-concertmas- Mr. Phan has studied at the Manhattan School ter of the Oakland East Bay Symphony. She is a of Music and the Aspen Music Festival and School member of the Kirkwood String Quartet and the and is a graduate of the University of Michigan. founder and conductor of the Elixir Chamber Orchestra. She is also the co-founder and music Baritone Kyle Ferrill has broad performing ex- director of the Music at Kirkwood chamber music perience in oratorio, recital and operatic reper- festival, and currently serves on the music faculty toire, having performed as a soloist in such works at Stanford University. as Ligeti’s Le Grande Macabre, Berio’s Sinfonia, Ms. Harms recently appeared as a soloist with Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Britten’s Cantata Symphony Parnassus in the Herbst Th eatre in San Misericordium, Fauré’s Requiem and Handel’s Francisco, the Folsom Symphony, the Paradise Messiah. His recent engagements include the Dawn Symphony, the Flagler Symphony in West Palm Upshaw-Osvaldo Golijov Workshop at Carnegie Beach, Florida, and the Stanford Symphony. Next Hall, which included his Carnegie Hall recital de- season, Ms. Harms will conduct the Livermore but. An avid recitalist, Mr. Ferrill was a fi nalist in Symphony and the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra. the art song category of the Liederkranz com- Ms. Harms has released two solo CDs, Th e petition. He has been coached by Phyllis Curtin, Black Swan, for violin and harp, and her latest, Martin Katz, William Sharp, Dawn Upshaw and Th e Hot Canary. She has also collaborated with John Wustman, among other luminaries. her cousin, Tom Waits, on his recordings Alice and New music is a passion of Mr. Ferrill’s. As a vo- Blood Money. cal fellow at the Tanglewood, he performed Ligeti For years, Ms. Harms was fi rst violinist with under Stefan Asbury, Berio under Robert Spano, the Harrington String Quartet, winners of the Bernstein’s Benediction under John Williams and Grand Prize at the Fischoff and Evian International
CAL PERFORMANCES 19 About the Artists chamber music competitions. She also played fi rst International Viola Competition, the William violin for fi ve summers with the Santa Fe Opera. Primrose Scholarship Competition and the A strong advocate for children’s music educa- Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. tion, Ms. Harms was conductor and music director Ms. Rodrigues resides in California, where she of the Amarillo Youth Orchestra and continues to is principal viola of the San Francisco Opera for six design and perform educational concerts through- months of the year. out the United States. Ms. Harms earned a Bachelor of Music from Emil Miland (cello) is acclaimed internationally the New England Conservatory, where she was a for his performances of new and traditional rep- student of Dorothy Delay and Josef Gingold, and a ertoire as a soloist and chamber musician. He is Master of Music from the State University of New an ardent champion of new works and has given York at Stonybrook. the premieres of compositions written specifi cally for him by Ernst Bacon, David Carlson, Shinji Acclaimed orchestral, chamber musician, soloist Eshima, Andrew Frank, Andrew Imbrie, Lou and teacher, Carla-Maria Rodrigues (viola) be- Harrison, Jake Heggie, Robert Helps, Richard gan her musical vocation from an early age, fi rst Hervig, James Meredith, Dwight Okamura and as a violinist and later as a violist. Ms. Rodrigues’s Tobias Tenenbaum. He appears on the RCA Red professional career began as a violist with the Seal recording Th e Faces of Love: Th e Songs of Jake Minnesota Orchestra, where she was subsequently Heggie, performing with Frederica von Stade, appointed Assistant Principal Viola. During the Sylvia McNair and Zheng Cao. – season, Ms. Rodrigues was invited to In November , Mr. Miland premiered join the Australian Chamber Orchestra as their Heggie’s Holy the Firm: Essay for Cello and Orchestra Guest Principal Violist, taking over as Principal with the Oakland East Bay Symphony conducted Viola in . by Michael Morgan. A live recording of this per- Chamber music activities have taken her formance is included on the Symphony’s fi rst CD, throughout North America, Australia, Israel and New Works for a New Century. He has also per- Europe with artists such as Pinchas Zukerman, formed Holy the Firm with the Sacramento and Rudolph Serkin and Sir Yehudi Menuhin. She has Knoxville symphonies. In , he was featured a l s o t o u r e d e x t e n s i v e l y a s a m e m b e r o f t h e Z u k e r m a n in concerts of Heggie’s music at New York’s Alice and Friends Ensemble. A founding member of the Tully Hall and San Francisco’s Herbst Th eatre. Rosalyra String Quartet, Ms. Rodrigues devotes Mr. Miland’s recent premieres include Heggie’s much of her professional career to chamber mu- Times of Day, a song cycle for mezzo-soprano and sic. She has participated in the Marlboro, Gstaad, piano trio, and Toadfi sh, a work by Shinji Eshima Verbier, Prussia Cove, Santa Fe, Vancouver, El for TRIAD (Mr. Miland, clarinetist Carey Bell Paso and Aldeburgh festivals, touring internation- and pianist Bryndon Hassman). He recently col- ally with Musicians from Marlboro. Her recent laborated with mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and engagements have included Guest Principal Viola pianist Malcolm Martineau in a performance of of the Hong Kong Philharmonic, an invitation to Ravel’s Chansons Madecasses at Cal Performances. participate at the Sangat Chamber Music Festival In recital, he has collaborated with Frederica in Bombay and an invitation to participate at the von Stade, Brian Asawa, Zheng Cao and the late Music@Menlo Chamber Music Institute. Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. A native of London, Ms. Rodrigues began A member of the San Francisco Opera since her studies on the violin at age eight and contin- , Mr. Miland made his solo debut with the ued her musical training at the Yehudi Menuhin San Francisco Symphony at age , and that same School. During this time, she appeared regularly year was selected to perform in the Rostropovich as soloist and chamber musician in London’s ma- master classes at UC Berkeley. An honors gradu- jor concert halls and was heard over the BBC. She ate of the New England Conservatory, he has re- graduated from the University of Michigan, where ceived grants from Chamber Music America and she was awarded the Albert A. Stanley Medal. the National Endowment for the Arts. Other prizes to her credit include the Lionel Tertis
20 CAL PERFORMANCES