GUEST ARTIST RECITAL KAREN PARKS, Soprano NEAL KURZ, Piano Tuesday, October 22, 1996 8:00 p.m. Lillian H Duncan Recital Hall RICE UNNERSITY School~ Of Music PROGRAM Alma grande e nobil core Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from I due Baroni, K. 578 (1756-1791) Italian Songs (arranged by Arne D@rumsgaard) Tu ch'hai le penne, amore Giulio Caccini (c.1545-1618) Or ch'io non seguo piu Raffaello Rontani (?-1622) Chi vuole innamorarsi Alessandro Scarlatti (1660-1725) Allerseelen Richard Strauss Schlechtes Wetter (1864-1949) Morgen! Mandoline Gabriel Faure Le Secret (1845-1924) Fleur jetee INTERMISSION Recitativo e ballata di Nedda Ruggero Leoncavallo from Pagliacci (1857-1919) Talk About A Child Traditional Witness Hall Johnson (1887-1970) City Called Heaven Hall Johnson Ride Up In The Chariot Betty Jackson King ( 1930-1994) BIOGRAPHIES KAREN PARKS has received critical acclaim nationally and internationally as one of the most gifted and versatile young vocalists today. James Oestreich of The New York Times describes her singing as "splendid," Derek Gentile of The Berkshire Eagle describes her singing as "stunning," and two critics, Milton Shulman of London's Evening Standard and William Glackin of the The Sacramento Bee, wrote respectively that her voice ''flows like lilting honey" and "her ethereal tones were like a lullaby." The Hufuudstadsbladet (Sweden) wrote "Karen Parks' glorious soprano is fluent and beautiful," and CD Reviews' critique of her EM/ recording of Carmen Jones states " ... there are a few straight ,.. l Michaela's who could take a lesson from her My Joe. " Last season Ms. Parks won the prestigious Fulbright Award to Italy, studying with Maestro Gabriele Pisani at La Scala in Milan and adding to her repertoire the roles of Mimi, Liu, Nedda, and the soprano parts in Verdi 's Requiem and Beethoven's Ninth Sym­ phony . She returned briefly to the US. to perform Verdi's Requiem with the Greenville Symphony and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony the Charlotte Symphony . Upon the death of Senator William Fulbright, Ms. Parks was flown from Milan to Berlin to sing a tribute in his honor. And just two days ago, she was the only vocalist selected to perform at the celebra­ tion of the 50th Anniversary Gala of the Fulbright Awards at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D. C. She performed Dominick Argento's chamber work, To Be Sung Upon The Water, with the composer in attendance. Ms. Parks makes her film debut in a nationally televised documentary titled Porgy and Bess: An American Voice. The film, narrated by Ruby Dee, includes interviews with Maya Angelou, Leontyne Price, William Warfield, Todd Duncan, and Diahann Carroll, and is scheduled to air next spring. Last March Ms. Parks added to her repertoire the role of Mafenka in The Bartered Bride with The Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh. Last January she appeared with the Helsinki Philharmonic under the direction of Eri Klas in a symphonic version of Porgy and Bess, singing all ofthe female roles - Bess, Clara , and Serena, appeared in a concert for TV] in Finland, and returned to Scandinavia last April for a tour launching her premiere English language recording ofFinnish songs titled Nocturne on the Naxos label. At the Savonlinna Opera Festival, Ms. Parks sang the soprano solo in Carmina Burana with baritone Jorma Hynninen. In November, Ms. Parks will tour Asia with Jorma Hynninen in televised performances of operatic arias, duets, and ensembles, and in December, Ms. Parks has been invited to appear as guest soloist in two televised benefit concerts for TV2 and MTV with proceeds to benefit The Children's Hospital and UNICEF. She made her London debut as Cindy Lou (Micaela) in the West End production of the Bizet/Hammerstein Carmen Jones. This production, directed by Simon Callow with musical direction by Henry Lewis, was recorded by EM! and earned her a Sir Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She made her Savonlinna Opera Festival debut in Finland with the world premiere of Perfect Harmony by Heikki Sarmanto which was recorded by Time-Warner. She was featured along with Jessye Norman, Martina Arroyo, Harry Belafonte, Phylicia Rashad, Maya Angelou, and Max Roach for the dedica­ tion of the Marian Anderson Theater and inaugurated that theater's first opera production in The Telephone which she also sang at Merkin Hall with Opera Ebony directed by Hope Clarke. Her audio recordings include Carmen Jones on EM!, Perfect Harmony on Time­ Warner, Freedom's Journey with Opera Ebony on Arcadia, Symphony of Spirituals with > Barbara Conrad on Naxos, and her solo recording Nocturne also on Naxos . Her future engagements take her to the Savonlinna Opera Festival for Nedda in Pagliacci, collaborating again with Eri Klas. She also returns to sing Richard Strauss' Vier Letzte Lieder with the Charlotte Symphony under the direction of guest conductor Kazuyoshi Akiyama. She made her San Francisco Opera debut in Die Frau ohne Schatten conducted by Christoph von Dohnanyi. After completing the Merola Program, she toured as Micaela in Bizet's Carmen with the Western Opera Theatre and performed Catherine in Offenbach's Pomme d'Api at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with the Orchestra of St. Luke's. She also appeared at the invitation of Jim Nabors on a pops concert titled Friends and Nabors that included Jim Nabors, Mary Hart, Florence Henderson, Debbie Reynolds, Ruth Buzzie, and Kay Starr at the Flathead Festival in Whitefish, Montana . Additionally, Ms. Parks has been featured in concerts and recitals throughout the US. and Europe. Her orchestral engagements include Faure's Requiem and Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem with the Sacramento Symphony, Handel's Messiah and Bach's Magni­ ficat with the Greenville Symphony, a concert at the Barbican with the London Symphony, a broadcast for the Jeunesse Musikal in Salzburg, Graz, and Horn, and operatic concerts at the Meyerson in Dallas and Symphony Hall in Goteborg, Sweden . Ms. Parks sang the title role in the world premiere of Ben Yarmolinsky 's Anita, based on the Anita Hill/ Clarence Thomas hearings, for the Friends and Enemies of New Music, sharing the program with Marni Nixon, Katherine Ciesinski, and Angelina Reaux. At the invitation of legendary television producer Dick Clark, she represented classical music in An Evening with Dick Clark for the opening gala of the National Music Center in Lenox, Massachusetts, and was a featured soloist at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center for the Music-AIDS-Harlem Benefit. In addition to being a Fulbright scholar, Ms. Parks is a recent recipient of the Cadeau Foundation Grant which she used to coach operatic repertoire with world-renowned soprano Renata Scotto. She is also a recipient of the Joachim Herz Scholarship for the Dresden Opera, the Puccini Foundation Competition, and Honorable Mention and regional.finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Competition. Ms. Parks has participated in master classes with Regine Crespin, Giorgio Tozzi, Licia Albanese, Martial Singher, and Ben Holt. A native of Greenville, South Carolina, Ms. Parks received her Master of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin and her Bachelor's degree from Furman University. Ms. Parks presently resides in Houston with her husband Tony A. Valentine , and tonight's performance marks her Houston debut recital. NEAL KURZ has frequently appeared as a collaborative pianist in the Houston area ap­ pearing in recitals with Camilla Wicks , Arthur Weisberg, Toby Appel, and William Pu. He is currently a staff accompanist at The Shepherd School of Music, where he has worked with the studios of Camilla Wicks, Kenneth Goldsmith, Kathleen Winkler, Sergiu Luca, Norman Fischer, and Desmond Hoebig, among others. He has studied with Frank Glaser and Rebecca Penneys at the Eastman School of Music, where he received a Bachelor ofMusic degree, and Martin Katz at the University ofMichigan , where he received a Master of Music degree in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music. Mr. Kurz has been on the staff at the Meadowmount School ofMusic, appearing in con­ cert with Alan Bodman, Corey Cerovsik, Ann Setzer, and Tanya Carey. He has accompanied for several international competitions, including the 1990 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow and the Corpus Christi Young Artists' Competition. He has appeared in concert in Symphony Hall in Boston with clarinetist Thomas Martin in a Boston Symphony Prelude Concert, and at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts in the Meadowmount School of Music faculty chamber music series. He has worked with Houston Grand Opera as a guest coach and has been a rehearsal accompanist for the Gilbert and Sullivan Society of Houston. RICE .