ESTHER, HWV 50A an ORATORIO, OR SACRED DRAMA
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Two Hundred Forty-Second Program of the 2013-14 Season _______________________ Indiana University Jacobs School of Music presents ESTHER, HWV 50a AN ORATORIO, OR SACRED DRAMA. THE MUSICK As it was Composed for the Most Noble JAMES DUKE OF CHANDOS by GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL (1685-1759) First reconstructable version, 1720 (Cannons) An oratorio in Three Acts English Words attributed to John Arbuthnot (1667-1735) Performed in the critical edition published by Bärenreiter-Verlag, 1995. Edited by Howard Serwer. Pro Arte Singers 2013 Joshi Handel Project Baroque Orchestra William Jon Gray, Conductor Juan Carlos Zamudio, Leader Eiddwen Harrhy, Guest Coach These performances are made possible in part by the Georgina Joshi Foundation, Inc. _________________ Auer Concert Hall Wednesday, October 30, 8:00 p.m. Thursday, October 31, 8:00 p.m. National Collegiate Choral Organization Fifth Conference The Cathedral of t.S John the Baptist Charleston, S.C. Saturday, November 2, 8:00 p.m. music.indiana.edu DRAMATIS PERSONÆ. Pro Arte Singers Esther, Queen of Persia . .Elizabeth Toy, Soprano Assuerus, King of Persia (Xerxes I) . Brendon Marsh, Tenor Haman, Prime Minister of Persia . Adam Walton, Bass-Baritone Priest of the Israelites. Sarah Ballman, Mezzo-Soprano Mordecai, Esther’s adoptive father. .Francisco Ortega, Tenor 1st Israelite Woman . Katelyn Lee, Soprano 2nd Israelite Woman . Angela Yoon, Soprano 3rd Israelite Woman. Jane Rownd, Mezzo-Soprano 1st Israelite Man . Christopher Sokolowski, Tenor Officer in the King’s Palace/2nd Israelite Man . Malcolm Cooper, Tenor Harbonah (Persian Officer)/3rd Israelite Man . Zachary Coates, Baritone 2013 Joshi Handel Project Baroque Orchestra Violin I . Juan Carlos Zamudio (Leader), Maria Romero, Toma Iliev Violin II. .Augusta McKay Lodge, Reynaldo Patino, Shan Jiang Viola . Vanessa Castillo Cello . Cole Tutino Bass . Eric David Fisher Harp . .Alexandra Mullins Oboe . Sarah Huebsch Bassoon . Kelsey Schilling, Charles Wines Horn . Burke Anderson, Kevin Miescke Trumpet. .Zachary Kingins, Lena Console Harpsichord . .William Jon Gray Organ. .Alice Baldwin Librarian . Mariel Stauff The Artists Conductor Conductor William Jon Gray is the former chair of the Choral Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he directs the Pro Arte Singers—the University’s internationally recognized early music chamber choir—and teaches graduate- level conducting, choral literature, and score reading. He was named chorus director of Chicago’s Music of the Baroque in 2010, collaborating with conductors Jane Glover and Nicholas Kraemer. Gray has been associate conductor of the Carmel Bach Festival in California, leading major choral and orchestra works and preparing performances with internationally renowned conductor Bruno Weil. He has also been assistant conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston. Gray has made guest appearances with orchestras and at festivals around the United States, including the Handel and Haydn Society, Princeton Festival, National Chamber Orchestra, Billings Symphony, and the Lafayette Symphony. He has appeared as guest director of the professional chorus of Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival, collaborating with Carlos Kalmar in performances of Dvořák’s Requiem and The Spectre’s Bride, as well as Haydn’s The Seasons. He has prepared choruses for the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and the National Chamber Orchestra, and he formerly served as faculty director of opera choruses for IU Opera Theater, collaborating with such notable directors as Tito Capobianco (La Traviata), Colin Graham (Peter Grimes), Vincent Liotta (A View from the Bridge), and Tomer Zvulun (Faust). Gray served as artistic director of the Masterworks Chorus and Orchestra of Washington, D.C. from 1986 to 1993 and was artistic director of the Bach Chorale Singers from 1994 to 2010, conducting more than 100 performances of major choral works. With the Bach Chorale Singers, he received national critical acclaim for the commercially released recording In Praise of the Organ: Latin Choral and Organ Music of Zoltán Kodály. In November 2012, Jubilate, a new recording of early and modern Christmas music was released featuring the professional chorus and orchestra of Chicago’s Music of the Baroque. Gray studied at Indiana University, New England Conservatory, Boston University, and The Juilliard School. He performed frequently with Robert Shaw as a member of the Robert Shaw Festival Singers, both in recordings and in concerts in France and at Carnegie Hall. Assuerus Tenor Brendon Marsh, of North Carolina, received his bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Kentucky in 2008. After a short stint in the culinary arts, Marsh made his IU Opera Theater debut as Tony in A View from the Bridge. He is currently completing his master’s degree at Indiana University, and has also appeared as the Majordomo of the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier and Danilo Danilovich in The Merry Widow. In the spring of 2011, he performed the role of the Evangelist in J. S. Bach’s Johannespassion with the Pro Arte Singers. He studies with Patricia Stiles. Esther Elizabeth Toy, soprano, completed her master’s degree at Indiana University and is in the second year of her doctoral studies here. She performed the title role in The Merry Widow and Catherine in Bolcom’s A View from the Bridge, and created the role of Sien in the world premiere of Bernard Rand’s Vincent with IU Opera Theater. Toy received her Bachelor of Music degree from Michigan State University, where she performed several roles with Michigan State Opera Theatre, including in the university premiere of Daniel Catan’s Florencia en el Amazonas (Rosalba), Candide (Cunegonde), Le Nozze di Figaro (Susanna), and the title roles in Susannah and Romeo et Juliette. Toy has appeared as soloist in the Jackson Symphony Pops series, in Handel’s Dixit Dominus with the Lansing Symphony, and in new music concerts with the Contemporary Vocal Ensemble at IU. She is the most recent winner of the Lexington Bach Choir Audrey Rooney Vocal Competition and is a student of Costanza Cuccaro. Haman Bass-baritone Adam Walton, a native of Orem, Utah, is a doctoral student pursuing his degree in voice performance with Costanza Cuccaro. He received his bachelor’s degree at Brigham Young University, where he was named the 2009 male singer of the year. He received his master’s degree from Indiana University. He has spent several recent summers working with the Caramoor Bel Canto Young Artist Program. His stage credits include Dr. Bartolo (Le Nozze di Figaro), the four villains (The Tales of Hoffman), Simone (Gianni Schicchi), Gauguin (Vincent), Su Cu (The Tale of Lady ịTh Kính), Marco (A View from the Bridge), Superintendent Budd (Albert Herring), Leporello (Don Giovanni), and most recently Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro). Priest of the Israelites Mezzo-soprano Sarah Ballman, from Eagle Grove, Iowa, is currently pursuing a Doctor of Music in Voice Performance at Indiana University, where she studies with Patricia Havranek. Ballman received her Bachelor of Arts in Voice with honors at South Dakota State University (SDSU) in Brookings, S.D., in 2009, where she studied with Emily Wood Toronto. Throughout her years at SDSU, Ballman performed in many opera scenes, including Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Angelina), Bizet’s Carmen (Carmen), and Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Pamina). She also performed the role of Olga in the world premiere of the chamber opera The Trickster and the Troll, written by Kristen Kuster, with the Heartland Opera Troupe in 2008. She received her Master of Music in Voice Performance from Indiana University last December. At IU, Ballman has performed with the Contemporary Vocal Ensemble and was chosen as the mezzo-soprano soloist for Aaron Copland’s In the Beginning, performed in Chicago at the KAM Isaiah Israel Synagogue in 2010 with the choir. Ballman has performed with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra as the alto soloist for George Frideric Handel’s Messiah and with the Bloomington Chamber Singers as the alto soloist for Ludwig van Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis. Her roles with IU Opera Theater include Una Conversa in Puccini’sSuor Angelica, Octavian in Richard Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier, Prince Charmant in Jules Massenet’s Cendrillon, and Nefertiti in Philip Glass’ Akhnaten. Next February, Ballman will be performing the title role in the world premiere of P.Q. Phan’s The Tale of Lady Thị Kính with IU Opera Theater. Mordecai Ecuadorian tenor Francisco Ortega Huerta is a second-year undergraduate student at the Jacobs School of Music as a student of Robert Harrison. In his hometown, he took voice lessons with soprano Beatriz Parra (2007-11) and Lissandro Loor (2011). In Ecuador, he played the comic roles of Damian and Capo in full productions of the zarzuelas La del Soto del Parral and La del Manojo de Rosas. In 2011, he won first prize in the FROM-A Young Talents Competition in Ecuador and was a semifinalist in the Concurso Ciudad de Trujillo in Peru. After completing his law studies in Ecuador, he was admitted to the Jacobs School of Music, where he received the Premier Young Artist Award and the Anthony and Olimpia Barbera Latin American Music Scholarship Fund. At IU, he has performed frequently with the Roundabout Opera for Kids community program directed by Kim Carballo. He has been seen in IU Latin American Music Center performances, and, last summer, he took part in Patricia Stiles’ opera workshop. He recently sang the role of Don Curzio in IU Opera Theater’s production of Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. Future engagements include singing the role of Mordecai in the Joshi Handel Project’s production of Esther, with William Jon Gray conducting, and a Valentine zarzuela concert with the Latin American Music Center. 1st Israelite Woman Soprano Katelyn Lee is a native of Springfield, Mo., currently pursuing a Doctor of Music in Voice Performance at Indiana University. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music, where she performed the roles of Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte,Fire in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortileges, and Diana in Offenbach’sOrpheus in the Underworld.