We Are The Change Sunday, October 18, 2020

We Are The Change

Byron Burford-Phearse, Pianist Abe Hunter, Pianist Sonja Thompson, Pianist Garrett McQueen, Host

Der Genesene an die Hoffnung H. Wolf Thomas Cannon

Wie froh und frisch J. Brahms Thomas Cannon

Allerseelen R. Strauss J. Warren Mitchell

Cäcilie R. Strauss Marsha Thompson

Schmerzen R. Wagner Raehann Bryce-Davis

L'alba sepàra dalla luce l’ombra F. Tosti J. Warren Mitchell

Spring Waters S. Rachmaninov Marsha Thompson

PREMIERE: We Call the Roll Anthony Davis Full Company

Intermission

Acerba volutta F. Cilea Raehann Bryce-Davis

Ah! per sempre io ti perdei V. Bellini Thomas Cannon

In quelle trine morbide G. Puccini Marsha Thompson

Nessun dorma G. Puccini J. Warren Mitchell

Stan’ Still Jordan H. Burleigh Thomas Cannon

Dream Variation M.Bonds Raehann Bryce-Davis

Songs for the People M. Powell J. Warren Mitchell

Love, let the wind cry U. Smith Moore Marsha Thompson

Ride on, King Jesus H. Johnson Raehann Bryce-Davis

Der Genesene an die Hoffnung He who has recovered addresses Eduard Mörike hope Tödlich graute mir der Morgen: English Translation © Richard Stokes Doch schon lag mein Haupt, wie süss! Day dawned deathly grey: Hoffnung, dir im Schoss verborgen, Yet my head lay, how sweetly! Bis der Sieg gewonnen hiess. O Hope, hidden in your lap, Opfer bracht ich allen Göttern, Till victory was reckoned won. Doch vergessen warest du; I had made sacrifices to all the gods, Seitwärts von den ewgen Rettern But you I had forgotten; Sahest du dem Feste zu. Aside from the eternal saviours O vergib, du Vielgetreue! You gazed on at the feast. Tritt aus deinem Dämmerlicht, Oh forgive, most true one! Dass ich dir ins ewig neue, Step forth from your twilight Mondenhelle Angesicht That I, just once, might gaze Einmal schaue, recht von Herzen, From my very heart Wie ein Kind und sonder Harm; At your eternally new and moonbright face, Ach, nur einmal ohne Schmerzen Like a child and without sorrow; Schliesse mich in deinen Arm! Ah, just once, without pain, Enfold me in your arms!

Wie froh and frisch How briskly and brightly Ludwig Tieck English Translation © Richard Stokes Wie froh und frisch mein Sinn sich hebt, How briskly and brightly my spirits soar, Zurück bleibt alles Bangen, All fear is left behind, Die Brust mit neuem Mute strebt, My heart strives with fresh courage, Erwacht ein neu Verlangen. Fresh longing awakes. Die Sterne spiegeln sich im Meer, The stars are mirrored in the sea, Und golden glänzt die Flut.— And the waves gleam with gold. Ich rannte taumelnd hin und her, I ran reeling this way and that, Und war nicht schlimm, nicht gut. And was neither bad nor good. Doch niedergezogen But doubts and misgivings Sind Zweifel und wankender Sinn, Are now laid low; O tragt mich, ihr schaukelnden Wogen, Oh, carry me, you pitching waves, Zur längst ersehnten Heimat hin. To the homeland I’ve long desired. In lieber, dämmernder Ferne, In the dear, darkening distance Dort rufen heimische Lieder, The songs of home are calling, Aus jeglichem Sterne From every star Blickt sie mit sanftem Auge nieder. She gazes gently down. Ebne dich, du treue Welle, Be calmed, O trusty waves, Führe mich auf fernen Wegen Lead me along distant paths Zu der vielgeliebten Schwelle, To the much-loved threshold, Endlich meinem Glück entgegen! To happiness at last!

Allerseelen All Souls' Day Hermann von Gilm English Translation © Richard Stokes Stell auf den Tisch die duftenden Reseden, Set on the table the fragrant mignonettes, Die letzten roten Astern trag herbei, Bring in the last red asters, Und laß uns wieder von der Liebe reden, And let us talk of love again Wie einst im Mai. As once in May. Gib mir die Hand, daß ich sie heimlich Give me your hand to press in secret, drücke, And if people see, I do not care, Und wenn man’s sieht, mir ist es einerlei, Give me but one of your sweet glances Gib mir nur einen deiner süßen Blicke, As once in May. Wie einst im Mai. Each grave today has flowers and is Es blüht und duftet heut auf jedem Grabe, fragrant, Ein Tag im Jahr ist ja den Toten frei, One day each year is devoted to the dead; Komm am mein Herz, daß ich dich wieder Come to my heart and so be mine again, habe, As once in May. Wie einst im Mai.

Cäcilie Cecily

Heinrich Hart English Translation © Richard Stokes Wenn Du es wüßtest, If you knew Was träumen heißt What it is to dream Von brennenden Küssen, Of burning kisses, Vom Wandern und Ruhen Of walking and resting Mit der Geliebten, With one’s love, Aug’ in Auge, Gazing at each other Und kosend und plaudernd – And caressing and talking – Wenn Du es wüßtest, If you knew, Du neigtest Dein Herz! Your heart would turn to me. Wenn Du es wüßtest, If you knew Was bangen heißt What it is to worry In einsamen Nächten, On lonely nights Umschauert vom Sturm, In the frightening storm, Da Niemand tröstet With no soft voice Milden Mundes To comfort Die kampfmüde Seele – The struggle-weary soul – Wenn Du es wüßtest, If you knew, Du kämest zu mir. You would come to me. Wenn Du es wüßtest, If you knew Was leben heißt, What it is to live Umhaucht von der Gottheit Enveloped in God’s Weltschaffendem Atem, World-creating breath, Zu schweben empor, To soar upwards, Lichtgetragen, Borne on light Zu seligen Höh’en, To blessed heights – Wenn Du es wüßtest, If you knew, Du lebtest mit mir. You would live with me.

Schmerzen Agonies Mathilde Wesendonck English Translation © Richard Stokes Sonne, weinest jeden Abend Every evening, sun, you redden Dir die Schönen Augen rot, Your lovely eyes with weeping, Wenn im Meeresspiegel badend When, bathing in the sea, Dich erreicht der frühe Tod; You die an early death; Doch erstehst in alter Pracht, Yet you rise in your old splendour, Glorie der düstren Welt, The glory of the dark world, Du am Morgen, neu erwacht, When you wake in the morning Wie ein stolzer Siegesheld! As a proud and conquering hero! Ach, wie sollte ich da klagen, Ah, why should I complain, Wie, mein Herz, so schwer dich sehn, Why should I see you, my heart, so Muß die Sonne selbst verzagen, depressed, Muß die Sonne untergehn? If the sun itself must despair, Und gebieret Tod nur Leben, If the sun itself must set? Geben Schmerzen Wonnen nur: If only death gives birth to life, O wie dank'ich daß gegeben If only agony brings bliss: Solche Schmerzen mir Natur. O how I give thanks to Nature For giving me such agony!

L’alba sepàra dalla luce l’ombra Day Banishes the Night Gabriele D’annunzio The dawn divides the darkness from light, L'alba sepàra dalla luce l'ombra, And my sensual pleasure from my desire, E la mia voluttà dal mio desire. O sweet stars, it is the hour of death. O dolce stelle, è l'ora di morire. A love more holy clears you from the skies. Un più divino amor dal ciel vi sgombra. Gleaming eyes, O you who'll ne'er return, Pupille ardenti, Sad stars, snuff out your uncorrupted light! O voi senza ritorno I must die, I do not want to see the day, Stelle tristi, spegnetevi incorrotte! For love of my own dream and of the night. Morir debbo. Veder non voglio il giorno, Per amor del mio sogno e della notte. Envelop me, O Night, in your maternal breast, Chiudimi, While the pale earth bathes itself in dew; O Notte, nel tuo sen materno, But let the dawn rise from my blood Mentre la terra pallida s'irrora. And from my brief dream the eternal sun! Ma che dal sangue mio nasca l'aurora E dal sogno mio breve il sole eterno!

Jeshchjo v poljakh belejet sneg Spring Waters Fyodor Ivanovich Tyutchev English Translation © Philip Ross Bullock Jeshchjo v poljakh belejet sneg, The fields are still white with snow, A vody uzh vesnoj shumjat -- But already there is the sound of spring in Begut i budjat sonnyj breg, the waters – Begut, i bleshchut, i glasjat... They run along and wake the sleepy banks, Oni glasjat vo vse koncy: They run, and glitter, and proclaim… "Vesna idjot, vesna idjot! They proclaim in every direction: My molodoj vesny goncy, ‘Spring is coming, spring is coming! Ona nas vyslala vperjod. We are the heralds of youthful spring, Vesna idjot, vesna idjot, Who sends us on ahead. I tikhikh, teplykh majskikh dnej Spring is coming, spring is coming, Rumjanyj, svetlyj khorovod And the quiet, warm days of May, Tolpitsja veselo za nej!..." Like some rosy, radiant round-dance, Hurry along in its wake.

We Call the Roll Thulani Davis

We move from grief to grief. We have no other choice! Choice! Death grips on a sidewalk. No knock while we sleep. We bring the change we seek. Fear stalks us where we work. We bring the change we seek. We move, we move from our grief! We bring the change we seek! We are the change we seek. The hymns ring out in church And terror is our bequest. We have brought it before. Unnatural death, unnatural death We risked our lives to vote and speak. Makes us march. But we’re not done. Senseless death we protest! But we’re not done! There’s more yet to come. A man gasping for breath. Gasping, his body tells the tale! We bring the change! Job shut down by disease! We bring the change we seek! Hunted by viral threat! Viral Death! There’s more yet to come! We bring the change! We move from grief to grief. Bring the change we seek! But it’s old, so very old. So old! New loss from week to week There’s more yet to come! And citizens’ rights not for all, We bring the change! Not for All! We bring the change we seek! There’s more yet to come! We walk for change not seen, All colors, our elders and youth. We bring the change we seek! We are a nation rising in the streets. There’s more yet to come! We walk for change unseen. This is the change! Black Lives uncover our truth. This is the change we seek! There’s more yet to come! Our path is real justice. We say it with one voice. We bring the change! Justice! Real Peace. We bring the change! A voice for peace. We bring the change With futures for all of us, futures! We seek!

Acerba voluttà Bitter Pleasure Acerba voluttà , dolce turtura, Bitter pleasure, sweet torture, lentissima agonia, rapida offesa, Slow agony, quick offense, vampa, gelo, tromor, smania, Blaze, frost, tremor, restlessness, fear, paura, ad amoroso sen torna l'attesa! For the lover who waits expectantly! Ogni eco, ogni ombra nella notte incesa Every echo, every shadow in the kindling contro la impaziente alma congiura : night fra dubbiezza e disìo tutta sospesa, Conspires against the impatient soul: l'eternità nell'attimo misura... Everything is suspended between doubt and desire, Verrà ? m'oblia? s'affretta? o pur si pente? One moment is an eternity…

Ecco, egli giunge! Will he come? Has he forgotten me? Will he No, del fiume è il verso, hasten to me? Or will he turn back? misto al sospir d'un arbore dormente... Here he comes!...No, it is the sound of the river, O vagabonda stella d'Oriente, Mixed with the sighs of a dormant tree…. non tramontar, non tramontar : O vagabond eastern star, sorridi all'universo, Do not set: smile on the universe, e s'egli non mente, scorta il mio amor! And guard my love, if he does not mind the way!...

Ah,! per sempre io te perdei Ah, forever now I've lost you

Ah, per sempre io te perdei, Ah, forever now I've lost you, fior d'amore, o mia speranza; flower of love, Oh, my hope; Ah! La vita che m'avanza Ah! The life left to me sarà piena di dolor! will be full of sorrow! Quando errai per anni ed anni While I wandered for years and years in poter della ventura, in the power of fortune, io sfidai sciagura e affanni I challenged misfortune and difficulties nella speme del tuo amor. in the hope of your love.

Bel sogno beato, Blessed beautiful dream, di pace e contento, peaceful and happy o cangia il mio fato, either change my fate, o cangia il mio cor. or change my heart. Oh! Come è tormento Oh! What a torment nel dì del dolore, in the day of grief, la dolce memoria is the sweet memory d'un tenero amor. of a tender love.

In quelle trine morbide In those soft laces

È ver! L'ho abbandonato It's ver! I abandoned it senza un saluto, un bacio! without a greeting, a kiss! Si guarda intorno e si ferma cogli occhi He looks around and stops with his eyes at all'alcova. the alcove. In quelle trine morbide … In those soft lace ... nell'alcova dorata v'è un silenzio in the golden alcove there is a silence gelido, mortal, v'è un silenzio, frosty, mortal, there is a silence, un freddo che m'agghiaccia! a cold that chills me! Ed io che m'ero avvezza And I was used to it a una carezza to a caress voluttuosa voluptuous di labbra ardenti e d'infuocate braccia of burning lips and fiery arms or ho tutt'altra cosa! or I have another thing! pensierosa pensively O mia dimora umile, O my humble home, tu mi ritorni innanzi you come back to me gaia, isolata, bianca gay, isolated, white come un sogno gentile like a kind dream di pace e d'amor! of peace and of love!

Nessun dorma No one sleeps

Nessun dorma, Nessun dorma! No one sleeps! No one sleeps! Tu pure, o Principessa, You too, O Princess! nella tua fredda stanza, in your chaste room guardi le stelle are watching the stars which che tremano d'amore e di speranza. tremble with love and hope! Ma il mio mistero e chiuso in me, But my secret lies hidden within me, il nome mio nessun sapra! no one shall discover my name! No, no, sulla tua bocca lo diro' Oh no, I will reveal it only on your lips, quando la luce splendera'! when daylight shines forth Ed il mio bacio scioglierà il silenzio and my kiss shall break che ti fa mia! the silence which makes you mine

(Il nome suo nessun saprà ! (no one shall discover my name! e noi dovrem, ahime, morir!) And we will have to die!)

Dilegua, o notte! Depart, oh night! Tramontate, stelle! Fade away, you stars! All'alba vincero'! At dawn I shall win!

Stan’ Still Jordan

Stan’ still Jordan Jordan river Stan’ still Jordan Jordan river Stan’ still Jordan Jordan river Lord, I can't stan’ still Is chilly and cold

I got a mother in heaven It will chill-a my body I got a mother in heaven It will chill-a my body

I got a mother in heaven It will chill-a my body Lord, I can't stan’ still But not my soul

When I get up in glory Stan’ still Jordan When I get up in glory Stan’ still Jordan

When I get up in glory Stan’ still Jordan

Lord, I can't stan’ still Lord, I can’t stan’ still

Stan’ still Jordan Stan’ still Jordan Stan’ still Jordan Stan’ still Jordan

Dream Variation Langston Hughes

To fling my arms wide To fling my arms wide In some place in the sun In the face of the sun To whirl and to dance Dance! Whirl! Whirl! Till the white day is done Till the quick day is done Then rest at cool evening Rest at pale evening . . Beneath a tall tree A tall, slim tree . . While night comes on gently Night coming tenderly Dark like me— Black like me That is my dream!

Songs for the People Frances Ellen Watkins Harper

Let me make the songs for the people, Our world, so worn and weary, Songs for the old and young; Needs music, pure and strong, Songs to stir like a battle cry To hush the jangle and discord Wherever they are sung. Of sorrow, pain, and wrong.

Let me make the songs for the weary, Music to soothe all its sorrow Amid life’s fever and fret, Till war and crime shall cease; Till hearts shall relax their tension, And the hearts of men grown tender and careworn brows forget. Girdle the world with peace.

Not for the clashing of sabres, Let me make the songs for the people, For carnage nor for strife; Songs for the old and young; But songs to thrill the hearts of men Songs to stir like a battle cry With more abundant life. Wherever they are sung.

Let me sing for little children Let me make the songs for the weary, Before their footsteps stray, Amid life’s fever and fret, Sweet anthems of love and duty Till hearts shall relax their tension, To float o’er life’s highway. And careworn brows forget.

Love Let the Wind Cry Sappho

Love, let the wind cry On the dark mountain, Love, let the clear call Bending the ash trees Of the tree cricket, And the tall hemlocks Frailest of creatures, With the great voice of Green as the young grass, Thunderous legions. Mark with his trilling resonant bell-note. How I adore thee. How I adore thee.

Let the hoarse torrent But, more than all sounds In the blue canyon Surer, serener, Murmuring mightily Fuller of passion Out of the gray mist And exultation, Of primal chaos Let the hush’d whisper Cease not proclaiming In thine own heart say, How I adore thee. How I adore thee.

Let the long rhythm Of crunching rollers, Breaking and bursting On the white seaboard.

Titan and tireless, Tell, while the world stands, How I adore thee.

Ride on, King Jesus!

Ride on, King Jesus! No man can a hinder me. Ride on, King Jesus, ride on! No man can a hinder me.

For He is King of kings, He is Lord of lords, Jesus Christ de first an’las’, No man works like Him.

For He is King of kings, He is Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, de first an’ las’, No man works like Him.

King Jesus rides a milk-white horse, No man works like Him. De river of Jerdin He did cross, No man works like Him.

For He is King of kings, Lord of lords, Oh, Jesus Christ, de first an’ las’, Oh!

King Jesus rides in de middle o’ de air, Oh! He calls de saints from everywhere, Ah!

Ride on, King Jesus! No man can a hinder me. Ride on King Jesus, ride on. No man can a hinder me.

He is de King, He is de Lord, Ha! He is de King, He is de Lord, Ha!

Jesus Christ, de first an’ las’, No man works like Him! Ride on, ride on, ride on, Jesus!

The Lied Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit performing arts organization for the advancement of Art Song. The founder of the Lied Society, Abe Hunter, is a skilled partner with vocalists and instrumentalists alike. He has performed in recital throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in opera festivals in Austria and Italy. A fervent proponent of supporting singers’ careers, Mr. Hunter has produced several operas including Madama Butterfly and Le nozze di Figaro, providing a springboard for gifted artists. As founder of the Lied Society, he is devoted to advancing Art Song into a leading role for singers while ensuring equity in hiring practices for artists of color. Mr. Hunter is a proud Anishinaabe and a registered member of Rainy River First Nations in Ontario, Canada.

Anthony Davis, composer

Opera News has called Anthony Davis, "A National Treasure," for his pioneering work in opera. His music has made an important contribution not only in opera, but in chamber, choral and orchestral music.

Anthony Davis is an American pianist and composer. He incorporates several styles including jazz, rhythm ‘n blues, gospel, non-Western, African, European classical, Indonesian gamelan, and experimental music. He has played with several groups and is also professor of music at University of California, San Diego.

Davis is perhaps best known for his operas; he has been called "the dean of African-American opera composers." His better-known compositions include X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X, , which was premiered by New York City Opera in 1986; Amistad, which premiered with Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1997; and Wakonda’s Dream, which premiered at Opera Omaha in 2007. His opera The Central Park Five premiered on June 15, 2019 at Long Beach Opera Company in California. It won him a Pulitzer Prize for Music on May 4, 2020.

Davis has received acclaim as a free-jazz pianist, a co-leader or sideman with various ensembles. He also wrote the incidental music for the Broadway version of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. Many of his operas have explored people and events from African American history. Davis has also explored other ethnic history. His opera Wakonda’s Dream (2007), with a libretto by Yusef Komunyakaa, is a tale of a contemporary Native American Ponca family in Nebraska and the history that affects them.

His opera Lilith (libretto by Allan Havis) had its world premiere at the Conrad Prebys Music Center at UCSD on December 4, 2009. The story is about the demon figure of Jewish mythology who was sometimes said to be biblical Adam’s first wife. It is set in a modern era. He began working on the music for the opera The Central Park Five in 2014. An early version, titled Five, was performed in Newark, New Jersey in 2016 by the Trilogy Company. The librettist for both the early and final versions was playwright Richard Wesley. The Central Park Five premiered on June 15, 2019 in a production by the Long Beach Opera Company. In 2020 the work won him the Pulitzer Prize for Music. He commented, "it’s also very exciting for me that you can create political work that has an impact and speak to issues in our society. I’ve done my career creating political works, and I never thought I would ever get a Pulitzer.”

A graduate of Yale University in 1975, Mr. Davis is currently a professor of music at the University of California, San Diego. In 2008 he received the "Lift Every Voice" Legacy Award from the National Opera Association acknowledging his pioneering work in opera. In 2006 Mr. Davis was awarded a fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Mr. Davis has also been honored by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the New York Foundation of the Arts, the National

Endowment of the Arts, the Massachusetts Arts Council, the Carey Trust, Chamber Music America, Meet-the-Composer Wallace Fund, the MAP fund with the Rockefeller Foundation and Opera America. He has been an artist fellow at the MacDowell Colony and at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center in Italy.

Thulani Davis, lyricist

Thulani Davis is an interdisciplinary scholar and writer working in several genres. She is currently at work on a book entitled, Fugitive Freedoms: A Race, Politics & Black Culture Circuit Before Civil Rights. Her teaching interests are black political thought, slavery, Reconstruction, and African American literature. A longtime journalist, critic and theater artist, she is a student of literary theory and innovation in performance arts. She has been a recipient of a Lila Wallace-Readers Digest Writers Award, a PEW Foundation National Theatre Artist Residency, and a Charles H. Revson Fellowship on the Future of New York City. She was an inaugural fellow of the Leon Levy Center for Biography at the City University of New York. Davis is also a past Grammy winner and Grammy nominee, and was honored by the Veterans Committee of the Congressional Black Caucus for work on the 2011 National Monument designation of Fortress Monroe, VA, site of the 1619 landing of Africans and the onset of the flight of enslaved people during the Civil War. She was the 2013 recipient of the Lerner Prize in American Studies at New York University, and she is a 2010 Distinguished Alumna of Barnard College and a 2013 Barnard Africana Studies Distinguished Alumna, among other awards.

Marsha Thompson, soprano

Marsha Thompson, soprano is lauded by The New York Times for her “…stellar performance of Violetta in La Traviata (in Central Park)…revealing a warm agile soprano…who sang and acted expressively throughout the evening.” Ms. Thompson was recently cast as Aida for Teatro Municipal de São Paulo’s groundbreaking new production, March 2020. She has sung Sieglinde in Die Walküre with Trilogy Opera Company in Newark, NJ, Aida with Opera Theater of the Rockies in Colorado Springs, CO & Piccolo Teatro a La Scala, and Abigaille in Nabucco with Union Avenue Opera in St. Louis. She has received accolades for her portrayal of Bess in Porgy and Bess (New York City Opera, Opera Carolina, Piedmont Opera). La Traviata (Opera Mississippi and New York Grand Opera), Tosca (Opera Festival di Roma), Life and Times of X and Treemonisha (New York City Opera), Harriet Tubman (American Opera Projects). Ms. Thompson has been awarded considerable prizes from Opera Orchestra of New York, Altamura Caruso International Voice Competition, Metropolitan Opera National Council, as well as awards from other prestigious organizations.

Raehann Bryce-Davis, mezzo-soprano

Hailed by the New York Times as a “striking mezzo soprano” and by the San Francisco Chronicle for her “electrifying sense of fearlessness,” Raehann Bryce-Davis opened the 2019/20 season singing Verdi’s Requiem with conductor Kent Nagano at the Montreal Olympic Stadium. She then returned to Opera Vlaanderen for her role debut as Eboli in Verdi’s Don Carlos and made her LA Opera debut in the world premiere of Aucoin's Eurydice, then sang Sara in Roberto Devereux opposite Angela Meade and Ramon Vargas. Next season she will perform role debuts of Azucena in Verdi's Il Trovatore at Staatstheater Nürnberg, Brangäne in Wagner's Tristan and Isolde at Opera Vlaanderen, Preziosilla in Verdi's La Forza del Destino at Théâtre du Capitole, and Guinevere in Chausson's Le Roi Arthus at Bard Summerscape. During the current pandemic she released her music video, "To the Afflicted," dedicated to opera and those fighting on the front lines for justice and equity in the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement. She is the winner of international competitions around the world

including the George London Competition, the Hilde Zadek International Competition, and the Concorso Lirico di Portofino.

Concert highlights include the world premiere of Sanctuary Road by Paul Moravec at Carnegie Hall which was released by Naxos Records, Elgar's Sea Pictures at the Musikverein in Vienna, and singing for legendary opera singer Christa Ludwig, after which the diva was moved to give her the dress she wore for her farewell recital at Carnegie Hall. The dress made its encore appearance at Carnegie Hall in 2019 when Bryce-Davis performed an unforgettable Verdi Requiem with the Oratorio Society of New York.

J. Warren Mitchell, tenor

Hailed by the Ruppiner Anzeiger as “ The New, Young Pavarotti,” American-born tenor J. Warren Mitchell is an emerging star in the opera world with a distinct lyric voice that is known for singing the legato melodies of Verdi and passionate, yet tender, interpretations of arias from Puccini.

Mitchell has captivated audiences in the U.S. with “those juicy tenor sounds and a winning smile…”(OperaWire.com) and a voice that “can trumpet notes and make extraordinary throbbing sounds hearkening back to a golden age when gods like (Giuseppe) di Stefano still roamed” (OperaWire.com). In Germany, he has ensnared audiences and critics who have described him as possessing an “unbelievable tenor voice full of power and passion…” (Ruppiner Anzeiger). German critics have also praised Mitchell’s tenor voice as possessing “Glittering high notes with lyrical brilliance, technically perfect, seemingly effortless in the variation of vocal colors” (Deutschlandfunk).

In addition to being a featured performer in concert with orchestras all over the US and abroad in Germany, J. Warren is a 2012 Midwest Regional winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a recipient of the Agnes Varis Career Encouragement Grant, a nominee for the Sara Tucker Award (Richard Tucker Music Foundation in New York City), a two-time winner of the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg International Opera Competition (Rheinsberg, Germany), a 2013 voice fellow at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, CA, a 2019 Grand Finalist and 5th place Award winner in the Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition.

Thomas Cannon, baritone

Thomas Cannon, baritone, is attracting attention as an important singer with a unique voice, exquisite musicianship, and sensitive artistic expression. At Fort Worth Opera, his heartfelt and moving Porgy made “time stand still” in Porgy & Bess. Recognized for his “strong and striking” stage presence, he has performed with The Glimmerglass Festival, Chautauqua Opera, Santa Fe Opera, The Dallas Opera, and Music Academy of the West. Recent appearances include Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Sharpless in Madame Butterfly, Scarpia in Tosca, and a “riveting” Escamillo in Carmen. He was “entertainer extraordinaire” as Figaro in Corigliano’s Ghosts of Versailles and has recently performed multiple roles in the new American opera, Fellow Travelers at Arizona Opera.

Mr. Cannon appears regularly in concert and has performed masterworks that include Haydn’s Harmonie Messe at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna and Mozart’s Requiem at the Esterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt, Austria. At Carnegie Hall, he has sung Verdi’s Requiem and Delius’ Mass of Life with The American Symphony Orchestra. Other oratorios and orchestral works include Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah and Handel’s Messiah. Thomas is a graduate of Baylor University and The Juilliard School, with notable teachers including Nico Castel, Mignon Dunn, Marlena Malas, Dr. John Van Cura, and Marilyn Horne. He currently studies

with Kim Josephson of The Metropolitan Opera. Mr. Cannon has garnered awards from The Dallas Opera Guild, Chautauqua Opera, The Anna Sosenko Foundation, West Palm Beach Opera, Opera Birmingham, and The Metropolitan Opera National Council.

Byron Burford-Phearse, pianist

Pianist Byron Burford-Phearse has been featured on several recordings, chamber music recitals, and live radio broadcasts. Other radio spotlights include performances from the Centre d’Arts Orford featured on CBC in Canada as well as the Dame Myra Hess concerts broadcast live for an audience of 1.5 million on WFMT in Chicago. As a chamber musician, Mr. Burford-Phearse has performed extensively across the United States with the CORE Ensemble. After graduating Magna Cum Laude from the University of Michigan, Mr. Burford-Phearse continued as a scholarship student at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England.

Mr. Burford-Phearse has made solo and chamber music appearances at the Hot Springs Music Festival, the Centre d’Arts Orford in Montreal, the International Keyboard Festival in New York City, and the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris as part of the European American musical Alliance. As an accompanist, Mr. Burford-Phearse has collaborated with critically acclaimed vocalists such as Robert Sims and Angela Brown and has had coachings from acclaimed pianists such as Sergei Babayan (United States), Christopher Elton (London), Peter Eicher (Germany), Roy Howat (Scotland), Narcis Bonet (France), and Abbey Simon. In additions to numerous performances in the United States and abroad, Mr. Burford-Phearse focuses on themed recitals with violinist Tami Lee Hughes and the CORE Ensemble.

Mr. Burford-Phearse holds degrees and diplomas from the University of Michigan, the Royal Academy of Music, and the Mannes College of Music in New York City as well as post-graduate qualifications in Managerial Finance from the London School of Economics. Mr. Burford-Phearse lives in London, England and New York City.

Thank You We sincerely thank those who brought this event to you today. Without their help this concert would not be possible.

Philip Brunelle Connie Fullmer and Jimmy Longoria Julia Gallagher Margo Garrett Michelle and Bob Hunter

Schubert Club Barry Kempton Anna Torgerson

This performance is made possible in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

Advisory Council: Connie Fullmer, Margo Garrett, Jimmy Longoria, Richard Ollarsaba, Karen Slack, Susan Youens

Additional thanks to: Kris Borderson, Leslie Brandt, Jake Handegard, Samantha Goessner, Don Kenneth, Mike Madison, Tony Nelson, Patrick Pegg, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Collin Sherraden, Matt Thueson, Joshua Wyatt