Morgan State University Opera Workshop Newsletter Bravi Tutti! Bravi Tutti! Bravi TuttiSPRING! ISSUE Volume 1, No. 2 SPRING 2011 Opera ALA SPRIING 2011OperaGG ALA MMAASSTTEERR CCLLAASSSS SSEERRIIIEESS WWiiissddoomm fffrroomm ttthhee JJoouurrnneeyy 2011 BBaallttiimmoorree SSuummmmeerr OOppeerraa WWoorrkksshhoopp 11 Bravi Tutti! Spring Issue 1 Greetings from the Artistic Director… Happy New Year! The Morgan State University Opera Workshop is delighted that you are taking the time to read this newsletter and stay abreast of the progress, events, and development of our students. We have come a long way in the past seven years. When I first arrived at Morgan there was a small class run by the late Dr. Marilyn Thompson. The students were very enthusiatic and Dr. Thompson was very creative and committed to providing performance opportunities for the students. Our first class was made up of ten very enthusiatic students. Our first event was an evening of opera scenes by Mozart, Purell and Douglas Moore in fall 2004. We mounted our first fully-staged opera in spring 2005 with a production of Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Medium. This was the beginning of a new era of operatic performances here at Morgan. It was also the beginning of a great journey for our students. In this spring edition of Bravi Tutti!...you will read about our events for the semester which include master classes with Washington, DC born international opera singer Denyce Graves and Broadway singer/dancer and the title role of “The Wiz” on Broadway, Kenneth Kamal Scott; “Wisdom from the Journey” guest retired opera singer, Junetta Jones; our program for the spring 2011 Opera Gala with the MSU Opera Workshop and MSU Choir in collaboration once again with Maestro Julien Benichou and the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra, and updates on some of the Alumni of the Opera Workshop. We hope after reading this edition, you will consider joining us for several of our events, share it with your friends, get involved with “Friends of Opera at Morgan” our community-based support group or even make a financial donation to our cause. Thanks for tuning in to Bravi Tutti! Peace and Blessings, Vincent Bravi Tutti! Spring Issue 2 Table of Content Kenneth Kamal Scott Denyce Graves Spring 2011 Schedule of Events 4 Cover photo taken by Romanieo Golphin Wisdom from the Journey Series 5 Junetta Jones, soprano Master Class Series Artists 6 Denyce Graves, mezzo-soprano Kamal Scott, tenor Spring 2011 Opera Gala and Artists 10 Julien Benichou, conductor Chester Burke, pianist One Night Only: A Broadway Review 11 Dayna Quincy and Ricardo Blagrove, Student Co-Directors Charles T. Hayes, Music Director In the Spotlight: 12 Derrick Thompson, MA ‘10 Alumni News 13 2011 Baltimore Summer Opera Workshop 14 Schedule and Dates Friends of Opera at Morgan 16 Fall 2010 Highlights 17 Bravi Tutti! Spring Issue 3 Department of Fine and Performing Arts Dr. Eric Conway, Chairperson Morgan State University Opera Workshop Vincent Dion Stringer, Artistic Director Dr. Samuel Springer, Music Director Charles T. Hayes, Chorus Master SPRING 2011 EVENT SCHEDULE PERFORMANCE MASTER CLASS SERIES Spring 2011 Opera Gala A Master Class on Solo Vocal Literature and Operatic Repertoire Featuring Denyce Graves, Mezzo-Soprano Morgan State University Opera Workshop International Opera Singer Morgan State University Choir Thursday, February 24, 2011 from 4:00 – 6:00 PM Chester Burke, pianist Recital Hall at Murphy Fine Arts Center With the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra Morgan State University Julien Benichou, conductor Baltimore, Maryland Program Admission: Free Rachmaninoff Piano Concert No. 2 And selections from operatic works of “Wisdom from the Journey” Series Leoncavallo, Puccini, Tchaikovsky and Verdi An Interview with soprano, Junetta Jones Conducted by Vincent Dion Stringer Saturday, March 12, 2011 at 7:00 PM Tuesday, March 15, 2011 from 4:00 – 6:00 PM Francis Scott Key Auditorium at St. John’s College, Admission: Free Annapolis, Maryland A Master Class on Musical Theater Repertoire and Style Sunday, March 13, 2011 at 5:00 PM Kenneth Kamal Scott, tenor Gilliam Concert Hall, Murphy Fine Arts Center, Morgan Thursday, April 7, 2011 from 4:00 – 6:00 PM State University, Baltimore, Maryland Recital Hall at Murphy Fine Arts Center Morgan State University Tickets: $15-General Admission $5-Students with Bear Baltimore, Maryland Card ID. Tickets are available through the Murphy Fine Admission: Free Arts Center, Ticket Office (443) 885-4440 or through Ticketmaster at tickemaster.com or 410-547-SEAT. “One Night Only” A Broadway Review With Selections from Avenue Q, Chicago, All events are funded by the Morgan State University Opera Workshop Fund, Friends of Opera at Morgan Hairspray and Rent Dayna Quincy and Ricardo Blagrove, Co-Directors and ticket sales. Charles T. Hayes, Music Director Tuesday, May 10, 2011 at 5:00 PM Recital Hall at Murphy Fine Arts Center Morgan State University Baltimore, Maryland Admission: Free Bravi Tutti! Spring Issue 4 Wisdom from the Journey Series “Wisdom from the Journey” is a series of interviews with seasoned performing artists and educators conducted before a live public audience by Vincent Dion Stringer. This concept grows out of our first summer opera experience during the 2010 Baltimore Summer Opera Workshop at Morgan State University. This is an opportunity for performing artists and educators who have made significant contributions to the field of the performing arts to come and share their stories with our students and community passing on words of wisdom in a multi-generational exchange. Some of our past guests have been, baritone and economists and Morgan alum, Daniel Comegys, soprano and educator from Howard University, Mrs. Charlotte Wesley Holloman, baritone and educator, William Ray and Professor Emeritus of voice and past Dean of the School of Music at University of Michigan, Dr. Willis Patterson stories with our students and community passing on words of wisdom in a multi-generational exchange. Featured Guest Artist… Junetta Jones born 1937 is an American operatic soprano. A Baltimore native, she is a graduate of Frederick Douglass Senior High School. After earning a Bachelor of Music from Morgan State College, she was awarded a three year scholarship to the Peabody Conservatory where she earned a diploma in 1961 and studied singing with Joseph Laderoute. She then pursued further studies at the New England Conservatory where she earned a Master of Music in 1963 and was a pupil of Gladys Miller. She studied at the Tanglewood Music Center in the summer of 1961. In 1963 she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera on Halloween of 1963 as the Celestial Voice in Giuseppe Verdi’s Don Carlos with Richard Tucker in the title roles. She sang two seasons at the Met, with other roles including the 1st Genie in The Magic Flute, the Page in Rigoletto, and Barbarina in The Marriage of Figaro. From 1965-1969 she performed with major opera houses in Europe. She worked for 20 years on the advisory committee for art and culture for the city of Baltimore. See her on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfNF9X3qRM8 Bravi Tutti! Spring Issue 5 Master Class Artists….. Denyce Graves, mezzo soprano is a native of Washington, DC and Kamal age 12 with Paul Robeson first emerged into the international limelight in the early 1990’s. She began her journey into opera during her high school years at the Duke Ellington School for the Arts in DC. Recognized worldwide as one of today’s most exciting vocal stars, Denyce Graves continues to gather unparalleled popular and critical acclaim in performances on four continents. USA Today identifies her as “an operatic superstar of the 21st Century,” and the Atlanta Journal- Constitution exclaims, “If the human voice has the power to move you, you will be touched by Denyce Graves.”Her career has taken her to the world’s great opera houses and concert halls. The combination of her expressive, rich vocalism, elegant stage presence, and exciting theatrical abilities allows her to pursue a wide breadth of operatic portrayals and to delight audiences in concert and recital appearances. Denyce Graves has become particularly well-known to operatic audiences for her portrayals of the title roles in Carmen and Samson et Dalila. These signature roles have brought Ms. Graves to the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Washington Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Arena di Verona, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opernhaus Zürich, Teatro Real in Madrid, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Los Angeles Opera, and the Festival Maggio Musicale in Florence. Ms. Graves opens the 2010-11 Seattle Symphony season in a gala performance with Music Director Gerard Schwarz and returns to the Dallas Opera as Giovanna Seymour in the company’s presentation of Anna Bolena under the baton of Music Director Graeme Jenkins. In conjunction with the Kennedy Center’s festival, The Presidency of John F. Kennedy: A 50th Anniversary Celebration, the artist delivers a tribute recital to Kennedy Center Honoree Grace Bumbry commemorating Ms. Bumbry’s recital at the Kennedy White House in 1962. Additional appearances of the season take Ms. Graves throughout North America in recital and concert. Last season, Ms. Graves celebrated the opening of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts in a gala concert with Thomas Hampson, reprised her acclaimed portrayal of Judith in Bluebeard’s Castle in concert performances of the opera with Giancarlo Guerrero and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, and bowed in the title role of Carmen in Poland. A prolific recital artist, she toured North America and Europe with concert highlights in Germany, the British Virgin Islands, in Maryland at the Strathmore Hall, and in Boston under the auspices of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.