been associated with the Gran Liceo in Barcelona, the Spoleto Festival, the New York City Opera, Opera National de Paris and the Kirov Opera. Ms. N I C Dornemann received an Emmy Award for her contribution to the highly M S acclaimed first “Live From the Met” first telecast of La Bohème. She is the C author of Complete Preparation: A Guide to Auditioning for the Opera. Jonathan Griffith, CO-FOUNDER , ARTISTI C DIRE C TOR , A ND PRINCIpaL CONDU C TOR , DCINY Rewarding and acknowledging excellent vocal Jonathan Griffith is an active conductor, educator, lecturer, and consultant. technique and artistry in opera and oratorio His many conducting credits in this country and abroad include the Mormon Nico Tabernacle Choir, Salt Lake City; Manhattan Philharmonic and New I nternational Castel Master England Symphonic Ensemble, both in performances at Carnegie Hall; Singer Competition The European Symphony Orchestra, Spain; Virtuosi Pregensis Chamber Nico Castel International Orchestra, Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, and Dvorák Chamber Orchestra, Czech Republic; Bialystok State Philharmonic, Poland; and several regional orchestras and choruses in the U.S. In the summer of 2009, Maestro Griffith led his vocal ensemble, the Jonathan Griffith Singers, to the Master Singer Competition People’s Republic of China, conducting the China Premiere of Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man - Music for Peace performed by the celebrated XinYa ©Jeff Goldberg/ESTO courtesy of Carnegie Hall KongQi Symphony Orchestra at Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall and Shanghai’s Oriental Arts Center. Paul Plishka, INTERN A TION A LL Y -RENOWNED SINGER PRESIDENT’S DAY WEEKEND Paul Plishka’s extraordinary voice and impeccable artistry combine to make him one of the world’s foremost singers, praised by critics for his smooth, Featuring the finalists of the L. Algozzini SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2011 beautifully produced bass and polishedS. Nanni dramatic skills. This distinguished American artist has become one of the most widely acclaimed and sought- 8:30 PM after singers of our time. A leading member of the Metropolitan Opera roster since 1967, Paul Plishka also appears regularly with major opera WEILL RECITAL HALL AT CARNEGIE HALL companies in North American cities such as San Francisco, Chicago, Philadelphia, Seattle, Baltimore,M. E.Armijo Houston, Pittsburgh, Dallas, San Diego, H. Sorensen Featuring: Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. After the concert one female and one male winner will be named the 2011 Nico Castel International Master Singers! Female Finalists: Lisa Algozzini, Maria Elena Armijo, Distinguished Concerts International New York Eileen Mackintosh, Holly Sorensen and Perri Sussman C. Austin 212-707-8566 • [email protected]. Sussman • www.DCINY.org Male Finalists: Cody Austin, John Kaneklides, New York Opera Studio • 212-721-5290 Steven L. Nanni, Nicholas Tamagna www.newyorkoperastudio.org and Kreshnik Zhabjaku J. Kaneklides N. Tamagna DISTINGUISHED CONCERTS INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK 250 W 57th Street, Suite 1610 www.DCINY.org CO-SPONSORED BY THE New York, NY 10107 • 212.707.8566 The Art of Performance— E. Mackintosh NEW YORK OPERA STUDIO Toll Free: 1.877.MYDCINY • [email protected] The Power of Education. K. Zhabjaku 7 Saturday, February 19, 2011, 8:30 pm Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall Zabbi is Musical Director for New York Opera Studio and on faculty of the NYOS Summer Program at Vassar for Singers and Pianists. Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) Iris Derke, Co-Founder and General Director Jonathan Griffith, Co-Founder and Artistic Director Meet the Judges and New York Opera Studio (NYOS) Nico Castel, ARTISTI C DIRE C TOR , NYOS Nico Castel Artistic Director A multi-talented artist and scholar, Nico Castel has been a member of the Carol Castel, General Manager Metropolitan Opera Company as staff diction coach and artist for the past 37 years. Mr. Castel is the undisputed and internationally acclaimed expert on language, Present diction and style for singers. Currently on the faculty of The Juilliard School of Music, he teaches master classes in diction and style for singers at universities and opera companies throughout the world. Mr. Castel has authored 20 volumes of Opera 2011 Nico Castel International Master Singer Competition Libretti translations as well as the “Manual for Spanish Lyric Diction.” Bob Chilcott, COM P OSER ORAT O RI O Bob Chilcott has been involved in choral music for most of his life. He was a chorister and choral scholar at King’s College, Cambridge, and for 12 years was a member of the vocal group The King’s Singers. Since 1997 he has worked as a full-time Lisa Algozzini ROSSINI : LA UD A MUS TE composer and has written a wide variety of choral music. He has over 100 pieces Cody Austin VERDI : INGEMIS C O (FROM REQUIEM ) published by Oxford University Press, and a number of his choral works have been published in German, Swedish, Norwegian, and Slovenian. In late 2007, Signum Perri Sussman MOZ A RT : LA UD A MUS TE released to great critical acclaim a CD of his music, Man I Sing, on which Bob conducts the BBC Singers. As well as being Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Steven L. Nanni HA NDEL : EV ER Y VA LLE Y Sha LL BE Singers, he has conducted many other leading choirs in their field, including the EX A LTED (FROM MESSI ah ) World Youth Choir, the RIAS Kammerchor, Orphei Drangar from Sweden, and Jauna Musika from Lithuania. Eileen Mackintosh ROSSINI : INFL A MM A TUS (FROM ST A B A T A TER M) Barbara Conrad, INTERN A TION A L VO ca L ARTIST John Kaneklides MENDELSSO H N : IF WIT H A LL Y OUR Barbara Conrad’s luscious, mezzo-soprano voice has captivated audiences in opera H E A RTS Y OU TRUL Y SEEK ME houses and concert halls throughout Europe and the US, including the Metropolitan Opera Co., NY City Opera, Weiner Staatsoper, Carnegie Hall, NY Philharmonic and Maria Elena Armijo MOZ A RT : ALLELUI A the London Symphony. A recipient of the University of Texas Distinguished Alumnus Award, she has been honored with the founding of the Barbara Conrad Endowed Kreshnik Zhabjaku HA NDEL : BUT WH O May ABIDE Scholarship in Fine Arts. Ms. Conrad is on the faculty of the NYOS Summer Program Holly Sorensen VERDI : LIBER S C RI P TUS (FROM REQUIEM ) as special guest artist. Nicholas Tamagna Bach : QUONI A M TU SOLUS (FROM Joan Dornemann, CO-FOUNDER A ND ARTISTI C DIRE C TOR , INTERN A TION A L MA SS IN F M A JOR , BWV 233) VO ca L ARTS INSTITUTE Ms. Dornemann, Metropolitan Opera Assistant Conductor, is one of the most highly INTERMISSION respected opera coaches in the world today. She has worked with such singers as Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Sherrill Milnes, Kiri Te Kanawa, Please make certain your cellular phone or other electronic devices are switched off. Montserrat Caballe, Deborah Voigt, Renée Fleming, Leo Nucci and others. She has 6 3 Opera, Syracuse Opera, Dicapo Opera Theatre, Bay View Music Festival, Tacoma OPERA Opera, Bellevue Opera, Dona Ana Lyric Opera, AIMS, and OperaWorks. Maria Elena Armijo SA INT SA ENS : MON COUEUR S’OU V RE T A Kreshnik Zhabjaku, BA RITONE V OIX Kreshnik Zhabjaku began his singing career at the age of four. At John Kaneklides LA LO : VA INEMENT , M A BIEN -A IMÉE twelve he won first prize in the ”Young Voices” competition in his native Albania. He received his first graduate degree in 1997 from Eileen Mackintosh MA SSENET : PLEUREZ ! P LEUREZ MES Y EUX ! Tirana’s Academy of Fine Arts and went on to perform with many (FROM LE CID) outstanding orchestras in Europe, appearing regularly in France, Italy, and Austria. He also received a master’s degree in Vocal Nicholas Tamagna GLU C K : AMOUR , V IENS RENDRE À MON Performance from the Mannes College of Music in New York in ÂME (FROM ORFEO ED EURIDI C E ) (FREN ch 2003. Among many distinctions and honors, in 2008 the Washington Post praised him as “a recitalist in his prime...His soothing voice was a conduit for character.” VERSION ) Holly Sorensen SA INT SA ENS : AMOUR ! V IENS A IDER M A Holly Sorensen, MEZZO SO P R A NO F A I BLESSE ! Often hailed as a “true” mezzo soprano, Holly Sorensen is Steven L. Nanni DONIZETTI : UN A FURTI va L A GRIM A - known for her rich, colorful and expressive timbre. A gifted “L’ELISIR D’A MORE ” singing actor with great versatility, Ms. Sorensen has been described as having “a grand time!...dispensing attitude with Perri Sussman ME Y ERBEER : NOBLES SEIGNEURS , S A LUT relish and producing some impressively chilling tones” - Opera News. Recent season highlights include performances with Utah Cody Austin CILE A : E L A SOLIT A STORI A DEL pa STORE Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, and the Oratorio Society of (FROM L’A RLESI A N A ) New York at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Sorensen has a distinguished list of roles performed on both the operatic and concert stage. She has also participated and placed in Lisa Algozzini PU cc INI : QU A NDO M’EN V O ’ varied competitions throughout the U.S. Kreshnik Zhabjaku ROSSINI : COME UN AP E DEI GIORNI D’AP RILE Nicholas Tamagna, COUNTERTENOR New York City native Nicholas Tamagna was seen as Giulio Cesare Announcement of Master Singer Winners in Giulio Cesare in Egitto with Bel Cantanti Opera, described by the Washington Post as handling “his complex runs and vocal Please make certain your cellular phone or other electronic devices are switched off. ornaments fluently through all eight of his arias.” He made his debut performance as Orpheus in Orfeo ed Euridice with Brooklyn Repertory Opera and reprised this role with Opera Memphis in January 2010.