Media Contact: Charles Cinnamon [email protected] 305-672-1324 or Justin Moss [email protected] 305-854-1643 ext. 1600 Florida Grand Opera to Present New Superstar Concert Series featuring Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Marcello Giordani and Bryn Terfel Miami, FL, November 25, 2008 – Florida Grand Opera’s highly anticipated new Superstar Concert Series will premiere on Saturday, January 10, 2009, at the Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. Last summer, General Director Robert Heuer invited Judy Drucker to join the company as Senior Artistic Advisor and to help him create this new series featuring the world’s great opera singers. The series consists of three thrilling concerts with full orchestra accompaniment and will feature some of the greatest male voices of today, paired with thrilling Metropolitan Opera divas. Internationally acclaimed Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky will inaugurate the series alongside soprano Ekaterina Siurina, conducted by Constantine Orbelian. Praised for his innate sense of musical line and natural legato, Dmitri Hvorostovsky has performed at the world’s major opera houses and concert halls, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, L’Opéra de Paris, Teatro alla Scala, Vienna State Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago; Wigmore Hall, London; Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh; Carnegie Hall, New York; Tchaikovsky Conservatoire, Moscow; the Liceu, Barcelona; the Suntory Hall, Tokyo; and the Musikverein, Vienna. He also regularly performs in concert with top orchestras, including New York Philharmonic and the Rotterdam Philharmonic, under the direction of such illustrious conductors as James Levine, Bernard Haitinck, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Yuri Termirkanov and Valery Gergiev. Soprano Ekaterina Siurina made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2006 as Gilda in Rigoletto. Career highlights for Ms. Siurina include Adina in L’elisir d’amore with Deutsche Oper Berlin and Hamburg State Opera, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro at Teatra alla Scala, Giulietta in I Capuleti e i Montecchi with Montpellier Opera and in Liège, Ilia in Idomeneo at the Salzburg Festival, and Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos with Paris’s Bastille Opera and in Berlin. She has also appeared in concert in performances of Carmina Burana with the London Philharmonic and the Danish Philharmonic. The brilliant pianist and conductor Constantine Orbelian is the first American ever to become music director of an ensemble in Russia. His appointment in 1991 as Music Director of the celebrated Moscow Chamber Orchestra was a breakthrough event and came in the midst of Orbelian's successful career as a concert pianist. In September 2000, Orbelian was named Permanent Guest Conductor of the Moscow Philharmonic, putting him in a unique leadership position with not only Moscow’s outstanding chamber orchestra but also its most illustrious symphony orchestra. In January 2004 President Putin awarded Orbelian the coveted title “Honored Artist of Russia,” a title never before bestowed on a non-Russian citizen. FGO’s sumptuous Superstar Concert Series continues on March 9, 2009 with leading Metropolitan Opera tenor Marcello Giordani. He will be joined by South Florida favorite soprano Leah Partridge, who also performs the title role of Lakmé in the mainstage season. Internationally acclaimed conductor and composer Steven Mercurio will conduct. In high demand by the world’s leading opera houses and symphony orchestras, Marcello Giordani was recently hailed by Opera News as “. arguably, the leading tenor of his generation.” He opened the Metropolitan Opera's 2007-08 season as Edgardo in a new production of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor by Tony Award winning director Mary Zimmerman. In addition to his Metropolitan Opera performances, Mr. Giordani made his debut in Verdi's La forza del destino with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, in Florence, Italy, under the direction of Zubin Mehta. He returned to the Metropolitan Opera this year in a revival of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut and made his debut in the title role of Verdi's Ernani in a production which has not been heard at the Met since 1985. On Saturday, November 22, 2008, Mr. Giordani entered the company of a handful of Metropolitan Opera singers who have sung two lead roles in different operas on the same day. He performed the title role in Berlioz’s The Damnation of Faust for the matinee performance, and then replaced an ailing colleague as Pinkerton for that evening’s performance of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. Maestro Steven Mercurio’s versatility encompasses the symphonic and operatic worlds. For the stage, he has conducted more than 45 different operas in 6 different languages. His engagements have taken him to many of the world’s most loved opera houses, including the Teatro dell’Opera, Roma; Teatro Bellini, Catania; Teatro Filarmonico, Verona; Teatro Reggio, Torino; Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels; Bonn Opera; Teatro Massimo, Palermo; Teatro Verdi, Trieste; as well as the English National Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera, Seattle Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Pacific, and Dallas Opera. He last appeared with FGO as conductor for Verdi’s Otello in 2000. Maestro Mercurio has conducted opera and symphony pieces for several telecasts, including the “Christmas in Vienna” series with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra for Sony Classical highlighted by the 1999 concert featuring “The Three Tenors.” He also conducted the now classic PBS broadcast special, “American Dream – Andrea Bocelli’s Statue of Liberty Concert,” with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra. Also for PBS, Maestro Mercurio led the 20th Anniversary Richard Tucker Opera Gala with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. The star-studded concert series will conclude on April 6, 2009. This performance will feature Grammy Award winning Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel, whose combination of a great voice, immaculate diction, commanding stage presence and flair for acting has made him an international success in opera throughout the world. Captivating soprano Sarah Coburn and FGO Music Director Stewart Robertson will complete the cast. 2 Bryn Terfel’s signature roles include Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro and the title role in Verdi’s Falstaff. In 2004 he made his debut as Wotan in Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, to rave reviews from the music press, including: “In his first Wotan, Bryn Terfel fulfills his destiny as an operatic singer.” (Rupert Christiansen, Daily Telegraph). Praised as “blissfully sublime” by Opera News, Sarah Coburn is captivating audiences with her “precision placement, mercury speed, and a gorgeous liquid gold tone, gilded by a thrilling top and bottom register.” (The Globe and Mail). Sarah Coburn’s 2007-08 season included the role of Asteria in Tamerlano with Washington National Opera, the title role of Lakmé with Tulsa Opera and returning to the role of Princess Yue-yang in the revival of The First Emperor at the Metropolitan Opera. In 2007 Ms. Coburn created the role of Kitty in FGO’s world premiere of Anna Karenina and then performed the role with Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Stewart Robertson has served for the past ten seasons as Music Director of Florida Grand Opera, conducting twenty-eight productions, encompassing more than one hundred performances. He has brought to his position an active involvement with new music combined with his great love of the works by Mozart, Britten, Puccini and Strauss. Maestro Robertson’s 2005 recording of Sir Richard Rodney Bennett’s The Mines of Sulphur was released to great critical acclaim, culminating in a prestigious Grammy Award nomination for best opera recording. Mo. Robertson’s recording with the Utah Symphony of the symphonic works of David Carlson was also released on New World Records, and he has conducted New York City Opera productions that were nationally televised on Live from Lincoln Center. In addition to being an active pianist, Mo. Robertson is a broadcast writer and lecturer on music who has been seen and heard on National Public Radio, Public Broadcasting System, BBC, and Swiss-Italian radio and television. Ticket Information Florida Grand Opera Superstar Concert Series tickets range from $10 to $140. For tickets, call 1-800- 741-1010 or visit www.fgo.org. SUPERSTAR CONCERT SERIES Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts Knight Concert Hall at 8:00 P.M. Saturday, January 10, 2009 Dmitri Hvorostovsky with Ekaterina Siurina, Constantine Orbelian, Conductor The program includes arias and duets by Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Rossini, Gounod, and Verdi. Monday, March 9, 2009 Marcello Giordani with Leah Partridge, Steven Mercurio, Conductor The program includes arias by Verdi, Bizet, Puccini, and Donizetti. Monday, April 6, 2009 Bryn Terfel with Sarah Coburn, Stewart Robertson, Conductor The program includes arias by Verdi, Wagner, Gounod, and Bellini. 3 About Florida Grand Opera Florida Grand Opera was formed in June 1994 by the merger of Greater Miami Opera, founded in 1941, and The Opera Guild Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, founded in 1945. Celebrating its 67th season of continuous performances, Florida Grand Opera stands as one of the oldest performing arts organizations in Florida. In addition to producing standard repertoire, Florida Grand Opera also presents lesser known operas, as well as commissions and produces new operas. Annually, performances are attended by over 110,000 people, and education and outreach programs serve over 50,000 students. FGO offers several highly successful outreach and educational programs, including its internationally-recognized Young Artist Studio. Founded in 1984, the program attracts young singers who train and enhance their professional skills during a 35- week Miami residency. Florida Grand Opera is sponsored in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, the Florida Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Funding for this organization is provided, in part, by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council and by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau.