Text Only Version

Shenandoah University

Music. Theatre. Dance.

CANCELLED: New American Voices

CANCELLED EVENT

This performance has been cancelled to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Current ticket holders will be contacted directly via email regarding refunds. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Friday, April 24 at 7:30PM
Saturday, April 25 at 7:30PM
Sunday, April 26 at 2:30PM

Directed by John de los Santos
Music direction by Karen Keating

Set in an intimate black box studio and directed each year by a different distinguished guest artist, Opera Up Close features small ensembles, but big ideas. This year’s production, directed by award-winning director/choreographer John de los Santos, explores new American voices in opera, including three new works about the conflict between our internal and external lives. The program features excerpts from Carnival of Souls, an opera in progress by Shenandoah Conservatory’s Jonathan Newman based on the 1962 cult horror film; Christopher Weiss’ comic short opera Service Provider, commissioned by Washington National Opera; and As One, a two-person chamber opera by Laura Kaminsky, Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed about the journey of a transgender person transitioning from male to female.

Sung in English with piano and string quartet accompaniment

As One

Music and concept by Laura Kaminsky
Libretto by Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed
Film by Kimberly Reed
Commissioned and developed by American Opera Projects

MEET THE DIRECTOR

John de los SantosJohn de los Santos has been called a “brilliant combination of literary insight and choreographic creativity.” He has staged a range of productions that include opera, musicals, plays, concerts and ballet. His productions include the world premiere of The Astronaut Love Show at the Kraine Theater (New York City), The Rose and the Knife, Otello and Le Comte Ory (called “a perfect fusion” by The New York Times) for LoftOpera (New York City), La Cage Aux Folles for Skylight Music Theatre, La Fille du Regiment for Arizona Opera, South Pacific for Ashlawn Opera, María de Buenos Aires for San Diego and Fort Worth Opera, and Lexington Philharmonic, and Green Sneakers for Opera Birmingham and the Southside Theatre at San Francisco’s historic Fort Mason Center. He choreographed the world premiere of Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s Great Scott, directed by Jack O’Brien, for the Dallas Opera. His choreography has also been seen at the Washington National, Florida Grand, Philadelphia, Des Moines Metro, Utah Festival, and Austin Lyric Opera Companies.

John’s first libretto with composer Clint Borzoni, When Adonis Calls, was selected for inclusion in Fort Worth Opera’s 2015 Frontiers showcase and Opera America’s 2017 New Works Forum. It had its world premiere at Asheville Lyric Opera in 2018, directed and choreographed by the librettist. John’s second collaboration with Borzoni, The Copper Queen, won the top prize Arizona Opera’s commission program, Arizona SPARK. He was then commissioned by Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative to create an original work with composer Christopher Weiss. The resulting piece, Service Provider, premiered at The Kennedy Center in 2015, and has since been performed by Urban Arias, Opera Memphis, Hawaii Opera Theater, Virginia Opera, Westminster Opera Theatre, and was selected as the first opera performed by the Lake George Music Festival. In 2019, his one-act collaboration with Scott Bradley Joiner, The Shower, premiered at the Vienna Summer Music Festival.

From 2003 to 2010, he served as resident choreographer for the Fort Worth Opera, creating dances for Rigoletto, Salome, La Traviata, Amahl and the Night Visitors, and the world premieres of Frau Margot and Before Night Falls. John made his directing debut there with Carmen, followed by The Mikado and The Pearl Fishers. In 2010 he made his choreographic debut for the Dallas Opera with Don Giovanni. John has served on the directing faculty of the Seagle Music Colony in Schroon Lake, New York, where his productions have included Anything Goes, Crazy for You, The Medium, The Fantasticks, The Mikado, La Boheme, Guys & Dolls, Brigadoon and L’Italiana in Algeri. John has also coached young artists with the Washington National, Arizona, Fort Worth, and Des Moines Metro Opera Companies.

Other productions include Italienisches Liederbuch for Voces Intimae, The Golden Apple and the world premiere of Pure Country for Lyric Stage, Spring Awakening and Dogfight for WaterTower Theatre, and Carousel for Ashlawn Opera. For the Dallas-based theatre company Uptown Players, John choreographed the American premiere of the Pet Shop Boys musical Closer to Heaven, the regional premiere of Altar Boyz (for which John was awarded the DFW Critics Forum Award for Best Choreography), and directed and choreographed the regional premiere of Hello Again and the American premiere of Soho Cinders. John is originally from San Antonio, Texas, where he performed as a principal member of the Alamo City Dance Company. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre/Film Performance & Direction from Texas Christian University.

Visit www.johndelossantos.com to learn more.

ACCESSIBILITY

Accommodations for disabilities may be arranged by contacting the Box Office at least three days prior to the performance.

CANCELLED: Joel Ayau, Collaborative Piano Recital

CANCELLED EVENT

This performance has been cancelled to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Adjunct Associate Professor of Vocal Coaching and pianist Joel Ayau, soprano Alina Kirshon-Goldman ’16 (Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance), Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra violinist Richard Chang and violinist Cheng-Yin Lin present a free recital of French music and more for soprano, violin and piano.

MEET THE ARTISTS

A graduate of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program of the Washington National Opera (WNO), JOEL AYAU has assisted on eleven productions at WNO, including Carmen, Aida and Eugene Onegin. He has also worked on the music staffs of North Carolina Opera, Portland Opera, Opera Memphis, Wolf Trap Opera, and Charlottesville Opera. Since 2018, Dr. Ayau also has assisted in the preparation of operas, musicals and oratorio at the National Symphony Orchestra. He has served as cover conductor for more than twenty concerts from the Pops and Declassified series, assisting conductors including Gianandrea Noseda and Steven Reineke.

Dr. Ayau’s performances as a pianist have taken him to venues such as Stern Auditorium in Carnegie Hall, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, and National Concert Hall in Taipei. Described as “zesty” and “energetic” by The New York Times, he has performed with vocalists including Andrea Bocelli, Frederica von Stade, George Shirley, Kathryn Lewek, Zach Borichevsky, and Russell Thomas. Dr. Ayau is a regular performer at many of the venues at the Kennedy Center; his recent performances of the Ben Folds Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, accompanying the Nashville Ballet in the Kennedy Center Opera House, were praised as “a worthy spectacle” by DC Theatre Scene. He went on to perform this concerto as a guest artist at the Chautauqua Institution in 2018.

Mr. Ayau holds a doctorate in musical arts from the University of Michigan in collaborative piano, having studied under renowned pedagogue Martin Katz. He earned a master’s in collaborative piano from The Juilliard School and bachelor’s degrees from New York University in computer science and piano performance.

RICHARD CHANG began playing the violin at the age of four in Taiwan and continued his studies with professor One in Tokyo. In 1978, Chang attended the Juilliard Pre-College and College Divisions, studying with Hyo Kang and Dorothy DeLay as a scholarship student. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 1987. He also studied with Aaron Rosand for two years at the Mannes School of Music and received his professional studies diploma. Chang has served as concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony, the Juilliard Orchestra and the Mannes Orchestra. For three summers from 1987 to 1989, Chang received a grant from the French government to attend the Music Festival in Nice; he also performed in the Summer Concert. Other orchestras that Chang has performed with include the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Wheaton Symphony of Chicago and the Aspen Symphony. He has been a member of the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra since 1995.

Dr. ALINA KIRSHON-GOLDMAN has participated in international festivals and competitions in Austria, the Czech Republic, Israel and the United States. Upon her graduation with a Doctor of Musical Arts in Performance (Voice) from Shenandoah Conservatory in 2016, Kirson-Goldman received the Dean’s Scholarship Award for her research in the field of Israeli Art Song. While pursuing her doctoral studies at Shenandoah Conservatory, Kirson-Goldman performed the role of Leonora in the opera Inquisitive Women by Wolf Ferrari. In 2013 she was a finalist in the Concerto Competition and performed in several chamber music recitals. Kirson-Goldman joined the Washington National Opera Chorus in 2017 for the production of Verdi’s Aida. In 2019 she joined the company in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. Her recent engagements include the role of Cio-Cio San in Puccini’s adaptation of Madama Butterfly with the Loudoun Lyric Opera. Kirson-Goldman is a recipient of the America-Israel Cultural Foundation Grant and the third place winner of the Paul Robeson Vocal Competition. Dr. Kirshon-Goldman is the founder and director of Alina’s Music Studio in Northern Virginia, where she teaches voice, violin and viola lessons. Her students perform with the Washington National Opera Children’s Chorus, National Children’s Chorus, National Philharmonic Chorale, and Fairfax Symphony Orchestra. Some of her students have been the winners of local competitions and have performed with the Virginia State Youth Orchestra and chorus. In addition to her performance and teaching career, Dr. Kirshon-Goldman served as a co-chair of competitions for the Northern Virginia Music Teachers Association, and she is currently their Educational Programs’ s co-chair. In 2017, Dr. Kirshon-Goldman was featured as a guest singer in the new CD of Samovar Russian Folk Music Ensemble. Simply Samovar is available on Spotify.

Photos by Shenandoah University’s Office of Marketing and Communications and courtesy of artists

I Hear America Singing

Shenandoah Conservatory’s Associate Professor of Voice Byron Jones performs a heart-warming collection of favorite songs from the history of our great country.

Sunday Art in the Park with Shenandoah Conservatory

Reston Town Center Association and Reston Community Center present Sunday Art in the Park with Shenandoah Conservatory. Performances take place Sunday evenings during the summer from 7PM to 8PM and are free and open to the public. Pack a picnic and join us in the park for an evening of music!

VoxClarus

Shenandoah Conservatory’s Professor of Clarinet Garrick Zoeter and soprano Mariana Mihai-Zoeter interpret romantic and inspiring works from around the world, as well as uplifting jazz and classically inflected music that is guaranteed to lift your spirit.

Sunday Art in the Park with Shenandoah Conservatory

Reston Town Center Association and Reston Community Center present Sunday Art in the Park with Shenandoah Conservatory. Performances take place Sunday evenings during the summer from 7PM to 8PM and are free and open to the public. Pack a picnic and join us in the park for an evening of music!

Words In Action, Bodies In Motion, Songs In Flight, With Dr. Ysaye Barnwell

Shenandoah University is excited to announce a campus-wide event celebrating the life and legacy of one of the world’s greatest warriors in the struggle for human dignity and equality. Students and professors from several disciplines will come together to present writings, music, dance, drama and visual tributes to the work of Martin Luther King, Jr., the impact he demonstrated during the Civil Rights Era, and the continuing effect his philosophy and ideals have on our civilization. Dr. Ysaye Barnwell will be our host. Always inspiring and deeply committed to the pursuit of equality and universal rights, expect Dr. Barnwell to uncover in you the power to make a difference: through reflection, empowerment and song.

Così fan tutte

Friday, April 26 at 7PM
Saturday, April 27 at 7PM
Sunday, April 28 at 2:30PM

by W.A. Mozart
Directed by Michael Ehrman
Music direction by Jan Wagner

Set on Shenandoah Conservatory’s main proscenium stage and directed each year by a different distinguished guest artist, Main Stage Opera provides audiences with the full opera experience! The classic romantic comedy Così fan tutte follows two sisters whose devotion to their beloved fiancés is cynically put to the test by their own lovers with help from the conniving Alfonso and mischievous Despina. Mozart’s radiant score, performed by the Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, is cleverly juxtaposed with one of the most bittersweet stories of deceit, fidelity and love.

Sung in Italian with English titles.

Duration: Approximately 170 minutes*
*Production duration is subject to change

MEET THE DIRECTOR

MICHAEL ERHMAN is known for his productions in the both the academic and professional worlds in a career spanning forty years. He recently retired from his position as artist-in-residence and director of opera at Northwestern University. His direction there of the fully-staged Chicago premiere of Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking was honored and cited in the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Classical Review “best of 2015” lists. He also received acclaim for his staging of the Chicago premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath, the double-bill of William Bolcom’s Lucrezia and John Musto’s Bastianello (also local premieres), Musto and Mark Campbell’s Later the Same Evening, and a new version of L’incoronazione di Poppea. In 2013, Ehrman was named director of the prestigious Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artist Training Program at the Central City Opera, a company where he has staged twenty-five productions. He has directed over 150 operas and musicals for professional companies including Houston Grand Opera, Minnesota Opera, and Greater Miami Opera. He has made a specialty of staging American opera, including nine productions of The Ballad of Baby Doe (the 40th and 50th anniversary productions at Central City), nine stagings of Floyd’s Susannah, and numerous productions of Weill’s Street Scene and Ward’s The Crucible. At Central City, he staged Barber’s Vanessa in 2005 and the premiere of Henry Mollicone’s Gabriel’s Daughter in 2003. His production of the musical Carnival at Light Opera Works was on the “ten best in Chicago” lists in 2005. Other musicals include The Sound of Music and Camelot for Tulsa Opera and the Brevard Music Center and Show Boat at the University of Kentucky.

Ehrman has balanced his professional career with teaching and directing at numerous universities, conservatories and young artist programs, including the Israeli Vocal Arts Institute, the New National Theater in Tokyo, Wolf Trap Opera and Chautauqua Opera. His has directed eight productions at Indiana University and was also guest director at Yale University, the New England Conservatory of Music, and University of Colorado-Boulder. In 2012, he made his debut at the Ravinia Festival with The Magic Flute, conducted by James Conlon and featuring Nathan Gunn as Papageno. His work with the Chicago Symphony includes Noye’s Fludde in 2006 and several educational touring shows for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Ehrman is delighted to return to Shenandoah Conservatory, where he made his university directing debut in 1989 with Così fan tutte.

Concessions will be available for cash purchase beginning one hour prior to this performance.

ACCESSIBILITY

All facilities are wheelchair accessible. Infrared hearing system headsets are available in Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre only. Accommodations for disabilities may be arranged by contacting the Box Office at least three days prior to the performance.

Choral Showcase: In Honor of Black History Month

In Honor of Black History Month

Featuring Virginian composer Adolphus Hailstork’s I Will Life Up Mine Eyes sung by the combined Shenandoah Conservatory choirs (Conservatory Choir, Shenandoah Chorus, Cantus Singers and Shenandoah Singers) and accompanied by members of the Shenandoah Conservatory Symphony Orchestra with guest soloist Alfonzo Cooper, tenor and scholar on the music of Hailstork.

The concert celebrates the contributions of black Americans to our musical heritage while acknowledging the enslavement, suppression, discrimination and ultimate struggle for equality that inspired such bold and unique artistic expression. All of the selections represent compositions and/or texts written by black Americans.

PROGRAM

Traditional Spiritual (arr. Rollo Dillworth): My Soul’s been anchored in the Lord
Gwyneth Walker: Selection from Harlem Songs
Jeff Brown: Selections from The Dawn’s Awake, Six Choral Songs
Paul Ayres: I washed my hands in muddy water
Greg Gilpin: Nothin’ gonna stumble my feet
Adolphus Hailstork: I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes

Photos by C. King Photography

Conservatory Choir, Shenandoah Chorus & Cantus Singers

Ancient Art | Modern Voices

The Shenandoah Chorus, Cantus Singers and Conservatory Choir join the Simpson College Chamber Singers from Indianola, Iowa, under the direction of Dr. Timothy McMillin to present a special program featuring choral compositions and arrangements of living composers in a wide-ranging variety of musical styles: from Americana to the avant-garde to pop genres, and more. The concert will feature two world premieres by Shenandoah Conservatory composers: Intervals by Paul Winch and Nightcreeps by Grayson Jarvis.

PROGRAM

Morten Lauridsen: Sure on this Shining Night
Burton Lane (arr. Steve Zegree): On a Clear Day
Eric Whitacre: She weeps over Rahoon
Paul Ayres: Zacharias’ Song
Chen Yi: Spring Dreams
Paul Winch: Intervals (World Premiere)
Jonathan Adams: Selections from Pieces Written in a Time of War
Kurt Knecht: Sero Te Amavi
Jake Runestad: Let My Love Be Heard
Traditional (arr. Jeffrey Douma): I Am Loved as I Love
Traditional (arr. Joseph Flummerfelt): Danny Boy
Traditional (arr. Moses Hogan): The Battle of Jericho
Grayson Jarvis: Nightcreeps (World Premiere)
Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus (arr. Chandra Grover): Slipping Through My Fingers
Cyndi Lauper, Robert Hyman (arr. Erika Johnson): Time After Time
Paul Simon (arr. Vince Peterson): Bridge Over Troubled Water
Matthew Hazzard: Peace Flows into Me
Alberto Favero (arr. Liliana Cangiano): Te Quiero
Traditional (arr. James Erb): Shenandoah

Meet the Guest Ensemble

The Simpson College Chamber Singers is one of four choral ensembles at Simpson College. The ensemble sings advanced repertoire from throughout history in all styles and genres, but specializes in the chamber choral literature. The Chamber Singers performs a domestic tour bi-annually and performs as part of a wide variety of performances on campus each year including the annual Service of Lessons and Carols, frequent choral-orchestral masterwork performances, and numerous on-campus concerts in the fall and spring semesters. The ensemble has recently collaborated in performances with the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Iowa, Iowa’s professional orchestras. The Chamber Singers has also enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate with other high-level choirs in the Des Moines area such as the Des Moines Vocal Arts Ensemble and the Drake University Choirs.

Meet the Guest Director

Timothy McMillinTimothy A. McMillin is director of choral studies and professor of music at Simpson College, where he directs the College Choir and the Chamber Singers, is a member of the voice faculty, and teaches classes in conducting, music literature and choral studies. He also serves as co-director for Simpson College’s Master of Music (M.M.) in Choral Conducting degree, offered in an intensive, three-summers program. Before his appointment at Simpson College, Dr. McMillin directed choirs in Minnesota where he created and led award-winning high school programs.

In addition to his passion for academia, Dr. McMillin is artistic director and conductor of the Des Moines Vocal Arts Ensemble, a competitively-auditioned chamber choir in the greater Des Moines community committed to excellence in choral artistry.

Choirs under Dr. McMillin’s direction recently appeared at the Iowa Choral Directors Association’s (ICDA) Summer Symposium. Dr. McMillin is often called upon as a guest conductor, clinician, and adjudicator throughout Iowa and the Midwest. Recently, he prepared choruses for the Des Moines Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Iowa, and the chorus for the Des Moines performances of the national touring company’s Star Wars: In Concert. He also performed with, served as auxiliary chorus master and was a member of the stage management staff with the Des Moines Metro Opera. Over the years, he directed various high school musical theater programs and performed with numerous community theater organizations. Dr. McMillin served as producer and company manager for the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, a professional festival choir. He was also recently involved as a performer with the Jonathan Griffith Singers during an international tour throughout Turkey and sang in Winchester, England, under the direction of Paul Spicer.

Dr. McMillin earned a D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University in East Lansing, and degrees in music education from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, and Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.

His professional affiliations include the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), where he has served as Repertoire & Standards Chair for Four-Year Colleges and Universities and Community Choirs for the Iowa Chapter (ICDA), the National Collegiate Choral Organization (NCCO), the College Music Society (CMS), and the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS).

ACCESSIBILITY

All facilities are wheelchair accessible. Infrared hearing system headsets are available in Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre only. Accommodations for disabilities may be arranged by contacting the Box Office at least three days prior to the performance.

Photos by C. King Photography

Byron Jones, tenor & Karen Walker, piano

Associate Professor of Voice (Tenor) Byron Jones and Associate Professor of Piano Karen Walker present a free faculty recital.

PROGRAM

Jonathan Newman: Found Postcards
Glen Roven: Michael’s Letter to Mama (Armistead Maupin)
Jake Heggie: A Hundred Thousand Stars (Gene Scheer)
Logan Skelton: From Letters to Santa
Lori Laitman: Dear Future Roommate (Mike Gioia)
Lee Hoiby: Last Letter Home (PFC Jesse Givens)

Shenandoah Singers

JEFF MARLATT, DIRECTOR

As an ensemble committed to making music accessible through performance and community engagement initiatives, the Shenandoah Singers performs a dynamic range of repertoire inspired by a cappella, jazz, pop and world music.

ACCESSIBILITY

All facilities are wheelchair accessible. Infrared hearing system headsets are available in Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre only. Accommodations for disabilities may be arranged by contacting the Box Office at least three days prior to the performance.

Photos by C. King Photography