Verdi REQUIEM

Verdi REQUIEM posterVerdi Requiem, Carnegie Hall, April 15, 2013

Sarah Callinan Cynthia Mellon Brian Cheney David Pittsinger
Soprano Sarah Callinan, a 2009 and 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition Regional Finalist, sings Norina in Don Pasquale with Cape Cod Opera, Gilda in Rigoletto with Salt Marsh Opera and Marie in La fille du régiment with Connecticut Concert Opera this season.  She made her role debut as Amina in La sonnambula and appeared as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute with Salt Marsh Opera in her 2011-2012 season. Her recent engagements include Frasquita in Carmen in her Michigan Opera Theatre debut; Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute in Boston Lyric Opera’s supplementary performances; Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro with Mississippi Opera.  Ms. Callinan has won several vocal competitions including the Jenny Lind Competition, the 2006 Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, and the Friday Woodmere Music Club Competition.  The Amici Competition awarded her “Most Promising Coloratura,” and she was a finalist in the Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship Competition. Ms. Callinan, a native of Worcester, Massachusetts, attended the Hartt School of Music, graduated magna cum laude from the University of Connecticut with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music and a Performer’s Certificate in voice. Cynthia Mellon, mezzo-soprano, received her vocal training at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Connecticut.  While in Ohio, Ms. Mellon performed with The Cleveland Orchestra and the Robert Page Singers.  Here in Connecticut she has appeared with Connecticut Opera, and has sung principal roles with New Britain Opera, Opera Theatre of Connecticut, Connecticut Choral Artists (CONCORA) and Simsbury Light Opera.  The Hartford Courant noted that Ms. Mellon’s portrayal of the Sorceress in CONCORA’s presentation of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas was “sung with electrifying vocal and visual effect.”  On the concert stage, Ms. Mellon has been a featured soloist with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Hartford Chorale, Greater Middletown Choral, Stonington Chorale Society, Concert Choir of Northeast Connecticut, Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Manchester Symphony, Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra and Bristol Symphony Orchestra.  Ms. Mellon is a soloist and section leader at Memorial United Methodist Church in Avon, and sings as a member of the High Holy Days ensemble at Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford.  When not singing, Ms. Mellon is a certified veterinary technician at Advanced Veterinary Care in Farmington.  She and her husband Rick share their home with their daughter Montana and more than twenty animals. Brian Cheney is emerging as one of opera’s most versatile and exciting tenors.  The protégé of legendary tenor, Jerry Hadley, Mr. Cheney is quickly gaining national acclaim for his portrayal of characters such as Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Rodolfo in La Boheme, the Duke in Rigoletto, Candide in Candide and Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress.  The Classical Voice of North Carolina wrote, “Tenor Brian Cheney’s portrayal of Don José was the most effective dramatic and vocal realization of character in the production…this excellent singer revealed a voice of amazing power and great beauty.  The Daily Gazette in Albany, New York, reviewed his recent performance of the Messiah: “Tenor Brian Cheney was a revelation. Cheney’s voice was like spun gold…not just a gorgeous voice, Cheney showed imagination as he altered his colors or use of vibrato.”  Mr. Cheney has performed numerous times as a soloist at Carnegie Hall with his most recent performance in 2013 performing a world premiere and U.S. premiere of Hungarian music with the American Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Leon Botstein. Bass-Baritone David Pittsinger is one of the most sought after artists of his generation.  His celebrated performances have made him a favorite with critics, audiences, and conductors alike.  His appearances with the Metropolitan Opera have included broadcast performances as The Friar in Verdi’s Don Carlo, Trulove in The Rake’s Progress, Achilla in Giulio Cesare, Colline in La Boheme, and as The Speaker in the Met’s first HD broadcast of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.  Pittsinger’s 2009 season began with his first Broadway appearance as Emile de Becque in the Tony award-winning production of South Pacific.  Mr. Pittsinger has received Artist of the Year awards from New York City Opera (Don Giovanni, Figaro and Orlando); Florida Grand Opera (Tosca, La Sonnambula), Pittsburgh Opera (Boito’s Mefistofele and Gounod’s Faust).  He also holds a Master’s Degree from Yale University.

 

Performed with members of the Connecticut Lyric Opera Chorus, New Britain Chorale and Paderewski-Polonia Choir.

???????????????????????????????

Verdi Requiem, Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, New Britain, March 23, 2013

Several members of the MasterWorks Chorus also joined with the above choruses to perform this work with the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Adrian Sylveen at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church in New Britain on Saturday, March 23, 2013 and again at First Congregational Church in New London on Saturday, March 24, 2014.

Carnegie Hall

Verdi Requiem, Carnegie Hall, April 15, 2013

 

70 members of the MasterWorks Chorus, at the invitation of MidAmerica Productions, joined with other choruses from across the country to perform this work with the New England Symphonic Ensemble under the direction of Maestro John Rutter at Carnegie Hall on April 15, 2015 at 8PM.

 

Verdi Requiem at Carnegie Hall, John Rutter conducting, April 15, 2013Verdi Requiem at Carnegie Hall, John Rutter conducting, April 15, 2013, letter