Sunday, September 13, 2009

Applicants Sought For Longfellow Chorus Master Class by Angela M. Brown & Robert Honeysucker


[Angela M. Brown. Photo by Roni Ely]


Longfellow Chorus Seeks Student Participants for Vocal Master Class Featuring Angela M. Brown and Robert Honeysucker
MaineBusiness.MaineToday.com

Released 9/8/09
Longfellow Chorus, Inc., of Portland, Maine, seeks vocal student workshop applicants for participation in a vocal master class to be given by Metropolitan Opera soprano Angela M. Brown and baritone Robert Honeysucker at 4:30 PM, February 26, 2010, in The First Parish in Portland, 425 Congress Street.

Angela M. Brown is best known as "the Aida of the Metropolitan Opera." A soloist with a powerful command of drama, register and dynamic, her rise from Baptist gospel singer to international opera sensation is an extraordinary one. Her vocal workshops, which inspire diversity among traditional opera audiences — especially, "Opera from a Sistah's Point of View" — are dynamic, humorous, engaging and insightful. Robert Honeysucker, long one of America's best-known African-American baritones, celebrated for his "brilliant opera, concert and recital performances," began his vocal studies in the early sixties as a student at Tougaloo College in Mississippi. Now, a distinguished faculty member at New England Conservatory, he offers nuanced instruction in standard opera classics and, in particular, champions the underperformed music of African-American composers.

These two artists will tandem teach select participants during this student vocal master class, which will be presented before a public audience. Additionally, Ms. Brown and Mr. Honeysucker will share with students and audience alike personal reflections about their careers.

Participation is open tuition free to any Maine high school or college student of voice based on audition and teacher recommendation. Interested students must send an audio sample of a major aria or solo song, as well as a written letter of recommendation from a qualified vocal instructor or coach, to: Charles Kaufmann, Director, The Longfellow Chorus, Inc., PO Box 5133, Portland, ME 04101, no later than December 31, 2009. This material may also be sent via email to director@longfellowchorus.com. Alternatively, students may audition in person if they provide their own piano accompanist. For this option, call 207-232-8920 to schedule an audition time.

The Angela M. Brown and Robert Honeysucker Vocal Master Class will be the kickoff event of The Longfellow Chorus Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 203rd Birthday Choral Concerts, February 26-27-28, 2010.

Among the highlights of this, the fourth annual Longfellow birthday event, will be two rare performances of "The Death of Minnehaha," a cantata based on Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha," by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), featuring Ms. Brown and Mr. Honeysucker as soloists, The Longfellow Chorus and The Longfellow Chorus Orchestra. Additionally, winning entries in the cantata, choral and solo song categories of the 2010 Longfellow Chorus International Composers Competition will be presented. Please visit http://www.longfellowchorus.com for more information. [Samuel Coleridge-Taylor is profiled at AfriClassical.com]





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