Monday, January 30, 2012

Dominique-René de Lerma: 'Kishna Davis, supernova' Returns to Morgan in 'Porgy and Bess'


[Kishna Davis]

Dominique-René de Lerma sends this news on “Kishna Davis, supernova”:
I was wrong when I told Kishna Davis that she was sitting on a million-dollar voice. She had just auditioned as an entering freshman at Morgan State, singing an aria sopranos might normally not attempt until midcareer (and might not even know about as an undergraduate). She thanked me for what she thought was a compliment, but I told her it was not; this was her cross. My mistake was an undervaluation of the gift. Some years later I heard from instumentalists (too rarely attentive to singers) who had heard her at Aspen. I knew that hard work and dedicated resolve had lessened the burden. The groundwork, based on the foundation Betty Ridgeway had laid at Morgan, provided support for the advanced study undertaken at Juilliard and the Manhattan School, and Kishna was now testing her wings at Aspen and San Francisco. She proved herself soon after when I was able to bring her to Lawrence University for the Beethoven ninth, but full flowering was imminent. She had been coaching privately with Leontyne Price, la diva di tutte le dive, and was soaring in a career that hit all the major stops in the U.S., with a rich sampling of European high lights.

And now she has been booked to come back to her Morgan roots -- ritorna vicitor! -- where she will join a former classmate -- Kevin Short -- also from the exceptionally productive Ridgeway studio, to be Bess. The four performances will be held at the end of March and start of April at the superb Gilliam Concert Hall on Morgan's campus (box office: 443-885-4440). Additional bookings may be arranged though the John Such Management, 780 Riverside Drive, Suite 7D, New York 10031 (212-926-4833).

The following repertoire list will suggest the range of this brilliant career:
Bach, Johann Sebastian. Johannespassion.
Bach, Johann Sebastian. Magnificat.
Bach, Johann Sebastian. Mass, B minor.
Bach, Johann Sebastian. Mattäuspassion.
Barber, Samuel. Andromache's farewell.
Barber, Samuel. Knoxville, summer of 1915.
Beethoven, Ludwig van. Missa solemnis.
Beethoven, Ludwig van. Symphony, no. 9.
Bernstein, Leonard. Mass.
Bizet, Georges. Carmen (Micaela).
Brahms, Johannes. Deutsches Requiem.
Bruckner, Anton. Mass in F.
Chaikovskiĭi, Pytor. Eugene Onegin (Tatiana).
Chapentier, Gustave. Louise (Louise).
Donizetti, Gaetano. Don Pasquale (Norina).
Dunner, Leslie. Songs of a motherless child.
Dvořák, Antonín. Rusalka (Rusalka).
Floyd, Carlisle. Suzanna (Susanna).
Gershwin, George. Porgy and Bess (Bess).
Handel, George Frideric. Messiah.
Handel, George Frideric. Orlando (Medoro).
Heggie, Jake. Dead man walking (Sister Rose).
Leoncavallo, Ruggero. I pagliacci (Nedda).
Mahler, Gustav. Symphony, no. 4.
Mahler, Gustav. Symphony, no. 8.
Massenet, Jules. Herodiade (Salomé).
Massenet, Jules. Le Cid (Chimène).
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Die Zauberflöte (Pamina).
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira).
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Idomeneo (Elettra).
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Le nozze di Figaro (Countess).
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus. Requiem.
Murray, Diedre. The running man.
Óffenbach, Jacques. Les contes d'Hoffmann (Antonia).
Poulenc, Francis. Gloria.
Previn, André. Honey and rue.
Puccini, Giacomo. La bohème (Mimì, and Musetta).
Puccini, Giacomo. La rondine (Magda).
Puccini, Giacomo. Madama Butterfly (Cio-Cio San).
Puccini, Giacomo. Suor Angelica (Suor Angelica).
Puccini, Giacomo. Tosca (Tosca).
Puccini, Giacomo. Turandot (Liù).
Rossini, Giacomo. Stabat mater.
Strauß, Johann, Jr. Die Fledermaus (Rosalinde).
Strauß, Richard. Vier letzte Gesänge.
Vaughan Williams, Ralph. Serenade to music.
Verdi, Giuseppe. Aida (Aida).
Verdi, Giuseppe. Ernani (Elvira).
Verdi, Giuseppe. Falstaff (Alice Ford).
Verdi, Giuseppe. Il trovatore (Leonora).
Verdi, Giuseppe. La forza del destino (Leonora).
Verdi, Giuseppe. Otello (Desdemona).
Verdi, Giuseppe. Requiem.
Verdi, Giuseppe. Simon Boccanegra.  (Amerlia).
Verdi, Giuseppe. Un ballo in maschera (Emilia).
Weill, Kurt. Street scene.

Dominique-René de Lerma


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