THE
AMERICAN OPERA PROJECT HONORS SOPRANO ANGEL BLUE AND PRODUCER CHARLES
JARDEN FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO OPERA AND SERVICE TO COMMUNITIES
DECEMBER 6, 2020 at 7pm EST
Dedications to be made at December benefit
November 16, 2020
Brooklyn, NY -The American Opera Project announces fermata, a
virtual benefit to be held on Sunday, December 6th at 7pm EST. Soprano
Angel Blue and producer Charles Jarden will be honored for their
contributions to the world of opera and their communities.
Attendance at the benefit is free ($40 suggested donation) for the 7pm event, hosted by Jorell Williams, and limited spots are available for a 6pm VIP pre-show experience.
fermata will be a celebration of music and two honorees: Metropolitan Opera soprano and founder of the non-profit organization Sylvia’s Kids Foundation, Angel Blue, the recipient of our first ever Van Blazer award and the enduring legacy of AOP’s own Charles Jarden.
Created in 2020 to honor a vanguard trailblazer changing the way opera
is made and experienced, the Van Blazer award celebrates an iconoclastic
artist who has fostered resiliency and inclusivity within their
communities by the very way they have shaped their life and career.
The evening will also include special appearances by legendary soprano Lauren Flanigan and superstar countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, as well as introductions to the many operas currently being created at AOP.
A
contribution of $500 or higher grants access to a special
VIP pre-show experience at 6pm, featuring a choreography session with
acclaimed ballet dancer and Associate Artistic Director of the New York
City Ballet Wendy Whelan, an interactive culinary class with chef Tyler Kord of No. 7 restaurants, a communal musical moment with soprano Adrienne Danrich, a song lyric writing workshop with librettist Mark Campbell, a world premiere by composer/performer Gilda Lyons, and more special guests, auction items, toasts and surprises.
Join
us for this exclusive portion of the evening, where we will announce
AOP’s inaugural Artistic Advisory Council, led by Council Director and
composer Laura Kaminsky, and raise glasses to our beautiful and resilient community.
For more information, or to reserve your ticket, visit www.aopopera.org/fermata2020.
ABOUT ANGEL BLUE
Angel
Blue has emerged in recent seasons as one of the most important
sopranos before the public today. On September 23, 2019 she opened the
Metropolitan Opera’s 2019/2020 season as Bess in a new production of
George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.
These performances follow her internationally praised French Opera
debut and role debut as Floria Tosca at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in
July of 2019. Earlier, Ms. Blue made her debut at the Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden as Violetta Valery in La Traviata,
after which she returned to the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in the same
role. She has also been praised for performances in many other theaters,
such as the Vienna State Opera, Semperoper Dresden, San Francisco
Opera, Seattle Opera, Theater an der Wien, Oper Frankfurt, San Diego
Opera and many others.
Alongside her musical activities, Angel Blue, who was raised in California and completed her musical studies at UCLA,
is dedicated to the support of inner city youth. She is the founder of
the non-profit organization Sylvia’s Kids Foundation, an organization
that is dedicated to helping America’s teenagers continue their studies
in either a trade school, community college, or four-year university
once they have completed high school. The SKF scholarship award is given
every year in the month of May. To learn more about Sylvia’s Kids
Foundation visit www.sylviaskids.org
ABOUT JORELL WILLIAMS
Jorell
Williams is an American operatic baritone with a wide variety of
experience from standard repertoire to premiere pieces. He begins the
2020-2021 season with world premieres of Hilliard and Boresi's The Happy Hour and Rachel Peters' Everything comes to a head with The Decameron Opera Coalition / Lyric Opera of the North featuring Bass-Baritone Luca Pisaroni, In Real Life II by Robert Paterson and David Cote in his debut with the American Modern Ensemble, Kamala Sankaram's Only you will recognize the signal with HERE Arts Center, his company and role debut of Don Giovanni with Opera Columbus, and the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon and Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel with The Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center Theater.
A
former resident artist of The American Opera Project's Composers and
the Voice series from 2011-2014, Jorell is a much in demand interpreter
of contemporary opera, and has created roles in several world premieres,
notably: Hilliard and Boresi’s Blue Viola with Urban Arias; Matt Aucoin’s Crossing with the American Repertory Theater; John David Earnest’s The Theory of Everything with Encompass New Opera Theater; Anthony Davis’ Lear on the Second Floor at the University of San Diego; John Musto’s Bastianello with Rochester Lyric Opera; and workshops of Michael Torke’s Senna (2010), Nico Muhly’s Two Boys (2011), and Ricky Ian Gordon’s Intimate Apparel
(2018) with The Metropolitan Opera. Jorell is a recipient of the 2018
Rochester Classical Idol XII Top Prize and Audience Choice awards, and
garners top awards from the Gerda Lissner International Competition,
Schuyler Foundation for Career Bridges, Licia Albanese Puccini
Foundation, The American Prize, Serge Koussevitzky Foundation, David
Adams Art Song Competition, The American Traditions Competition, Civic
Morning Musicals Foundation, Harlem Opera Theater, the National
Association of Negro Musicians, and the Liberace Foundation.
For more information, visit: https://www.jorellwilliams.com/
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