Willie Anthony Waters conducts Cleveland Orchestra's 31st Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Concert Jan. 16

[Willie Anthony Waters]

Maestro Willie Anthony Waters is co-director of the University of Connecticut Opera Theater. He will conduct the Martin Luther King, Jr. Concert of the Cleveland Orchestra on January 16, 2011:

ClevelandOrchestra.com

Dec. 3, 2010

The Musical Arts Association and Mayor Frank G. Jackson today announced The Cleveland Orchestra’s 31st annual concert in celebration of the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. The concert will take place at Severance Hall on Sunday, January 16, 2011, at 7:00 p.m., under the direction of Willie Anthony Waters.

PinnacleArts.com

“Willie Anthony Waters is a regular guest of the opera companies in North America, Europe, and Africa...” For twelve years, he served as General and Artistic Director of the Connecticut Opera, for whom he conducted more than thirty productions. He also served as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Florida Grand Opera for seven seasons. During his tenure, he led a number of noteworthy productions, including Salome, Manon Lescaut, Die Walküre, Macbeth, Aida, Of Mice and Men, Falsfaff, Bianca e Falliero, Cristoforo Coolmbo, La Gioconda, Turandot, Tosca, Carmen, Trouble in Tahiti, and Lucia di Lammermoor. He will return to the company this season to conduct Carmen.

On the concert stage, he has conducted the Brucknerhaus Orchestra (Linz, Austria), Detroit Symphony, Essen (Germany) Philharmonic, Florida Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, at the Spoleto Festival, Southwest German Radio Orchestra, and Tallahassee Symphony. He has conducted recordings for Philips Records for Simon Estes and for Shirley Verrett, and conducted concerts for many of opera's notable artists.

Comment by email:

Dear Bill - thanks you SO much for this. I'm very excited about this concert!

Happy holidays.

Best,

Willie

Eliesha Nelson on Laura Aiken: 'She has a clarity and beauty to her sound that fit the Berg and the Korngold well.'

[Quincy Porter, Complete Viola Works; Eliesha Nelson, viola; John McLaughlin Williams, violin, piano, harpsichord; Douglas Rioth, harp; Northwest Sinfonia, John McLaughlin Williams, conductor; Dorian Recordings DSL 90911 (73:47) (2009)]

Eliesha Nelson has been featured by AfriClassical in connection with her CD, Quincy Porter, Complete Viola Works, as well as her master classes and performances of works for viola of composer H. Leslie Adams. Eliesha is a violist for the Cleveland Orchestra, which took part in the Edinburgh International Festival which began on August 13, 2010 and continues. The orchestra is giving 9 concerts in 6 cities on this tour of Europe. News of the tour is available at: http://www.clevelandorchestrablog.com/

We asked Eliesha Nelson if she would share some of her impressions of the Edinburgh International Festival with our readers, and she kindly provided these remarks:

“I think the high points were definitely soprano Laura Aiken. She has a clarity and beauty to her sound that fit the Berg and the Korngold well.

“As for the Orchestra on tour - I think the musicians always aim to present ourselves and the music at the highest level. We love to bring the best of Cleveland to other parts of the world, and we enjoy the cultural exchange of experiencing other places.”

Comment by email:

Thank you for Eliesha Nelson's posting on soprano Laura Aiken during the Cleveland Orchestra's European tour. Eliesha was the first place winner of the 1992 National Association of Negro Musicians (NANM) string competition. Her instrument at the time was violin and she represented the Central Region of NANM. She was a resident of the state of Alaska at that time and the youngest of four contetants. We continue to wish her well in her career. Musically yours, Barbara Wright-Pryor