 Issue 10.7.3 ..........
Newsletter of the Colorado Opera Network .......... 19 July 2010
  Lyric
coloratura
soprano
Patrice
Burgstahler has an extensive and impressive performance career both
nationally and internationally, singing worldwide concert tours and
performing in operas. She sang the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor, Musetta in La Bohème, Madame Herz in Der Schauspieldirektor, Queen
of the Night in Die Zauberflöte
and Madame Latour in Le Postillon de
Longjumeau in New York, Valencienne in The Merry Widow with the Denver
Opera Company, and Adina in L'Elisir
d'amore, and Gilda in Rigoletto
with New Jersey Opera. While living in Hamburg, Germany, from 1991 to
2001, she performed the role of Carlotta in Andrew Lloyd Webber's
German production of Phantom of the
Opera, singing multiple performances in German at Hamburg's Neue
Flora Theatre. Directing credits include a neo-classical one-act
chamber opera by Jean Francaix, Paris,
a
nous
deux, sung in French with four saxophones,
full-length opera scenes of La
Rondine by Puccini and Cendrillon
by Massenet.Patrice has an extensive performing history in art song literature, singing numerous recitals in classical styles from Baroque to 20th century Contemporary music. She has sung recitals featuring American, British, French, German and Spanish composers in Hamburg's concert halls, the Hamburg American consulate several times and performed the initial reading of Ian McEwan's Atonement at the British consulate during the British Shakespeare Prize winners concert. James Michener wrote a description of Patrice and her singing partner in concert at St. Thomas into his novel, Caribbean, when he heard them perform in the Caribbean Islands. She has recorded a CD on the SYRINX label, which includes the only recording of Colorado composer, Jean Berger's Villanescas, Spanish song cycle for soprano and chamber orchestra. She won the Rocky Mountain Regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, competing in the New York City semi-finals, at 21 years of age. The same year she was one of the top two winners in the Regional San Francisco Opera Auditions, and won both district and regional 1st place in the undergraduate women’s division of the CO/WY National Association of Teachers of Singing. Patrice maintains a vocal studio serving mainly Ft. Collins, Loveland, and Windsor. She also teaches individual voice lessons in Denver at the Arvada Center of Arts & Humanities. Her vocal pedagogy approach is based upon kinesthetics, with mind to body or mind to muscle memory connection, a subject much talked about recently by vocal pedagogues, with buzz words like “body-mapping” and other body awareness techniques which basically intellectualizes the performers’ ability to connect to their breath support anatomy for the ideal production of singing through breathing, phonation and resonance coordination. She prepares singers for performing careers along with intensive training in the skills of vocal technique. Students also are given the basis of the music business for auditioning, performances and skills for longevity in the field. Preparation involves different styles, both operatic and musical theatre, concert materials and commercial music with classically based vocal technique. Patrice holds a Bachelor's Degree of Music in Vocal Performance from University of Colorado at Boulder, and a Master's Degree of Music in Vocal Performance at Boston Conservatory of Music and is currently completing a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance and Opera Direction at the University of Northern Colorado. She was one of five vocalists accepted each year into New York’s prestigious Columbia University, Doctoral Cohort Program where she received training in the latest ideas in Vocal Pedagogy methods and recently taught voice, vocal diction and literature and performance workshop classes at Northeastern State University.  Jeremy
Sortore is in Virginia for continuing education and
certification in a vocal pedagogy methodology called Somatic Voicework,
primarily for teaching Contemporary Commercial genres. He continues to
offer opera surtitles translations for licensing/rental across the
United States and has been involved with Opera Colorado for the last
several seasons as surtitles author and coordinator, a position
he will retain in the coming season.Joel Burcham will sing Alfredo
in La Traviata with Music by the Lake,
Lake Geneva, WI, July 24 and 25, and the Duke in Rigoletto with Opera Fort Collins, August
27 and 29. e-Letter
from Crested Butte: I
just
arrived
here
on
Friday
[July
9]...
9,000
ft.
elevation.
Wow!
No
matter
how
much
I've
been
running
and
working
out
prior
to
coming
up
here,
I'm still suckin' a
bit of wind!! Fortunately, the Crested Butte Music Festival has full
access to a gym in town! I'm singing Marcello in our production of La
bohème on July 25, August 3 and 5. We begin
rehearsals tomorrow under
the direction of Sarah Meyers
(from the Met in NYC) and the baton of David
Syrus (from Covent
Garden in London). Colorado native Keith
Miller, who is the Opera Artistic Manager, will be singing
the role of
Colline. Gregory Gerbrandt, Baritone
e-Letter
from Fort Collins: Heard old friend from school days, Joyce Castle, in Three Decembers at Central City,
last night [July 10]. With Emily
Pulley
and Keith Phares, a more
well-balanced trio of brilliant voices you will never hear! The
expressionist staging, making use of supers as "stagehands" also was
interesting, and at times exceptional. And it had a good
intermission-less build to a stunning lyrical finale. See it!!
e-Letter
from Portland: Rehearsals
for Hansel and Gretel
have just started, and
it is shaping up to be an outstanding show. Although the Dew
Fairy is
a very short role, I am realizing that it is sort of like sprinting a
100-yard dash-- it takes a TON of energy! Very, very enjoyable. The
PORTopera Young Artist Program's performances are concluding tonight
[July 11].
Our operas, Mozart's The Impresario,
and
Donizetti's
The Night
Bell, have been well received and a whole lot of fun. I've seen
a lot
of Maine and am really enjoying my time here.Emily
Murdock, Soprano
Gallery
Photos: Last week we were at Central City Opera and there
visited with Apprentice Artist Julia Tobiska, who is the Mother
in Madama Butterfly and Juno
in Orpheus in the Underworld,
and also encountered Brian Luedloff, Director of
Opera Theatre at the University of Northern Colorado, with colleague Kurt Howard, Producing Director,
Fort Worth Opera. See them in The Gallery.
  Here
is
another
wonderful
ploy
for
marketing
opera
in
unexpected
places,
this
one
in
Tel
Aviv,
promoting
Il Trovatore: click to
play this
exquisite
video. Puccini's Turandot,
starring Maria Guleghina
and Marcello Giordani, with Keith Miller as the Mandarin.
will be
encored by the Metropolitan Opera in 14 Front Range theaters, starting
at
6:30
pm on
Wednesday, July 21 It also will be shown in nine theatres on
Thursday,
July 22, at different times; see the Fathom
Events website for particular times, theatres, ticketing and
additional
information. Western Slope Mikado: The High Desert Opera Summer production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado concludes in Grand Junction at the Avalon Theatre at 7:30 pm on Saturday, July 24. Click the Box Office link at the HDO website to purchase tickets on line or by phone. Griffey Recital: CU NOW Guest Recital with tenor Anthony Dean Griffey Sunday, July 25, 2 pm, Boulder Public Library, Canyon Theater, 1001 Arapahoe Ave. Tickets for the performance are $30 (General Admission). Call 303.492.8008 for tickets or more information at CU Presents. Mr. Griffey will hold Master Classes featuring CU NOW student performers Monday, July 26, and Tuesday, July 27, 7 pm., ATLAS Black Box Theater. Free and open to the public for observation. Here is a must-see video-- people you know in motion making a great promotion-- click now for CU Now.  Aria
Concert: Arias@Avos
Summer Opera Troupe presents scene and highlights from The Magic Flute, The Tales of Hoffmann, Susannah, Die Fledermaus, The Elixir of Love, The Pearl
Fishers, and more. Featured singers
are Cody Llaun, Stefanie and Graham Anduri, Alexandra and Andrew Diessner, Chaazi
Munyanya, and Zachary Wilson,
with
pianist
Karen Stoody.
Sunday, July 25,
4 - 6 pm, Avogadro's Number,
605
S. Mason
Street, Fort Collins. Sponsored
by
the Opera Fort Collins Guild,
Arias@Avos showcases outstanding regional classical singers. No
admission charge; donations accepted.Recital: Lyric Soprano Elizabeth Murphy will present a chamber recital at Bethany Lutheran Church in Cherry Hills Village on Sunday, July 25, at 4 pm, in conjunction with the Festival of Faith and the Arts. Elizabeth will perform works by Rameau, Mozart, Clarke, Wolf, Cage, and Britten accompanied by Kevin Kennedy on piano and Rebecca Burchfield on violin. A free-will offering will benefit the music program at Bethany Lutheran. National Convention: The 2010 National Association of Negro Musicians Convention in Colorado Springs will feature music master classes, workshops, seminars, roundtable discussions, competitions, live music performance of jazz, classical and opera, and a gala awards banquet, with special guest musical performers (including jazz songstress Dianne Reeves); lecturers and presenters (including Cliff Jackson, Chapman Nyaho, Robert Sims, Rollo Dilworth, and Julius Williams); and honorees (including George Shirley, John Bowen, Charles Burrell, Martile Rowland, and Arthur Jones). A World Premiere of a Chamber Opera by Julius P. Williams will occur on Monday, July 26, and the William Warfield Voice Masterclass will be taught by George Shirley on Tuesday, July 27. Various locations in Colorado Springs with major gatherings held at the Antlers Hilton Hotel, 4 S. Cascade Ave., July 25-28. Tickets, registration and general information: Shivers Fund at Pikes Peak Library District and Nation Association of Negro Musicians websites. Crested Butte Opera: La Bohème will be performed July 25, August 3 and 5. Conducted by David Syrus, Head of Music for the Royal Opera of Covent Garden, London, and directed by Metropolitan Opera Stage Director Sarah Meyers, with Keith Miller playing the role of Colline, Gregory Gerbrant will be Marcello, Alok Kumar will be Rodolfo and Sara Stewart will be Mimí. Children's Opera Days: The Central City Opera Guild presents "Take a Child to the Opera Day" on Tuesday, July 27, for Madama Butterfly and on Tuesday, August 3, for Orpheus in the Underworld. Both events take place from 11:45 am to 2:30 pm, prior to the Central City Opera Family Matinee performance. All roles in the family matinees are performed by members of the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program. Ticket prices are $37 for adults and $32 for children ages six and older. All participants will receive a family study guide in advance. Call Central City Opera Box Office at 303.292.6700 to purchase tickets. Opera 101: Todd Queen will speak about opera basics Wednesday, July 28, 5:30 pm, at Avagadro's Number, 605 S. Mason St., Fort Collins, in an Art Cafe of the Beet Street Culture Cafes series. Eaglen in Boulder: Colorado Music Festival presents Jane Eaglen in Epic Opera on Thursday, July 29 and 30, 7:30 pm at Chautauqua Auditorium, Boulder. Ms. Eaglen and the CMF Festival Orchestra perform Wagner’s Prelude and Love-Death from Tristan und Isolde and Lorin Maazel's arrangement of The Ring Without Words.  CU
NOW: In the New
Opera
Workshop at the University of Colorado, Boulder, College of
Music singers will perform well-known pieces by composers Robert
Aldridge and Herschel Garfein followed by an excerpt from Sister Carrie, a new adaptation of
Theodore Dreiser's 1900 novel of the same name. Following the
performance will be live
commentary from the composers. Friday,
July 30, at 7:30 pm, and Saturday, July 31, at 2:00 pm; ATLAS
Black Box Theater. Single tickets: $15 at this
page.Opera Concert: Rocky Mountain Opera will offer a concert at the Broadway Music School, 1940 South Broadway, Denver, on Friday, July 30, beginning at 7:30 pm. The program will include arias and scenes from Verdi's Il Trovatore, Puccini's Turandot and Wagner's Siegfried among others. Featured artists will be John Carpenter, tenor; Annette Germinario, soprano; Sara Green, baritone; Nancy Harris, mezzo soprano; and Karen Tucker-Patterson, Wagnerian soprano. The music director and accompanist will be Dr. James Meyers. Tickets are $12 for seniors 65 and older and $15 for others. A reception "Kick Off" celebration and meeting with the artists will follow the concert.  Figaro
in
Aspen: Aspen Opera Theater
Center will perform The Marriage of Figaro July 31 and
August 2 and 4, and The Ghosts of
Versailles August 19 and 21. See the Aspen
Music
Festival website for information and ticketing. Nikki Boxer will host broadcasts
on Aspen Public Radio of The
Marriage
of
Figaro on Monday, August 2; and The Ghosts of Versailles on
Saturday,
August 21; both at 7 pm.CU NOW: In the New Opera Workshop at the University of Colorado, Boulder, College of Music singers will perform well-known pieces by composer Daniel Kellog followed by an excerpt from The Autumn Orchard, based on the life of Spanish Civil War poet Miguel Hernandez. Following the performance will be live commentary from the composer. Thursday, August 5, and Friday, August 6, at 7:30 pm, and Saturday, August 7, at 2:00 pm; ATLAS Black Box Theater. Single tickets: $15 at this page. Soiree: The Opera Fort Collins Guild will offer a soiree, "Songs in Summer," with soprano Kathryn Gates, tenor Andrew Lunsford, and baritone Erik Bryan, performing arias, songs and showtunes at the home of Gary and Carol Ann Hixon, 3035 West County Road 38E in Fort Collins. Wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served in their beautiful and artful garden. Thursday, August 12, 6 pm. General admission $45; ages 39 and under $30. Tickets at the door or call the Lincoln Center Box Office 970.221.6730 or www.lctix.com.  For several years, it has been our custom to make three trips annually, from Fort Collins to Central City, for attending one of the three festival operas there. A few years ago we changed to making one trip to attend all three operas in two successive days, and staying overnight. We have over-nighted at different hostelries, but this time we stayed at the relatively new Century Casino Hotel. If you are not aware of this conveniently-located establishment, you will want to be, for it offers very good opportunities for Central City opera goers. The persuasive reasons for staying there: free parking in the attached garage, a discounted room rate for opera ticket holders, free breakfast, and it is less than one block from the Central City Opera House. The hotel rooms are spacious, attractive, smoke free, and have wireless Internet access. Altogether, the Century is a dandy accommodation at an unbeatable price. Click this link to go to the Century's website.
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