January 28, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … The two-week Brahms festival concludes with Music Director Carlos Kalmar leading the Oregon Symphony and Portland Symphonic Choir in Brahms’ “German Requiem” with soprano Erin Wall and baritone Richard Zeller on Feb. 26, 27 and 28 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Media support is provided by The Oregonian. Lufthansa is the exclusive airline sponsor for the Symphony’s Classical series.
Kalmar, the orchestra and the Portland Symphonic Choir present Brahms’ moving and powerful “German Requiem” for the first time in thirty years. In contrast to the standard Catholic mass for the dead, Brahms wrote his “German Requiem” to comfort the bereaved and it was an immediate success, establishing Brahms’ reputation as a major composer of the Romantic era. Critics of Brahms’ time described it as “movingly elegiac…delightfully lyrical…shatteringly dramatic” and “the supreme and ideal expression of our age.”
Dr. Steven Zopfi, music director of the Portland Symphonic Choir, rehearsed the choir in preparation for this performance.
Wall, currently an artist-in-residence with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, will sing the fifth movement, which Brahms wrote in memory of his mother, while Zeller, a Portland native internationally renowned for his dramatic interpretations of both concert and operatic repertoire performs the third and sixth movement solos.
Kalmar and the Symphony open the concert with the Symphony’s premiere of Britten’s brooding and transcendent “Sinfonia da Requiem,” which he composed in 1940 following his mother’s death. Said to be inspired by Mahler’s Symphony No. 7, it shares tonal similarities with that earlier work.
The Brahms Festival, a collaboration with Chamber Music Northwest and Reed College runs from Feb. 18-28 and will feature concerts, lectures and social opportunities, in addition to a broad array of musical and scholarly resources that celebrate the music and genius of Johannes Brahms.
Soirée, the Symphony’s new group for young professionals will host its second event on Saturday, Feb. 26 with a pre-concert discussion of the “Requiem” with University of Rochester history professor Celia Applegate, an intermission party and a post-concert reception with Kalmar and Symphony musicians.
Oregon Symphony Classical concerts regularly include additional opportunities for listeners to learn more about the music and the orchestra. These activities include:
Concert Conversations: Music Director Carlos Kalmar and Shaun Yu, morning host at KBPS All Classical 89.9 will lead a discussion one hour before the concert of the works to be performed. Media support for “Concert Conversations” is provided by Classical Millennium.
Saturday: Music Director Carlos Kalmar will speak briefly from the podium in “Saturday Interactive.” Media support for “Saturday Interactive” is provided by KINKfm102.
Performances are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 26 and 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Monday, Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets range in price from $18 to $80 and may be purchased at the Oregon Symphony Ticket Office (923 S.W. Washington), Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or charged by phone at (503) 228-1353 or (800) 228-7343. Tickets also may be purchased at all Ticketmaster outlets (503-790-ARTS) or through Ticketmaster Online, via the Symphony’s Web site at www.orsymphony.org. Service fees may apply.
Canadian-American soprano Erin Wall has recently received awards and recognition from some of North America’s finest arts organizations. Currently an artist-in-residence with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, she recently made her international concert debut as soprano soloist in Britten’s War Requiem with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, in addition to debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. In 2002 she received a Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, and in recent years she has been an awardee in the Dallas Opera’s Career Grant Competition, the George London Foundation Awards, the MacAllister Awards, and the Metropolitan National Council Regional Auditions. Most recently, she represented Canada in the 2003 BBC Singer of the World in Cardiff competition, and competed to critical acclaim in the final round.
Ms. Wall was born in Calgary, Alberta, to American parents, and studied piano and theory at the Vancouver Academy of Music throughout her childhood. She completed a Bachelor of Music degree at Western Washington University in 1998, and received a Master of Music degree from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in 2000. She also studied voice at the Aspen Music Festival and the Music Academy of the West, where she was a student of Marilyn Horne. Recent festival appearances have included the Ravinia Festival, the Grant Park Music Festival, and the City of London Festival. Ms. Wall also has an extensive recital and oratorio repertoire, which she has performed in various venues throughout North America.
Roles in her current repertoire include the title role in Carlisle Floyd’s “Susannah,” Gasparina in “La Canterina,” Pamina in “Die Zauberflöte,” Violetta in “La Traviata,” Micaëla in “Carmen,” Anne Trulove in “The Rake’s Progress,” The Contessa in “Le Nozze di Figaro,” and Thaïs in “Thaïs.” She has appeared at Lyric Opera as the First Nursemaid in “Street Scene,” Flowermaiden in “Parsifal,” 1 st Lady in “Die Zauberflöte,” and Gerhilde in “Die Walküre.” Other roles include Marguerite in “Faust”(Lyric Opera, 2003), concerts in New York and Toronto, Freia in “Das Rheingold” and Gerhilde in “Die Walküre” (Lyric Opera, 2004/2005), and debuts with the Paris Opéra, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Vienna Festwoche, and the Mozart Festival in Vienna (all 2005-2006).
One of America’s leading baritones, Richard Zeller is internationally acclaimed for his concert and opera roles. He is known for his beautiful dramatic voice and presence as well as his outstanding musicianship. In 2002/03 Mr. Zeller appeared at the Metropolitan Opera in three new productions: as Ernesto in Bellini’s “Il Pirata” with Renée Fleming; in the lead role of Eddie in William Bolcom’s opera based on Arthur Miller’s play, “A View from the Bridge” and as Chorebe in Berlioz’s “Les Troyens,” conducted by Maestro James Levine. He also appeared twice with New Jersey Symphony and Zdenek Macal, recording Dvořák’s “Te Deum” and performing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. He sang Beethoven’s “Missa Solemnis” with the St. Louis Symphony and Donald Runnicles and appeared with Keith Lockhart and the Utah Symphony in Walton’s “Belshazzar’s Feast.” With the Third Angle New Music Group, he performed and recorded the title role in David Schiff’s opera, “Gimpel the Fool.” During the summer months, he sings in the Met Opera’s Concerts in the Parks as Enrico in Donizetti’s “Lucia di Lammermoor” and at the Blossom Festival sings the Fauré “Requiem” and Berlioz’s “Roméo et Juliette” with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Jahja Ling. The 2003/04 season included more performances with the Metropolitan Opera as Marcello in Puccini’s “La Bohème;” Schelkalov in Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” and Barak in R. Strauss’ “Die Frau ohne Schatten.” With the English National Opera he will present Massenet’s “Thaïs.”
Mr. Zeller’s performances in the 2001/02 season included a nationwide TV Broadcast in “Live from Lincoln Center” singing the Mozart “Requiem” with the Mostly Mozart Festival, conducted by Gerard Schwarz. He also appeared with Portland Opera as Zurga in Bizet’s “Les Pêcheurs de Perles” and with the Met as Barak in “Die Frau ohne Schatten.” He sang in Carnegie Hall in Bloch’s “Sacred Service,” in Orff’s “Carmina Burana” with the Oregon Symphony, and in Korea on tour with the Korean Symphony Orchestra. He sang the villain Scarpia in Puccini’s “Tosca” with Grand Rapids as well as the title role in Verdi’s “Macbeth” with Opera de Bordeaux and Opera de Vichy. He also sang the world premiere of Henri Lazarof’s Fifth Symphony with the Seattle Symphony.
Mr. Zeller was featured in Scottish Opera’s widely heralded, award-winning production of “Macbeth” directed by Luc Bondy at its Edinburgh Festival premiere in 1999/2000 and revival at the Vienna Festival. Other opera highlights of past seasons include Metropolitan Opera performances of Giordano’s “Andrea Chénier,” Gounod’s “Faust,” and Chicago Lyric Opera’s “Boris Godunov” and “Andrea Chénier.” He has performed Gluck’s “Alceste” at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin and Gluck’s “Iphigenie en Tauride” in Madrid. Mr. Zeller has frequently performed the role of Germont in Verdi’s “La Traviata” in opera and concert venues that include Hamburgische Staatsoper, San Diego Opera, Scottish Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Rotterdam and Dublin Opera. Other Verdi baritone roles include Amonasro in Aida with Portland Opera and Florida Philharmonic; the title role in “Rigoletto” with New York City Opera; and Count di Luna in “Il Trovatore” with both San Diego Opera and Scottish Opera.
Richard Zeller’s extensive symphonic collaborations include Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” with the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival, with the Cleveland Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, and the National Symphony of Taiwan. He has sung Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Chicago Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, and the Montreal Symphony, and was chosen by the Baltimore Symphony as soloist for a multi-faith concert honoring the visit of Pope John Paul II. He has sung “Carmina Burana” in over eighty performances with orchestras and ballet companies all over the world, and almost the same number of performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. He has been a frequent performer with both Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony and with Helmuth Rilling, with whom he has sung throughout Europe and North America, including a tour with the International Bachakademie Stuttgart in Germany and Spain. He has performed at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, in Leipzig and Dresden with the MDR Orchester, and in Hanover with the NDR Orchester. Other performances include the Brahms “Requiem” with New Japan Symphony under John Nelson and Berlioz’s “La Damnation de Faust” at the Prague Autumn International Music Festival.
Richard Zeller’s recordings include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 for Centaur Records, and Virgil Thompson’s “Lord Byron” and Aaron Copland’s “The Tender Land” for Koch International.
Appointed in July 2003, Steven Zopfi is the fifth Artistic Director of the Portland Symphonic Choir. He is a native of New Jersey, attended the Hartt School of Music and the University of California at Irvine, and earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of Colorado. Zopfi has taught on the faculties of Penn State University and the University of Puget Sound and he has served as Vermont State President of the American Choral Director’s Association. Active as a conductor, scholar, church musician, and educator, Zopfi is the founder and past Artistic Director of The Foundling Hospital Singers of Hartford, Conn. and the Boulder Schola Cantorum of Boulder, Colo. As a performer, Zopfi has sung for Robert Shaw and Sir David Wilcocks and has performed with the Prague Philharmonic, the Colorado Symphony and the New Jersey Symphony. Choirs under his direction have appeared at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and the Waldorf-Astoria in New York and at various state and regional conventions. His scholarly interests include late twentieth-century American motet composition and the instrumentation of the basso continuo of early seventeenth-century vocal music. Active as an editor of early music, Zopfi is also a passionate advocate for new music and he has commissioned and conducted the world premieres of Edwin Lawrence’s “A Child’s Bestiary” and Timothy Melbinger’s “You.”
Founded in 1946, Portland Symphonic Choir, now under the direction of Dr. Steven Zopfi, is Portland’s oldest and largest independent choral organization. The Choir presents its own concert series each year in addition to regular performances as the official chorus of the Oregon Symphony. The choir has also appeared at the Cascade Festival of Music in Bend, Oregon, and as guests of the Oregon Ballet Theatre, Portland Youth Philharmonic and the Boston Pops. Membership in the Portland Symphonic Choir is based upon stringent auditions in which current and prospective members must demonstrate not only vocal ability but proficiency at sight singing. Singers selected for membership in the volunteer ensemble come from all walks of live and live throughout the Portland region.
The choir has gained an impressive international reputation through regular tours to Europe and Australia. Most recently the choir sang Mozart’s “Requiem” at the Jablonenc Music Festival and at the famed Rudolfinum Concert Hall in Prague.
The Portland Symphonic Choir is committed to promoting excellence in the tradition of choral music through education and service to the community. In 1989 the choir inaugurated a Girl Choir for girls aged 10 to 16 which has flourished under its conductor, Dr. Roberta Jackson. In 1994 the Choir created a Boy Choir which is also now a thriving independent group. Both groups are valuable training grounds for young singers.
