November 12, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Portland, Ore. … Renowned Baroque specialist Bernard Labadie guest conducts the Oregon Symphony and Portland Symphonic Choir with guest soloists as they present Handel’s “Messiah,” in full on Dec. 11 and as highlights for a Sundays at Two concert on Dec.12 at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Media support for these concerts is provided by Willamette Week and KINKfm102. American Airlines is the airline sponsor for the Sundays at Two series.
Audiences have loved “Messiah” for more than 260 years, and it has become the quintessential classical Christmas entertainment. Labadie, founder of the distinguished Baroque ensemble Les Violons du Roy and artistic director of L’Opéra de Montréal, brings his refined Baroque sensibility to Handel’s best-known oratorio. He is joined by soprano Shannon Mercer, countertenor Matthew White, tenor Colin Balzer and baritones Thomas Meglioranza and Joshua Hopkins, all of whom have previously sung with Labadie.
These concerts will have a distinctly Canadian flavor, as both the conductor and four of the five soloists hail from that country. Mercer, a native of Ottawa, is making a name for herself in opera both at home and abroad; her roles range from the Baroque through the 20th century. White, a founding member of Les Voix Baroques, has an international reputation as a Baroque opera specialist and has recorded on several labels. British Columbia native Colin Balzer’s diverse operatic repertoire ranges from Monteverdi to Penderecki, and he is a noted art song performer as well. The lone American in the group, Meglioranza sings a variety of repertoire that includes Monteverdi, Schubert, Adams and Rodgers & Hammerstein, as well as his Baroque repertoire, for which he is particularly known. Hopkins is a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio and will make his Carnegie Hall debut in Weill Hall in January 2005.
Donations of new, unwrapped toys for the Northwest NewsChannel 8 Toy Drive and canned food for the Oregon Food Bank are accepted at all Oregon Symphony Holiday concerts.
Performances are scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 11 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 12 at 2 p.m. in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Tickets range from $15 to $65 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.
Bernard Labadie is widely considered to be one of the most versatile and dynamic conductors of his generation. The newly appointed Artistic Director of L’Opéra de Montréal for the 2003-2004 season, both Artistic and Music Director of Les Violons du Roy, Bernard Labadie has already established himself as one of the finest conductors in North America.
Bernard Labadie burst onto the international scene in 1999, leading the Minnesota Orchestra in performances of Handel’s “ Messiah.” Mr. Labadie’s international success and popularity are evident when viewing his brilliant concert schedule. In the 2002-03 season, Mr. Labadie appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Glimmerglass Opera and the Minnesota Orchestra, among others.
Highlights of Bernard Labadie’s 2003-04 season included appearances with such prestigious orchestras as the New World Symphony and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, as well as the symphony orchestras of St Louis, Seattle, Edmonton and Calgary. In the coming seasons, Mr. Labadie is scheduled to lead the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Pacific Symphony, the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Utah, Atlanta, Oregon and Columbus; and will appear at the Mostly Mozart Festival in addition to his multiple engagements at both Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.
In addition to the aforementioned engagements, Canadian-born Labadie has already performed with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, as well as the symphony orchestras of Detroit, Indianapolis, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra. He has also directed performances at the Oregon Bach Festival, and with the New York City Ballet in performances of Pergolesi’s “ Stabat Mater.”
In 1984, Bernard Labadie founded Les Violons du Roy, a world-renowned chamber orchestra widely known for its mastery of the baroque and classical period repertoire. The orchestra tours often and has performed in most major musical centers across the United States. In 1985, he founded the choir La Chapelle de Québec, which has also toured extensively. He led both groups in performances of Haydn’s “ Lord Nelson Mass” and Mozart’s “ Requiem” at Lincoln Center in New York in September 2001, and in Handel’s “ Messiah” at Massey Hall in Toronto in December, 2001. During the spring of 2003, he led Les Violons du Roy in a major European tour with American countertenor David Daniels that included concerts in London, Paris, Salzburg and Bergen festivals.
Bernard Labadie is also passionately interested in opera and has made appearances with the Opera Theatre of New Jersey and Glimmerglass Opera in a production of “ Orlando” in July 2003. In August 2004 he will be collaborating with Jonathan Miller in performances of “ Così fan Tutte” as part of the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center. In the summer of 2005, Mr. Labadie is scheduled to appear with the Santa Fe Opera.
From 1994 through 2003 Mr. Labadie served as the artistic and music director of L’Opéra de Québec, where he conducted many different operas by Mozart, Puccini, Rossini, Verdi, Bellini, Donizetti, Bizet, Thomas, Humperdinck and Lehar. In May 2003 he took over as the new Artistic Director of L’Opéra de Montréal, to which he was appointed in April 2002. Mr. Labadie is now recording for the Dorian label. In addition to the seven CD’s previously released on the Dorian label (including his new arrangement of Bach’s “ Goldberg Variations” for strings and continuo) new recordings are planned for the future. In 2000, Mr. Labadie won the Juno award for best classical CD with singers and choirs for his conducting of Handel’s “ Apollo e Dafne.” A CD of Labadie’s live recording with Les Violons Du Roy and La Chapelle de Québec of Mozart’s “ Requiem” (Robert Levin edition), was released on the Dorian label in September of 2002.
Born in 1963, Mr. Labadie is a graduate of the School of Music of Laval University in Quebec City, as well as the conservatories of Quebec and Montreal. Other studies included Gregorian chant with the renowned Dom Jean Claire at the Abby Saint-Pierre-de-Solesmes in France, and conducting studies with Simon Stratfield, Pierre Dervaux and Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
Alumnus of the prestigious Merola Opera Program, Ms. Mercer is one of Canada’s finest young sopranos and has been named as one of the “Leaders of Tomorrow” by MacLean’s Magazine. The Ottawa native began her operatic career as a member of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio in Toronto and finished in June 2002. She made her mainstage début with the COC as a Madrigalist in Henze’s “Venus und Adonis,” a role she repeated with the Rotterdam Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Other roles with the company include Sesto in Sartorio’s “Giulio Cesare in Egitto” and Xenia in “Boris Godunov.” She returned in 2003 and received unanimous rave reviews for her scene-stealing performance as Oscar in the COC’s “Un ballo in maschera,” following this with a hysterically befuddled Elvira in their production of “L’italiana in Algeri.”
Other opera roles include Cleone from “Médée” with Opera Atelier, Dido from “Dido and Aeneas” with the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal and Opera McGill, Anne Page in “The Merry Wives of Windsor” with Merola Opera Program, First lady in “Die Zauberflöte” with Opéra de Québec, Cleopatra in “Giulio Cesare” with Opera McGill, Helena in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Lisette in “La Rondine” both with the Toronto Opera School.
In the summer of 2003, she created a sensation performing the role of Susanna in Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro” at the Music Academy of the West Summer Program headed by Marilyn Horne in Santa Barbara, California. In the fall of 2003 she made her successful début with Opera Ontario as Rosina in Rossini’s “Il barbiere di Siviglia.” Last January she made her debut with Toronto Operetta Theatre performing the role of Nadina in Oscar Straus’s “The Chocolate Soldier” and her Kingston Symphony début as Micaela in Bizet’s “Carmen” in concert.
Ms. Mercer is also an accomplished concert and recital artist. After participating in the Merola Opera Summer Program affiliated with the San Francisco Opera in the summer of 2002, she was asked back to make her Schwabacher Debut Recital in February of 2003. She also made her National Arts Centre/CBC Début Recital in Ottawa in June 2003 and her Aldeburgh Connection recital début at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto in May 2003. She is in great demand as a soloist and has sung with Ensemble Arion, Les Violons du Roy, Cantata Singers of Ottawa, the St. Lawrence Choir, Ottawa Choral Society, Off Centre Music Salon, Les Voix Baroques and the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal with whom she performed Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio.”
Recent performances include a tour of the prairies with the Montreal-based period instrument ensemble Les Voix Baroques and Handel’s “Saul” with the Ottawa Choral Society both in March. Most recently she performed the role of Oberto in Handel’s “Alcina” with Les Violons du Roy under the baton of Bernard Labadie. This past summer Shannon participated in the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival and recorded her first CD for Analekta with the Montreal based period instrument group Masques. This season she makes her Opera Lyra Ottawa début performing the role of Lucy in Menotti’s “The Telephone” and Laetitia in Menotti’s “The Old Maid and the Thief” and her Oregon Symphony début singing “Messiah.”
Recently awarded a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts and winner of the Bernard Diamant Prize, Shannon will spend most of 2005 in Vienna where she will further her studies with Margaret Singer and coach with David Aronson and Janko Kastelic, both of the Vienna State Opera.
Young Canadian counter-tenor Matthew White has a career that is rapidly expanding worldwide. Within the last few years he has appeared on numerous occasions in Europe, Asia, Canada, the United States and New Zealand. Recent operatic debuts include Ottone in Monteverdi’s “ L’Incoronazione di Poppea” for the Houston Grand Opera and Toronto’s Opera Atelier, Unulfo in “ Rodelinda” at Glyndebourne, Tolomeo in “ Giulio Cesare” with Cleveland Opera and the title role in “ Giulio Cesare” with Pacific Opera Victoria. On the concert stage he has sung with groups including Tafelmusik, Bach Collegium Japan, Israel Camerata, Les Violons du Roy, Le Concert Spirituel de Paris, Le Parlement de Musique, the Nederlands Bach Vereniging, the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Ensemble Arion, le Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montreal, Poland’s Arte dei Suonatori and the CBC Vancouver Orchestra. He has also made appearances at the Boston Early Music Festival, the Vancouver Early Music Festival, the Carmel California Bach Festival, the Utrecht Early Music Festival and the Festival of Sacred Arts in Reykjavik, Iceland. Current opera projects include return engagements with the Houston Grand Opera and the Glyndebourne Festival, the role of Bacchus in the Boston Early Music Festival’s new production of “ Ariadne” by Conradi and his début with New York City Opera in their production of “ Orlando.” Matthew White has recorded for BIS, CBC, Analekta, Atma, ASV and Naxos. Matthew continues to study with Jan Simons in Montreal and is a founding member of Les Voix Baroques.
Born in British Columbia, tenor Colin Balzer received his formal musical training at the University of British Columbia with David Meek and at the Hochschule für Musik Augsburg with Canadian soprano Edith Wiens.
The last couple of years have seen Colin performing diverse repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Penderecki with critical acclaim in both Canada and Europe with such conductors as Bernard Labadie, Yoav Talmi, Christof Prick, Helmuth Rilling and Simone Young. This past season had Colin singing masses from Gounod, Bruckner, Dvořák and Schubert, “King David” by Honneger, Mendelssohn’s “Elijah,” Handel’s “Messiah,” Britten’s “War Requiem” at the Britten Festival in England, Acis in a Munich production of “Acis and Galatea,” and Lucano, Soldato and Familiari in Festival Vancouver’s production of Monteverdi’s “L’incoronatione di Poppea.”
In addition to his concert work, Colin is a dedicated art song performer. He has worked in masterclasses with such artists as Phillip Langridge, Helmut Deutsch, Robert Tear, Edith Wiens, Elly Ameling, Brigitte Fasbender, Rudolph Jansen and Christoph Pregardien, and has attended both the Britten-Pears School in Alderburgh and the Franz Schubert Institut in Baaden, Austria. This past year, in addition to winning prizes in several competitions in Germany, Colin took second prize at the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition in London, England with what the London Times called an “engaging stage presence and supple, subtle range of vocal colour...steady, sensuous line...witty sense of timing...and imaginative richesse.”
Colin has been featured on “My Heart, My Home,” a recording of folk songs and spirituals with the West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir, and has recorded a set of Henze Lieder for Naxos.
Hailed for his “vocal distinction and expressive warmth” by The Boston Globe, American baritone Thomas Meglioranza has quickly established himself as one of the country’s most sought-after singers, possessing a remarkably versatile voice that is equally at home in a wide variety of repertoire that includes Monteverdi, Schubert, Babbitt and Rodgers & Hammerstein. A 2002 winner of the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, he is also a recipient of the 2002 Joy in Singing Award and is a winner of the 2003 Franz Schubert and Music of Modernity International Competition in Graz, Austria.
In June 2004, Mr. Meglioranza travels to Panama for a recital sponsored by the Asociacion Nacional de Conciertos and then returns to the Marlboro Music Festival for his second summer in residence there. Additional summer engagements include his debut with the Grant Park Symphony and Chorus in Fauré “ Requiem”, a return for a pair of concerts with the Cascade Music Festival Orchestra that featured Copland’s “ Old American Songs,” and a performance with the Waverly Consort and the Mark Morris Dance Group at New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival. His 2004-05 season features “ Messiah” performances in Portland both with the Oregon Symphony (debut) and the Portland Baroque Orchestra (return engagement), and New York Collegium has invited him back to perform the role of Christus in a rarely heard one-voice-per-part version of Bach’s “ Saint Matthew Passion,” led by Andrew Parrott. In recital, he performs in Chicago on both the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert series (broadcast on WFMT-FM) and the University of Illinois at Chicago’s “Tuesdays at One” series, and he also performs Barber’s “ Dover Beach ”with the Enso String Quartet for the Newtown Friends of Music (CT) and the Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music.
In 2003-04, Mr. Meglioranza starred as Chou En-lai in Opera Boston’s critically acclaimed production of “ Nixon in China,” his portrayal of which was praised by The Boston Globe as delivering his character’s “inner music with quiet rapture.” Other highlights from recent seasons include debut performances with the Houston Symphony (Handel’s “ Messiah” and a return engagement that same season for “ Carmina Burana”), Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Bach Cantata No. 152) and the Baltimore Choral Arts Society (Bach B minor Mass), as well as “ Carmina Burana” with the New York Choral Society for the opening of the American Ballet Theatre’s spring 2003 season at the Metropolitan Opera House, and critically acclaimed New York recitals at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and Merkin Concert Hall.
Particularly noted for his performances of baroque music, Mr. Meglioranza has been a featured soloist with numerous period instrument ensembles, including New York Collegium, American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque, Portland Baroque Orchestra, the Baroque Orchestra of Iowa and the Trinity Consort. He has frequently collaborated with such respected conductors as Andrew Parrott, Nicholas McGegan, Jane Glover, Nicholas Kraemer and Bernard Labadie.
On the operatic stage, Thomas Meglioranza’s portrayal of Don Giovanni, under the baton of Julius Rudel with the Aspen Opera Theater, was hailed by the Denver Post as “a triumph.” Highlights of other recent opera performances include Chicago Opera Theater’s acclaimed production of “ L’Orfeo” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music under Jane Glover, Purcell’s “ Dido and Aeneas” (Aeneas) with Atlanta’s New Trinity Baroque (which is now available on CD), and concert versions of Rameau’s “ Hippolyte et Aricie” (Thésée) conducted by Andrew Parrott and Purcell’s “ King Arthur”(all baritone roles) conducted by Bernard Labadie, both with the New York Collegium.
Mr. Meglioranza has made numerous appearances with orchestras in the United States, Europe, and Asia, including engagements with the Evansville Philharmonic (“ Messiah”), Rochester Philharmonic “ Paukenmesse,” Prague Radio Symphony (Beethoven’s Mass in C), Portland Baroque Orchestra (“ Messiah”), and the Thai Royal Navy Orchestra (Mozart concert arias). He has also performed orchestral pops programs with the Charleston Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony and twice with the Cascade Festival Orchestra in Oregon. Highlights of his many other festival appearances include Marlboro, Tanglewood, Aspen, Ravinia, Bowdoin and the Pacific Music Festival.
A champion of contemporary music, he recently gave the world premiere of Jorge Martin’s song cycle, “ Plundered Hearts” (commissioned for Mr. Meglioranza with the assistance of CAG) on his April 2003 debut program at Weill Recital Hall. In addition, the Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music recently commissioned Pierre Jalbert to write a work for Mr. Meglioranza and Dutch soprano Judith van Wanroij. Other recent new music performances include Milton Babbitt’s “ Two Sonnets” at Marlboro and at New York’s Cooper Union under the supervision of the composer, John Adams’ The Wound Dresser at the Tanglewood Festival for Contemporary Music with conductor Reinbert de Leeuw, the Japanese premiere of Aaron Jay Kernis’ song cycle “ Brilliant Sky, Infinite Sky” in Sapporo under the direction of the composer and John Harbison’s “ Words from Paterson” at the Bowdoin Music Festival with Jeffrey Milarsky conducting. He has also given premiere performances of many orchestral songs written for him, including Jonathan Chenette’s “ Broken Ground” with the Des Moines Symphony and Gavin Chuck’s “ Confiteor” with the Ossia Orchestra.
A graduate of Grinnell College and the Eastman School of Music, Thomas Meglioranza is of Thai, Polish and Italian heritage. He currently resides in New York City, where his other interests include cooking and martial arts.
Baritone Joshua Hopkins has been hailed as “…an outstanding young baritone with a virile, vigorous yet velvety sound and an immediately evident dramatic authority.” This September, Joshua joined the Houston Grand Opera Studio, where he studies and performs various roles for their main-stage productions. Joshua was a National Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera’s 2003 National Council Auditions. In September of 2002, José Carreras presented Joshua with the first place prize in the Julián Gayarre International Singing Competition. Joshua participated in Glimmerglass Opera’s 2002 Young American Artist Program, where he performed the main-stage role of Friedrich Bhaer in “Little Women.” The New Yorker hailed his voice as, “…a honey-toned, unforced baritone” and The Globe and Mail wrote, “ Hopkins has a robust voice that is filled with personality, subtle yet strong at the same time.”
Past engagements include Masetto in Opéra de Québec’s production of “Don Giovanni,” recently broadcast on CBC Radio. Joshua made his Toronto debut as Pollux in Rameau’s “Castor et Pollux” with Opera in Concert, later recorded on the NAXOS label. Joshua has also portrayed the principal roles of Nick Shadow in “The Rake’s Progress,” Figaro in “Le nozze di Figaro,” and Guglielmo in “Così fan tutte.”
Joshua has appeared with the Houston Symphony, Montréal’s Orchestre Métropolitain, Les Violons du Roy, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Québec Symphony Orchestra and the NAC Orchestra in Ottawa. This young baritone has performed an extensive range of J.S. Bach’s works, including his “Christmas Oratorio,” “Magnificat,” Mass in B Minor, “St. John Passion” and “St. Matthew Passion.” He has also been featured in Fauré’s “Requiem,” Bruckner’s “Te Deum,” Rossini’s “Petite Messe Solennelle,” and Handel’s “Messiah.”
Embracing his love of recital, Joshua has had the opportunity to record three recitals with CBC Radio’s Jeunes Artistes program. This past March, he performed Schubert’s “Die Winterreise” in Montreal and in Burlington, Vermont, for which he was awarded an FCAR Master’s Research Grant. He also made three appearances with the Festival International de Lanaudière during their 2003 season. Joshua will make his Carnegie Hall debut in Weill Hall this January as he joins the roster of the Marilyn Horne Foundation. Next June, Joshua will join the Baltimore Symphony in celebrating the music of “ Vienna to Broadway” in their Pops series.
Joshua Hopkins appears through the courtesy of Houston Grand Opera Studio, a directed training program of Houston Grand Opera.
