Concert Version of Mozart's Don Giovanni Presented by the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra on April 24
ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Thursday, April 24, Woodstock Chamber Orchestra (WCO) program at Bard College offers a concert version of Don Giovanni, featuring eight young up-and-coming opera stars from New York City. The program begins at 8:00 p.m. in Olin Hall at Bard College. Tickets are $17.00 for adults, $5.00 for students, and free to the Bard community with identification. [This program is repeated on Saturday, April 26, at 8:00 p.m. at Pointe of Praise Family Life Center, 243 Hurley Avenue, Kingston; and on Sunday, April 27, at 3:00 p.m. at the Reformed Church of Saugerties.]
The production of Don Giovanni, conducted by WCO artistic director David Leighton, features Jeremy Silver in the title role, with Cheryl Warfield performing Donna Anna, and Michael Certo as Masetto, Eowyn Driscoll as Donna Elvira, Anna Malzone as Zerlina,
C. David Morrow as Leporello, Aaron Sheya as Don Ottavio, and Eric Wieboldt as the Commendatore.
The WCO concerts at Bard are presented in cooperation with The Bard Center. For additional information or to purchase tickets, call 845-246-7045 or visit
www.wco-online.com.
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About the Singers
Michael Certo (Masetto) toured with the Lake George Opera-to-Go Ensemble and was recently featured with the Albany Symphony singing Copland’s Old American Songs. He has appeared in Viterbo, Italy, with the Tuscia Opera, as well as with Ash Lawn Opera, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, and the Pittsburgh Opera. Certo recently completed a master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music, where he performed the title role in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. He has spent extended time performing with the Studio and Solisti programs of the Opera Theater and Music Festival of Lucca, Italy, under the tutelage of Lorenzo Malfatti.
Eowyn Driscoll (Donna Elvira) is a graduate of the City University of New York Baccalaureate Progam. She has appeared at the Aaron Copland School of Music in Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea and in Vivaldi’s Magnificat. She has sung with the Long Island Opera Workshop and Crittenden Opera Workshop, and appeared in the world premiere of Adam Klein’s Leithian Part I. Driscoll made her Off-Off-Broadway debut in 2003 in Samuel Beckett’s Catastrophe for Vaclav Havel at the 79th Street Theater Lab.
Anna Malzone (Zerlina) has toured Italy and Canada as a featured soloist, and performed with the Long Island Opera Workshop. In her private studio she teaches piano as well as voice, and also tutors music history.
C. David Morrow (Leporello) has sung with the Chelsea Opera, Raylynmor Opera, New Jersey Verismo, and Vertical Player Repertory. His has appeared with regional, stock, and touring companies across North America, as well as in the Far East, creating roles in Adam Klein’s new opera The Leithian, in the world premiere of The Eglantine by Sam Belich, and in the premiere of Man: Biology of a Fall by Evan Hause. Under the auspices of the National Choral Council, Morrow has served as artist in residence in the New York City public schools.
Aaron Sheya (Don Ottavio) recently sang with WCO in Carmen, and is a regularly featured performer with the New York Grand Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Brooklyn Conservatory Community Orchestra, and Regina Opera. He is a recipient of the Steele Fund Music Scholarship and a member of the young artist program at the Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
Jeremy Silver (Don Giovanni) has appeared with the Lyric Theater, Pacific Opera, and New York Opera Scenes. He is a graduate of Westminster College and Sessione Senese per la Musica e l’Arte in Siena, Italy. Silver completed his vocal training in New York with renowned vocal pedagogue Thomas LoMonaco.
Cheryl Warfield (Donna Anna) appeared with the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra in Verdi’s Il Trovatore and Bizet’s Carmen and can be heard this season with the Amato Opera Theatre in Verdi’s La Forza Del Destino and Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro. Warfield made her European debut in Italy with the Rome Festival Orchestra, and has appeared with the Bregenz Festival in Austria and the Theater des Westins in Berlin. She also appeared on Broadway in Hal Prince’s Tony Award–winning revival of Jerome Kern’s masterpiece Showboat.
Eric Wieboldt (Il Commendatore) has appeared as soloist with the North Shore Chorus and Long Island Philharmonic Masterworks Chorus. Well-known as cabaret and musical theater singer, he has performed major roles with the Cultural Arts Playhouse of Bethpage and the Suburban Players of Long Island.
About the Conductor and Orchestra
WCO artistic director David Leighton is a graduate of The Juilliard School. When he was 22 years old, he was invited by Rafael Kubelik to the Metropolitan Opera as assistant chorus master and assistant conductor. Leighton has been recital accompanist for Luciano Pavarotti, Renata Scotto, Marilyn Horne, Montserrat Caballé, and Paul Plishka, and has conducted the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; Dallas Opera; Nashville Opera; Anhaltisches Theater, Dessau, Germany; Châtelet, Théâtre Musicale de Paris; and IRCAM (Pierre Boulez, director). He assisted the late Sir Georg Solti in the world premiere of Sir Michael Tippett’s Byzantium with the Chicago Symphony. As artistic director of the Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany, he gave piano recitals and conducted performances featuring 20th-century masterpieces.
The Woodstock Chamber Orchestra, formed in 1980 by musicians from the Woodstock area, comprises professional musicians from the entire Hudson Valley. WCO regularly commissions music by local and regional composers and each season performs in Woodstock, Kingston, and Saugerties, and at Bard College.
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(4/16/08)
To download high-resolution press photos, click on the thumbnail images below:
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| Cheryl Warfiled | Jeremy Silver |