Lee Dougherty Ross and Jerry Ross, long time Sarasota residents and patrons of the arts bring to you the Artist Series of Sarasota.
The Artist Series of Sarasota
PERFORMING IN THE HISTORIC ASOLO THEATER AT
THE RINGLING MUSEUM OF ART
Classic Concerts That CaptivateOutstanding musicians from around the world performing
for you in America’s only 17th Century European theater2007-2008 Subscriptions, Single tickets, and Information…
Call 941-388-1188
or visit
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May 25 & 27
Melanie Sarakatsannis, soprano MOZART Deh vieni non tardar (Susannah’s aria) from The Marriage of Figaro KERN All the Things You Are ROMBERG One Kiss Melanie Sarakatsannis is a versatile lyric soprano. Her opera roles include Despina in Cosi fan Tutte, Magda in La Rondine and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi. She made her Carnegie Hall debut as a soloist singing two of the Schubert Masses and has appeared with the Santa Fe Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Orlando Opera, and the New York City Opera. She was a Palm Beach Opera competition winner, a finalist in the Stewart National Opera Competition, a Richard F. Gold Career Grant winner and regional finalist for the Metropolitan Opera National Council.
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HERALD-TRIBUNE MEDIA GROUP
CLASSICAL RECITAL SERIES Nine programs presented in the Historic Asolo Theater at the Ringling Museum of Art ($258, $221, $185 – Series of nine concerts; Single tickets $35, $30, $25)
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November 25 & 27
Michelle Naughton and Christine Naughton, duo-piano MILHAUD Scaramouche for Two Pianos BRAHMS Variations on a theme by Joseph Haydn BRAHMS Hungarian Dances The Naughton sisters enjoy playing two-piano music. Both are students of Cliburn medalist Christopher Taylor. The sisters have performed with orchestras in Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida and Illinois. In 2006 their recital was featured on Chicago’s premiere classical music radio station, WFMT. Christina Naughton made her orchestral debut with the Madison (Wisconsin) Symphony at the age of nine. In 2002 she won the Chicago Steinway Society’s “Most Promising Pianist” competition. In 2005 Christina was the only American finalist and bronze medalist at the Gina Bachauer International Young Artist Competition. In 2006 she performed with the Utah Symphony Orchestra. |
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Michelle Naughton made her orchestral debut with the Madison Symphony at the age of ten. In 2001, Michelle performed with the Midwest Young Artist Orchestra as the overall winner of the Walgreen’s Concerto Competition. She was also the winner of Chicago Steinway Society’s “Most Promising Pianist” Competition. In 2005 she was Artist in Residence with the Gulf Coast Symphony. In 2006 Michelle performed at St. John’s Cathedral in Denver, Colorado, won first prize at the PianoArts Biennial National Piano Concerto and Solo Competition, and performed with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
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December 9 & 11
Alexander Markov, violin TARTINI Sonata in g minor (The Devil’s Trill) BEETHOVEN Sonata No. 9 in A Major (Kreutzer) TCHAIKOVSKY Waltz-Scherzo PAGANINI Le Streghe (Witches’ Dance) Internationally celebrated violinist Alexander Markov has been hailed as one of the most captivating musicians in the world today. Lord Yehudi Menuhin has written, “He is without doubt one of the most brilliant and musical of violinists. Alexander Markov will certainly leave his mark on the music-lovers of the world and in the annals of the violin virtuosi of our day.” The Gold Medal winner at the Paganini International Violin Competition, Mr. Markov has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, l’Orchestre de Paris, the Montreal Symphony, the BBC and Detroit Symphonies including performances with such celebrated conductors as Lorin Maazel, Charles Dutoit, Neeme Jarvi, and Sir Neville Marriner. Awarded a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1987, Mr. Markov made his New York debut recital at Carnegie Hall, appeared with Christoph Eschenbach at Avery Fisher Hall and performed with other celebrated orchestras including the Houston, Baltimore, Cincinnati and Jerusalem orchestras.
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January 13 & 15
Antonio Pompa-Baldi, piano DEBUSSY 12 Preludes (book 2) FAURE 3 Impromptus Born and raised in Foggia, Italy, Antonio Pompa-Baldi first came to the United States in 1999 to participate in the Cleveland International Piano Competition. He won the First Prize. He also won a silver medal at the 2001 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Mr. Pompa-Baldi has toured extensively on four continents. In the United States he has appeared at Cleveland’s Severance Hall, New York’s Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, and Boston’s Symphony Hall. Antonio Pompa-Baldi is a Steinway Artist. Mr. Pompa-Baldi appeared on PBS in the documentary “Concerto” with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and James Conlon, which was later broadcast throughout Europe in May 2003 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Prokofiev’s death.
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February 10 & 12
Jennifer Zetlan, soprano SCHUMAN Orpheus with his Lute STRAUSS Ophelia Lieder CHEN Whilst Alexis Lay Press’d A graduate of the Juilliard School in 2006, Jennifer Zetlan has already made definitive appearances throughout the country. Ms. Zetlan was a regional winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2006 and a finalist in the 2005 Houston Grand Opera’s StarQuest Concert of Arias Competition and the 2005 winner of the Mannes College of Music Concerto Competition. In the summer of 2006 she appeared as Emily in the Aspen Music Festival’s production of Our Town. During the 2007-2008 season Ms. Zetlan makes her debut with the New York City Opera. Ms. Zetlan appeared in concert at the New York Festival of Song celebrating 100 years of Juilliard composers’ vocal works. She was a teaching intern with the Metropolitan Opera Guild for two years, and has been a panelist on the Metropolitan Opera broadcast intermission quizzes. |
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March 30 & April 1
Thomas Meglioranza, baritone and Reiko Uchida, piano HAYDN Sailor’s Song DEBUSSY songs IVES songs Hailed for his “vocal distinction and expressive warmth” by The Boston Globe, American baritone Thomas Meglioranza displays compelling artistry and a remarkably versatile voice. These are qualities that have taken him from the stage of Broadway’s New Victory Theatre to Carnegie Hall performing with the MET Chamber Ensemble with James Levine to cities across the country including Washington DC, Detroit, Chicago and Boston. Meglioranza was recently described in The New Yorker magazine as “an unusually sensitive interpreter of English-language song.” 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.” A graduate of Grinnell College and the Eastman School of Music, Meglioranza is also an alumni of the Tanglewood, Aspen, Marlboro, Bowdoin, the Pacific Music Festivals and the Steans Institute at Ravinia. Reiko Uchida has appeared as soloist with numerous orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Santa Fe Symphony, the Greenwich Symphony, the Princeton Orchestra, among others. Reiko made her New York solo debut in 2001 at Carnegie’s Weill Hall under the auspices of the Abby Whiteside Foundation. She has performed solo and chamber music concerts throughout the world, including the United States, Japan, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, Finland, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic, in venues including Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the 92nd Street Y, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Kennedy Center as well as the White House in Washington D.C., and Suntory Hall in Tokyo. Her festival appearances include Spoleto, Tanglewood, Santa Fe, and Marlboro. As a chamber musician, she was one of the first pianists selected for Chamber Music Society Two, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s program for outstanding emerging artists. Reiko began studying the piano at the age of four and made her orchestral debut with the Los Angeles Repertoire Orchestra at the age of nine. As a youngster, she performed on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Curtis Institute of Music, and a Master’s degree from the Mannes College of Music. |
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April 13 & 15
Kotaro Fukuma, piano RACHMANINOFF Sonata No. 1 in d minor SCHUMANN Carnaval Op. 9 FAURE Nocturne No. 1 in b minor Born in Tokyo, Kotaro Fukuma was a 1997 winner in the Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Piano Competition. In 2003, Kotaro won the First Prize and the Chopin Prize at the 15th Cleveland International Piano Competition, the award included sponsorship of his debut recital in Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. Since then, Kotaro has performed more than forty concerts in the United States while also establishing a career in Europe and Japan. The New York Times said of his performance, “…gently seductive tone, complete clarity of texture, and the kind of dynamic gradation that creates the illusion that a work is a breathing organism. His debut album (works by Schumann) was released on the Naxos label in the summer of 2005. Additional recordings are currently under way including one featuring the Iberia Suite by Albeniz. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Fukuma “exuded self-confidence, played with impeccable technique and beautiful touch. A colorist with a keen sense of line, he phrased with fluidity, (and) contrasted pearly scales with steely attacks.” |
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April 27 & 29
Monica Yunus, soprano RACHMANINOFF How Fair This Spot GRANADOS Songs from the Tonadillos WEILL My Ship from Lady in the Dark WEILL I’m a Stranger Here Myself The New York Times called Monica Yunus “especially winning” and the Charleston City Paper called her performance “utterly captivating.” Born in Chittagong, Bangladesh to Russian and Bangladeshi parents, Monica is a graduate of the Juilliard School. She made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera during the 2003-2004 season as Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro and returned to the Met for the 2004-2005 season as Poussette in Manon and again in the 2006-2007 season as Papagena in Die Zauberflote. Ms. Yunus has also appeared with the Palm Beach Opera, Glimmerglass Opera and the Spoleto Festival USA. In concerts Ms. Yunus has appeared under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation and at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, New York’s Cooper-Hewitt Museum, Spain’s Manuel De Falla Hall, and Madrid’s Auditorio Nacional with her majesty Queen Sofia in attendance. |
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May 11 & 13
Martin Kasik, piano RACHMANINOFF Preludes CHOPIN Ballade in g minor Martin Kasik, the1999 winner of one of the world’s most prestigious competitions, the New York Young Concert Artists Competition, has been playing piano since the age of four. He has appeared in a number of well-known European venues including the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Rotterdam De doelen, Helsinki Finlandia Hall, Auditorio di Barcelona as well as Alice Tully Hall in New York and the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. In May 2003 he appeared for the first time at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris and in November 2003 at the Tonhalle in Zurich. During 2004-2005 he toured with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in Japan, the United States and Germany. Kasik has several recordings to his credit. Edward Greenfield of The Gramophone said, “…they are high-powered performances, technically brilliant and freely expressive…he is strong, fiery and impulsive…” |
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June 8 & 10
Robert deMaine, cello and Andrew Armstrong, piano SCHUBERT Sonata in a minor for cello and piano (Arpeggione) RACHMANINOFF Sonata in G for cello and piano Praised by The New York Times as “an artist who makes one hang on every note,” Robert deMaine has distinguished himself as one of the finest cellists of his generation, having performed as soloist and chamber musician throughout the world to critical acclaim, from Carnegie Hall to the Teatro Colon.” According to The Detroit News, “The Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s brilliant principal cellist, Robert deMaine, was the soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, producing an exquisite tone and delicate phrasing that sang with passion and effortless virtuosity.” An alumnus and fellowship student of the Eastman School of Music and Yale University, his teachers included Aldo Parisot, Bernard Greenhouse, Steven Doane, Paul Katz, and Janos Starker. Robert deMaine performs on a cello by Jean-Baptiste Vuilaume, Paris, 1845, a gift from an anonymous donor. Having opened the Artist Series 2007-2008 Soiree Series, Andrew Armstrong returns to play in the closing concert in the 2007-2008 Recital Series season.
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NORTHERN TRUST – ON THE LIGHT SIDE SERIES Three programs presented in the Historic Asolo Theater at the Ringling Museum of Art ($90, $78, $65 Series of three concerts; single tickets $35, $30, $25) |
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January 27 & 29
“An Evening of Gilbert and Sullivan” With soprano, Alicia Berneche; baritone, John Muriello; and tenor, Gary Briggle Including songs from The Mikado, HMS Pinafore, Pirates of Penzance, The Gondoliers, and more… Alicia Berneche has appeared on the stages of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Sarasota Opera, Skylight (Milwaukee) Opera, Opera Pacific, the Austin Lyric Opera and Orlando Opera, to name a few. Ms. Berneche is a graduate of DePauw University and the Peabody Conservatory. Her many awards include Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Award. She was a finalist in the Young Concert Artists Competition and a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera auditions. John Muriello has a varied performing career in opera, operetta, musical theatre and concert work. He recently performed the role of Colonel Calverly in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience for the Skylight (Milwaukee) Opera. Muriello’s concert and recital work has taken him throughout the continental United States as well as to London and Moscow. He has worked with Opera Carolina, Lyric Opera Cleveland, L’Opera Francais de New York, Ohio Light Opera, and La Gran Scena Opera di New York. Muriello teaches voice at the University of Iowa, where he directed the School of Music’s productions of The Fantasticks, She Loves Me and A Little Night Music. Gary Briggle returns to the Artist Series of Sarasota following his 2006-2007 season portrayal of Sir Noel Coward. Briggle is based in Minneapolis and has served as Artistic Director of Lyric Opera Cleveland and is an artistic associate with Seaside Music theater in Florida, as well as a former ensemble member of the Minnesota Opera Company, The Children’s Theater Company of Minneapolis, and the Arizona Theatre Company. He frequently directs for Sacramento Opera and was recently a guest director with The Artist’s Crossing, a new professional training institute. |
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February 24 & 26
“When You Wish Upon A Star: Music of the Movies” Featuring cabaret artist Karen Mason
Including such memorable songs as People, Get Happy, A Whole New World, The Impossible Dream, and Somewhere
Karen Mason has starred on Broadway, Off-Broadway, television and recordings. Ms Mason originated the role of Tanya on Broadway in Abba’s Mamma Mia! Her other leading roles include Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, Mazeppa in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, Rosalie in Carnival, plus Torch Song Trilogy. Her television appearances include the hit dramas Ed and Law & Order: SVU. Film credits include Sleeping Dogs Lie and A Chorus Line. Karen has headlined at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Feinstein’s at The Regency, the Algonquin, The Plush Room in San Francisco and Davenports’ in Chicago. Karen has five universally acclaimed compact disc recordings to her credit. |
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March 9 & 11
“Music of Tin Pan Alley” With soprano, Jennifer Aylmer; baritone, Randall Scarlata; and pianist/music director, Laura Ward American soprano Jennifer Aylmer has developed a sterling reputation for her beautiful voice, compelling stage portrayals and sensitive musicianship. The New York Times has hailed her for her “awesome accuracy.” Jennifer is a graduate of the Eastman School of music and alumna of the Juilliard Opera Center. Her many awards include career grants from the William Matheus Sullivan Foundation and the Wolf Trap Opera Company. Ms. Aylmer made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in the 2005-2006 season as Bella in the world premiere of Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedy. She returned for the 2006-2007 season as Papagena in Die Zauberflote. In 2006-2007 she also played Gretel in Hansel and Gretel for the New York City Opera. She has been a soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, the New York Festival of Song, the Aspen Festival Orchestra, the Beijing Music Festival, Cinncinati Symphony and the Brooklyn Philharmonic. Of Randall Scarlata The Boston Globe said, “A triumph – this baritone has in his keeping the vocal wherewithal to do just about anything he wants.” A graduate of the Eastman School of Music and the Juilliard School, Mr. Scarlata also studied in Vienna on a Fulbright Grant. Randall Scarlata has appeared as soloist with leading orchestra including the Minnesota Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra. In recital, Mr. Scarlata has performed with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and at Alice Tully Hall, the Isabella Stewart Garner Museum in Boston and concerts for the Vocal Arts Society in Washington, DC to list a few. He appears throughout the United States, Europe and South America. Laura Ward has been gracing Philadelphia audiences with her powerful, sensitive and insightful accompanying since arriving there in 1998. She has been a vocal coach and collaborative pianist at Washington Opera, The Academy of Vocal Arts, The Ravinia Festival, the Blossom Festival, the University of Maryland, and Temple University. She has performed at several international music festivals including the Spoleto Festival in Spoleto, Italy and at the Colmar International Music Festival and Saint Denis Festival in France. A native of Texas, Laura received her Bachelor of Music degree from Baylor University, Master of Music degree at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Michigan. She is editor of Songs of Richard Strauss, Songs of Gabriel Faure, and Songs of Johannes Brahms. She has also recorded numerous accompaniment CDs for the Hal Leonard Vocal Library Collections. |
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