SEPT. 19 AT SF CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC, 8 PM
Opera Parallèle will open its 2019-2020 tenth season with a recital by tenor William Burden and mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade Thursday, September 19, at 8 pm at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak Street in San Francisco. The program, entitled “Bill and Flicka: Generous Spirits”, will feature the music of Berthomieu, Brackett, Britten, Brubeck, Duparc, Glass, Arthur Hammerstein, Piaf and Marcus Shelby. Burden and von Stade will be joined by pianist Keisuke Nakagoshi and guest soprano Christabel Nunoo, who starred in the title role of OP’s Harriet’s Spirit, and guest dancer Brett Conway who was featured in OP’s Les Enfants Terribles, in a celebration of music and dance. Tickets, priced $35-$150, may be purchased at www.operaparallele.org
Program: Chanson Triste (Henri Duparc), Phidyle (Henri Duparc), La Vie en Rose (Édith Piaf (lyrics), Louiguy and Marguerite Monnot (melody)), Les Jardins de Paris (selection TBD) (Marc Berthomieu), Winter Words (Benjamin Britten), Excerpt from Les Enfants Terribles (Philip Glass), Simple Gifts (Joseph Brackett), Harriet’s Spirit (Final Aria) (Marcus Shelby), Across Your Dreams (Dave Brubeck), Because of You (Arthur Hammerstein and Dudley Wilkinson)
About the Artists
American tenor William Burden has appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Santa Fe Opera, Atlanta Opera, La Scala, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Paris Opera, Munich State Opera, Netherlands Opera, Canadian Opera, and the Saito Kinen Festival. His many roles include the title roles of The Contes d’Hoffmann, Pelléas et Mélisande, The Rake’s Progress, and Béatrice and Bénédict; Loge in Das Rheingold, Laca in Jenufa, Captain Vere in Billy Budd, Aschenbach in Death in Venice, Don Jose in Carmen, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life, and Lensky in Eugene Onegin. He has also appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and with Les Arts Florissants on tour throughout Europe. His many recordings include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony (SFS Media), Barber’s Vanessa with the BBC Symphony Orchestra (Chandos) and Musique adorable: The Songs of Emmanuel Chabrier (Hyperion). He also appeared in the Metropolitan Opera’s live HD broadcast of Thomas Adès’ The Tempest.
Mr. Burden received his master’s degree in Vocal Performance at Indiana University. Mr. Burden has been a member of the faculty at the Mannes School of Music since the fall of 2015 and joined the voice faculty of the Juilliard School of Music in the fall of 2018.
Recognized as one of the most beloved musical figures of our time, Frederica von Stade has enriched the world of classical music for three decades with her appearances in opera, concert, and recital. The mezzo-soprano is well known to audiences around the world through her numerous featured appearances on television including several PBS specials and “Live from Lincoln Center” telecasts. She has made over sixty recordings with every major label, including complete operas, aria albums, symphonic works, solo recital programs, and popular crossover albums. Her recordings have garnered six Grammy nominations, two Grand Prix du Disc awards, the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Italy’s Premio della Critica Discografica, and “Best of the Year” citations by Stereo Review and Opera News. Miss von Stade was awarded France’s highest honor in the Arts when she was appointed as an officer of L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 1983 she was honored with an award given at The White House by President Reagan in recognition of her significant contribution to the arts.
Keisuke Nakagoshi began his piano studies at the age of ten, arriving in the United States from Japan at the age of 18. Mr. Nakagoshi earned his Bachelor’s degree in Composition and Master’s degree in Chamber Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied composition with David Conte and piano with Paul Hersh. Graduating as the recipient of multiple top awards, Keisuke was selected to represent the SFCM for the Kennedy Center’s Conservatory Project, a program featuring young musicians from major conservatories across the United States.
Mr. Nakagoshi has performed to acclaim on prestigious concert stages across the United States, including the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. He has received training from some of the most celebrated musicians of our time—Emanuel Ax, Gilbert Kalish, Menahem Pressler, Robert Mann, Paul Hersh, David Zinman—and enjoys collaborating with other accomplished musicians such as Lucy Shelton, Ian Swensen, Jodi Levitz, Robin Sutherland, Lev Polyakin, Axel Strauss, Mark Kosower, Gary Schocker and also conductors such as Alasdair Neale, George Daugherty, Nicole Paiement, Michael Tilson Thomas and Herbert Blomstedt. In 2014, he made a solo debut with San Francisco Symphony on Ingvar Lidholm’s Poesis with Herbert Blomstedt conducting.
In 2009, Keisuke and Swiss pianist Eva-Maria Zimmermann formed ZOFO, a piano duet team commissioning and performing music for piano four hands and their first CD was nominated for Grammy award for best chamber music/small ensemble in 2013. Mr. Nakagoshi is currently Pianist-in-Residence at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and he serves as resident pianist ifor Opera Parallèle.
Soprano Christabel Nunoo obtained her Bachelor of Music from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, & Dance. As a former member of the Young Musicians Choral Orchestra, Christabel made her solo debut in 2012 with the Oakland Symphony at the Target Independence Day Celebration. She appeared with the Oakland Symphony again in “A Celebration of the Music of Dave Brubeck” performing alongside Frederica von Stade and Chris Brubeck. Christabel also sang with Frederica von Stade and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra for a benefit for victims of the Napa Fires and Hurricane Harvey. She most recently appeared with Opera Parallèle debuting the lead role of Modesty in a world premiere of the children’s opera Harriet’s Spirit by Marcus Shelby. Christabel owes her passion and dedication for the arts to her mother who always pushed her to find her niche in life.
A native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Brett Conway began his professional career in 2002 where he joined Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet in San Francisco. For eight years he collaborated with Alonzo on numerous original works and toured extensively thought the U.S. and Europe. Brett received an Isadora Duncan Dance Award in 2009 for his performance in King’s Rasa. In 2010, Brett moved to the Netherlands to join Nederlands Dans Theater 1. While at NDT, Brett had the great privilege to work with choreographers Jiri Kylian, Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon, Mats Ek, Crystal Pite and Ohad Naharin amongst others, and perform their work throughout the Netherlands and in some of the most prestigious opera houses around the world. Brett relocated back to San Francisco where he returned to LINES Ballet for the 2015/2016 season and is now currently a freelance artist and on faculty with the LINES Ballet Educational Programs.
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