Fall Performances

This weekend I am excited to be performing at the Chicago College of Performing Arts “Operafest” series on November 1st and 2nd.  Both days of music are free and open to the public and are a great opportunity to take in many different pieces!  I will be performing in Hindemeth’s Hin und zurück (There and Back), Weill’s Mahagonny Songspiel and Stravinsky’s The Nightingale.  You can find more information here.

Next week I will be seen with a very exciting vocal group new to the Chicago arts scene, the Fourth Coast ensemble.  We will be performing  Brahm’s Liebeslieder Walzer and Schumann’s Spanische Liebeslieder. 

I am proud to be a part of a new opera group, Chicago Fringe Opera.  Next month we will debut our first show, The Rape of Lucretia by Benjamin Britten.  This fantastic piece combined with a stellar group of singers is sure to make a show that can’t be missed, get more information and your tickets here!

Radio Broadcast and Chicago Opera Theater

I am pleased to announce that one of my recent performances with the young artists from Roosevelt University will be featured this weekend on 98.7WFMT.  Tune in this Sunday,  May 25th from 4 to 5pm!  Among other great selections, you can hear me play  excerpts from Act II of Wagner’s Tannhäuser.  You can also listen to the live stream online here.

Mark your calendar for Chicago Opera Theater’s upcoming double bill production!  As well as being involved in the rehearsal process, I will be playing keyboard in the pit orchestra.  Check out more about Viktor Ullmann’s The Emperor of Atlantis and Carl Orff’s The Clever One here and get your tickets soon!

New concerts!

and who doesn’t like live music even more when it’s free?   This upcoming week is full of fantastic music, some free and all open to the public.

Come check out the Chicago College of Performing Arts performance of Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims this Wednesday and Friday at 7:30 in beautiful Ganz Hall.   I will be performing as the orchestra…  all of it!

If you’re more the sing-along type and you don’t know Italian, fear not!  On Sunday, April 6th I will be performing with the Skokie Valley Orchestra as they perform music from The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Wizard of Oz with audience participation!  Check out their webpage here for more information and to purchase your tickets.

Lastly, I am honored to be a part of CCPA’s annual Vivid Concert in the breathtaking Auditorium Theater.  Alongside my colleagues in the Chicago Opera Theater Young Artist program we will present classic opera scenes and arias such as the “Flower Duet” from Madama Butterfly and “Libiamo” from La Traviata.  It will be a wonderful night of music, more info can be found here.

Upcoming Events

Brrr!  Despite the recent string of polar vortex weather activity, it has been a busy winter filled with projects!

This weekend come see Roosevelt University’s production of il Viaggio a Reims, as performed by the COT young artists and RU graduate class.  You can see me up on stage playing fortepiano in the beautiful hotel lobby.  Intrigued?  There are two shows, this Friday and Saturday at 7:30!   It is sure to be a fantastic performance filled with beautiful music and wonderful storytelling!

This Sunday I am proud to perform in the Moraine Valley Community College Faculty Recital.  I will be presenting George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, as well as collaborating with vocalist Anna Siwiec-Sitkowska and violinist Peng Hu.  It will be a pleasure to present such a great piece of piano literature, especially to the students who learn about it in my classes each semester!  More information about the concert here, please come join us and see this wonderful (and FREE!) event.

I continue to work with the fantastic singers at Chicago Opera Playhouse, and this week I am honored to be part of a volunteer performance at the Lurie Children’s Hospital.   Not only will we get to perform Hansel and Gretel for some of the kids live, but our show will be broadcast to all of the televisions in the hospital.   It will be an absolute joy to bring some music to these kids and their families!

CCPA’s Operafest

Operafest is this weekend!  Click here for a full schedule of events: OperaFest 2013 Poster.  You can see me in Bizet’s Dr. Miracle, Torke’s Strawberry Fields, and the Birthday Boys Celebration program.  It is sure to be a fantastic weekend of music!

Fall Performances

I look forward to performing with singers at the Chicago College of Performing Arts in two upcoming events at the Chicago Cultural Center and at Roosevelt University as part of CCPA’s annual “Operafest.”  We will be celebrating Verdi’s 200th birthday by presenting Act 1 of La Traviata as well as selections by Britten and Verdi.

Along with my residency at Chicago Opera Theater/CCPA, this fall is also full of private teaching and lecturing at Moraine Valley Community College, as well as bringing Hansel and Gretel to local schools with Chicago Opera Playhouse!

Chicago Folks Operetta

I am happy to be performing with the talented singers from Chicago Folks Operetta on WFMT tomorrow afternoon.  Tune in to 98.7 at 4:00 to hear a preview of the upcoming show, The Land of Smiles.

Welcome, Summer!

This summer I am happy to be keeping busy with many new performing and teaching ventures.  First up, I have been enjoying work with Chicago Folks Operetta on their upcoming production of The Land of Smiles by Franz Lehar.  It’s a great group of talented singers and production staff – get your tickets!

I am continuing to teach group and individual piano lessons both at the Beverly Arts Center and Moraine Valley Community College.  Always wanted to learn, but never had time?  Learning piano can be one of the most enjoyable and rewarding activities you ever embark on, and teaching has ended up being one of the more rewarding journeys I’ve been on!

This fall I am thrilled to join Chicago Opera Theater as a Young Artist Pianist for a two year engagement.  I will be performing with some of the country’s best young singers and I couldn’t be happier.  Check out their history and upcoming shows here!

Chicago Opera Playhouse – Illinois Tour!

Happy New Year to everyone!

I was happy to kick-start 2013 off as a new adjunct faculty member at Moraine Valley Community College, in the southwest suburbs.  I will be teaching credit and non-credit lessons and also accompanying MVCC’s vocal program.  I’m looking forward to working with some great students just a few miles from home!

In a few days I will be hitting the road with my colleagues at Chicago Opera Playhouse, bringing the fairy-tale opera The Knightly News to schools around Illinois.  Check our this awesome video to see a little bit more about what we do.  It’s an amazing program that makes opera accessible to kids and I am proud to be involved.

What’s New

The past few months have been full of teaching, collaborating, performing and stage directing!

I briefly returned to Bloomington, IN to try  my hand at stage directing Menotti’s The Telephone for Roundabout Opera for Kids, a local opera outreach program.  It was great to return to IU and work with some colleagues to put together a wonderful show.  Learn more about ROK here.

I am several weeks into a new teaching job at the Beverly Arts Center on the south side of Chicago.   As an alum of the BAC,  I am thrilled to have made the circle back!  I am teaching private piano lessons, class piano to children and adults, and a children’s choir called Songbirds.   The BAC is a great place for kids and adults with interest in the arts to learn a new skill or brush up on an old one.   Check out their curriculum!

In the past few months I have had the great pleasure of working on several operas around the city.  American Chamber Opera’s Don Giovanni was a great success and I am excited to be working with them again on their upcoming holiday show in December.  I also helped prepare the fantastic singers at Petite Opera Productions on their upcoming show, Massanet’s Cendrillion.  You can get more information about the show here – it is great for kids and families!

Now I am gearing up to start performing with Chicago Opera Playground and their fantastic children’s opera The Knightly News.  The premiere of this clever mix of several different fairy tales can be seen for the first time on November 11th and then we will travel to local area schools throughout the year.   See my ‘Upcoming Events’ for information and contact me if you are interested in booking a show.

In a few weeks I will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada for my third appearance at the International Food and Beverage Forum to perform with tenor Carlos Montane and indulge in some of the most delicious food I’ve ever eaten.  Check out their website to get more information on this scholarship program.