June 12, 2009, Ópera de San Miguel, Nationwide opera contest arrives, By John Bills, Concert, By word of mouth, By Bruce Rossley

Ópera de San Miguel
Singers on the Road to Stardom 2009
Sat, Jun 20, 8pm
Teatro Ángela Peralta
Mesones 82
300/200/100 pesos

Nationwide opera contest arrives
By John Bills

Excitement is building as the date approaches for the second annual Concurso Nacional sponsored by Ópera de San Miguel (ÓSM). This nationwide audition program seeks to identify the most talented young singers in Mexico, and to provide winners with grants for professional expenses and advanced study, as well as performing opportunities. Last year’s contest was a stunning success, with a sell out crowd cheering finalists of such extraordinary quality that it quickly became the stuff of musical legend in San Miguel. This year’s event promises to be even more remarkable.

“The response to this year’s competition has been amazing,” ÓSM Artistic Director Joseph McClain told Atención. “Despite very demanding entrance requirements, 136 singers auditioned for us last week in Mexico City, a 20-percent increase over last year’s turnout.” The singers came from all over the republic, from Sinaloa, Guanajuato, Oaxaca, Chihuahua, Sonora, Morelos, Puebla, Monterrey and Colima. McClain first chose 35 top candidates to receive special recognition and from that group he selected 11 singers as finalists.

This year’s finalists (two coloratura sopranos, three lyric sopranos, one mezzo-soprano, two tenors, two baritones and one bass) arrive in San Miguel next week for several days of intensive coaching and master classes. At the end of the week, the singers will compete in the Grand Concert and Final Round of the competition. Cash grants in excess of 100,000 pesos will be awarded.

Also appearing in the Saturday concert will be two young singers of great promise, including a very young, very gifted soprano from our neighboring town of San José Iturbide. Because of age and experience, McClain feels they may not be quite ready to be exposed to the rigorous competition of the finals. “But we are so excited,” he says, “to be able to show sanmiguelenses what kind of talent is coming along right behind these finalists.”

In related news, ÓSM has announced the judging panel for the finals. Joining Artistic Director Joseph McClain and last year’s co-judge, former Metropolitan Opera tenor John Bills, will be James Wright, General Director of the Vancouver Opera, Jack Goodwin, Music Director of the New York Choral Society and the acclaimed international opera star, Gilda Cruz-Romo, the most celebrated Mexican soprano of the last 30 years.

“We feel privileged to be able to encourage and support Mexico’s native-grown talent,” McClain says on behalf of ÓSM. “The grants we will award June 20 will provide the practical means to make it possible for these young singers to develop, to be able to afford advanced study, to be able to travel to the US and Europe for auditions and competitions, and to continue on the road to professional careers.”

If last year’s concert is an indication, where dozens were turned away at the door, local opera lovers would be well advised to buy tickets early. Tickets are available at the Teatro Ángela Peralta box office.

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Concert
A Viva Voce
Fri, Jun 26, 6:30pm
St. Paul’s Church
Cardo 6
150 pesos

By word of mouth
By Bruce Rossley

The world-renowned quartet A Viva Voce performs a benefit concert for the Red Cross of San Miguel. A Viva Voce, Italian for “by word of mouth”, is a New York City-based vocal quartet with a global perspective on music.

Formed in the spring of 2000 in New York, the a capella ensemble is a collaborative effort of four singers who enjoy equal input in the group’s direction. Their first performance, a concert at St. George’s Chapel, occurred in the fall of that same year.

The members are soprano Ruth Kaplan, mezzo-soprano Dina Ipavic, tenor Alex Wang, and bass Jack Goodwin. Each came to the quartet with extensive choral and solo experience. Jack is the music director and conductor of the New York Choral Society, and the other three singers were members of that venerable group at one time or another.

Since their formation, A Viva Voce has sung in Beijing, China, during the Beijing Music Festival, at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City for the September Concert Foundation, at The New York Public Library for the opening of the exhibition “The Splendor of the Word: Medieval and Renaissance Illuminated Manuscripts,” in benefit performances for the New York Choral Society and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, and in concerts throughout Manhattan at venues including CAMI Hall, the Society of Illustrators, the Ukrainian Institute and Union Theological Seminary. Their performance of Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes at the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton, New York is their only concert to date that included instrumental accompaniment.

A Viva Voce’s repertoire spans from renaissance madrigals and motets to the Great American Songbook to contemporary popular music and even Irish chestnuts such as “Danny Boy.” The group takes particular pleasure in uncovering rarely performed pieces, including some forgotten gems of America’s past. They perform music in many languages, including English, Italian, Spanish, German, French and Latin. A Viva Voce takes an informal approach to its concerts, frequently adding descriptive and sometimes humorous insights into the music they present.

Two of the quartet’s members, Jack Goodwin and Ruth Kaplan, have owned a home in San Miguel de Allende for four years. All the members of the quartet are pleased to have the opportunity to perform a concert to benefit the Red Cross of San Miguel de Allende. Tickets are now on sale at Border Crossings (Mesones and Reloj), La Conexión (Aldama 3 location only) and Solutions (Recreo 11).

Bruce Rossley is a member of the Board of Directors of the Red Cross of San Miguel de Allende and is a founder and Co-chair of the San Miguel Red Cross Auxiliary.