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American Art Song and Mexican Canciones
The Eureka Chamber Music Series presents An American Night at the Opera to kick off their new concert season. Arias, duets, and piano solos by legendary composers such as George Gershwin, Stephen Sondheim, Carlisle Floyd, and Leonard Bernstein will be performed by pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg, soprano Olivia Smith, and tenor César Delgado on Saturday, September 21st at 7:30 p.m. at Calvary Lutheran Church in Eureka. On Sunday, September 22nd, a Concert and Conversation featuring songs from the American songbook as well as Mexican canciones will be presented at 3:00 p.m. at the Lutheran Church of Arcata.
Mainstage Concert tickets are $40 general and $10 for students. Concert and Conversation tickets are $20 general and $5 for students. Purchasing tickets in advance is recommended for this popular concert series, and there are no added fees or service charges when ordering tickets online. Please visit eurekachambermusic.org and follow the “purchase tickets” link. Any remaining tickets will be sold at the door. Season Tickets are also available.
“An American Night at the Opera is an exploration of how different influences, ranging from jazz and musical theatre to classical and modern operatic forms, come together to create a uniquely American musical experience. Jazz, with its roots deeply embedded in American history, brings a rhythmic and improvisational vitality that has influenced countless composers and continues to shape the sound of American opera.
Musical theatre, another quintessentially American form, infuses operatic storytelling with accessible melodies and dramatic flair, creating a bridge between the classical and the contemporary. The program reflects these diverse influences by including pieces that showcase the grand, operatic qualities of American music in various forms. Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” is a prime example, merging the improvisational spirit of jazz with the sweeping orchestral elements that evoke the grandeur of opera. Similarly, “West Side Story” blurs the lines between musical theatre and opera, with its powerful narrative and complex score.
Sondheim’s works, like “Losing My Mind” and “No One Is Alone,” bring a psychological depth and lyrical intensity that are operatic in their emotional reach. And with Tobias Picker’s “I Am a Quiet Flower” from Awakenings, we see how modern American opera continues to evolve, integrating these rich influences into new, compelling forms. This program is a testament to the vast and varied landscape of American music, where jazz, musical theatre, and opera converge to create something truly unique.” Ronny Michael Greenberg
For the second year in a row, Bay Area pianist and producer Ronny Michael Greenberg has curated two superb concert events in collaboration with ECMS Artistic Director Tom Stone. Greenberg is the founder and CEO of Taste of Talent, a non-profit that showcases the transformative power of music and art through innovative cultural programs, and promotes entrepreneurial empowerment of artists. Greenberg, a native of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, has established himself as a leading figure in the world of performing arts.
Greenberg has graced the stages of some of the most prestigious venues in the world, including the Vienna Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall, and Montreal’s Place des Arts Theater. He has worked closely with the San Francisco Opera since 2015, as well as many other esteemed organizations such as the San Francisco Ballet, Hawai’i Opera Theater, Cincinnati Opera, American Bach Soloists, Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago, the Hawai’i Performing Arts Festival, Festival Napa Valley, and San Francisco’s Merola Opera Program, where he produced their Gala in 2021.
“In efforts to bring the American opera theme to life, I couldn’t think of four better American musical giants who set the stage for American composition and the path in which American music evolved than Gershwin, Sondheim, Bernstein, and Carlisle Floyd.” says Greenberg. “When I think of American opera, I consider what’s popular and what has shaped American musical history. But I also think about what non-Americans perceive as distinctly American.”
Greenberg brings two exceptionally talented young singers to the north coast to help realize a shared vision of An American Night at the Opera.
A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, Canadian soprano Olivia Smith performed the Governess in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw with Curtis Opera Theater and Marguerite in excerpts of Gounod’s Faust with Curtis Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Additional roles include Cathleen in Vaughan Williams’ Riders to the Sea, First Witch in Dido and Aeneas, and Mrs. Gobineau in Menotti’s The Medium.
As a second-year Adler Fellow at San Francisco Opera, she made her mainstage debut as the Voice of the Falcon in Strauss’ Die Frau ohne Schatten. Smith was a participant in the 2022 Merola Opera Program, where she appeared as Margarita Xirgu in scenes of Golijov’s Ainadamar, as Leila in an excerpt from Bizet’s Les pêcheurs de perles, and covered the role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte.
Smith has received recognition from Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition, where she received both the Ana María Martínez Encouragement Award and the Online Viewers’ Choice Award. She was the First Place Winner in Opera Grand Rapids’ VanderLaan Prize competition and received an encouragement grant from the George and Nora London Foundation for Singers.
She particularly enjoys performing contemporary repertoire and exploring untold stories. When she isn’t performing, she returns to Penticton, British Columbia, to visit Lake Okanagan and spend time with her family.
Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, tenor César Delgado has been steadily building an active career that takes him to opera houses all over North America, Mexico, and Europe. He has been praised for his “generous, lustrous tenor” and “committed, energetic acting” by Opera News.
Operatic highlights from previous seasons include creating the title role for the world premiere of Héctor Armienta’s Zorro at Fort Worth Opera and at Opera Southwest in Albuquerque. Delgado covered Arcadio in the premiere of Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. He performed the same role in his debut with Nashville Opera. He appeared at Regensburg Theater in Germany as Edgardo in the new production of Lucía di Lammermoor, directed by Brigitte Fassbaender. He appeared as Duca di Mantova in Rigoletto with New Orleans Opera.
Delgado created the role of Mr. Rodriguez in the East Coast premiere of Tobias Picker’s Awakenings in a co-production with Odyssey Opera of Boston and Boston Modern Opera Project, where it was recorded for a full opera album release. He also made his debut as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Conjunto Santander Theater in Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico.
This coming season, Delgado will sing Rodolfo in La Bohème at Teatro Bellas Artes with the Mexican National Opera Company, as well as with Opera de Saltillo in Mexico, and with San Diego Opera in his debut there. He will cover Rodolfo with Bravo Vail Festival under the baton of maestro Yannick Nezet-Seguin. Returning to Nashville Opera, he will sing Edgardo di Ravenswood in Lucía di Lammermoor, and he will sing Alfredo in La Traviata as he returns to Portland’s Opera in the Park. He appears as Arcadio in Florencia en el Amazonas with Opera San José, and returns to Conjunto Santander Theater to perform the tenor aria of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
Additional information is available at eurekachambermusic.org.
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