Description

Join us for Beethoven’s 9th Symphony!

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9

The Brooklyn Conservatory Community Orchestra
Dorothy Savitch, music director

Featuring Soloists:
Maria D’Amato, soprano
Donna Breitzer, mezzo soprano
Gregory Warren, tenor
Xiaomeng Zhang, baritone

Joined by members of the Brooklyn Conservatory Chorale directed by music director Nick Nicassio, and singers from our community.

About the BCCO

The Brooklyn Conservatory Community Orchestra is a division of the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, which has been serving the New York musical community for over a century. As the BCCO looks to its 18th year, the word “Community” in our name has ever deeper meaning. For the ninth consecutive year, we opened our season with a pair of family concerts at the Brooklyn Museum. We’re so proud that attending one of these concerts has become one of the traditions of growing up in the heart of Brooklyn. We’re also proud that we’re giving the impression to children that classical concerts can keep them not only on the edge of their seats but also might include clowns on unicycles, a trip to Mars, and violinists being shot with bow and arrows.

Who are the members of the BCCO? One of us may be your child’s middle school art teacher, another may be your attorney, and another may even be your minister. At your local cafe, one of us may be on stage playing bluegrass, while another one of us serves you your coffee. We’re your neighbors and friends. We’re the BCCO.

Soloists

Maria D’Amato, soprano

Soprano Maria D’Amato has spent the past eight seasons of her career singing in the full-time chorus of the Metropolitan Opera where she has performed over fifty solos. These include the “First Ancelle” in Turandot, “American Suburban Mom” in the world premiere of Two Boys, “First Noble Orphan” in Der Rosenkavalier and “Madrigal Singer #1” in Manon Lescaut. A Long Island Native, Ms. D’Amato has performed leading roles with opera companies throughout the US including: Desdemona in Otello (Sarasota Opera), Mimi in La Boheme (Sarasota, Ash Lawn Opera and Dicapo Opera Theater), Pamina in Die Zauberflöte (Sarasota), and Susanna Le Nozze di Figaro (Seattle Young Artist Program). Equally at home on the concert stage, she debuted with the Seattle Symphony under Maestro Gerard Schwarz as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem. She has performed solos in Bach’s B-minor and Mozart’s C-Minor masses, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Carmina Burana, and Mendelssohn’s Lobegsang. She returned several times as a guest with the Artist Series of Sarasota in their Golden Age of Operetta concerts and was a favorite with the Long Island Sound Symphony. Awards include Opera Index, Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation grants and appearances in concert at Alice Tully and Rose Halls, Giulio Gari Foundation grants, and the Lendon Todd Munday Encouragement Award from the Jensen Foundation. Ms. D’Amato holds a B.M. from Boston University and a M.M. from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music.

 

Donna Breitzer, mezzo soprano

Brooklyn-based mezzo-soprano Donna Breitzer enjoys a varied schedule of solo and ensemble performance in NYC and beyond. A member of the Extra Chorus of The Metropolitan Opera since 2014, she appears regularly with top professional ensembles including the Bard Festival Chorale, New York Virtuoso Singers, and Concert Chorale of New York, alongside renowned orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, American Symphony Orchestra, American Classical Orchestra, and many others. Recent performance highlights include an Alice Tully Hall solo debut with the American Classical Orchestra and appearances with the Berkshire Bach Society, New York Festival of Song, and St. George’s Choral Society. Originally from Saratoga, CA, Donna is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the New England Conservatory of Music, and has enjoyed teaching private voice lessons for over 20 years. She is also the co-founder and Executive Director of Five Boroughs Music Festival, a chamber music presenting organization in NYC.

 

Gregory Warren, tenor

Gregory Warren’s career had its first spark in the opera world when he was chosen to be a part of the Placido Domingo – Cafritz program. There he was able to grow as an artist under the care of Maestro Domingo and all the talented musicians at Washington National Opera. Mr. Warren also had the opportunity to be part of The Santa Fe Opera Apprentice program in the summers of 2005-2007 where he studied under famous instructors, coaches and musicians. After he successfully finished the Domingo-Cafritz Program in 2006, he made his debut with many international opera houses, such as Los Angeles Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Berlin, Theater St. Gallen (Switzerland), De Nederlandse Opera, New National Theater Tokyo, Estonia National Opera, Washington National Opera, de Nationale Reisopera, Opera de Nice and Opera Marseille. In these houses, some of the roles he debuted are Rodolfo (La Bohème), Alfredo (La Traviata), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Iopas and Hylas (Les Troyens), Ferrando (Così fan tutte) and Arturo (Lucia di Lammermoor). Furthermore, he has sung in the world famous Concertgebouw with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra of Holland in the live broadcast concert of Tomas Adès’ opera The Tempest. In 2012 he made his Carnegie Hall debut as the tenor soloist in “Flowers over the graves of war” composed by James Eakin. He has sung under the baton of Maestro James Conlon, Donald Runnicles, Paolo Carignani, John Nelson, Christopher Moulds, Jaap van Zweden, Philippe Auguin, Antonino Fogliani and Lawrence Foster. Along with being a fulltime chorister at the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Warren’s most recent solo roles include Parpignol in La bohème(The Metropolitan Opera),The Townsman in Wozzeck(The Metropolitan Opera) and Adres in Wozzeck (Des Moines Metro Opera).

 

Xiaomeng Zhang, baritone

Baritone Xiaomeng Zhang is from Wenzhou, China, and recently completed his Artists Diploma at Juilliard under the tutelage of renown Marlena Malas. This past summer Xiaomeng sang the role of Count Almaviva’s at The Aspen Music Festival’s production of La Nozze di Figaro to great acclaim. The 2019-2020 season will see Xiaomeng as Figaro in Opera Columbus’ new production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia. directed by Mary Birnbaum, and the title role in Don Giovanni for Opera Naples under the baton of Maestro Ramon Tebar. In the fall of 2020, Xiaomeng will be joining the prestigious International Opera Studio at Opernhaus Zürich. Mr. Zhang was a 2018 national semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Finalist from the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition. He also won The audiences’ favorite award from The Premiere Opera International Vocal competition. Mr. Zhang received his bachelor’s degree at Shanghai Conservatory of Music and his master’s degree from Manhattan School of Music.

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Raffle Items

Two tickets to Anna Deavere Smith’s play Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992

April 28-May 31, 2020

Declared a “rich, panoramic canvas of a national trauma” by The New York Times, Smith’s transformative study of the 1992 L.A. riots reveals the fault lines that set the city ablaze. Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 is equal parts meticulously researched reportage and stirring cry for reform.

The Pershing Square Signature Center
480 West 42nd Street
New York, NY 10036

Value: $70

2 VIP Tickets to day of your choice to Governors Ball – Compliments of Tito’s Handmade Vodka 

VIP tickets allow you to enjoy everything that the General Admission pass provides plus:

• Access to all VIP Viewing Areas, which feature up-close prime viewing, comfy seating, shade tents, air conditioned restrooms, specialty food vendors, cell phone charging stations, massage services, and a beer, wine and liquor bar
• VIP Viewing Areas are exclusive to 21+ attendees and can be found at all four stages

Value: $275 each ($550)

**Winner must be 21+

VIP ENTRY FOR 5 + A BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE to Dream Midtown! 

Gift Certificate for Aperitivo Tuesdays at PHD @ Dream Midtown

• Complimentary entry for 6 people
• A Reserved Section
• Spritz package including 1 bottles of Champagne, and spritz Mixers at Aperitivo Tuesdays
• Gratuity not included
• 7 day advance notice required
• Blackout dates apply based on availability

Valid from 3/15/2020-9/15-2020

**Winner must be 21+

Value: $550

2 tickets to BIG GAY SING March 21st

By the NYC Gay Mens Chorus

Saturday, March 21 at 8pm
NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts

NYCGMC’s annual sing-along show is a New York tradition: fun-filled, sidesplitting, and dazzingly glamorous. This year’s edition celebrates the divas of today and yesteryear, the female and genderqueer artists we’ve looked up to our whole lives, the glorious singers who gave our dreams wings. Think karaoke with glitter and feathers, fabulous singing, and all the drag you can eat, as every NYCGMC diva comes into their own onstage.

Value is $158

2 tickets to Spring or Next Wave Performance at BAM

BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) is a multi-arts center located in Brooklyn, New York.  For more than 150 years, BAM has been the home for adventurous artists, audiences, and ideas—engaging both global and local communities. With world-renowned programming in theater, dance, music, opera, film, and much more, BAM showcases the work of emerging artists and innovative modern masters.

Brooklyn Academy of Music
30 Lafayette Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11217

Value: $100