Enjoy wine, fresh apple cider and light hors d'oeuvres while browsing an array of auction items (check back later for a complete list of items). Then relax in historic Hamilton-Wenham Commnity House hall and listen to some of your favorite arias from La Traviata, Elijah, La Boheme, Madama Butterfly, Lakme, Carmen, Don Giovanni, The Barber of Seville, Turandot, The Marriage of Figaro, The Pearl Fischers, Otello, Rigoletto and more. Performers include seven of New England's finest - Ethan Bremner, tenor; Christina English, mezzo-soprano; Margaret Felice, soprano; Daniel Kamalic, tenor; Valerie Kraft, soprano; Michelle Vachon, mezzo-soprano; John Whittlesey, baritone - with special guest, Robert Honeysucker, baritone accompanied by members of the Hillyer Festival Orchestra. See performer biographies below. Proceeds from Opera Harvest will benfit Boston Singers' Resource and the Boston Singers' Relief Fund.
Baritone Robert Honeysucker is recognized internationally for his brilliant opera, concert and recital performances. Hailed as ”powerful, passionate and plaintive, ... a voice that possesses great richness and warmth," he was honored as 1995 “Musician of the Year" by The Boston Globe critic Richard Dyer. He has also been a winner of the National Opera Association Artists Competition and a recipient of the New England Opera Club Jacopo Peri Award.
Mr. Honeysucker has appeared with such American companies as Boston Lyric Opera, Connecticut Opera, Delaware Opera, Eugene Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Opera Boston, Opera Company of Boston, Sacramento Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Utah Opera, and overseas in Auckland, New Zealand; Berlin, Germany; and Linz, Austria. Additionally, he has appeared in opera concerts in the Persian Gulf directed by Cesare Alfieri (assistant conductor at La Scala, Milan), as well as numerous concerts in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. He has, likewise, appeared as soloist with major conductors and orchestras across the globe. Regionally, he is much beloved for his many performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Symphony Hall and at Tanglewood, including an appearance as soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, in celebration of Seiji Ozawa’s twenty-fifth season as Music Director. Among his many appearances with the Boston Pops, he has sung at the Fourth of July concerts on the Esplanade, conducted by John Williams, and Keith Lockhart.
Mr. Honeysucker is a member of Videmus, as well as member and co-founder of the Jubilee Trio, which presents American art songs, including those of under-performed African American composers. Discography includes performances on five Videmus discs: "Music of William Grant Still" (New World), "Watch and Pray" (Koch International), "More Still" (Cambria), Highway 1, USA (Wm. Grant Still), (Albany Records), and “Good News” (Videmus Records). “Let’s Have a Union,” with The Jubilee Trio, has recently been released by Brave Records. Robert Honeysucker is a member of the voice faculties at The Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory Extension and The Longy School of Music. Robert Honeysucker
Dirk Hillyer and the Hillyer Festival Orchestra Conductor, musician, arts advocate and mentor, Maestro Dirk Hillyer is fast becoming one of the most recognizable figures on Boston's North Shore. He brings a full resume of musical experience to one of the nation's great cultural areas. The multi-faceted musician possesses conducting and performance credentials that include the most popular works of classical music, opera and musical theatre. From “Autumn Leaves” to “Hello, Dolly” to Beethoven's “Ode to Joy,” Maestro Hillyer brings his considerable musical versatility to any event. A professor in Salem State College's Music Department since 1985, Dr. Hillyer maintains an active performance schedule as both a French horn player and a conductor. He is a tenured member of The Boston Lyric Opera and the Boston Virtuosi and performs regularly with other orchestras throughout the New England region. Opera credits include La Traviata, Salome, Aknahten, Barber of Seville, "Carmen on the Common", Aida, Magic Flute, Madame Butterfly and Don Carlos.
The Hillyer Festival Orchestra (HFO) was founded in 1998 by (then) Mayor Peter Torrigian of Peabody, Massachusetts. It has become a widely acclaimed Pops orchestra in the greater Boston area, with spin off concerts in Marblehead, Salem, Lynn, and for the Essex National Commission at the Hynes Auditorium in Boston. For the past three years, HFO has been invited to close out the WCRB's Summer Concert Series at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade, performing to ever increasing crowds. Over 15,000 have attended the July 4th concerts in Salem, Massachusetts, for the past four years. Hillyer Festival Orchestra
Boston Singers’ Resource Artists
Ethan Bremner received his masters in voice at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Since moving to Boston, he has performed Achilles (Iphigenie en Aulide) and Rodolfo (La Bohème) with the Boston Opera Collaborative, Idomeneo (Idomeneo) with Opera Hub, Giorgio and Poliziano (Michelangelo) with Opera Providence, Alfred (Die Fledermaus) with Longwood Opera, Providence Opera and Treasure Coast Opera, as well as Cavaradossi (Tosca) with Longwood Opera. He is the tenor artist-in-residence with the Brookline Chorus and a chorister for the Handel and Haydn Society, Opera Boston, and Boston Lyric Opera. Ethan was a 2010 regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Council auditions. [www.ecbremner.com]
Mezzo-soprano Christina English performs frequently in the New England area. Upcoming engagements include Meg in Little Women with Boston OperaCollaborative. Recent roles include Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro), Dorabella (Cosi fan tutte), Second Lady (The Magic Flute), Mercedes (Carmen), and Hansel (Hansel and Gretel). She received her Master of Music from New England Conservatory and has performed locally with BOC, Riverside Theatreworks, MetroWest Opera, and Newport Baroque. Additional training includes Brevard Music Center, Seagle Music Colony, OperaWorks, Operafestival di Roma. [www.christinaenglish.com]
Margaret Felice, soprano, was born in Hartford and now lives in Boston. Of her recent appearance in Carmen, The Boston Musical Intelligencer wrote "Margaret Felice, with her drop-dead beautiful voice, was ideal as Micaëla." Recent roles include Abigail Williams (The Crucible), La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi), and Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni). After earning degrees from Boston College and The Boston Conservatory, Margaret has served as an officer of Boston Opera Collaborative and is an Assistant Director of the Liturgical Arts Group at Boston College and director of the Liturgical Musicians at Boston College High School. [www.margaretfelice.com]
Lyric-dramatic tenor Daniel Kamalic has been praised for his "exciting, tremendous force and burnished tonal quality" (Larry Kellum, The Town Times) in Connecticut Lyric Opera's double bill of Pagliacci and Gianni Schicchi. Other recent roles include The Shepherd (world premiere of The Girl from Shunem) Dr. Charles Leale (Our American Cousin), Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus), Macheath (The Threepenny Opera), and Piotr Fyodorovich (The Nose). He has served as the resident stage director of the Young Opera Company of New England, and holds degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the New England Conservatory of Music.
Soprano Valerie Kraft has sung with Opera Boston, with the Falmouth Chorale and Orchestra, with Cape Cod Opera, recently performing the title role in their production of Tosca. Other recent performances include the roles of Lauretta and Nella (Gianni Schicchi) with Chelsea Opera and with Opera del West, La Comtesse (Cherubin) with Opera New Jersey, and Mrs. Gobineau (The Medium) with Sorg Opera. She has been a Young Artist with Kentucky Opera and has participated in the Aspen Music Festival. Valerie received her B.M. and M.M. degrees from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music.
Michelle Vachon, holds a B.M. from the University of Dayton in music therapy and an M.M. and G.P.D. from the Longy School of Music. She has portrayed the roles of Maurya (Riders to the Sea), Suzy (La Rondine), Sally (Die Fledermaus), and Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), among others, and has performed with the Boston Opera Collaborative, MetroWest Opera, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, the Boston Russian Choir, and The Irving Fine Society. She has premiered and recorded the works of new music composers and is a founding member of the Boston-based female a cappella quartet, Anthology. Michelle is Director of Music and Cantor at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Cambridge. [www.michellevachon.com]
John Whittlesey, baritone, performs regularly in opera, concert, and recital, having appeared with Boston Lyric Opera, the Kennedy Center, New England Light Opera, Cape Cod Opera, and Longwood Opera, as well as with prominent Massachusetts choruses. John's operatic roles include Le Nozze di Figaro, Hansel and Gretel, Amahl and the Night Visitors, I Pagliacci, Trouble in Tahiti, and The Telephone, as well as many new operas. John holds a B.A. in Psychology from Wittenberg University and a Master's in Health Administration from Xavier University. He is the founder and artistic director of Intermezzo: The New England Chamber Opera Series.
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