VOCAL ARTS D. Brenda Rae Christian Gerhahe Michelle Bradley Rosa Feola Sasha Cooke Davóne Tines Matthew Polenza

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1 C 20 VOCAL ARTS D Brenda Rae r Christian Gerhahe Michelle Bradley 19/20 Rosa Feola Sasha Cooke Davóne Tines ni Matthew Polenza

2 VOCAL ARTS DC It is a great pleasure to welcome you to our season of exciting new artists in their Washington solo debut recitals, as well as the return of a couple of by popular demand favorites. Lend your ears to these remarkable, diverse voices, and you re in for a transcendent experience. The three sopranos on our roster this season are all new to Washington audiences and could not be more different. Sparkling American coloratura soprano Brenda Rae s stratospheric range and astonishing virtuosity have caused audiences to do double-takes upon hearing her in repertoire ranging from Baroque through contemporary music. The sensuously charming young Italian soprano Rosa Feola, having conquered continental Europe, offers as her calling card a musical whiff of the belle époque. Fledgling dramatic soprano Michelle Bradley, our Gerald Perman Fund for Emerging Artists recitalist, will present an eclectic musical menu delivered with an instrument you will want to claim bragging rights for having heard her here first. Bass-baritone Davóne Tines, darling of today s leading conductors and composers, contrasts classic lieder by Schubert and Brahms with songs by 20th-century African-American composer Julius Eastman, and premieres a new work we have commissioned for him from Pulitzer Prize-winning musician Caroline Shaw. Sasha Cooke is virtually a debut artist in our series: her only prior appearances on our roster, including her most recent in autumn of 2010, were as part of youthful ensembles of singers participating in presentations by New York Festival of Song. The range of gorgeous colors in her rich mezzosoprano is matched by her deep intensity of communication. The German duo of baritone Christian Gerhaher and pianist Gerold Huber won raves bordering on fanaticism with their debut recital for us in December We cannot pass up the opportunity to bring them back this season during one of their exceedingly infrequent North American tours for another rare bird sighting by our audience. And tenor Matthew Polenzani, together with the estimable Julius Drake, offered a debut recital for us in January 2015 that was excellence personified in every way that matters. As a returning or new subscriber, you ll have access to substantially reduced prices over the cost of single tickets, the best available seats, and absolutely no added fees charged for service or credit card purchase of your seats. At Vocal Arts DC, the song continues: more varied, more engaging, more vital than ever. I look forward to sharing all this with you. Sincerely, Peter Russell, General Director, Vocal Arts DC Sunday, September 15, 2019 at 2:00pm Brenda Rae soprano Jonathan Ware piano This sparkling coloratura soprano brings silvery radiance and pinpoint accuracy to a wide-ranging repertoire that encompasses music from the Baroque to world premieres written especially for her. In the current season, she tours the world as the title character in semistaged performances of Handel s Semele with The English Concert and conductor Harry Bicket, sings Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos at Milan s La Scala led by Franz Welser-Möst, makes recital debuts at London s Wigmore Hall and the Schubertiade in Hohenems, and returned to Opera Philadelphia to rave reviews in a new production of Lucia di Lammermoor. She co-stars in Handel s Agrippina during the coming season opposite Joyce DiDonato and Iestyn Davies to make her Metropolitan Opera debut. Program to include selections by Richard Strauss, Fanny Mendelssohn, Franz Liszt, Dominick Argento, and a world premiere by Lowell Liebermann. Rae was incandescent, creating a three-dimensional character whose fluid coloratura mirrored the passionate meanderings of her mind. - Anne Midgette, The Washington Post

3 Friday, October 18, 2019 at 7:30pm Christian Gerhaher baritone Gerold Huber piano Collaborators and best friends for over 30 years, the German duo of baritone Christian Gerhaher and pianist Gerold Huber have amassed a fanatical and enormous following of admirers through their many award-winning recordings of song literature and performances on the world s concert platforms. Their debut appearance under our auspices in the fall of 2016 one of their rare recital appearances outside Europe drew raves. Program to include selections by Gustav Mahler, including Kindertotenlieder, as well as songs from Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and Des Knaben Wunderhorn. Mr. Gerhaher and Mr. Huber have become bywords for sensitivity, cerebral depth and seeming perfection in a lieder repertoire that they have made their own. - David Allen, The New York Times The Gerald Perman Fund For Emerging Artists Recital Wednesday, December 11, 2019 at 7:30pm Michelle Bradley soprano Ken Noda piano Audience members who attend the Washington debut recital by this extraordinarily gifted young Houston native will be able to claim bragging rights that they were there on the night of an exciting discovery. Ms. Bradley, a recent alumna of the Metropolitan Opera s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and winner of both the George London Prize and the Hildegard Behrens Award, has already sung music by Michael Tippett with the Orchestre de Paris led by Thomas Adès, performed solo recitals for the George London Foundation in New York and Miami, made her European operatic debut in La forza del destino in Frankfurt, and performed the Verdi Requiem with Berlin s Deutche Oper. Engagements in the next two seasons include principal roles at Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, and the Met. Program to include selections by Giuseppe Verdi, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner, Claude Debussy, Henri Duparc, and Samuel Barber. Beyond the sheer beauty of her voice rich, round, and violet-hued and technical command, Bradley had clearly thought deeply about the music. - George Grella, New York Classical Review

4 Friday, January 17, 2020 at 7:30pm Rosa Feola soprano Iaian Burnside piano This enchanting young Italian soprano has begun, in the past couple seasons, to create the same excitement in the US that she sparked in Europe from the time of her first major continental appearances in Acclaimed appearances with the Chicago Symphony led by Riccardo Muti and with the 2018 Mostly Mozart Festival, a debut recital CD of Italian songs, and triumphant debuts at Munich s Bavarian State Opera and Zurich Opera all will lead to forthcoming debuts at the Met (Gilda in Rigoletto) and the Salzburg Festival in the coming months. Program to include selections by Ciro Pinsuti, Gaetano Donizetti, Giuseppe Verdi, Giuseppe Martucci, Franz Liszt, Ottorino Respighi, and Paolo Tosti. A beautiful voice in its youthful prime, an artist on the threshold of an auspicious career singing that is graced everywhere with an elegant sweetness, without ever feeling sentimental or saccharine. - Richard Fairman, Gramophone Monday, February 17, 2020 at 7:30pm Sasha Cooke mezzo-soprano Julius Drake piano Magnificent mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke can seemingly do everything: from Baroque to ink barely dry world premieres written specifically for her voice and artistry, she has won the devotion of concert and opera audiences, blue chip conductors, and collaborative accompanists on both sides of the Atlantic. Recent career highlights for this Grammy Award winner include recitals at Carnegie s Zankel Hall in New York, appearances with the Chicago Symphony, the title role in Handel s Orlando with San Francisco Opera, and creating the title role in Nico Muhly s Marnie for English National Opera. Program to include Ludwig von Beethoven s An die ferne Geliebte and Robert Schumann s Frauenliebe und-leben and Zwölf Gedichte von Justinus Kerner. Matters improved markedly with the entrance of mezzo-soprano Sasha Cooke, who has a ravishing sound like shining copper to parts of her voice. - Anne Midgette, The Washington Post A song recital by the luminous Sasha Cooke is always an event. - Judith Malafronte, Opera News

5 Monday, March 30, 2020 at 7:30pm Davóne Tines bass-baritone Adam Nielsen piano A northern Virginia native whose wide-ranging, rich bass-baritone led him to studies at Juilliard following an undergraduate sociology degree from Harvard, Davóne Tines has become a favored muse to inspire and create new works by such composers as Kaija Saariaho, Caroline Shaw, John Adams, and Matthew Aucoin, among others. His burgeoning international career includes recent appearances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic led by Esa-Pekka Salonen, San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas, and debuts with San Francisco Opera, Amsterdam s Dutch National Opera, and Madrid s Teatro Real. Julius Eastman, as well as the world premiere of a newly commissioned work for Mr. Tines by composer Caroline Shaw. Davóne Tines is the new name to remember. He is a singer of immense power and fervor. - Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times The Gerald and Program to include selections by Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, and Monday, May 4, 2020 at 7:30pm Ann K. Perman Matthew Polenzani tenor Julius Drake piano No American tenor of his generation has amassed a more loyal or sizeable following than tenor Matthew Polenzani. His limpid, impeccably clear Memorial Reci tenor and honest musicianship have graced every symphony hall, opera house, and concert platform of distinction, and he has an enviable discography and videography. His recitals and recordings with pianist Julius Drake, including their debut appearance for our audiences five seasons back, have created standards by which aficionados will continue to appraise his successors for generations to come. tal Program to include selections by Franz Schubert, Francis Poulenc, and Gerald Finzi. Is there a better Mozart tenor before the public than Matthew Polenzani? Unlikely. The Evanston native brought a fresh element to the show, singing with rich, vibrant tone as well as a dramatic urgency that elevated the entire production. - Lawrence A. Johnson, Chicago Classical Review

6 SUBSCRIPTIONS Full subscriptions to the series of seven recitals are priced at $315 each. It is also possible to order a mini-subscription containing a minimum of three recitals in the series, with each recital priced at $50 per ticket. Single tickets, priced at $55 each, will go on sale through the Kennedy Center Box Office at a date to be announced in June All concerts take place at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater, and offer projected English translations of the sung texts. Seating in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater With a capacity of just over 450 seats, clean sightlines and warm, ideally clear acoustics, the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater is one of the world s finest venues in which to enjoy the intimacy of song recitals. Renewing full subscribers for our coming season can either retain seats identical to the ones they held this year or request a change by contacting us directly. We will make every best effort to accommodate requests for changes (please note: aisle seat availability is extremely limited for new subscribers). Please use the subscription form for all ticket orders, or subscribe online: The postmark deadline for current subscribers to renew their subscriptions is May 15, To contact us: call , or info@vocalartsdc.org Programs, artists, and dates are subject to change. Vocal Arts DC is the grateful recipient of major grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, and appreciates generous support from the Howard and Sarah D. Solomon Foundation, The Dallas Morse Coors Foundation, and The Nancy Peery Marriott Foundation. PHOTO CREDITS: Brenda Rae by Kristin Hoebermann; Michelle Bradley by Dario Acosta; Christian Gerhaher by Gregor Hohenberg; Rosa Feola by Todd Rosenberg; Sasha Cooke cover by Stephanie Girard, inside by Dario Acosta; Davóne Tines cover by Bowie Verschuuren, inside by Nikolai Schukoff; Matthew Polenzani by Rebecca Fay. BENEFITS OF SUBSCRIBING Subscribers receive substantial discounts on the price of their tickets: the cost of each recital ticket for full subscribers is only $45, and $50 for minisubscribers, whereas single tickets cost $55 each; If you find that you are unable to use one of your subscription tickets, you can exchange it either for another ticket to a different concert in our series or an additional ticket to one of the other concerts you ve selected; Subscribers receive priority seating; Even after the subscription period has passed, you may still contact us directly to purchase additional single tickets to any of our concerts at our reduced subscriber prices ($45 if you hold a full season subscription, $50 if you are a mini-subscriber ), with assurance that you will receive the best seats available; Even if you pay by credit card, you will incur no handling charge for the purchase of your subscription and additional single tickets. Non-subscribers who buy single tickets individually will incur a handling fee each time they purchase tickets for one of our concerts. Postmark deadline to keep your seats: May 15, 2019 Vocal Arts DC Subscription Order Form q Please send me full $315 Total: q Please renew my current seats q Please change my seats if possible (call us at , or info@vocalartsdc.org) q New Subscriber q Please add any extra single tickets $45 each q Please renew my mini-subscription. I have chosen my 3 or more recitals in the form $50 each q I am a new mini-subscriber to VADC, and have chosen my 3 or more recitals $50 each Concert #of seats Price Total RAE GERHAHER BRADLEY FEOLA COOKE TINES POLENZANI Please consider a tax-deductible donation to Vocal Arts DC (see reverse): Annual Fund contribution Gerald Perman Fund for Emerging Artists contribution Vocal Arts DC New Works Fund contribution Pay This Amount* TOTAL: As a donor to Vocal Arts DC, please list me/us in printed programs as: *To pay by credit card: Please charge my q Visa q MC q Amex Credit Card Number Exp. Date Verification Code (Visa/MC last 3 digits on back; Amex 4 digits on front right) Name (as shown on your credit card) Address City State/Zip Code Daytime Phone Evening Phone *To pay by check: Make checks payable to Vocal Arts DC Mail this form and payment to: Vocal Arts DC, PO Box 42423, Washington, DC 20015

7 Please consider a donation to Vocal Arts DC For nearly 30 years, Vocal Arts DC has consistently brought you the world s greatest singers in recital. Today, we stand as the only organization in the United States dedicated exclusively to the presentation of classical song. Please help guarantee our future with a gift to Vocal Arts DC along with your subscription. Giving has its rewards: from advance receipt of program materials, including background notes, texts and translations, to invitations to post-performance dinners with our artists and limited-capacity special events, Vocal Arts DC offers a range of benefits to our donors. Visit our website at and click on Donations Matter to learn more about the benefits available to you. Vocal Arts DC is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, dedicated to the promotion of the song recital. Your generosity makes these recitals and our educational activities possible. q Annual Fund General operating support through Annual Fund contributions is one of the major sources of funding for our initiatives. Ticket sales cover only about 1/3 of our budget. I would like to make a donation to Vocal Arts DC of. Please add this contribution on the appropriate line to your order on the reverse of this form. q The Gerald Perman Fund for Emerging Artists On the occasion of the 90th birthday in 2013 of Gerald Perman, our esteemed founder ( ), Vocal Arts DC established the Gerald Perman Fund for Emerging Artists. The Gerald Perman Fund pays tribute to his longstanding dedication to the promotion and presentation of performances by some of the world s finest vocalists during the earliest stages of their illustrious careers. Each season, resources from the Gerald Perman Fund help defray the costs of a Vocal Arts DC debut recital by an emerging young talent of outstanding accomplishment and still greater potential. During the coming season, the extraordinary young soprano Michelle Bradley, a recent alumna of the Metropolitan Opera s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, will offer our annual Perman Fund for Emerging Artists recital, an evening of selections by Mozart, Wagner, Duparc, and Barber, accompanied by Ken Noda. I would like to make a donation to the Gerald Perman Fund of. Please add this contribution on the appropriate line to your order on the reverse of this form. q Vocal Arts DC New Works Fund We launched our 25th Anniversary season in the fall of 2015 with both our first-ever commissioned song cycle, Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer s Iconic Legacies: First Ladies at the Smithsonian, and a long-range commitment to commissioning new works for solo voice. Introduced to our audience by mezzosoprano Susan Graham in collaboration with its composer, Iconic Legacies is slated for performances by Ms. Graham at Lincoln Center s Alice Tully Hall in February of Our second commission, Gregory Spears Walden, receives its New York premiere during the concert season at Baruch College, while our next commission, by Pulitzer Prizewinning composer Caroline Shaw, will receive its premiere at our concert on March 30, Your donation to our New Works Fund is a contribution toward the ongoing vitality of the art song literature. I would like to make a donation to the Vocal Arts DC New Works Fund of. Please add this contribution on the appropriate line to your order on the reverse of this form.