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With
chamber orchestra and guest soloists Anne O'Byrne, soprano, Stephen
Bryant, bass-baritone, and Tony A. Burdette,
tenor
Central United
Methodist Church
www.centralumc.org
Carmina Burana was first performed in
1937 by the Frankfurt Opera, after which Carl Orff stated to his
publisher Schott, "Everything I have written to date, and which you
have, unfortunately, printed, can be destroyed. With 'Carmina
Burana', my collected works begin." The twenty-five movement piece
conveys themes of human nature from Medieval poetry that today's
audiences will still find relevant: the intense highs and lows of
love and power, vices of lust, gambling, drinking, and the joyous
return of Springtime.
The most famous movement, "O Fortuna," has infused both humor and
dark, mysterious tone to the soundtracks of movies such as "Speed"
and television shows "Glee," "Dancing with the Stars," "The
Office," and many more. "O Fortuna" begins and ends Orff's work
with explosive dynamics and short, rhythmic words about the ancient
Wheel of Fortune and the fates which dictate our lives: "I reign,"
"I have reigned," "I have no reign," and "I shall reign
again."
A Note from Music Director Lenora
Thom:
Carmina Burana is, quite simply, a blast
to sing and conduct! It’s extremely dramatic, with huge
changes in mood and tone. The music is at times ominous, joyous,
raucous or exquisitely beautiful. It is rhythmically fascinating
and powerful to experience, especially in such a wonderful acoustic
space as Central United Methodist Church. Watching the four
percussionists work their magic is worth the price of
admission!
MEET THE GUEST
SOLOISTS:
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Anne O'Byrne
soprano
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Born in Dublin, Ireland, soprano Anne
O’Byrne studied at the College of Music there, and
at University College Dublin, before joining the Irish Radio
Chamber Choir. She subsequently studied singing at the Royal
Northern College of Music in Manchester, England, where she
performed her first lead operatic role as Susanna
in The Marriage of Figaro.
Anne’s performances have taken her all over the world. She
has worked with many of the leading opera companies in the UK and
Ireland, but some of her most enjoyable performing experiences have
taken place elsewhere. She undertook a demanding tour, up and down
the East Coast of the United States, with London City Opera,
singing Pamina in The Magic Flute in 36
cities from Alabama to New York in the space of just six weeks!
Other opera companies for which she has worked include the
Glyndebourne Festival and Glyndebourne Touring Opera, European
Chamber Opera, English Touring Opera, Opera Northern Ireland, Opera
Europa, Opera Theatre Company Dublin, Castleward Opera of Northern
Ireland, Scottish Opera and England’s Traveling Opera, for
which she sung the role of Frasquita in a popular
CD recording of Carmen. She has also recorded for Irish
radio and television, and BBC Radio.
Anne has had many
successes performing early music, including Amorin
Orfeo, and the role of Orianain the
Dublin Opera Theatre Company’s production of Handel’s
Amadigi, which toured Ireland, Portugal and England, and
later New York, Paris, Prague and Melbourne (while Anne was
pregnant with daughter Fionnuala). After the birth, she sang the
role of Paminaagain, this time in the Milan
Festival, where little Fionnuala attracted much excited
comment.
Other operatic roles Anne
has performed include Mimiin La
Bohème, Gildain Rigoletto,
Donna Elviraand Zerlinain Don
Giovanni, Micaelain Carmen,
Adinain L’Elisir d’amore,
Gretelin Hansel and Gretel,
Karolkain Jenufa,
Bertain Barber of Seville, and the title
role of Betly by
Donizetti.
Anne’s concert
repertoire ranges across a wide spectrum, from early works such as
Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 to classical
masterpieces like Mozart’s C Minor Mass, to modern
gems such as John Tavener’s To a child dancing in the
wind. She enjoys singing contemporary music, and has created
roles in new operas for the Wexford and Covent Garden International
Festivals. And she revels in some of the more unusual and exotic
requirements of her profession, such as being invited to sing mass
in Monte Carlo Cathedral, donning a cowl and habit to perform
Maxwell Davies’ Missa super l’homme armé,
or stepping in for a sick colleague to sing Beethoven’s
Choral Symphony or the Brahms Requiem, sometimes
at only a few hours’ notice. (Where possible she prefers
advance warning)! In 2002 Anne moved to
the United States with her husband David Fisk, the executive
director of the Richmond Symphony, their daughter Fionnuala, now 10
and their son Oliver, 7. She has sung several times with the
Richmond Symphony, appeared with Virginia Opera and as a guest
soloist at the Richmond Forum, as well as giving regular recitals
and concerts on the East Coast. She continues to perform in
Ireland, most recently singing the lead role of
Leila in Bizet’s The Pearlfishers
in the Anna Livia International Opera Festival,Dublin. This is
Anne’s third time performing with Ashville Choral Society and
she is delighted to be back here.
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Stephen Bryant
bass~baritone
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Bass-baritone Stephen Bryant’s
distinguished career in concert andopera has taken him around the
world, with acclaimed performances in the United States, Europe,
the Middle East and Asia.
Mr.
Bryant has sung with the New York City Opera, the San Francisco
Opera, the Santa Fe Opera, the Indianapolis Opera, and other
companies of renown. In performance with major orchestras from the
New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra, to the Israel
Philharmonic and Japan Philharmonic, Bryant has delighted audiences
with a repertoire spanning from Mozart and Verdi to Virgil Thomson
and Stewart Wallace.“Bryant stormed the heavens with his
large and commanding instrument,” said New York
Newsday of his performance in Handel’s
Messiah.
His numerous
appearances in Handel’s Messiah include
collaborations with the Pittsburgh Symphony and Musica Sacra at
Carnegie Hall. The bass-baritone’s frequent performances of
Mendelssohn’s Elijah include appearances with the
New York Philharmonic under Maestro Kurt Masur, and the
Philadelphia Orchestra under Wolfgang Sawallisch.
Mr. Bryant’s
repertoire extends from Bach and Handel to today’s most
prominent composers including Tan Dun. In standard repertoire, the
bass-baritone has performed Colline in La Bohème
(Indianapolis Opera), Leporello in Don Giovanni (Mobile
Opera), Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte (Berkshire Opera),
Escamillo in Carmen (Opera North), Figaro in Le
Nozzedi Figaro (Madison Opera), the Bonze in Madama
Butterfly (San Francisco Opera), and Capulet in Roméo
et Juliette (Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Michigan Opera
Theatre, and Chautauqua Opera ). He will be performing the role
this fall with Toledo Opera as well. Additionally, Bryant has
performed roles in a number of contemporary operas including Robert
Gonzales in Stewart Wallace’s Harvey Milk (San
Francisco Opera and New York City Opera), George Milton in Carlisle
Floyd’s Of Mice and Men (Arizona Opera), Indiana
Elliot’s brother in Virgil Thomson’s The Mother of
Us All (Santa Fe Opera), and covered Claggart in
Britten’s Billy Budd (San Francisco Opera).
A premiere interpreter of
the works of Academy Award-winning composer Tan Dun, Bryant created
the role of Dante in the world premiere of the opera Marco
Polo. He reprised the role at London’s Barbicon Center
for a performance broadcast by the BBC. Numerous other performances
include appearances at the Munich Biennale, the Holland Festival in
Amsterdam, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, New York City Opera, the
Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo, Settembre Musica in Torino, Italy, and
at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in Scotland. The
Times of London referred to the “ . . . unearthly overtone
singing, brilliantly accomplished by Stephen Bryant.” Stephen
holds a Bachelor’s from Oberlin and a Master’s from the
University of Michigan. On the voice faculty at William Paterson
University, he lives in Montclair, New Jersey with his wife Caryl,
and their two sons, David and
Andrew.
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Tony A. Burdette
tenor
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Tony Burdette, tenor, is a graduate of the
University of Cincinnati
College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). There he earned a
Master's
Degree in Vocal Performance. He also has Bachelor of Arts
degrees in
Vocal Performance, Church Music, and Music Education from
Alderson-Broaddus College (Philippi, West Virginia). At
CCM, Tony was a tenor soloist in J.S. Bach's Christmas
Oratorio. In addition, he performed the following
roles in the opera program: Journalist in Poulenc's
Les Mamelles
de Tirésias, Gelsomino in Rossini's Il Viaggio à
Reims, and Tamino in
scenes from Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. Of
his performance as the Journalist, Opera magazine wrote,
"...it was delicately sung and hilariously
acted."
As an undergraduate, Tony
won a statewide competition in
opera legend, Marilyn Horne. Tony has performed as a
concert soloist
with the Bach Society of Dayton, Hamilton-Fairfield Symphony
Orchestra, Lebanon Symphony Orchestra, Bach Association of
Cincinnati, CCM Philharmonia Orchestra, Northern Kentucky Community
Chorus and Orchestra, and Marietta College in such works as
Handel's Messiah,
Handel's Israel in Egypt, Mendelssohn's St. Paul,
Orff's Carmina Burana, and C.P.E. Bach's
Magnificat.
Tony is a member
of the professional chorus of Cincinnati Opera
and the Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati. Tony is
married to Joy,
also a singer and professor of voice at Northern Kentucky
University.
They have two children, Callie, age 4, and Benjamin, age
2. They reside
in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky
area.
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