GLENN DICTEROW Concertmaster
Violinist Glenn Dicterow has established himself worldwide as one of the most prominent American concert artists of his generation.
His extraordinary musical gifts became apparent at the age of 11 when he made his solo debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (where his father Harold Dicterow served as principal of the second violin section for 52 years) in Tchaikowsky’s Violin Concerto. Mr. Dicterow went on to win numerous awards and competitions including the Young Musicians Foundation Award and Coleman Award (Los Angeles), The Julia Klumpke Award (San Francisco) and the Bronze Medal in the International Tchaikovsky Competition (1970). In the following years he became one of the most sought after young artists appearing as soloist internationally. Dicterow is a graduate of Juilliard, where he was a student of Ivan Galamian. Other teachers have included Joachim Chassman, Naoum Blinder, Manuel Compinsky, Erno Neufeld, Jascha Heifetz and Henryk Szerying.
At the age of eighteen he appeared as soloist with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center under the baton of Andre Kostelanetz in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. In 1980 he joined the New York Philharmonic as Concertmaster and has since performed as soloist every season. Highlights of his tenure has been solo performances at the White House, the Great Hall of the People in Beijing as well as performing Leonard Bernstein’s “Serenade” during the New York Philharmonic’s 1989 concert tour of the United States with the composer conducting. Prior to joining the New York Philharmonic, Dicterow served as Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Mr. Dicterow’s discography includes Copland’s Violin Sonata , Largo , and Piano Trio ; Ives’ Sonatas nos.2 and 4 and Piano Trio ; and Korngold’s Piano Trio and Violin Sonata, all for EMI. He is also featured in the violin solos in Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben and Also Sprach Zarathustra with Zubin Mehta on the CBS label. Other compositions committed to disc are works of Wieniawski with Mr. Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Lee Holdridge’s Violin Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra; Shostakovitch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Maxim Shostakovitch on a Radiothon recording; and the Philharmonic’s two recordings of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade with Yuri Temirkanov on the BMG label and Kurt Masur on Teldec. Dicterow’s most recent CD releases are a solo recital for Cala Records entitled New York Legends featuring Corigliano’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, Korngold’s Much ado About Nothing, the premiere recording of Leonard Bernstein’s Sonata Violin and Piano, and Martinu’s Three Madrigals for violin and viola, in collaboration with Karen Dreyfus, violist and Gerald Robbins, pianist.
Also available is the Bernstein Serenade with The New York Philharmonic and Leonard Slatkin entitled “New York Philharmonic / An American Celebration” on the Philharmonics own label. Mr. Dicterow can also be heard in the violin solos of the film scores for The Turning Point , The Untouchables , Altered States , Aladdin , Beauty and the Beast and Interview With A Vampire among others.
Tonight marks Mr. Dicterow’s fourth appearance as concertmaster with these humanitarian concerts having been concertmaster of Beethvoven’s Ninth for South Asia, Requiem for Darfur, and Mahler for the Children of AIDS.
Mr. Dicterow also enjoys an active teaching career. He is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music.
His extraordinary musical gifts became apparent at the age of 11 when he made his solo debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic (where his father Harold Dicterow served as principal of the second violin section for 52 years) in Tchaikowsky’s Violin Concerto. Mr. Dicterow went on to win numerous awards and competitions including the Young Musicians Foundation Award and Coleman Award (Los Angeles), The Julia Klumpke Award (San Francisco) and the Bronze Medal in the International Tchaikovsky Competition (1970). In the following years he became one of the most sought after young artists appearing as soloist internationally. Dicterow is a graduate of Juilliard, where he was a student of Ivan Galamian. Other teachers have included Joachim Chassman, Naoum Blinder, Manuel Compinsky, Erno Neufeld, Jascha Heifetz and Henryk Szerying.
At the age of eighteen he appeared as soloist with the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center under the baton of Andre Kostelanetz in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. In 1980 he joined the New York Philharmonic as Concertmaster and has since performed as soloist every season. Highlights of his tenure has been solo performances at the White House, the Great Hall of the People in Beijing as well as performing Leonard Bernstein’s “Serenade” during the New York Philharmonic’s 1989 concert tour of the United States with the composer conducting. Prior to joining the New York Philharmonic, Dicterow served as Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Mr. Dicterow’s discography includes Copland’s Violin Sonata , Largo , and Piano Trio ; Ives’ Sonatas nos.2 and 4 and Piano Trio ; and Korngold’s Piano Trio and Violin Sonata, all for EMI. He is also featured in the violin solos in Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben and Also Sprach Zarathustra with Zubin Mehta on the CBS label. Other compositions committed to disc are works of Wieniawski with Mr. Mehta and the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Lee Holdridge’s Violin Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra; Shostakovitch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Maxim Shostakovitch on a Radiothon recording; and the Philharmonic’s two recordings of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade with Yuri Temirkanov on the BMG label and Kurt Masur on Teldec. Dicterow’s most recent CD releases are a solo recital for Cala Records entitled New York Legends featuring Corigliano’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, Korngold’s Much ado About Nothing, the premiere recording of Leonard Bernstein’s Sonata Violin and Piano, and Martinu’s Three Madrigals for violin and viola, in collaboration with Karen Dreyfus, violist and Gerald Robbins, pianist.
Also available is the Bernstein Serenade with The New York Philharmonic and Leonard Slatkin entitled “New York Philharmonic / An American Celebration” on the Philharmonics own label. Mr. Dicterow can also be heard in the violin solos of the film scores for The Turning Point , The Untouchables , Altered States , Aladdin , Beauty and the Beast and Interview With A Vampire among others.
Tonight marks Mr. Dicterow’s fourth appearance as concertmaster with these humanitarian concerts having been concertmaster of Beethvoven’s Ninth for South Asia, Requiem for Darfur, and Mahler for the Children of AIDS.
Mr. Dicterow also enjoys an active teaching career. He is on the faculty of The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music.
LAQUITA MITCHELL Soprano
Ms. Mitchell was recently heard as Bess in Porgy and Bess at the San Francisco Opera, Musetta in La Bohème at the Los Angeles Opera, Micaëla in Carmen with New York City Opera, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at the Portland Opera, Mimi in La Bohème at Utah Symphony and Opera, Clara in Porgy and Bess with Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, Opéra Comique in Paris and Lyric Opera of Chicago, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Mozart’s Solemn Vespers at Carnegie Hall, and Sharon in Terrance McNally’s Master Class at the Kennedy Center.
Soprano Laquita Mitchell consistently earns acclaim in eminent opera companies throughout North America and Europe. Already in her young career, she has led performances with the Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Washington National Opera, Opéra Comique in Paris, among many others.
Ms. Mitchell was recently heard as Bess in Porgy and Bess at the San Francisco Opera, Musetta in La Bohème at the Los Angeles Opera, Micaëla in Carmen with New York City Opera, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at the Portland Opera, Mimi in La Bohème at Utah Symphony and Opera, Clara in Porgy and Bess with Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, Opéra Comique in Paris and Lyric Opera of Chicago, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Mozart’s Solemn Vespers at Carnegie Hall, and Sharon in Terrance McNally’s Master Class at the Kennedy Center. Next, she reprises the role of Bess at the Atlanta Opera and in concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Festival.
Also active as a concert artist, Ms. Mitchell most recently performed Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Louisville Orchestra, the world premiere of composer Steven Stucky’s August 4, 1964 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut as the soprano soloist in Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise, under the direction of Kurt Masur, and the soprano solo in Tippett’s A Child of our Time with the Washington Chorus at Kennedy Center. She has also performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, the New York Symphonic Ensemble at Alice Tully Hall, and with Branford Marsalis and the Garden State Philharmonic.
A native of New York City, soprano Laquita Mitchell was a 2004 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Prize Winner, and was awarded a 2004 Sara Tucker Award recipient. She was also the First Prize Winner of the Wiener Kammer Oper’s 2003 Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition, making her the first American to win this competition in over twenty years. Additionally, in February 2002, Ms. Mitchell was the First Prize Winner of the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, as well as the winner of the Audience Choice award.
Soprano Laquita Mitchell consistently earns acclaim in eminent opera companies throughout North America and Europe. Already in her young career, she has led performances with the Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Washington National Opera, Opéra Comique in Paris, among many others.
Ms. Mitchell was recently heard as Bess in Porgy and Bess at the San Francisco Opera, Musetta in La Bohème at the Los Angeles Opera, Micaëla in Carmen with New York City Opera, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at the Portland Opera, Mimi in La Bohème at Utah Symphony and Opera, Clara in Porgy and Bess with Los Angeles Opera, Washington National Opera, Opéra Comique in Paris and Lyric Opera of Chicago, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Mozart’s Solemn Vespers at Carnegie Hall, and Sharon in Terrance McNally’s Master Class at the Kennedy Center. Next, she reprises the role of Bess at the Atlanta Opera and in concert with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Tanglewood Festival.
Also active as a concert artist, Ms. Mitchell most recently performed Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Louisville Orchestra, the world premiere of composer Steven Stucky’s August 4, 1964 with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut as the soprano soloist in Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise, under the direction of Kurt Masur, and the soprano solo in Tippett’s A Child of our Time with the Washington Chorus at Kennedy Center. She has also performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, the New York Symphonic Ensemble at Alice Tully Hall, and with Branford Marsalis and the Garden State Philharmonic.
A native of New York City, soprano Laquita Mitchell was a 2004 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Grand Prize Winner, and was awarded a 2004 Sara Tucker Award recipient. She was also the First Prize Winner of the Wiener Kammer Oper’s 2003 Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition, making her the first American to win this competition in over twenty years. Additionally, in February 2002, Ms. Mitchell was the First Prize Winner of the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, as well as the winner of the Audience Choice award.
Ms. Mitchell is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and Westminster Choir College.
MARGARET LATTIMORE Mezzo-soprano
Grammy nominated Mezzo-Soprano Margaret Lattimore has sung with the Metropolitan Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Central City Opera, San Diego Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, and Netherlands Opera amongst others. After winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions at age 24, Miss Lattimore became a member of the Lindemann Metropolitan Opera Young Artist Development Program. In October of that same year, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Dorotea in Stiffelio with Placido Domingo. Other Metropolitan Opera roles have included Meg Page in Falstaff and Jordan Baker in The Great Gatsby, both under the baton of the James Levine.
The florid music of Rossini has always been present in Ms. Lattimore’s career and she has sung the roles of Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and the title role in La Cenerentola in nearly 25 companies across North America. Richard Dyer of The Boston Globe wrote, "The undisputed star of the occasion was mezzo-soprano Margaret Lattimore, who has it all - looks, intelligence, musicianship, personality, technique, and a voice of bewitching amber color. She sang the rondo finale from Rossini’s La Cenerentola with high spirits and dazzling virtuoso aplomb." Other roles include Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, Der Componist in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking. Ms Lattimore’s Mozart repertoire includes Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte, Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Tamiri in a production of Il Re Pastore with The Mostly Mozart Festival in New York.
Ms. Lattimore’s New York recital debut under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation led to her engagement by Carnegie Hall and a Weill Recital Hall recital. In the spring of 2003, Ms. Lattimore appeared with The Fleet Celebrity Series in recital at Boston’s Jordan Hall and was the mezzo soloist in the world premiere of John Harbison’s Requiem with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall. Other recital engagements include appearances at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, the Covent Garden Festival in London, New York’s Morgan Library, and the 92nd Street Y. Ms. Lattimore has appeared with the New World Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra New World Symphony, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic and has performed with such conductors as James Levine, Bernard Haitink, Kurt Masur, James Conlon, Andrew Davis, Michael Tilson Thomas, Raymond Leppard and Nicholas McGegan.
2010/11 season highlights include Messiah with The Philadelphia Orchestra, L. Siegel’s Kaddish “I Am Here” and Verdi Requiem with the Houston Symphony, Rossini's Stabat Mater with the San Antonio Symphony and the role of Leah with Alberic Magnard’s Berenice with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
The 2009/10 season brought a Beethoven Ninth with the Houston Symphony and Messiah with Alabama Symphony. After her success as Old Lady in Candide, she returned to Toledo Opera as Dame Quickly in Falstaff and in the production of Lucretia by Benjamin Britten.
In recent seasons, Ms Lattimore has performed Messiah with the New York Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Symphony, Juno in Semele with Opera Boston and Boston Baroque, Tamiri in Mozart’s Il Re Pastore with Philharmonia Baroque and Nicholas McGegan conducting and debut performances of Mahler’s Second Symphony with the Colorado Music Festival and Elijah with the Honolulu Symphony. She also portrayed Erika in Samuel Barber’s Vanessa for the San Diego Opera and Angelina in Rossini’s La Cenerentola for the Dallas Opera, Calgary Opera, Arizona Opera and Opera Birmingham and made appearances with the Boulder Bach Festival, The San Diego Symphony and The Cathedral Choral Society in Washington D.C. Performances of Ottone in Handel’s Agrippina with Boston Baroque, and Messiah with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Colorado Symphony Orchestra followed, as did her first performances of Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the London Symphony Chorus, Verdi’s Requiem with the New Haven Symphony, Mahler’s Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen with Mahlerfest in Boulder, Colorado, and debuts with the Louisiana Philharmonic and Huntsville Symphony.
Ms. Lattimore attended the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam where she studied with Patricia Misslin. In addition to the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Miss Lattimore has won the Eleanor McCollum Award from the Houston Grand Opera Studio, a Jacobson Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, the prestigious George London Award and most recently became a 2006 Grammy Nominee for the Koch International recording of John Harbison’s Motetti di Montale. She now resides with her husband and five year old son in New York.
The florid music of Rossini has always been present in Ms. Lattimore’s career and she has sung the roles of Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and the title role in La Cenerentola in nearly 25 companies across North America. Richard Dyer of The Boston Globe wrote, "The undisputed star of the occasion was mezzo-soprano Margaret Lattimore, who has it all - looks, intelligence, musicianship, personality, technique, and a voice of bewitching amber color. She sang the rondo finale from Rossini’s La Cenerentola with high spirits and dazzling virtuoso aplomb." Other roles include Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, Der Componist in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking. Ms Lattimore’s Mozart repertoire includes Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro, Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte, Zerlina in Don Giovanni and Tamiri in a production of Il Re Pastore with The Mostly Mozart Festival in New York.
Ms. Lattimore’s New York recital debut under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation led to her engagement by Carnegie Hall and a Weill Recital Hall recital. In the spring of 2003, Ms. Lattimore appeared with The Fleet Celebrity Series in recital at Boston’s Jordan Hall and was the mezzo soloist in the world premiere of John Harbison’s Requiem with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall. Other recital engagements include appearances at Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, the Covent Garden Festival in London, New York’s Morgan Library, and the 92nd Street Y. Ms. Lattimore has appeared with the New World Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, The Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra New World Symphony, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic and has performed with such conductors as James Levine, Bernard Haitink, Kurt Masur, James Conlon, Andrew Davis, Michael Tilson Thomas, Raymond Leppard and Nicholas McGegan.
2010/11 season highlights include Messiah with The Philadelphia Orchestra, L. Siegel’s Kaddish “I Am Here” and Verdi Requiem with the Houston Symphony, Rossini's Stabat Mater with the San Antonio Symphony and the role of Leah with Alberic Magnard’s Berenice with the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
The 2009/10 season brought a Beethoven Ninth with the Houston Symphony and Messiah with Alabama Symphony. After her success as Old Lady in Candide, she returned to Toledo Opera as Dame Quickly in Falstaff and in the production of Lucretia by Benjamin Britten.
In recent seasons, Ms Lattimore has performed Messiah with the New York Philharmonic and the Pittsburgh Symphony, Juno in Semele with Opera Boston and Boston Baroque, Tamiri in Mozart’s Il Re Pastore with Philharmonia Baroque and Nicholas McGegan conducting and debut performances of Mahler’s Second Symphony with the Colorado Music Festival and Elijah with the Honolulu Symphony. She also portrayed Erika in Samuel Barber’s Vanessa for the San Diego Opera and Angelina in Rossini’s La Cenerentola for the Dallas Opera, Calgary Opera, Arizona Opera and Opera Birmingham and made appearances with the Boulder Bach Festival, The San Diego Symphony and The Cathedral Choral Society in Washington D.C. Performances of Ottone in Handel’s Agrippina with Boston Baroque, and Messiah with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and Colorado Symphony Orchestra followed, as did her first performances of Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the London Symphony Chorus, Verdi’s Requiem with the New Haven Symphony, Mahler’s Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen with Mahlerfest in Boulder, Colorado, and debuts with the Louisiana Philharmonic and Huntsville Symphony.
Ms. Lattimore attended the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam where she studied with Patricia Misslin. In addition to the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Miss Lattimore has won the Eleanor McCollum Award from the Houston Grand Opera Studio, a Jacobson Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, the prestigious George London Award and most recently became a 2006 Grammy Nominee for the Koch International recording of John Harbison’s Motetti di Montale. She now resides with her husband and five year old son in New York.
SEAN PANIKKAR Tenor
Sean Panikkar quickly is becoming known for his “surpassing musicality and passion, commanding self-confidence and gorgeous expression.” The American artist of Sri Lankan heritage made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the 2007-08 season under the baton of James Levine as Edmondo in Manon Lescaut, and his European operatic debut as Gomatz in Mozart’s Zaïde at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in a production directed by Peter Sellars and conducted by Louis Langrée.
During the present season, the tenor debuts as Narraboth in Salome both at Washington National Opera in the company’s new Francesca Zambello production under the direction of Philippe Auguin and at the Saito Kinen Festival in performances conducted by Omer Meir Wellber. He brings his acclaimed portrayal of Prince Tamino in Die Zauberflöte both to New Orleans Opera for his company debut and to the Minnesota Orchestra for a debut there in performances under the baton of Music Director Osmo Vänskä. Mr. Panikkar debuts at Santa Fe Opera as Kodanda in a new production of Menotti’s rarely produced The Last Savage directed by Ned Canty and conducted by George Manahan. He returns both to Pittsburgh Opera as Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues of the Carmelites and to the Metropolitan Opera as Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette .
Sean Panikkar made a Dallas Opera debut as Cassio in a new production of Otello, conducted by Graeme Jenkins and directed by Tim Albery, to open the Winspear Opera House at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. During the 2009-10 season he also debuted at Atlanta Opera as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte and returned to the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Lensky in Eugene Onegin conducted by David Agler. He bowed as Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos under the baton of Kirill Petrenko at the Metropolitan Opera and made a Carnegie Hall debut in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath with the American Symphony Orchestra.
On the concert stage, the artist has performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (in the chamber arrangement by Arnold Schoenberg) with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra at the Ojai Festival, and Die Zauberflöte with Leonard Slatkin at The Hollywood Bowl. He also has joined Esa-Pekka Salonen, Peter Sellars, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic for The Tristan Project in Los Angeles and at Lincoln Center.
Sean Panikkar has been honored by the George London Foundation with the 2007 Robert Jacobson Memorial Award and a 2009 George London Award; he also is a First Prize winner of the 2010 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, and second place winner in the 2009 International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition. He holds Master’s and Bachelor degrees in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan.
During the present season, the tenor debuts as Narraboth in Salome both at Washington National Opera in the company’s new Francesca Zambello production under the direction of Philippe Auguin and at the Saito Kinen Festival in performances conducted by Omer Meir Wellber. He brings his acclaimed portrayal of Prince Tamino in Die Zauberflöte both to New Orleans Opera for his company debut and to the Minnesota Orchestra for a debut there in performances under the baton of Music Director Osmo Vänskä. Mr. Panikkar debuts at Santa Fe Opera as Kodanda in a new production of Menotti’s rarely produced The Last Savage directed by Ned Canty and conducted by George Manahan. He returns both to Pittsburgh Opera as Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues of the Carmelites and to the Metropolitan Opera as Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette .
Sean Panikkar made a Dallas Opera debut as Cassio in a new production of Otello, conducted by Graeme Jenkins and directed by Tim Albery, to open the Winspear Opera House at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts. During the 2009-10 season he also debuted at Atlanta Opera as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte and returned to the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Lensky in Eugene Onegin conducted by David Agler. He bowed as Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos under the baton of Kirill Petrenko at the Metropolitan Opera and made a Carnegie Hall debut in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath with the American Symphony Orchestra.
On the concert stage, the artist has performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (in the chamber arrangement by Arnold Schoenberg) with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra at the Ojai Festival, and Die Zauberflöte with Leonard Slatkin at The Hollywood Bowl. He also has joined Esa-Pekka Salonen, Peter Sellars, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic for The Tristan Project in Los Angeles and at Lincoln Center.
Sean Panikkar has been honored by the George London Foundation with the 2007 Robert Jacobson Memorial Award and a 2009 George London Award; he also is a First Prize winner of the 2010 Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, and second place winner in the 2009 International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition. He holds Master’s and Bachelor degrees in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan.
MORRIS ROBINSON Bass
Morris Robinson is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the most interesting and sought after basses performing today.
A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Mr. Robinson made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in their production of Fidelio. He has since appeared there as Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte (both in the original production and in a new children’s English version), the King in Aida, and in roles in Nabucco, Tannhäuser, and the new productions of Les Troyens and Salome. He has also appeared at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Florida Grand Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, and the Wolf Trap Opera. His many roles include Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Ramfis in Aida, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos, Timur in Turandot, the Bonze in Madama Butterfly, Padre Guardiano in La Forza del Destino, Ferrando in Il Trovatore, and Fasolt in Das Rheingold.
Also a prolific concert singer, Mr. Robinson has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (in Chicago and at the Ravinia Festival), National Symphony Orchestra, Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Met Chamber Orchestra, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, New England String Ensemble, and at the Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, Tanglewood, Cincinnati May, Verbier, and Aspen festivals. He also appeared in Carnegie Hall as part of Jessye Norman’s HONOR! Festival. In recital he has been presented by Spivey Hall in Atlanta, the Savannah Music Festival, the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Mr. Robinson’s first album, Going Home, was released on the Decca label.
Mr. Robinson’s appearances this season include Sarastro at the Metropolitan Opera, Commendatore at the Dallas Opera and Florida Grand Opera, and concerts with the Nashville and Detroit symphony orchestras. Tonight marks his second appearance with Music for Life International’s humanitarian concerts having first appeared as bass soloist in Verdi’s Requiem in the 2007 Requiem for Darfur.
An Atlanta native, Mr. Robinson is a graduate of The Citadel and received his musical training from the Boston University Opera Institute.
A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Mr. Robinson made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in their production of Fidelio. He has since appeared there as Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte (both in the original production and in a new children’s English version), the King in Aida, and in roles in Nabucco, Tannhäuser, and the new productions of Les Troyens and Salome. He has also appeared at the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Florida Grand Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Seattle Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, and the Wolf Trap Opera. His many roles include Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Ramfis in Aida, Sparafucile in Rigoletto, Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos, Timur in Turandot, the Bonze in Madama Butterfly, Padre Guardiano in La Forza del Destino, Ferrando in Il Trovatore, and Fasolt in Das Rheingold.
Also a prolific concert singer, Mr. Robinson has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (in Chicago and at the Ravinia Festival), National Symphony Orchestra, Ft. Worth Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, Met Chamber Orchestra, Nashville Symphony Orchestra, São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, New England String Ensemble, and at the Ravinia, Mostly Mozart, Tanglewood, Cincinnati May, Verbier, and Aspen festivals. He also appeared in Carnegie Hall as part of Jessye Norman’s HONOR! Festival. In recital he has been presented by Spivey Hall in Atlanta, the Savannah Music Festival, the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC, the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Mr. Robinson’s first album, Going Home, was released on the Decca label.
Mr. Robinson’s appearances this season include Sarastro at the Metropolitan Opera, Commendatore at the Dallas Opera and Florida Grand Opera, and concerts with the Nashville and Detroit symphony orchestras. Tonight marks his second appearance with Music for Life International’s humanitarian concerts having first appeared as bass soloist in Verdi’s Requiem in the 2007 Requiem for Darfur.
An Atlanta native, Mr. Robinson is a graduate of The Citadel and received his musical training from the Boston University Opera Institute.
THE DESSOFF SYMPHONIC CHOIR
The Dessoff Symphonic Choir is an extension of The Dessoff Choirs, which was founded in 1924 by Margarete Dessoff. One of New York’s leading avocational choruses, the group is active in the city’s musical life, with a commitment to performing works from a wide range of the choral repertoire. In addition to presenting its own concert series each season, Dessoff appears regularly with major ensembles and orchestras.
Dessoff took part in George Mathew’s “Mahler for the Children of AIDS” in 2009, and is proud to join Maestro Mathew for the 2011 “Beethoven for the Indus Valley.” Dessoff’s most recent performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was last March, with Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall.
Other recent collaborations have been with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Juilliard Orchestra, for Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé; with Ludwig Wicki and the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra, for two screenings of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at Radio City Music Hall; and with Ray Davies of The Kinks, at The Town Hall and on the Late Show With David Letterman. Dessoff has also appeared with the Mark Morris Dance Group, the Kronos Quartet, and composer Tan Dun, as well as the New York Philharmonic, the American Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo, and the Czech Philharmonic.
Dessoff’s recordings include Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the New York Philharmonic; Glories on Glories, a CD of American song from Billings to Ives, and the CD Reflections, which features work by 20th-century American composers. For more information, visit www.dessoff.org.
Dessoff took part in George Mathew’s “Mahler for the Children of AIDS” in 2009, and is proud to join Maestro Mathew for the 2011 “Beethoven for the Indus Valley.” Dessoff’s most recent performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was last March, with Iván Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall.
Other recent collaborations have been with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Juilliard Orchestra, for Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé; with Ludwig Wicki and the 21st Century Symphony Orchestra, for two screenings of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at Radio City Music Hall; and with Ray Davies of The Kinks, at The Town Hall and on the Late Show With David Letterman. Dessoff has also appeared with the Mark Morris Dance Group, the Kronos Quartet, and composer Tan Dun, as well as the New York Philharmonic, the American Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo, and the Czech Philharmonic.
Dessoff’s recordings include Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the New York Philharmonic; Glories on Glories, a CD of American song from Billings to Ives, and the CD Reflections, which features work by 20th-century American composers. For more information, visit www.dessoff.org.
CHRISTOPHER SHEPARD Music Director
Christopher Shepard joined The Dessoff Choirs at the beginning of this season, as the group’s seventh music director. As a conductor and Bach scholar, Mr. Shepard has explored choral works representing a wide range of musical styles. He founded the Sydneian Bach Choir and Orchestra in Sydney, Australia, where he lived from 1996 to 2008. There he was also the music director of BACH 2010, a project to perform all of Bach’s choral cantatas, and he served as Director of Music at Sydney Grammar School, one of Australia’s most prominent high schools. In addition, he was chorus master of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, which performed at the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympics. With SBS-TV, an Australian public television network, Mr. Shepard presented two documentaries: Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and From Mozart to Morrison, with eminent Australian jazz musician James Morrison.
Following his return to the U.S., Mr. Shepard became the music director of the Worcester Chorus in Worcester, Massachusetts and the music director of the First Congregational Church in Watertown, Connecticut. He has also been a guest conductor at Emmanuel Church in Boston, renowned for its four-decade Bach cantata project.
Following his return to the U.S., Mr. Shepard became the music director of the Worcester Chorus in Worcester, Massachusetts and the music director of the First Congregational Church in Watertown, Connecticut. He has also been a guest conductor at Emmanuel Church in Boston, renowned for its four-decade Bach cantata project.