Four National Stars to Appear in the Master Chorale of South Florida’s November Productions of Mendelssohn’s Elijah
Demanding solo roles call for experienced singers with exquisite voices
Four renowned soloists from around the country [and one local child] will appear in the Master Chorale of South Florida’s production of Elijah on November 14-16, helping ensure audiences experience the full emotional impact of this exciting work. Performances with the Boca Raton Philharmonic will take place at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, November 14, at First Presbyterian Church of Pompano Beach (“The Pink Church”); at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 15 at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Miami; and at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 16, at Pine Crest School in Boca Raton.
Like Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah tells a story through skilled interweaving of solos and choral parts. The story line follows the life and works of the Old Testament prophet, who fought on the side of God against the wicked Jezebel and worshippers of Baal and was rewarded by being taken to heaven in a chariot of fire.
The role of Elijah will be sung by baritone Donnie Ray Albert, who wowed audiences in the Master Chorale of South Florida’s April production of Carmina Burana.
One of the country’s leading dramatic baritones, Mr. Albert has recently performed with the operas companies in Houston, Dallas, New York (Metropolitan Opera), Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Arizona, Austin, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and in Cologne, London, Brussels, Prague, Liege, Tokyo, Sao Paolo and Vienna.
As a concert artist, Mr. Albert has sung with the orchestras of Washington D.C. (National), Cologne, Southwest Florida, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Jerusalem, Seattle, Minnesota, St. Paul, Los Angeles, Palm Beach, Greensboro, Chicago (Grant Park Music Festival), Madison, Vienna and Linz.
Mr. Albert may be heard on RCA’s Grammy Award and Grand Prix du Disque winning recording of Porgy and Bess, NOW’s recording of The Horse I Ride Has Wings, EMI’s Frühlingsbegräbnis and Eine Florentinesche Tragodie by Zemlinsky conducted by James Conlon, and Simon Sargon’s A Clear Midnight on the Gasparo label.
A resident of Dallas, Mr. Albert earned his Bachelor of Music degree at Louisiana State University and Master of Music from Southern Methodist University. He is a resident artist with the Center for Black Music Research at Chicago’s Columbia College.
The roles of Ahab and Obediah will be sung by tenor Glenn Siebert.
A graduate of Indiana University, Mr. Siebert, has proven his versatility as a concert and opera singer in a wide variety of repertoire from Baroque to 20th century literature. He has appeared with many of the world’s most acclaimed orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic (Kurt Masur), Los Angeles Philharmonic (Nicholas McGegan), Boston Symphony Orchestra (Charles Dutoit), Royal Flanders Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Phildelphia Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Baroque, Saint Louis Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Oratorio Society of New York, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Boston Pops and American Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Siebert’s operatic appearances include leading roles with the Hamburgische Staatsoper, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Washington Opera, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Denver Opera, Asturias Festival in Oviedo, Spain, Baltimore Opera, Cleveland Opera, Minnesota Opera, Hawaii Opera and others.
Mr. Siebert may be heard on recordings of Schubert's Mass in E-flat with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Robert Shaw (Telarc), Handel's Acis and Galatea with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Gerard Schwarz (Delos), Berlioz' Lelio with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (Koss); a CD of Virgil Thomson songs entitled "Nothing Divine is Mundane" (Albany Records), Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with Brussel’s Anema Eterna, and Mendelssohn's Paulus with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (Arabesque).
A resident of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Glenn Siebert is currently on the faculty of the North Carolina School of the Arts,
Mezzo-soprano Hannah Sharene Penn returns to the Master Chorale of South Florida to sing the roles of Queen Jezebel and an angel in Elijah. Ms. Penn performed with the chorale in Mozart’s Requiem (March 2004) and Schubert’s Mass in E-flat Major (April 2005).
Ms. Penn enjoys a diverse career as a performer of recital literature, oratorio and opera. She has performed numerous operatic roles at the New England Conservatory of Music, Indiana University, Glimmerglass Opera Company and Brevard Summer Festival. As an oratorio soloist, her performances include Verdi’s Requiem, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Handel’s Messiah, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. A lover of new music, Ms. Penn performed in the American premieres of John Adam's El Nino and Sven-David Sandstrom's High Mass. She was closely involved with the composition department during her six years at Indiana University, and frequently performed songs composed for her.
Ms. Penn studied German lieder for three years with Leonard Hokanson and participated in a staged recital of Hugo Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch under the direction of the great lieder singer Hakan Hagegård and in a master class on Schubert lieder given by James Levine at Carnegie Hall.
Ms. Penn studied with the distinguished pedagogues Patricia Misslin, Dale Moore and Patricia Stiles, and taught voice for two years at Indiana University. She currently lives in Boston, where she is pursuing a Doctorate in Musical Arts at New England Conservatory.
Soprano Angela Cadelago will make her Master Chorale debut singing the roles of a widow and an angel.
Ms. Cadelago made her professional debut in 1999 as Adele in Die Fledermaus, and has subsequently appeared as Norina in Don Pasquale, Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Alba in the West Coast premiére of Robert X. Rodríguez’ La Curandera, in which she received critical acclaim as a singer and comedienne.
San Francisco Classical Voice has called Ms. Cadelago’s performances "consistently wonderful…the soprano also has that ineffable quality that separates good from something better; she definitely has 'it'....effortless, bright, spot-on singing."
In the 2007-2008 season, Ms. Cadelago joined the Carmel Bach Festival as a Virginia Best Adams Fellow, and went on to serve as understudy to both Heidi Grant Murphy and Lisa Saffer in Mozart's Il Re Pastore with Nicholas McGegan and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.
Following her success as a Metropolitan Opera Regional Audition finalist, Ms. Cadelago appeared in recitals at the Spoleto Festival dei due Mondi and in Denmark as a featured student of Ileana Cotrubas. She has appeared as a soloist with the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra and the Oratorio Society of Queens in Mahler's Fourth Symphony, Handel's Messiah, many cantatas of J.S. Bach, and many works of Mozart, including the Regina Coeli, Mass in C, Mass in c minor, and Requiem.
A native of the Napa Valley and highly regarded as a San Francisco Bay area artist, Ms. Cadelago currently resides in San Pablo, California.
For more information on the Master Chorale of South Florida and its performances, please see www.masterchoraleofsouthflorida.org.
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The Master Chorale of South Florida is South Florida's premier classical choral ensemble. The talented singers volunteer their time for the satisfaction of performing the most challenging choral repertoire at the highest artistic level in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.
The Master Chorale of South Florida was formed to ensure that world-class concerts of major choral-orchestral works remain a part of South Florida's cultural fabric. Through innovative programming, artistic passion, and superb performances of the greatest music ever written, the Master Chorale of South Florida strives to foster feelings of joy and excitement in the hearts of audiences.
Funding for this organization is provided in part by the Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council, and with the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners.
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CONTACT:
Nancy Gates-Lee
Chair, Marketing Committee
Office: 954-659-6108
Cell: 206-849-1256
Florida MCSF office: 954-545-4059
njgates@att.net
