Thursday, August 25, 2011
Maria Todaro as Donna Elvira
New video clip of Maria Todaro as Donna Elvira. Thank you Daniel Mendelson for putting this together.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Video Teaser for Festival Documentary
Check out some great footage of this summer's festival, artfully put together by Daniel Mendelson
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
The Festival is almost here!
The new Festival Shell has just been put up in the Park. It look like a mini Sydney Opera House!
Our talented team of volunteer carpenters worked long into the night building the stage below.
Don Giovanni rehearsals are in full swing- the cast is sounding incredible. Performance is this Saturday evening at 7PM
Artists from across the country are arriving in our little village- the Festival is almost here!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Hot off the Press! Nice article about the Festival
Click Here for nice article from Times Herald Record.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
It's here! Festival opens next thursday
We can’t believe it’s festival time again. This year we have 20 extraordinary vocal events over 4 days, beginning with the return of gopel diva Rozz Morehead and her band on Thursday 4th August. Voices of Distinction on Friday 5th features Time Magazine’s “thinking man’s diva” Lauren Flanigan and Saturday evening “Don Giovanni” explodes on the Festival stage with a celebrated cast and full orchestra thanks to our successful campaign through Pledge Music! Thank you everyone. Top notch sound will be added this year courtesy of our friends at Live Sound in Troy, NY and super titles by Digitech will make the whole experience so much more enjoyable.
Don’t miss Palistinian ‘oud master, Simon Shaheen on Sunday, nor Vivaldi’s "Gloria: with massed choirs and soloists. Smaller events in surprising locations all over town.
We’re excited! Come join us in Phoenicia and share the magic.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Just in from Pledge Music!
Just in from Pledge Music!
 | Phoenicia International Festival of The Voice, Joe Brooks, Radar Music Videos, Kyle Patrick Charity: MTV Exit |
 Phoenicia International Festival of The Voice | Phoenicia International Festival of The VoicePledgeMusic is very proud to work with the Phoenicia International Festival of The Voice in launching their project to bring the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra to their festival in Phoenicia, NY. The festival grew from a one-day event last year to a full-blown four-day celebration with over a dozen gospel, opera, and jazz acts performing between August 4-7, 2011. Now that the project is past their target, the founders are able to realize their dream of bringing the Orchestra to accompany the live performance of Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni." Pledging is still available for a limited time. Even if interested pledgers can't make it to the festival itself in August, all PledgeMusic exclusives include a digital download of the highlights of the opera after it is performed on August 6th. |
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
My Love Affair with Don Giovanni
by Jen Dragon, Guest Blogger
The first time I ever saw Don Giovanni it was under the direction of Peter Maag and I was 11 on a class trip to the Metropolitan Opera. I had many preconceived notions about opera then: corny love stories, lots of incomprehensible singing, static production. But I returned on the school bus completely changed as this opera was anything but that! Yes, the language of the singing would not become clear to me until many years later after I learned Italian, but the language of Mozart's music grabbed my heart! The story was unlike anything I had ever read before and worlds different from the hokey musicals I had seen on Broadway. And the dynamics of voice, orchestra and drama was like something I had never imagined. It became clear to me that Opera was the culmination of all the arts, working together in some magnificent whole: music, voice, painting, sculpture, dance, theater- there is absolutely nothing else like it!
Peter Maag's Don Giovanni at the Metropolitan Opera
The next break through I experienced with opera was about 10 years later when I was attending SUNY Purchase and Peter Sellers directed Don Giovanni at Pepsi Summerscape. As a student, I could get a ticket for 1.00 and I was introduced to a kind of opera that was pulled off of the stage and recast on the streets. Mr. Sellers had taken the story of the Don and had set it in late 20th century Harlem with two African American twin brother baritones, Eugene and Herbert Perry. This casting underlined the ambiguity between the characters of Leporello and Don Giovanni and setting the production in Harlem gave the opera a heightened sense of danger and power. Most importantly, it made Mozart's opera more real, more contemporary, than the Baroque costumes and sets that were usually associated with more traditional productions. Sellar's Don Giovanni changed forever what I thought about opera- it was no longer an experience that I appreciated- but became a visceral, passionate, moving experience that I lived.
Since then I have seen various versions of Don Giovanni and no matter how they are handled, set in the past or moved up to today, the music and the story tranfixes me. The only way I have not seen Don Giovanni is about to happen this summer at the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice. This outdoor presentation will be under the stars on a grassy field encircled by the Catskill Mountains. The unique venue offers the amazing experience of hearing operatic singing echo off the surrounding mountains in a most wonderful acoustic phenomenon that I have never heard anywhere else in the world. Since it is early August, there will be shooting stars throughout the evening, the mountain night will be cool and refreshing and the performing artists have all sung in the greatest opera houses in the world! To hear Mozart's Don Giovanni this way, outside of a concert hall, not via film or broadcast, but pure singing with a full orchestra in the night air will be my third greatest experience with the Don. To buy tickets to this magical evening, please go to: http://bit.ly/ndNJXY Be sure to pack a blanket or lawn chair, bring a picnic and enjoy the magic!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Lauren Flanigan to Perform at the Festival!
We are proud to announce that the internationally acclaimed soprano, and "thinking man's diva" Lauren Flanigan will be performing in our Artists of Distinction concert on Friday, 5th August.
Here is Ms Flanigan's biography:
Named by TIME Magazine as "the thinking man's diva" and awarded by ACSAP and the Center for Contemporary Opera for her commitment to performing the works of living composers, soprano Lauren Flanigan has firmly established herself as a unique musical presence in the world today. She has been featured on the telecast "Live from Lincoln Center" in performances of I Lombardi (opposite Luciano Pavarotti), The Richard Tucker Gala, Lizzie Borden and Central Park which was written for her. She has performed at many of the world’s leading opera houses including La Scala, Teatro San Carlo, Bayerische Staatsoper, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera. With American Opera Projects, she created the starring role in the premiere of Marina: A Captive Spirit by Deborah Drattell, and a workshops of Best Friends, by Mrs Drattell with a libretto by Wendy Wasserstein/Christopher Durang. She most recently performed at New York City Opera the role of Myra written for her by Stephen Schwartz in his first opera Seance on a Wet Afternoon , which was developed by American Opera Projects.
Recordings include: Symphony No. 6 Plutonian Ode written for her by Philip Glass, The Cabildo, Merrymount , Die Liebe der Danae, Sun Cantata, and Frau Margot written for her by Thomas Pasatieri. DVD’s include Nabucco from Teatro San Carlo and the motion picture Death to Smoochy where she appears as the Ice Skating Opera Diva.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Italian Opera at the Emerson
We're getting ready for our next concert at the Emerson. We love singing in the Great Room, and this time we're focusing on opera in Italian. Not hard for us, as most of our repertoire is in Italiano, but focusing purely on Italian is very nice- and the opportunity to pair the musical delights with Italian culinary specialties is rewarding. Our friend, Chef Kurt is organizing the food and wine. We've invited a couple of wonderful guest singers along- the lovely soprano, Kimberly Kahan and the very talented young tenor, CJ Sokolowski. I recently sang with Kimberly in a concert with the Northern Dutchess Symphony Orchestra, and she's such an endearing performer. CJ made a great impression at the Festival last year, and will be a real treat to hear him sing again.
So here is the blurb!
Cibo e Canto: Una Notte Italiana
You are cordially invited to an evening of Italian delights, both culinary and operatic!
3:30 PM: Concert 5:30PM: Dinner with the Artists
$25 Concert $60 Concert and Dinner
Bookings Tel: 845 586 3588
Please join us in the Great Room of the Emerson for an elegant musical salon, followed by an Italian banquet prepared for you by Emerson chef Kurt Robair.
Allow us to introduce ourselves to you, and this summer's Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice.
Soprano: Kimberly Kahan
Mezzo-soprano: Maria Todaro
Tenor: CJ Sokolowski
Baritones: Kerry Henderson and Louis Otey
Piano: Douglas Martin
Guest pianist: Justin Kolb
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Renowned Harvard Choral Group to perform at the Festival
Today’s hot news is that the distinguished choral group, The Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicale has agreed to perform at the Festival!
The Collegium Musicale, a student-run organization at Harvard College, is a select ensemble of musicians and students dedicated to the highest caliber of both a cappella and choral-orchestral masterworks performances. Spanning nearly five octaves and six centuries, their diverse repertoire has delighted audiences around the world, most recently in Australia, where the Collegium spent its 35th anniversary tour.
Singers in HRCM are also given the opportunity to perform with two subset ensembles, the Chamber Singers, a smaller ensemble that specializes in Renaissance works, and the Collegium Underground, focusing on a cappella classics.
The Harvard-Radcliffe Collegium Musicale will be performing at the Catholic Church in Phoenicia on August 6th at 11AM. This is sure to be a sold-out performance, so book your tickets early. Tel: (845) 586-3588
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
The Healing Power of Voice
The creation of The Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice was and is a labor of love, passion and hope. Love for music and singing and the amazing effects that it produces on human beings. Passion for this area and its people and hope for the rebirth both artistically and economically of this lovely corner of the Catskills.
Classical singing, particularly opera, has an ability to uplift, to cause vibrations that ripple through people and touch places they didn’t know they had. A soaring high note, a rumbling low note, a note sustained and soft, a beautifully arching phrase, notes that fly by like the wind—almost no other vocal forms contain these vocal expressions. Well, maybe one at a time but opera has all of them all the time!!! Opera is emotional, opera is drama, opera is athletic; opera is a combination of such skilled expression- opera is ultimate!!!
Not everyone can play an instrument; piano, violin, oboe, trombone, accordion, bagpipes, flute, guitar; these are instruments that one picks up and learns. But everyone has a voice, the one instrument that is with us always, all day, all night and I would bet there is not a person who does not or has not sung. People sing when they’re happy, when they’re sad…but people sing. And that is why the human voice and singing is so important, it’s innate in each of us. And though it can be, singing is not just a ‘noise’, it combines music and words. Sounds and words that work together to express, to incite, to calm, to inspire, to heal!!!
We truly believe in the healing power of singing. We don’t want the audience to leave merely feeling entertained; we want their spirits to reach a higher level. When you leave a concert suspended in a cloud of indescribable sensation—something has shifted in you and the singing made it happen. That is our vision and it is why so many work as volunteers to bring this amazing event to our little town.
Just as Phoenicia is transformed for four days and evenings, so are our hearts.
From Opera to Indie Rock!
The Festival is not all opera. One of the hottest young local bands, The Paper Planets will be playing on the porch at Mama’s Boy, 3:15, Saturday 6th August. The three band members are all just out of high school, and play their own brand of reggae-influenced indie rock. This concert is entry by donation- grab a latte and listen to the boys.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Pledge Campaign Gathering Steam!
Very good news from our Pledge Music Campaign. We now have over 50% of funds needed to bring the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra to Phoenicia this summer.
It would be a sad thing for the Don to perform with piano alone- the world's greatest lover absolutely needs an orchestra!
Pledge Music is a fabulous organization. They were set up to help rock musicians raise money to make albums- the idea is that anybody who pledges some money becomes a part producer/backer of up and coming talent. It's a cool idea, particularly with the demise of the recording industry.
We're innovators using a rock industry tool, and applying it to a classical music cause. We saw we had nothing to lose, assembled our supporters and gave it a shot.
We can do this with the help of our friends near and far.
Imagine trombones resounding through the mountains heralding the arrival of the Commendatore at his dinner engagement with the Don!
Pledge Now, get your festival tickets, VIP passes and other cool stuff, and help us bring powerful symphonic sound to Don Giovanni's world.
Only 2 months to go!
Can you believe it's only two months until VOICEFEST 2011?
We have a fabulous lineup this year-- check out our latest press release with program details:
ALL THE HAMLET’S A STAGE
PhoeniciaVOICEFEST got off to an auspicious start last summer when over 3,000 attendees were treated to a gutsy program featuring world-class talent. The dynamic trio of acclaimed opera singers—Louis Otey (Metropolitan Opera), Maria Todaro (Opera Rio de Janeiro) and Kerry Henderson (Opera Australia) founded The Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice in
2010 as a springboard for their vision to bring outstanding vocal artists from diverse genres including Opera, World Music, Gospel, Baroque, and Choral music to the Central Catskills.
This year’s festival--August 4, 5, 6, and 7—expands upon the reverberation of last summer. Opening on Thursday at 7:30pm, Gospel Diva Rozz Morehead performs at Parish Field to accommodate the largest possible crowd for her energetic and inspirational performance. Friday at 7:30, Voices of Distinction features some of the country’s most promising young professional singers on the cutting edge of their operatic careers. Saturday at 7pm, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, with the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra conducted by Metropolitan Opera maestro Steven White, takes place under-the-stars with celebrated cast and subtitles. Sunday afternoon. Simon Shaheen, one of the most significant Arab musicians, performers, and composers of his generation, dazzles listeners as he deftly leaps from traditional Arabic sounds to jazz and Western classical styles. The grand finale, Vivaldi’s Gloria sung by choirs from near and far, wraps up four days of glorious music.
PhoeniciaVOICEFEST offers fun times for all ages in the place Budget Travel Magazine dubbed the sixth “Coolest Small Town in America.” Its summer music festival is a good time to find out why. On Friday, the wacky and offbeat “Ralph and Ralph,” performs at the Empire State Railway Museum where kids and adults can ride the Scenic Esopus Creek Train on the vintage Catskill Mountain Railroad. On Sunday, kids sing socially conscious music at the Pete Seeger-inspired Clearwater initiative, “The Power of Song.” Meanwhile, young-at-heart festival goers easily stroll to a selection of 18 events.
The festive atmosphere takes place indoors and in the park with cool shops and eateries along the way. The overall effect transforms the charming hamlet of Phoenicia into a midsummer’s dream. Bring-your-own picnic and sip champagne in the twilight. Check the website for updated information regarding event locations and time.
The four-day, affordable festival is an easy 2 ½ hour Adirondack Trailways bus ride from NYC and a 1 ½ hour drive south of Albany.
For tickets visit the website at www.phoeniciaVOICEFEST.com or call 845-586-3588
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