The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) will host world-renowned mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade for a special performance, to benefit the school’s A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, at UNCSA’s Stevens Center, 405 West Fourth St., downtown Winston-Salem. Ms. von Stade will present a program titled “Songs and Stories,” a solo recital featuring, among others, Charlotte’s haunting aria “Va, Laisse couler mes larmes” from Werther and selections by Mahler, Rorem, and Sondheim. She will be accompanied by UNCSA faculty member Allison Gagnon, director of the School of Music’s Collaborative Piano Program.
Tickets to the benefit concert are priced at $25-$50 for orchestra seating, and $15-$30 for balcony. For reservations, call the UNCSA Box Office at 336-721-1945, or purchase tickets online at www.uncsa.edu/performances (click on Box Office and then Buy Tickets Online). All proceeds from the evening will be used toward a goal of $250,000 to establish an endowed professorship for a professional coach for the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. For more information, or to make a donation, contact the Development Office at 336-770-3330.
From 4 to 6 p.m. on the day following the concert, Thursday, Nov. 11, Ms. von Stade will give a master class in Watson Chamber Music Hall, on the UNCSA campus at 1533 South Main St., Winston-Salem, to selected vocal students and fellows of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute. This master class is open to the public free of charge; however, tickets are required. (Call the Box Office at 336-721-1945 to reserve.) It is part of the “Dialogues: Conversations with Guest Artists” series sponsored by the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts.
For more information, visit the School of the Arts website at: http://www.uncsa.edu/performances/featured1.htm.
About Frederica von Stade
Described by The New York Times as “one of America’s finest artists and singers,” Frederica von Stade continues to be extolled as one of the music world’s most beloved figures. Known to family, friends, and fans by her nickname, “Flicka,” the mezzo-soprano has enriched the world of classical music for three decades.
Ms. von Stade’s career has taken her to the stages of the world’s great opera houses and concert halls. She began at the top, when she received a contract from Sir Rudolf Bing during the Metropolitan Opera auditions, and since her debut in 1970 she has sung nearly all of her great roles with that company. In January 2000, the company celebrated the 30th anniversary of her debut with a new production of The Merry Widow specifically for her, and in 1995, as a celebration of her 25th anniversary, the Metropolitan Opera created for her a new production of Pelléas et Mélisande. In addition, Ms. von Stade has appeared with every leading American opera company, including San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Los Angeles Opera. Her career in Europe has been no less spectacular, with new productions mounted for her at Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, and the Paris Opera. She is invited regularly by the finest conductors, among them Claudio Abbado, Charles Dutoit, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, André Previn, Leonard Slatkin, and Michael Tilson Thomas, to appear in concert with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Washington’s National Symphony, and the Orchestra of La Scala.
Frederica von Stade is the holder of honorary doctorates from Yale University, Boston University, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (which holds a Frederica von Stade Distinguished Chair in Voice), the Georgetown University School of Medicine, and her alma mater, the Mannes School of Music. In 1998 Ms. von Stade was awarded France’s highest honor in the arts when she was appointed an officer of L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 1983 she was honored with an award given at The White House by President Reagan in recognition of her significant contribution to the arts.
“One of America’s finest artists and singers.” — The New York Times
“Von Stade can do no wrong. Her singing was polished yet warm, like china under whose thin glaze are painted scenes of extraordinary delicacy. One heard dainty, loving anticipation and the solitary soul. It was something close to ecstasy.”
— New York Newsday
“Von Stade seems to have a wonderful time on stage, and it’s impossible not to have a good time along with her.” — Chicago Tribune
“During the past three decades, Frederica von Stade has gathered legions of admirers worldwide. They’re a fiercely loyal company, and it’s easy to understand why. Her stage performances and recitals combine superior artistry with emotional directness, clarity of tone with crystalline diction, natural elegance with unpretentious passion.” — Opera News
About the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute
The mission of the A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute is to serve as a training program for professional operatic artists. This is accomplished through an intense program of studying, performing, and touring with a wide range of operatic repertoire. Stylistic diversity is accomplished through a program that includes two nineteenth-century, one eighteenth-century, and one contemporary opera over the course of every two year arc. The Institute collaborates with UNCSA’s School of Design and Production to offer the school, community and state an opportunity to see not only works of standard repertoire, such as Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Britten’s Albert Herring, but also works unknown to American audiences, including Donizetti’s Belisario and Dvorak’s The Devil and Kate. The Institute has celebrated its American heritage with performances of many works by native composers, including Copland’s The Tenderland, Mechem’s Tartuffe, and Weill’s Street Scene. In addition, the Institute celebrated the Richard Rogers’ Centennial with a new production of his innovative 1947 musical Allegro. New American works have also played a part in the Institute’s repertoire, including the workshop premiere of Kirk Mechem’s yet-to-be-produced Pride and Prejudice, the co-commission of Ned Rorem’s Our Town, and the premiere of Adam Guettel’s new opera RIP, based on the stories of Washington Irving.
In its nine years on the UNCSA campus, the Institute boasts 14 North Carolina Metropolitan Opera District winners. In fact, in 2004 all three winners for the district were Institute Fellows, and many have received encouragement awards. Current fellows are entering and winning competitions and places in summer festivals around the world.
About UNCSA
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts is the first state-supported, residential school of its kind in the nation. Established as the North Carolina School of the Arts by the N.C. General Assembly in 1963, UNCSA opened in Winston-Salem (“The City of Arts and Innovation”) in 1965 and became part of the University of North Carolina system in 1972. More than 1,100 students from high school through graduate school train for careers in the arts in five professional schools: Dance, Design and Production (including a Visual Arts Program), Drama, Filmmaking, and Music. UNCSA is the state’s only public arts conservatory, dedicated entirely to the professional training of talented students in the performing, visual and moving image arts. UNCSA is located at 1533 S. Main St., Winston-Salem. For more information, visit www.uncsa.edu.
