BURLINGAME, CA---Music at Kohl Mansion presents a gala concert by five of this year's San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows accompanied by pianist John Churchwell at Burlingame's historic Kohl Mansion.
Introducing three first-year members of the prestigious Adler Fellowship as well as the Kohl début of two second-year Adler Fellows, the program features highlights from Mozart's Così fan tutte, Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro, Rossini's La Cenerentola, Donizetti's Roberto Devereux, Thomas's Mignon, Wagner's Lohengrin, Gounod's Faust, Strauss's Arabella, Handel's Serse, and Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe.
This special non-subscription gala event includes a champagne buffet reception with the artists. Proceeds benefit Music at Kohl's award-winning Kohl for Kids program serving 4,500 Peninsula public school children annually. Tickets and information are available at
www.musicatkohl.org and by phone at 650.762.1130.
The performers are soprano Marina Boudart Harris, mezzo-sopranos Laura Krumm and Renée Rapier, baritone Ao Li, and bass-baritone Ryan Kuster, with San Francisco Opera's head of music John Churchwell, piano. The five soloists, members of San Francisco Opera's prestigious Adler Fellowship residency program, are graduates of the Company's internationally renowned Merola Opera Program, whose alumni have enjoyed superstar status on operatic stages world-wide for more than a half century.
Soprano Marina Boudart Harris hails from California and is a 2011 Merola Opera Program alumna, where she performed the role of Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Recent roles include Arminda in La Finta Giardiniera, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, and the title role in Arabella.
A native of Iowa City, Iowa, mezzo-soprano and 2011 Merola alumna Laura Krumm will perform in San Francisco Opera's Rigoletto this season. Her recent repertoire includes Charlotte (Werther), Sesto (La clemenza di Tito), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus) and Second Lady (The Magic Flute).
Two-time Merola alumna (2010, 2011) Renée Rapier, mezzo soprano has been heard with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra, Grinnell Orchestra, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute Orchestra. She is a frequent performer with the Boston-based early music ensemble La Donna Musicale. She will appear this season in San Francisco Opera's Nixon in China and Rigoletto.
Baritone Ao Li, a native of Dezhou, China, studied at Shangdong Normal University and is a 2010 Merola alumnus. He sang the roles of Ascanio Petrucci (Lucrezia Borgia) and El Dancairo (Carmen for Families) in the 2010-2011 San Francisco Opera season. Upcoming roles with the Company include Lorenzo (Capuleti e i Montecchi) and Sciarrone (Tosca).
Bass-Baritone Ryan Kuster, a 2010 Merola alumnus, sang the Mandarin (Turandot), Astolfo (Lucrezia Borgia), Masetto (Don Giovanni), and Escamillo (Carmen for Families) in San Francisco Opera's 2010-2011 season, and will sing roles with the Company in the coming season in Rigoletto, Lohengrin and Tosca.
One of the leading collaborative pianists of his generation, John Churchwell was named Head of Music for San Francisco Opera in August 2011. For the past fourteen years, Mr. Churchwell has been an assistant conductor for both the Metropolitan Opera and the San Francisco Opera and has assisted on more than 90 productions, collaborating with some of the world's leading conductors. On the recital stage, Mr. Churchwell has partnered some of today's most sought-after vocalists. He is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and the San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program.
Date and Time : Sunday, February 5, 2012 at 7 pm
Venue : Burlingame's historic Kohl Mansion.
