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A Night at the Opera
February 29, 2020 @ 7:30 pm
$12 – $15
With special guests:
Bravo Strings and the Wright County Chamber Chorus
Buffalo High School Performing Arts Center
6:30 pm Conductor Chat
7:30 pm Concert
What do Bugs Bunny, Pretty Woman, letters from camp and dancing hippos have in common? Opera! Join BCO as for the first time in their 25-year history they devote the night to music of the opera. If you are already an opera lover or maybe still on the fence, an evening full of opera favorites including selections by Rossini, Ponchielli, Verdi and Beethoven will help you realize you know more opera than you think you do!
Program:
Rossini: Overture to The Barber of Seville
Rossini, Largo al factotum from The Barber of Seville
Strauss Jr.: Die Fledermaus, ‘Spiel’ ich die Unschuld vom Lande’
Mascagni, Pietro: Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana
Verdi: La Traviata, ‘Brindisi’
Verdi: Prelude to Act I of La Traviata
Mozart: Un’aura amorosa from Cosi fan tutte
Poncheilli: La Gioconda – Dance of the Hours
Carl Maria von Weber: Overture to Der Freischutz
Donizetti: Tous les trois réunis from La fille du Régiment
BCO is excited to welcome to the stage three incredible vocalists, all with ties to our community. We are all in for a treat as these individuals perform arias from well-know operas.
Erica Hoops, Soprano
Chul Young Kim, Tenor
Nathan Herfindahl, Baritone
Chul Young Kim is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Performance at the University of Minnesota under the tutelage of Professor Adriana Zabala. He began his musical studies at the age of four under his parents who taught him piano and the violin. In addition, Mr. Kim also sang from a young age and before moving to the United States, performed at numerous concert halls including children musical of Seoul Broadcasting Station as his debut at the age of nine as well as Seoul Arts Center Opera House, Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, Korea Broadcasting Station Hall, and the Seongnam Arts Center Hall.
In 2018, Mr. Kim performed the Mayor in Britten’s Albert Herring, and in 2019, Tamino in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the University of Minnesota. Recently, he’s also given a doctoral recital presenting Schubert’s Winterreise song cycle with pianist Christos Marinos at the University of Minnesota. Notable engagements this year also include performances as a soloist in Bach’s St. John’s Passion with the Chamber Singers of UMN and in April, he sings in Poulenc’s opera Dialogues of the Carmelites at the University of Minnesota.
Chul Young earned his Master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music. While studying with Neil Rosenshein, he also participated in masterclasses with Donata D’annunzio Lombardi, as well as Deen Larsen, the founder and director of the Franz Schubert Institute in Baden, Austria. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from Yonsei University in South Korea.
Erica C. Hoops is excited to sing in Buffalo for the third time since graduating from BHS in 2014. Since then, Erica has sung on stages across the United States, Europe, and Asia, and received two degrees from St. Olaf College; a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance, and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre with a minor in Women's and Gender Studies. Erica is a full time voice and piano teacher in the Twin Cities, with over 30 current students, and is also a cast member in Journey North Opera Company's well-reviewed OperaTease series. Stage highlights include Die Fledermaus (Adele), Le Nozze di Figaro (Susanna), Ruddigore (Rose Maybud), Rigoletto (Gilda), and Bach's Johannespassion (soprano soloist). In addition to full operatic productions, Erica was awarded first place in Voice Level I of the 2016 Schubert Club Scholarship Competition, and has been a finalist in Voice Level II for the past two years. Erica hopes to receive a Masters of Music degree in Vocal Performance within the next four years, and is considering a Doctoral Program in Musicology to pursue research in the ethical opera translation.
American Baritone Nathan Herfindahl is a former member of the prestigious Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at Washington National Opera (WNO) where he had the distinguished pleasure to work extensively with famed tenor, Plácido Domingo. Recently, Nathan has been praised for his portrayals of Harlekin (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Ping (Turandot) with WNO including a review by Tim Smith in Opera News stating, “Nathan Herfindahl (Ping) was especially compelling for his burnished vocalism.” Other roles Mr. Herfindahl has performed with WNO include: Baron Douphol (La Traviata), Germont in (La Traviata), Schaunard (La Bohème), Masetto (Don Giovanni), and the Father (Hansel and Gretel). Nathan’s career has taken him across the United States, performing for Presidents, Ambassadors, Supreme Court Justices, and countless other notable dignitaries,. On the international stage Nathan has traveled, on multiple occasions, to Beijing China to perform with Plácido Domingo, and in the summer of 2008, Nathan traveled to Castiglione della pescaia, Italy for a festival of bel canto repertoire with Dame Kiri te Kanawa and Frederica von Stade.
Nathan’s many past engagements have included turns as Count di Luna (Il Trovatore), Rigoletto (Rigoletto), Marcello (La Bohème), Guglielmo (Cosi fan tutte), Daniel Webster (The Devil and Daniel Webster), Prince Yamadori (Madama Butterfly), Gene (Evelyn, World Premiere), Dancaïro (Carmen), and Gianni Schicchi (Gianni Schicchi). Mr. Herfindahl has received awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council, the Shreveport Opera, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the Cecilian Society, as well as the Minnesota and National Federation of Music Clubs.
Nathan has performed with The Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, Opera de Monte Carlo, the Martha Graham Dance Company, Minnesota Concert Opera, The National Symphony Orchestra, The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Duluth Festival Opera and The Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra. An alumnus of the University of Minnesota Duluth’s School of Fine Arts, (B.M Vocal Music Education 2004, M.M. Vocal Performance 2007) Nathan is the current Director of Vocal Music for Independent School District 882.
This concert will also feature a special “side-by-side” performance with the Bravo Strings of Montrose.
Bravo Strings of Montrose has been a Suzuki-based string instruction program in Montrose Elementary School of Innovation for almost 30 years. With year-round fundraising it enables students, regardless of family income level, to rent and study a string instrument and participate in a variety of musical ensembles.
At MESI, one out of every seven students in grades one through five is a string student in the program. The students in Bravo Strings receive three instructional contacts per week: a semi-private lesson; an orchestra rehearsal; and a "Morning Jam" (a casual, fast-paced, before- school "jam" featuring a wide range of non-Suzuki songs). Bravo Strings is modeled after Venezuela’s “El Sistema” immersion orchestra programs, Japan’s nurturing “Suzuki School” instructional method, and the sociability of old-time jam sessions.
Three Ways to Get Tickets:
All tickets are for general admission seating. Doors open 30 minutes prior to scheduled concert time.
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Buffalo Books is located at:
6 Division St E,
Buffalo, Minnesota 55313.Buy at the Door
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