Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
‘Curtis on Tour’ returns to Uptown!
Vocalists from the Curtis Opera Theater will perform at Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center Feb. 9.
WEST CHESTER >> Vocalists from the Curtis Opera Theater will perform at Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center Saturday Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. Warmly received in 2018, Curtis on Tour is the Nina von Maltzahn Global Touring Initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music.
The upcoming Vocal Quartet program features operatic favorites and gems from the American Songbook. Hear the future stars of opera here first, in a thrilling and diverse program culminating with the elegant Liebeslieder Waltzes of Johannes Brahms.
From the Metropolitan Opera to La Scala, Covent Garden to the Vienna Staatsoper, alumni from the Curtis Institute of Music appear around the world. They are in the front rank of soloists, composers, and conductors, and hold principal chairs in every major American orchestra. Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center is honored to be included among international and national venues, giving the greater West Chester community the opportunity to hear the highest caliber young musicians
on their path to success.
The Curtis on Tour Vocal Quartet includes Sage DeAgro-Ruopp, soprano, Anastasiia Sidorova, mezzo-soprano, Dominic Armstrong, tenor and Patrick Wilhelm, baritone, accompanied by Miloš Repický and Mikael Eliasen, piano. They will perform a variety of songs by composers such as Leonard Bernstein’s “Tonight,” from West Side Story; Kurt Weill’s “It Never Was You,” from Knickerbocker Holiday; and Sigmund Romberg’s “Serenade,” from The Student Prince. The program also includes music from Georges Bizet’s Carmen, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Franz Lehar’s Das Land des Lächelns and Guiseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto.
Each artist’s impressive resume illustrates their talent, commitment to and passion for classical music. Singers, Sage DeAgro-Ruopp, from Traverse City, Minn., entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2017; Anastasiia Sidorova, from St. Petersburg, Russia, entered Curtis in 2014; and Patrick Wilhelm, from Maplewood, N.J. and Lausanne, Switzerland entered Curtis in 2015. Each is the recipient of a merit-based full tuition scholarship and has performed as a soloist in lead roles on national and international stages. Dominic Armstrong graduated from the Curtis Institute in 2009 and quickly established himself as a superb, sought after artist.
This season, he will also perform
with the Milwaukee Symphony, Hudson Hall in New Jersey, the Los Angeles Opera and the Center for Contemporary Opera in New York City.
Danish-born coach and accompanist Mikael Eliasen received his early training in Copenhagen, Montreal, and Vienna. Artistic advisor to Opera Philadelphia, Mr. Eliasen is Artistic Director of the Curtis Opera Theatre and the Hirsig Family Dean of Vocal Studies. Miloš Repický joined the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music in 2016. He performs internationally and is also on the music staff of the Metropolitan Opera.
Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center is conveniently located near parking and restaurants at 226 North High Street, West Chester. Purchase tickets at UptownWestChester.org, at the box office or call 610.356.ARTS(2787).