News Article

World-renowned mezzo-soprano and Metropolitan Opera star, Stephanie Blythe, and internationally acclaimed collaborative pianist and chamber musician, Warren Jones, will present a recital – "All American Song" – on Sunday, March 11, at 2:00 p.m. in Marywood University's Sette LaVerghetta Center for Performing Arts Auditorium. The program will begin with art songs by American composers – James Legg's Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson and Samuel Barber's Three Songs, Op. 10 – and continue with selections by Tin Pan Alley greats, including Irving Berlin, and "the king of ragtime," Scott Joplin.

Reserved Seating: $25

General Admission: $5

Tickets may be purchased in advance using a credit card or personal check by calling (570) 961-4510 or emailing boxoffice@marywood.edu. Tickets may also be purchased in person with cash or a personal check at the Sette LaVerghetta Center for Performing Arts Box Office beginning at noon on the day of the recital. All proceeds from this event will support talent-based music scholarships at Marywood University.

Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe is one of the most highly respected and critically acclaimed artists of her generation. She has sung in many of the renowned opera houses in the US and Europe, including San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, Covent Garden, and the Opera de Paris.

Featured regularly at New York City's Metropolitan Opera, this season her appearances with that company include leading roles in productions of Handel's Rodelinda (also broadcast live in HD), Verdi's Aida, and Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, the first two operas in Wagner's epic Ring cycle. Ms. Blythe has also appeared with many of the world's finest orchestras; this fall she was the featured soloist with the New York Philharmonic in the world premiere of a song cycle for mezzo-soprano and orchestra by American composer John Corigliano. Ms. Blythe frequently appears in recitals throughout the country, and in addition to her work as a performer, is highly sought-after as a masterclass teacher. She is a frequent guest on the vocal faculty of the prestigious Tanglewood Music Center, and in Summer 2012, is launching her own program for vocalists and collaborative pianists, the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar.

Among her many awards, Ms. Blythe was named 2009 "Vocalist of the Year" by Musical America. Recipient of the 2011 "Achievement Award" from the Music Teachers National Association of America, pianist Warren Jones was named "Collaborative Pianist of the Year" in 2010 by Musical America. Mr. Jones performs regularly with many of today's best-known artists, including Stephanie Blythe, Denyce Graves, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Anthony Dean Griffey, Bo Skovhus, John Relyea, Joseph Alessi, and Richard "Yongjae" O'Neill; in the past he has also partnered with such great performers as Marilyn Horne, Samuel Ramey, Håkan Hagegård, Kathleen Battle, Barbara Bonney, Carol Vaness, Judith Blegen, Tatiana Troyanos and Martti Talvela--and performed with the Juilliard, Borromeo, and Brentano Quartets. Also an active chamber musician, Mr. Jones is the Principal Pianist for the exciting and innovative southern California chamber music group Camerata Pacifica. As a teacher, Mr. Jones is a member of the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music, and each summer he teaches and performs at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California. Mr. Jones is also a prominent musical jurist, having been a judge for the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, the Walter Naumberg Foundation Awards, and the Metropolitan Opera Auditions.

For more information, please contact Nathaniel Parker, assistant professor of music and director of orchestral activities, at (570) 348-6268 x2212 or nparker@marywood.edu.