FESTIVAL COMPLETED

Long Leaf Opera’s 11th Season Opens with Vocal Duets (Duo Nuovo) Friday, June 12

Featuring local favorites Terry Rhodes and Ellen Williams

Featuring David Lamb and the Wolves

Long Leaf Opera’s 11th season opens at its new home at North Carolina State University’s  Stewart Theatre with an evening of vocal duets entitled Duo Nuovo featuring works by American composers performed by local vocalists Terry Rhodes and Ellen Williams Friday, June 12, 8pm at North Carolina State University’s Stewart Theater.   

Soprano Terry Rhodes and mezzo-soprano Ellen Williams recorded the well received 1995 disc To Sun, To Feast, and To Converse (Albany Records) of newly recorded duets from the 20th century American song and operatic repertoire. Their CD of vocal music by Libby Larsen, with pianist Benton Hess was released on the Albany label in 2004. Rhodes and Williams have a number of duet sets which have been written especially for them (Stephen Jaffe's "Fort Juniper Songs," Timothy Hoekman's "Margarets" and Benton Hess' "Atrocities") and have toured as a duo team throughout Europe and the U.S.

Terry Rhodes and Ellen Williams comment, "As a duo, in exploring the traditional duet literature, we came to realize the scarcity of twentieth century vocal duet music, and decided to do our small part to rectify the situation. We commissioned two new works, one form Stephen Jaffe in 1990 for our Carnegie Recital Hall premiere, and from Timothy Hoekman in 1994. We want to introduce audiences to other new works by composers who deserve to be heard. We consider it a responsibility as performers to champion the works of living American composers and create a venue for duet music, an art form that encourages camaraderie of spirit and sharing of musical ideas.”

Highlighted works will include Timothy Hoekman’s Margarets, Lee Hoiby’s Bermudas, Stephen Jaffe’s, Fort Juniper Songs, Penka Kouneva’s Aeon and Pulitzer Prize-winning composers Robert Ward’s Lady Kate and Roman Fever. Musical accompaniment by local artists David Lamb and the Wolves.

Terry Rhodes, soprano is known for her work in contemporary music and is Chair of the UNC Department of Music and directs their opera program. Dr. Rhodes has performed in more than twenty countries. In 2008 she premiered Tania Leon’s "Ancients," a song set based on ancient American texts, which opened the 10 x10 ten-year commissioning series sponsored by Carolina Performing Arts.  Receiving a Fulbright award in 1993 as Artist-in-Residence/Lecturer at the Conservatory of Music in Skopje, Macedonia, Ms. Rhodes taught and presented concerts in Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Poland. For the 1993 Budapest, Hungary premiere of Samuel Barber's "Knoxville: Summer of 1915" she appeared as soloist with the Duna Symphony Orchestra, in the summer of 1994 as guest artist at the Ohrid International Summer Music Festival in Macedonia, and in 1995 at the "Music Now Prague" festival in the Czech Republic.

  As director of the UNC Opera Theatre, Dr. Rhodes has championed new works by American composers. In 2002 the group presented the NC premiere of Robert Moran's "From the Towers of the Moon" with the composer and librettist Michael John LaChiusa in residence the week of production. Past performances also include the world premiere of James Legg's "The Power of Xingu," and  N.C. premieres of Milton Granger's "talk opera" and "The Proposal," Richard Wargo's "The Music Shop," and James Harp's "The Tale of Johnnie S. Kickey" (an adaptation of Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi").

Mezzo-soprano Ellen Williams has performed extensively throughout Europe and the United States, including local appearances with the Winston-Salem, Greensboro and North Carolina Symphonies. Her concert repertoire includes works ranging from Bach and Handel to Rossini and Stravinsky. In June, Williams sang the role of Berta in Rossini’s Le Barbiere di Siviglia with the Opera Company of North Carolina.

With duo partner Terry Rhodes, Williams premiered Stephen Jaffe’s Fort Juniper Songs in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 1990. They have presented concerts in Italy and Germany, where Williams gave a series of master classes in Essen-Werden, and two recitals at universities in California.

Williams is a Professor of Music at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC and has served as Meredith’s coordinator of vocal studies since 1992. Since 2003, one of her main interests has been serving as one of the artistic directors for Capital Opera Raleigh.

Outreach Children's Opera -- One False Move -- June 11 and 12 at 7 PM and 13 at 3 PM  at the Kenan Theatre, Paul Green Center for Dramatic Arts, on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill. This powerful opera concerns female bullying in our middle schools and high schools. It should be seen by every teen, both male and female. A one-act work with local students playing all of the roles, it will be followed by a discussion led by school counselors.