Three opera stars headline Bienen School of Music spring series

• Link to: Northwestern Now Story

The Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music will host three stars of the opera world for a series of spring public events. Pathbreaking bass-baritone Davóne Tines will perform his work “Recital No. 1: Mass,” paired with a lecture presentation and Q&A session about his artistic process. The Tichio-Finnie Vocal Master Class Series welcomes esteemed tenor Matthew Polenzani and award-winning mezzo-soprano Susan Graham to coach Bienen voice and opera students.

All programs are open to the public and will take place in Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. Tickets and reservations can be made online at concertsatbienen.org or by calling the Bienen School Ticket Office at 847-467-4000.

Davóne Tines – “Recital No. 1: Mass”
Wednesday, March 29, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $30; $10 for full-time students with valid ID.

“Recital No. 1: Mass” is the latest in a series of Davóne Tines’s works speaking to the African American experience while highlighting what all humans share in common. Using Caroline Shaw’s miniature Mass (a reimagined Latin service created especially for Tines) as a framework, the experience interweaves music from the Western European classical tradition, African American spirituals and contemporary compositions. Music of J. S. Bach reflects that composer’s strong faith background, while provocative African American composer Julius Eastman reflects on the religious conviction of another in “Prelude to the Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc.” Contemporary composer and multi-instrumentalist Tyshawn Sorey’s “Songs for Death” interpret spiritual texts through disquieting settings, never quite offering the listener deliverance. Music of Margaret Bonds and Moses Hogan also receives renewed context and perspective in this powerful exploration of spirituality and humanity. 

Tines is accompanied by Afro-Dominican pianist and composer John Bitoy, who has performed in such venues as the Chicago Symphony Center, the Perelman Theater and the Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park. He enjoys playing standard repertoire yet is simultaneously devoted to shedding light on new music by composers of the African Diaspora.

Davóne Tines – Lecture Presentation/Q&A
Thursday, March 30, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are free but reservations are required.

Tines will discuss how he conceived of the “Recital No. 1: Mass” project, the four years of intellectual and musical exploration that led to its creation and the non-traditional artistic path he continues to pursue in his career.

Matthew Polenzani Vocal Master Class
Part of the Tichio-Finnie Vocal Master Class Series
Tuesday, April 25, 7 p.m.
Tickets are $10; $5 for full-time students with valid ID.

A recipient of the 2004 Richard Tucker Award, the Metropolitan Opera’s 2008 Beverly Sills Artist Award and a 2017 Opera News Award, Matthew Polenzani has established a reputation for elegant musicianship and dramatic commitment. This season he stars as Giasone in Cherubini’s “Medea” at the Met and plays the title roles in Verdi’s “Don Carlos” at Italy’s Teatro di San Carlo and in Massenet’s “Werther” at Houston Grand Opera. Other engagements include two highly anticipated role debuts, as Jean in a concert performance of Massenet’s “Hérodiade” at Deutsche Oper Berlin and as Orombello in Bellini’s “Beatrice di Tenda” at Teatro di San Carlo. He will coach Bienen School voice and opera program students in vocal performance techniques with selected arias and art songs.

Susan Graham Vocal Master Class
Part of the Tichio-Finnie Vocal Master Class Series
Friday, May 5, 7 p.m.
Tickets are $10; $5 for full-time students with valid ID.

Susan Graham has mastered a range of repertoire with operatic roles spanning four centuries, ranging from the title role in Monteverdi’s “L’incoronazione di Poppea” to Sister Helen Prejean in Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking,” written especially for her. Graham makes regular concert appearances with the world’s foremost orchestras, and her discography comprises a wealth of opera, orchestral and solo recordings. Among her numerous honors are a Grammy Award, an Opera News Award, designation as “Musical America’s” Vocalist of the Year and the French government’s Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur. In this master class, she will coach Bienen School voice and opera program students in selected arias and art songs.