Program 1: Benjamin Britten Centennial
Britten: Simple Symphony
Bartok: Divertimento
Britten: Les Illuminations
Melody Moore, soprano
Tickets and Program Notes Call 415.392.4400 (Mon-Fri 9:30am-5pm, Sat Noon-4pm) to purchase tickets by phone. Tickets are also available at the door beginning one hour prior to the performance.
$59 A Seating | $49 B Seating | $29 C Seating
Purchase Tickets Program Notes
Concerts
Open Rehearsal
Monday 9/17/12 10AM, San Francisco Conservatory**
Peninsula
Tuesday 9/18/12 8PM, Center for Performing Arts at Menlo-Atherton
East Bay
Thursday 9/20/12 8PM, First Congregational Church
San Francisco
Saturday 9/22/12 8PM, Herbst Theatre
Marin
Sunday 9/23/12 5PM, Osher Marin JCC
**Please note that the date and venue for the September Open Rehearsal has changed.
The New Century Chamber Orchestra’s September 2012 concerts are made possible, in part, by Mark Jordan and Kendall Patton. Melody Moore’s appearances with New Century are made possible by Alan Benaroya.
About the Concert
Fresh from starring performances with the San Francisco and New York City Operas, New Century audience favorite Melody Moore reunites with the ensemble for a celebration of the 100th Anniversary of illustrious composer Benjamin Britten. Moore’s 2007 performances of Les Illuminations with New Century received critical acclaim. As San Francisco Classical Voice noted, “she matched Britten and NCCO’s wizardry note for note, phrase for phrase, executing every detail in the score with complete command and captivating the audience in the process.”
About the Soloist
American soprano Melody Moore “has a vulnerability that is heartbreaking to watch” and a “rich, mellow tone” that is “achingly intense” according to critics writing of her performances from Hawaii to London. In 2011, Ms. Moore created the role of Susan Rescorla in the San Francisco Opera world premiere of Christopher Theofanidis’ Heart of a Soldier, based on James B. Stewart’s book which tells the story of Rick Rescorla, a soldier and hero who saved thousands of lives at the World Trade Center. That same year, Ms. Moore debuted with New York City Opera as Rita Clayton in Stephen Schwartz’s opera, Séance on a Wet Afternoon. She returned to the company in early 2012 to sing the lead role of Régine Saint Laurent in Rufus Wainwright’s opera, Prima Donna.
Melody made her London debut as Mimi in Jonathan Miller’s production of La Bohème and returned to perform Marguerite in Des McAnuff’s production of Faust. Ms. Moore has also performed Marguerite with Hawaii Opera and Mimi with the opera companies of San Francisco and Cleveland. Under the baton of James Conlon, she has appeared with Los Angeles Opera in their double bill of Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg and Ullmann’s Der zerbrochene Krug as part of the Recovered Voices Project, which highlighted recovered works by composers affected by the Holocaust. Ms. Moore has performed the role of Countessa Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with San Francisco Opera and Madison Opera. She has also performed Manon Lescaut with New Orleans Opera, Suor Angelica with Orlando Opera and the Opera Theatre and Musical Festival of Lucca, Italy. Recent performances also include Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and the solo voice in Kurt Weill’s Nanna’s Lied with San Francisco Ballet. Ms. Moore made her German debut last year with the Bavarian Radio Symphony singing in Gordon Getty’s Plump Jack. Ms. Moore is a former Merola Opera Program participant and was a San Francisco Opera Adler Fellow.
Ms. Moore is equally recognized for her outstanding work on the concert stage. She last appeared with New Century in March 2011 in the “Mastery of Schubert” concerts. Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle praised her performance with Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and the New Century Chamber Orchestra, saying, “Moore’s four Schubert songs, arranged by Clarice Assad, were delivered with the kind of intensity and raw emotional power that are too rarely heard in this repertoire.”
Musician Spotlight
Kurt Rohde: Learn more about Kurt’s long tenure in the orchestra, his career as a composer and a professor of music, and his upcoming year in Cambridge as a Radcliffe Fellow in his September 2012 Musician Spotlight.