Meagan Miller, a rapidly rising opera star from West Chester, PA, has been making celebrated debuts on important stages all over the world, interpreting the leading ladies of Mozart, Strauss, Verdi and Wagner. Her current season took her to a series of role and house debuts, the most recent – in the title role in Richard Strauss’ Daphne at the Vienna State Opera in December 2011.

From the review of Miller’s performance in Daphne: “With her rich, radiant soprano, she leads us into the longing of her fantasies, webbed into the depths of her dream world. In flawless beauty, she sings Strauss’s wide spanning cantilena, presents the wealth of melodic ideas with perfection, and delights with her solo scenes. Impressing with her textual clarity, her high register shining, her warmth radiating…” (Kronen Zeitung)

Hear and see Meagan Miller live as she debuts in Philadelphia March 23 & 25 in the Lyric Fest’s  program “A Very Good Year – Happy Birthday to 1912″ where the singer will perform another Richard Strauss’ aria, Es gibt ein Reich (Ariadne auf Naxos), among other arias and songs.

More about Meagan Miller at www.meaganmillersoprano.com

Lyric Fest’s Interview with Soprano Meagan Miller 

LF: How and when did you start thinking about a career in singing? Was there a certain person or event that inspired you in the first place? 

MM: I started thinking seriously about being a professional singer one summer during high school when I attended the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts. I had already found out that I loved singing classical music in my wonderful high school choir (Archmere Academy in Claymont, DE), and was taking solo voice lessons. But the experience at the PA Governor’s School really got solo performing into my blood and showed me a possible way to harness my interest into a career.

LF: What do you enjoy the most in a recital setting that you don’t usually get from an opera performance?

MM: Most of the time when a singer performs in a recital, they are standing there as themselves, not playing a character as in opera and often in oratorio.  And for me, a very compelling facet of recital is that so much of what you eventually present is actually up to only you and one other person.  And you have such flexibility in the moment, because one other person can respond much faster and with less information than a full orchestra. You can also use more of the soft colors in a voice, when there is not a thick orchestra texture over which to be heard.

LF: What is the best advice you ever received in your life (either personal or professional)?

MM: Make your thoughts, words, and actions align.

LF: How does it feel to finally debut in Philadelphia?

MM: It’s great to debut in Philadelphia!  The closest I have come so far was when I sang an opera in concert in Princeton, which was close-ish to home. But it happened to coincide with the game when the Eagles were in the Superbowl… a very painful decision for many of my Philly fans!!!  I am going to relish this one!

LF: What attracted you in Lyric Fest’s invitation?

MM: There can hardly be a colleague I love to work with more than Randall Scarlata, who put Laura Ward and me in contact.  As I learned more about Lyric Fest and the great programs that have been presented, I was thrilled to have been invited.

LF: Your selections for this program are so diverse (just like the rest of the program): Strauss, Marx, Friml, Puccini and Rachmaninoff.  Would you like to tell us why you made these choices besides their connection to 1912?

MM: I am very excited to hear this fantastic survey of the musical world at that time!  Laura Ward worked with me to choose the repertoire, and what I will sing is a great combination of pieces that I know and love, and new discoveries. Laura knows exactly what will showcase my voice and temperament, so that is part of what my pieces have in common.

LF: Do you have any plans to return to Philadelphia or anywhere in the East Coast this year?  

MM: I’ll be traveling a lot outside of the USA this year, but I will debut at the Washington National Opera this fall, singing a Mozart opera. I also will sing a duo recital with Marcello Giordani on March 4 in New York City, and (although this will not take place on the East Coast) the soprano solos in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Cleveland  Orchestra March 8-12.

LF: Since we are talking about a Happy Birthday program, when is your birthday?

MM: My birthday is November 11 – a proud Scorpio!

# # #

Interviewed for Lyric Fest by Inna Lobanova-Heasley. February 6, 2012.

Baritone Randall Scarlata in New York City

From the Symphony Space web page:

Dolce Suono Ensemble, the young, dynamic chamber music group from Philadelphia, a “stunning ensemble” (The Philadelphia Inquirer), makes its New York debut in a program featuring premieres by Shulamit Ran, Steven Stucky, Steven Mackey, and Richard Danielpour.

Soloists Lucy Shelton, soprano (Symphony Space All-Star) and Randall Scarlata, baritone join Dolce Suono Ensemble in the New York premiere of works commissioned by DSE as part of its “Mahler 100 / Schoenberg 60″ project and the world premieres of our commissions by Shulamit Ran and Fang Man.

Mon, Feb 6 at 7:30 pm Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space

Baritone Randall Scarlata at Alice Tully Hall

Randall Scarlata will take part in a performance of music commissioned by the 7th Prince Lobkowicz. Information at this link. This performance is part of the program of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

February 10, 2012, 7:30 pm Alice Tully Hall

Happy Birthday to 1912 – The year Jules Massenet died, John Cage was born, and the Titanic sank.  Here is something new for LF: It’ll be the first time we perform John Cage! The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs will be featured on the concert.
Here it is sung by the late, great Cathy Berberian.

A view of the chapel and a map of the area:
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/5871556

The Ravenhill Chapel is on the campus of Philadelphia University Campus between Henry Avenue and the Schuylkill River.

From either Kelly Drive, from City Line Ave or from I-76, follow signs to “Lincoln Drive”.  You’ll be on a winding road with rocks to your right and the river and park to your left.  Halfway down this road is a beige Victorian House – that is at Gypsy Lane.

RIGHT on Gypsy Lane, go up hill.  It Ts off into School House Lane.
LEFT on School House Lane THEN IMMEDIATE RIGHT onto the campus.
(RIGHT onto campus, but if you miss it, there is another entrance) there should be signage on School House Lane that says “Event Parking”. Do not drive to the chapel. There is no parking there.

Follow the signage to the Athletic Parking lot which will be behind the chapel and walk between buildings to to the Chapel. We believe the only entrance into the chapel open at that time will be from the breezeway connecting it the other building. So enter the breezeway via the ramp (in the back parking lot.) Turn right into chapel.

Baritone William Stone

William Stone is well known for his international reputation as an opera singer, concert artist and recitalist, whose career has spanned the last 35 years. But, little known is the fact that he is also an accomplished potter with strong ties to the creative process of working with clay.

Through his association and study with Iowa master potter and teacher, Dean Schwarz, he was introduced to the Bauhaus tradition of Marguerite Wildenhain, with whom he was able to study for a summer several years before she died. Upon her death, a diary was discovered in her personal belongings, which Schwarz gave to Stone to translate with the hope that his years of singing lieder and his familiarity with Marguerite personally might lend the right interpretation to what she had written when she was in her twenties. What it revealed, to the surprise of everyone who knew her, was an intimate relationship with her craftsman master in the Bauhaus, Max Krehan. Her diary begins at his death and spans the following seven months as she copes with his absence and influence on her life and craft.

From his years of performing the great cycles of Schubert, Schumann, and even more contemporary composers such as Lee Hoiby, Stone had always felt the diary would lend itself well to being set to music. He was able to elicit the interest of Philadelphia composer Maurice Wright, who embraced the project with enthusiasm, and the resulting cycle for baritone (or mezzo) and string quartet will be performed this coming week-end with William Stone as the soloist. It is the culmination of a project that has been in the making for the past 20 years, molded, like clay, by the hands of devoted musicians and potters to become To Kiss the Earth.

The premiere of To Kiss the Earth was circumvented by the tragic events of September 11. In the ten years since, the piece has languished awaiting its debut in the right circumstances. With a longstanding devotion to new music and admiration for Bill Stone’s artistry, Lyric Fest was delighted at the prospect of presenting the world premiere of the cycle after Bill broached the compelling concept. Experience the premiere – alongside readings from Wildenhain’s diary by co-founding artistic director Suzanne DuPlantis and new works by Curt Cacioppo and Allen Krantz – this weekend.

A large portion of Marguerite’s diary, along with Stone’s Introduction to it, appears in Marguerite Wildenhain and the Bauhaus: An Eyewitness Anthology, published by South Bear Press, 2007. The introduction to the diary is also viewable at www. williamstonebaritone.com.

Our first video clips are: an interview with Co-Founding Artistic Director Suzanne DuPlantis, an interview with Allen Krantz, composer of Little Elegy, which will be performed in our upcoming To Kiss the Earth concert, and an interview with Allen Krantz, in two parts, in which he discusses Little Elegy and plays some excerpts. Here’s the interview with Suzanne, to whet your appetite:

In addition to our YouTube channel, you can also watch these videos in our Listen and Watch page.