Celebration of John Moriarty

Opera conductor and impresario John Moriarty graduated from New England Conservatory in 1952 during a postwar enrollment surge, when great singing casts were easy to assemble for memorable school productions. Over the years, intermixed with his work at professional opera companies, Moriarty returned to NEC to rebuild and lead the school's opera studies program. He continues to teach as a member of NEC's collaborative piano and vocal coaching faculties.

The longevity of Moriarty's influence on opera studies and the production of successful opera careers is unparalleled, and is celebrated tonight with performances by current teachers and students in NEC's opera program, as well as by opera stars who worked with Moriarty in their formative years.

Conductor Stephen Lord, named one of the "25 Most Powerful Names in U.S. Opera," is the Artistic Director of NEC's Opera Studies program. He will conduct the NEC Symphony in support of tonight's singers, and open the concert with the overture to Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, which will return at the end of the evening with the Act II finale.

Soprano Lisa Saffer '84 M.M., '86 A.D., like Moriarty, has also returned to teach at NEC. One of the world's most respected interpreters of such key modernist roles as Berg's Lulu and Zimmermann's Marie (in Die Soldaten), Saffer has also extensively performed Handel and Mozart, and will sing "L'amerò" from Mozart's Il Re pastore tonight.

Soprano Michelle Johnson '05, a 2011 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions winner, has been announced in the title role of Verdi's Aïda for the 2012 Glimmerglass season. She will sing Aïda's aria "Ritorna vincitor!" and "Ebben ne andrò lontana" from Catalani's La Wally in tonight's concert.

Reprising a role that she has just sung with Seattle Opera, and with which she made her English National Opera debut in 2009, soprano Emily Hindrichs '09 D.M.A. will sing the Queen of the Night's show-stopping Act I aria from Mozart's The Magic Flute, "O zitt're nicht … Zum Leiden bin ich auserkoren."

Soprano Hae Ji Chang, a second-year Artist Diploma student of Lorraine Nubar, will preview her 2012 Opera Boston role as Shakespeare's Juliet with "O quante volte" from Bellini's I Capuleti ed i Montecchi.

Mezzo-soprano Luretta Bybee, one of today's top Carmens, is Executive Director and Chair of Opera Studies at NEC. Tonight the orchestra, Bybee, and four students offer the entr'acte and quintet, "Nous avons en tête une affaire," that lead off Act II of Carmen. As Frasquita: Soyoung Park; Mercedes: Wendy Wang; Remedado: Michael Kuhn; Don Cairo: Hernan Berisso. All four are second-year master's students in NEC's opera studies program.

Countenor Tai Oney, a second-year Graduate Diploma student of Carole Haber, will perform "Che farò senza Euridice" from Gluck's Orpheus and Euridice.

Baritone James Maddalena '76 created the title role of John Adams's Nixon in China in 1987, a role he has recently reprised in televised Metropolitan Opera performances. In addition to his extensive work with contemporary composers, represented in tonight's concert by "Warm as the autumn light" from Moore's Ballad of Baby Doe, Monteverdi and Mozart are also integral to his portfolio.

Bass-baritone Greer Grimsley, whose larger-than-life roles radiate outward from the vocal Valhalla of Wagner and Strauss, is a Visiting Guest Artist at NEC. He will represent Wagner's Flying Dutchman with "Die Frist ist um," with the orchestra also providing that opera's overture.

Cast of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, Act II finale:
Susanna Emily Brand '12 G.D.
Figaro Nathan Keoughan '12 M.M.
Countess Jennifer Russo '12 M.M.
Count Hernan Berisso '12 M.M.
Cherubino Jaime Korkos '11 G.D.
Marcellina Mary Starkey '12 M.M.
Basilio Robert Cinnante '11
Bartolo Christopher Weigel
Antonio Leroy Davis