A Song Recital
Featuring songs set to texts written by or from the viewpoint of children
March 9, 2018 @ 7:30 pm
Children and young adults have a unique perspective on the world. The mind of a child is a fascinating place: whether questioning the logic of how things work, observing people and nature from a fresh perspective, or relishing in the simplicity of just being a child. We all associate with these feelings and can wonder in amazement at how children can be so incredibly perceptive regardless of their circumstances.
Music performed will include Bernstein's I Hate Music, a Cycle of Five Kids' Songs, Laitman's I Never Saw Another Butterfly, texts by children of the Holocaust, and Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, as well as works by Dvorak and Schumann.
WHERE
New School of Music
25 Lowell St. Cambridge, MA 02138
TICKET PRICES
(on sale starting February 1)
General Admission: $25
Student Admission: $15
Performers
Jessica Jacobs, soprano
Brendon Shapiro, piano
Karen Luttik, Clarinet
Alexandra Conway, Flute
Ben Fox, Oboe
Christina Dioguardi, Bassoon
Sarah Sutherland, French Horn
Jessica Jacobs, soprano
Described as having “pipes with real heft and warmth” and “an expressive face, ever interesting to watch” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), lyric soprano Jessica Jacobs is garnering attention for her “radiant” voice and “affecting” acting. This season, Ms. Jacobs makes her company debut with Long Island Opera singing Mimi in La Bohème, a company and role debut with Worcester Shubertiade singing the title role in the Merry Widow, and returns to Boston Opera Collaborative to sing Mimi.
In the 2016-17 season, she sang with Boston Opera Collaborative in Tom Cipullo’s The Husbands and as Magda in Puccini’s La Rondine. Notable previous engagements have included Rosasharn in The Grapes of Wrath and Nella in Gianni Schicchi with Sugar Creek Opera, Ilia in Idomeneo, Marguerite in Faust, Armida in Rinaldo, and Miss Wordsworth in Albert Herring with Boston Opera Collaborative, and Mimi in La Bohème and Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with NEMPAC Opera Project.
Ms Jacobs has won an encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Second Place in the Peter Elvins Competition, and was chosen as a finalist in the Orpheus and MetroWest Opera Competitions, and a semi-finalist in the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition. She currently studies with Dr. Rebecca Folsom.
Brendon Shapiro, piano
Brendon Shapiro is a versatile pianist, vocal coach, and conductor with a specialty in opera and a passion for contemporary music. He has enjoyed working for numerous companies around the United States including Boston Lyric Opera, Opera North, Boston Opera Collaborative, Opera NEO, MetroWest Opera, Opera Fayetteville, North End Music and Performing Arts Center, Opera on Tap, and Juventas New Music Ensemble.
Brendon is currently a vocal coach at UMass Amherst, the organist for First Parish in Arlington, MA, and the assistant music director for the Boston Saengerfest Men's Chorus. He has also served as staff pianist at Boston University and been on faculty as a vocal coach at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. As a freelance pianist, Brendon is frequently sought out for recitals, competitions, concerts, auditions, recording sessions, and coachings.
Brendon has also enjoyed working outside of the realm of classical music. He served as musical director for the first four seasons of the newly renovated Woodstock Playhouse in Woodstock, NY. In a performance praised by the Boston Globe, he appeared in a production of Master Class with the New Repertory Theatre portraying Manny, the onstage pianist. In addition, he has performed as a featured soloist with Video Games Live with whom he also recorded a solo piano album, Through Time and Space, which became a #1 bestseller on Amazon.com.
Brendon holds a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano Performance from Boston University and a Bachelor of Music degree from the Ithaca College School of Music where he won the Mary Hayes North Piano Competition Award.