CONCERTO DI NATALE Celebrates The Holiday Season In Song And Dance

Fresh from a performance at Carnegie Hall the Richmond County Orchestra (RCO), in its 21st season, adds holiday cheer to the season with its 16th Annual Holiday concert at St. John's University with Concerto di Natale a celebration in song and dance onSaturday, December 14, 3 p.m. at St. John's University Gymnasium, 300 Howard Avenue, Staten Island. Tickets are $15/advance $20 at the door. ALWAYS FREE for children and students. Purchase tickets atbit.ly/rco-natale

The evening features Mikhail Urusov, Tenor and Zoya Gramagin, Soprano and RCO welcoming back, by popular demand,The New American Youth Ballet "Nutcracker" performance. Choreography is by Elizabeth Flores with costumes by Bonnie Fernandez of The New American Youth Ballet and the sounds of two youth orchestras- the Brighton Heights Youth Orchestra and Staten Island Academy Orchestra, under the direction of Yvette Washington Wheatley.

Santa Claus will be on hand to pose with kids for photos. There will be a 50/50 and prizes and goodies for the children. Thanks to support from St John's University Office of Community Relations and the Italian Cultural Center.

Elizabeth Flores, Co-Founder and Creative Director of the New American Youth Ballet has performed as a soloist with the Bolshoi Ballet Academy where she received training on full scholarship, as well as received classical training from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Ms. Flores additionally was accepted to train with the London Royal Ballet School. She studied Voice and Musical Theater with The Juilliard School and choreographed for their musical theater productions during her time there.

Russian-American tenor Mikhail Urusov has one of the two most prestigious Russia's state awards - Honored Artist of Russian Federation. Other awards include National Heritage Award Laureate (2010), Moscow City Prize Laureate (2004), and Irina Arkhipova Foundation Prize Laureate (2002).

Mikhail Urusov is one of the leading artists of the Lyrics Seasons Art Project (NYC), a member of the independent theater project "Maria Callas Master Class" (Moscow) by Turner Macneil, and continues to work perform with "The Tenors of XXI century" being their artist from the moment of its foundation. Stunning audiences with the power of his voice, Urusov has performed all over the world, touring extensively in Russia, Europe, East Asia, The United States and Israel. Mikhail Urusov has been giving masterclasses at Harvard University and now preparing a cycle of opera showcases.

Soprano Zoya Gramagin is recognized for her beautiful, rich, and powerful voice that possesses warm darker colors, while maintaining a very Italianate sound. For her most recent role, Madama Butterfly at The St.Petersburg Opera Company, Ms. Gramagin was praised as the right singer for this role: "She has that Slavic steel in her voice that helps to power through the role. The audience stopped the show cold after her "Un bel di vedremo." Equally impressive to me are her entrance scene and "Tu? Tu? Piccolo iddio!," her third act aria." (William S. Oser)

Zoya Gramagin received her music education at the Tchaikovsky Music School in Moscow and the Mannes School of Music - The New School in New York City, where she currently resides with her family. Using her musical, artistic, and organizational skills, Zoya serves as Artistic Director at Lyric Seasons, an organization that produces an array of performance events that provide a platform for well-established and emerging artists to experiment with various music genres such as opera, operetta and music theater, art songs, sacred music, contemporary, jazz, and crossover.