Marilyn Horne to Lead Series of Master Classes & Recitals at Carnegie Hall in January

From January 19 to 23, Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute (WMI) presents The Song Continues, an annual series led by renowned mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, exploring song repertoire through master classes and concerts with the goal of encouraging, supporting, and preserving the art of the vocal recital. The series concludes with the Marilyn Horne Song Celebration, a recital featuring special guest artist soprano Nina Stemme on Saturday, January 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall. The evening's concert also features performances by soprano Julia Bullock, mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack, tenor Andrew Haji, bass-baritone Evan Hughes, and pianists John Arida, Keun-A Lee, Ken Noda, and Jennifer Szeto. Complete program information is listed below.

Acclaimed baritone Sir Thomas Allen kicks off the first of three public master classes on Tuesday, January 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Weill Recital Hall. The following evening, on Wednesday, January 20 at 7:30 p.m., mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe leads a master class in Zankel Hall. Ms. Horne leads the final master class of the series on Thursday, January 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Weill Recital Hall. Participants include twelve young vocalists and four pianists selected through a rigorous application process. They are given the opportunity to perform in the three master classes as well as receive private coaching by pianists Ken Noda and Warren Jones, and are invited guests for the full week of song programs.

In addition to the master classes, two spotlight recitals will be held during the week in Weill Recital Hall featuring singers chosen by Ms. Horne: mezzo-soprano Sarah Nelson Craft with pianist Warren Jones on Tuesday, January 19 at 5:30 p.m. in a program of songs by Rossini, Schubert, Mahler, Debussy, and Ginastera; and soprano Clarissa Lyons and tenor Miles Mykkanen with pianist Ken Noda on Thursday, January 21 at 5:30 p.m., performing works by Barber, Britten, Schumann, Grieg, and more.

As a special afternoon treat before the Marilyn Horne Song Celebration, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe will return to Carnegie Hall for a one-of-a-kind concert dedicated to America's most popular songs on Saturday, January 23 at 2:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. Audience members will be invited to join in and sing along with such favorites from the early 1900s as "Oh, You Beautiful Doll," "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," "By the Beautiful Sea," and many more.

The Song Continues became a program of Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute (WMI) in June 2010 and is now part of WMI's Workshops and Master Classes series. Previously, this annual event was presented by The Marilyn Horne Foundation in partnership with Carnegie Hall. Ms. Horne continues to serve as Artistic Advisor for the series.

The Song Continues is one of several ways the Weill Music Institute is supporting the development of young singers this season. Others include Count Me In, an after-school initiative for New York City middle school singers; three public master classes for young professional singers led by renowned mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, which will be streamed live online from Carnegie Hall's Resnick Education Wing, January 8-10; and The Somewhere Project, a citywide creative learning project that culminates in a large-scale production of West Side Story at the Knockdown Center, a restored factory in Queens, on March 4, 5, and 6, 2016, conducted by Marin Alsop and directed by Amanda Dehnert. The production will feature professional artists in lead roles, with students and community members from around the city on stage, bolstered by a 200-voice youth choir performing new, specially-arranged choral arrangements of classic songs by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. Additionally, resources for professional singers, teachers, and students are available in WMI's Digital Library and through the Singer's Audition Handbook, an in-depth resource from Carnegie Hall's Musical Exchange website.

About the Workshop Leaders
Mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne continues to be one of America's most beloved artists. Ms. Horne has received numerous accolades and honors in the arts as well as academia. In 2009, she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was honored in Washington DC, as the recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors Award. President Clinton named her a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1995. In 1992, she received the National Medal of Arts from President Bush and the Endowment for the Arts. Ms. Horne sang at the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton White Houses and at President Clinton's inauguration in 1993. Dedicated to mentoring young singers, Ms. Horne holds residencies at the University of Oklahoma and Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. She has also given master classes at the University of Maryland, the Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University, St. Joseph's College, and at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. As vocal program director at Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California, she teaches public master classes and private lessons to some of the world's most promising young artists.

Mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe is one of the most highly respected artists of her generation. She has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera House, and Paris Opera, and in concert with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, The Philadelphia Orchestra, The MET Orchestra, Halle Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and at the Tanglewood and Mostly Mozart festivals and BBC Proms. In recital, she has been presented by Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, 92nd Street Y, and Town Hall in New York; Vocal Arts Society in Washington DC, Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and the Ravinia Festival. Ms. Blythe starred in the Metropolitan Opera's live HD broadcasts of Orfeo ed Euridice, Il Trittico, Rodelinda, and the complete Ring Cycle, and in PBS's Live From Lincoln Center broadcasts of the New York Philharmonic's performance of Carousel and her show, We'll Meet Again: The Songs of Kate Smith. Her recordings include as long as there are songs (Innova), and works by Mahler, Brahms, Wagner, Handel and Bach (Virgin Classics). Ms. Blythe was named Musical America's 2009 Vocalist of the Year, and received an Opera News Award in 2007 and Richard Tucker Award in 1999. She is also Artistic Director of the Crane School of Music's Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar.

Sir Thomas Allen is an established star of the great opera houses of the world. At Covent Garden, where in 2011 he celebrated the 40th anniversary of his debut with the company, he has sung over fifty roles. The same year, he also celebrated the 30th anniversary of his debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Equally renowned on the concert platform, he appears in recital in the United Kingdom, throughout Europe, in Australia, and America, and has appeared with the world's great orchestras and conductors. The greatest part of his repertoire has been extensively recorded. His recent engagements have included the title role in Gianni Schicchi for Los Angeles Opera and at the Spoleto Festival; the title role in Sweeney Todd, Beckmesser (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Faninal (Der Rosenkavalier), Prosdocimo (Il turco in Italia), Music Master (Ariadne auf Naxos), Peter (Hänsel und Gretel) and Don Alfonso at Covent Garden; and Don Alfonso and Music Master at the Metropolitan Opera. Appearances this season include Music Master at Covent Garden and a return to the Salzburg Festival in the world premiere of Thomas Adés's The Exterminating Angel.

About Workshops and Master Classes
Artists on the rise are given valuable access to world-class performers and composers who have established themselves on the Carnegie Hall stages. Participants are selected after responding to an open call for auditions. These up-and coming musicians (ages 18-35) receive coaching and mentoring that assists them in reaching their artistic and professional goals. Upcoming master classes and workshops include a series of three public master classes for four singers led by mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, from January 8-10; a workshop for four young pianists focusing on Mozart's piano concertos led by pianist Mitsuko Uchida on February 24-25; and a weeklong workshop led by Kronos Quartet exploring new works commissioned as part of Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire, from April 9-15. The workshops are tuition-free for participants. Additional information and online applications are available at carnegiehall.org/workshops.

About Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute
Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute (WMI) creates visionary programs that embody Carnegie Hall's commitment to music education, playing a central role in fulfilling the Hall's mission of making great music accessible to as many people as possible. With unparalleled access to the world's greatest artists, WMI's programs are designed to inspire audiences of all ages, nurture tomorrow's musical talent, and harness the power of music to make a meaningful difference in people's lives. An integral part of Carnegie Hall's concert season, these programs facilitate creative expression, develop musical skills and capacities at all levels, and encourage participants to make lifelong personal connections to music. The Weill Music Institute generates new knowledge through original research and is committed to giving back to its community and the field, sharing an extensive range of online music education resources and program materials for free with teachers, orchestras, arts organizations, and music lovers worldwide. Half a million people each year engage in WMI's programs through national and international partnerships, in New York City schools and community settings, and at Carnegie Hall. This includes 350,000 students and teachers worldwide who participate in WMI's Link Up music education program for students in grades 3 through 5, made possible through Carnegie Hall partnerships with over 80 orchestras in the US, Brazil, Canada, Spain, and Japan.

For more information about WMI, please visit: carnegiehall.org/Education?