Tonight, November 17, the Richard Tucker Music Foundation celebrates the 100th anniversary of the legendary tenor's birth with a star-studded gala at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center. Isabel Leonard, the 2013 Richard Tucker Award-winner and a rising star in the U.S. and abroad, joins an outstanding group of singers including Stephanie Blythe, Stephen Costello, Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Christine Goerke, Susan Graham, Greer Grimsley, Angela Meade, Eric Owens, Ailyn Pérez, Matthew Polenzani, and Patricia Racette. With the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and the New York Choral Society led by Riccardo Frizza they will present a program of arias and ensembles by Verdi, Bellini, Rossini, Dvorák, Puccini and Offenbach. Following the concert, which is being taped for broadcast on PBS's Live From Lincoln Center on January 10, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. EST (check local listings), the foundation will host a gala dinner on the Grand Promenade of Avery Fisher Hall.
Many of the singers featured on the program are past recipients of the
Richard Tucker Award, which includes a $30,000 cash prize and the ongoing support of the Tucker family and foundation. Each year, the foundation bestows the award on an American opera singer on the cusp of a major international career. Opera luminaries who have received the Tucker award include Renée Fleming,
David Daniels,
Joyce DiDonato,
Deborah Voigt,
Lawrence Brownlee, Angela Meade, and 2012 winner Ailyn Pérez.
Since receiving the 2013 Tucker Award, native New Yorker
Isabel Leonard continues to gain momentum. Her current run in the Met's Così fan tutte under the direction of
James Levine has met with critical acclaim: "Blending vocal warmth and clarity, Ms. Leonard was a winning Dorabella" (New York Times). This season, Leonard also makes her highly-anticipated debuts at the San Francisco Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Dallas Opera as Rosina in Rossini's I
L Barbiere di Siviglia.
"
Richard Tucker at 100: An Opera Celebration" will air on
PBS stations across America as part of the Emmy Award-winning series
Live From Lincoln Center on Friday, January 10, 2014 at 9:00 p.m. EST (check local listings). Hosted by five-time Tony Award-winning singer and actress
Audra McDonald, the program will feature interstitial interviews with the artists, segments from backstage, and a short documentary on
Richard Tucker's life in addition to the musical performances.
Live From Lincoln Center is made possible by a major grant from MetLife; the series is also made possible with generous support from the Ro
Bert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust, Thomas H. Lee and Ann Tenenbaum, The Robert and Renée Belfer Family Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional episode funding is provided by Cadillac, a division of General Motors.
WQXR 105.9 FM, New York's classical radio station, featured Leonard along with 2004
Richard Tucker Award-winner
Matthew Polenzani, 2010
Richard Tucker Career Grant recipient
Anthony Roth Costanzo, and the legendary
Sherrill Milnes in a special event at The Greene Space in Lower Manhattan on October 4. Hosted by Operavore's Naomi Lewin, the evening featured performances and conversations about the life and legacy of
Richard Tucker. The webcast can be viewed
here.
Further information about the gala and the work of the
Richard Tucker Music Foundation is available at
www.richardtucker.org.
Tickets for this year's event range from $40 to $600 and are on sale to the public on the
Richard Tucker Music Foundation's website,
www.richardtucker.org, as well as at
www.lincolncenter.org, by calling CenterCharge (212) 721-6500, and at the Avery Fisher Hall box office. Seats at the gala dinner on the Grand Promenade that follows the concert can be arranged by contacting the foundation's offices at (212) 757-2218.
Richard Tucker Music Foundation presents:
2013 Richard Tucker GALA
November 17 at 6:30pm
Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City
2013 Richard Tucker Award winner Isabel Leonard
Winners of Richard Tucker Music Foundation grants and honored guests:
Stephanie Blythe, mezzo-soprano
Stephen Costello, tenor
Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano
Renée Fleming, soprano
Greer Grimsley, bass-baritone
Angela Meade, soprano
Eric Owens, bass-baritone
Ailyn Pérez, soprano
Matthew Polenzani, tenor
Patricia Racette, soprano
Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano
Riccardo Frizza, conductor
Members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
New York Choral Society
www.richardtucker.org
facebook.com/RichardTuckerMusicFoundation
www.twitter.com//RTuckerMusicFdn
