Tucker Gala to Bring All-Star Lineup Home to Carnegie Hall This Fall

One of the most highly anticipated events of the opera season, the Richard Tucker Music Foundation's annual gala returns home to New York's Carnegie Hall for the first time in more than a quarter of a century on Sunday, October 30.

Soprano Tamara Wilson, winner of the 2016 Richard Tucker Award, joins a host of today's greatest opera luminaries: past Tucker Award-winners Renée Fleming, Joyce DiDonato, and Jamie Barton; sopranos Anna Netrebko, Kristine Opolais, and Nadine Sierra; tenors Javier Camarena and Yusif Eyvazov; and bass-baritone Bryn Terfel. Maestro Asher Fisch leads the New York Choral Society and members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in an evening of opera arias and ensembles by composers including Donizetti, Verdi, Wagner, and Puccini.

On August 8, tickets for the concert, which range from $40 to $750, and gala at the Plaza will be available for exclusive pre-sale by calling (212) 757-2218 or emailing info@richardtuckermusicfoundation.org, and through Carnegie Hall after September 15.

When beloved tenor Richard Tucker unexpectedly died on tour in 1975, his duo partner and friend Robert Merrill worked with the Tucker family to organize a gathering of opera legends, including Martina Arroyo and Roberta Peters, to take place on the duo's original date at Carnegie Hall. The Richard Tucker Music Foundation was formed later that year, and the concert became an annual tradition to raise funds to support young American opera singers and keep his memory alive. The gala continued to be held at Carnegie Hall every year until 1989, when it relocated across town to Lincoln Center. Throughout its history, the gala has hosted opera's most illustrious stars, such as Luciano Pavarotti, Montserrat Caballé, Leonard Bernstein, Joan Sutherland, Leontyne Price, and Plácido Domingo. As Barry Tucker, president of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation and son of the Brooklyn-born tenor, comments:

"Carnegie Hall holds a very special place both in my heart and in the history of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, and we are thrilled to be returning there after such a long absence."

American soprano TaMara Wilson, who takes the gala stage as winner of the 2016 Richard Tucker Award, has been hailed as "a veritable force of nature" (Chicago Tribune). Her recent debuts include the Metropolitan Opera, headlining Aida; Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu, in the title role of Norma; and the English National Opera, where she starred in La forza del destino, scoring a nomination for the 2016 Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera. Following recent appearances at Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, and Los Angeles Opera, Wilson is set to make debuts at the Bayerische Staatsoper and Deutsche Oper Berlin next season. A finalist in the 2004 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a Grand Prize Winner at Barcelona's Annual Francisco Viñas Competition, and a winner of the George London Award, Wilson is also the recipient of both a 2008 Sara Tucker Study Grant and 2011 Richard Tucker Career Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation.

Founded in 1975, the Richard Tucker Music Foundation is a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to perpetuating the artistic legacy of the great Brooklyn-born tenor by nurturing the careers of talented young American opera singers. Through awards, grants for study, performance opportunities, and other activities, the Foundation provides professional development for singers at various stages of their careers. It also offers free performances in the New York metropolitan area and supports music education enrichment programs. Each year, the Foundation confers its most prestigious prize, the Richard Tucker Award, on an artist poised at The Edge of a major international career. Often referred to as the "Heisman Trophy of Opera," the award comes with a $50,000 cash prize as well as the ongoing support of the Tucker family and Foundation. Past winners include Lawrence Brownlee, Stephen Costello, Michael Fabiano, Christine Goerke, Angela Meade, Deborah Voigt, and Dolora Zajick.

IF YOU GO:

Richard Tucker Music Foundation presents:
2016 Richard Tucker GALA
Sunday, October 30 at 6pm
Carnegie Hall, New York City

2016 Richard Tucker Award winner TaMara Wilson

Winners of Richard Tucker Music Foundation grants and honored guests:
Jamie Barton, mezzo-soprano (2015 Richard Tucker Award winner)
Javier Camarena, tenor
Joyce DiDonato, mezzo-soprano (2002 Richard Tucker Award winner)
Yusif Eyvazov, tenor
Renée Fleming, soprano (1990 Richard Tucker Award winner)
Anna Netrebko, soprano
Kristine Opolais, soprano
Nadine Sierra, soprano (2013 Richard Tucker Career Grant winner)
Bryn Terfel, bass-baritone

Members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
New York Choral Society
Maestro Asher Fisch

Program to feature works by composers including Donizetti, Verdi, Wagner, and Puccini