George & Nora London Foundation Presents Mezzo-Soprano Lindsay Kate Brown, October 22
George and Nora London Foundation presents Lindsay Kate Brown, Mezzo-Soprano, performing "Serenading the Hours: A Day to Night Recital" on October 22, 2023 at The Morgan Library and Museum.
By: A.A. Cristi Sep. 19, 2023
The George and Nora London Foundation begins its 2023-24 season of events with 2020 George London Award winner mezzo-soprano Lindsay Kate Brown presenting “Serenading the Hours: A Day to Night Recital,” on Sunday, October 22, 2023, at 4 pm at The Morgan Library and Museum.
Ms. Brown has created a recital program with two thematic halves, “Day” and “Night,” with music spanning the mid-19th century to the early 21st. With pianist Alex Munger, she performs songs by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky (written mid-late 19th c.), Jennifer Higdon (written 1997 – 2003), and Alma Mahler (written 1910-15) for the “Day” portion of the program, and continues with songs with nocturnal themes by Joseph Marx (written 1910-15), Samuel Barber (written 1938 – 1972), and Alban Berg (1905-8) – including Jennifer Higdon's “Morning Opens” and Alma Mahler's “Ernteleid (Harvest song),” Alban Berg's “The nightingale,” and Samuel Barber's “Sure on this shining night” (see below for full program details).
Ms. Brown was recently a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, and an Apprentice Artist at Santa Fe Opera where she performed the roles of Hippolyta in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, conducted by Harry Bicket, and Marcellina in Laurent Pelly's new production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro. Of her 2021 engagement as Hippolyta in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at Santa Fe Opera, Opera Today said, “Theseus (Cory McGee) and Hippolyta (Lindsey Kate Brown) had little stage time, but when they did, they shone. ... Ms. Brown's generous dramatic mezzo was throbbing with vitality.”
The George and Nora London Foundation Competition Final Round is a public event that takes place on Friday, February 16, 2024, at which approximately a dozen singers compete for five George London Awards of $12,000 each. Those finalists who do not receive George London Awards receive Encouragement Awards of $2,000. As The New York Times has noted, “this prestigious competition … can rightfully claim to act as a springboard for major careers in opera.” Michael Fennelly is the event's pianist.
Baritone Blake Denson, also a 2020 George London Award winner, performs in recital with pianist Kevin Miller on Sunday, April 28, 2024, a program of music by Francesco Santoliquido, Shawn E. Okpebholo, Franz Schubert, and Johannes Brahms.
George London (1920-1985) was one of the greatest opera stars of the 20th century, who blazed a trail for American singers on the international stage and created some of the most indelible interpretations of prominent bass-baritone roles. In his later years, he devoted much of his time and energy to the support and nurturing of young singers, in partnership with his wife, Nora. Since 1971, the foundation's annual competition has given more than 300 awards, and a total of more than $2 million, to an outstanding roster of young American and Canadian opera singers who have gone on to international stardom – the list of past winners includes Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Christine Goerke, Ryan Speedo Green, Catherine Malfitano, James Morris, Eric Owens, Matthew Polenzani, Sondra Radvanovsky, Neil Shicoff, Dawn Upshaw, and Willard White.
In addition to the annual competition, the George and Nora London Foundation also presents a recital series to give grantees exposure and experience, and, in many cases, a New York recital debut. The foundation also awards scholarships to promising high school students attending the pre-college program of The Juilliard School, a program now in its 12th year.
Lindsay Kate Brown, mezzo-soprano (2020 George London Award winner, Waterloo, NY), joined The Metropolitan Opera in 2021-22 to cover roles in Stephen Wadsworth's production of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Matthew Aucoin's Eurydice, and the famous Richard Eyre production of Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro.
During her time as an artist with the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Ms. Brown sang the role of Giovanna in Verdi's Rigoletto and Zweite Dame in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte. During a recent summer at Wolf Trap Opera as a Filene Artist, she made her debut as Komponist in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos. Ms. Brown is a recipient of a number of awards and honors, and was a finalist in the 2020 Metropolitan National Council Auditions a week after her George London Award win. Ms. Brown graduated in 2018 from Rice University with an Artist Diploma in Opera Performance, and in 2016 received a degree in Opera Performance from Binghamton University. In 2013, Ms. Brown graduated from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania with degrees in both Music Performance and Music Education. An advocate for education in the arts, Ms. Brown founded the non-profit organization United in Opera in December 2020, with the goal of providing access to information, resources, and mentorship to young members of the opera community. www.lindsaykatebrown.com
Sunday, October 22, 2023, at 4:00 pm
The Morgan Library & Museum
George and Nora London Foundation Recital
LINDSAY KATE BROWN, Mezzo-soprano
Alex Munger, piano
“Serenading the Hours: A Day to Night Recital”
Day
PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY “Autumn
“If only I had known”
“None but the lonely heart”
JENNIFER HIGDON “Morning Opens”
“Breaking”
“Falling”
ALMA MAHLER “Ansturm” (“Storm”)
“Bei dir es ist traut” (“I am at ease with you”)
“Ernteleid” (“Harvest song”)
Night
JOSEPH MARX “Nocturne”
“Erinnerung” (“Memory”)
“Nachtgebet” (“Night prayer”)
SAMUEL BARBER “O boundless, boundless evening”
“Nocturne”
“Sure on this shining night”
ALBAN BERG Seven Early Songs – selections:
“Nacht” (“Night”)
“Schilflied (“Reed song”)
“Die Nachtigall” (“The nightingale”)
“Im Zimmer” (“Indoors”)
“Sommertage” (”Summer days”
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