Berkshire Opera Festival Launches its Summer Season with BREAKING THE MOLD

Berkshire Opera Festival opens its 2023 summer season with Breaking the Mold: Baroque, Bel Canto, and Beyond, a concert of arias and ensembles spanning 300 years, on July 22 at Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center. The program traverses a vast range of musical eras and styles, from Handel to Heggie. The afternoon's selections are sung by strong characters who each “broke the mold” in their own way, and BOF is proud to present a world-class slate of artists to perform this powerful music.

The concert features a cast of some of BOF's favorite artists. Soprano Jacqueline Piccolino, who has been described as having "impeccable technique and stage presence" (San Francisco Chronicle), sang in BOF's 2022 fundraiser, Supper in Seville; mezzo-soprano Megan Moore, whose voice has been described as "genuinely beautiful" (The Observer), sang the role of Donna Elvira in last year's BOF production of Don Giovanni; tenor Alex McKissick, whose voice has "melting tone and poignant phrasing” (Opera News), sang in BOF's Mid-Winter Mozart concert in spring 2022; baritone Ethan Vincent, whom the Philadelphia Inquirer deemed a "rising star," makes his BOF debut in the role of Schaunard in the company's 2023 mainstage production of La Bohème; and pianist Travis Bloom, who aided with music preparation in last year's BOF production of Don Giovanni and currently serves on the artistic staff as a coach and accompanist at the Manhattan School of Music.

Of the concert, Moore, whose Donna Elvira in BOF's Don Giovanni was described as "revelatory" and as having a "preternatural ability to distill and convey the myriad conflicting drives within her character" (The Berkshire Eagle), says: “The arias from Dido & Aeneas (Dido), La Donna del Lago (Elena), and Dead Man Walking (Sister Helen), are all dream roles for me. Cendrillon is a role I’ve sung in English, so I’m really looking forward to presenting this aria in the original French. The date range of the pieces is huge, 1688-2000, but all of these roles exhibit strong, loving, devoted, compassionate women. From luscious legato lines to racing coloratura, I am so excited to present a wide range of arias and characters to the wonderful Berkshire Opera Festival audience this summer.” 

Breaking the Mold: Baroque, Bel Canto, and Beyond

To post a comment, you must register and login.