International House to Host Leontyne Price 90th Birthday Tribute Concert

In the early 1950s, when she was a student at the Juilliard School, beloved soprano Leontyne Price, who turns 90 on February 10, lived and worked at International House, the Riverside Drive residential community founded by the Rockefeller and Dodge families in1924 dedicated to preparing the next generation of globally-minded leaders.

On Thursday, February 9, on the eve of her auspicious birthday, International House will present a 7 PM concert in a celebration of her music and spirit by rising young bass baritone Donovan Singletary, a recent resident there. Singletary, a graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera, will be joined by current International House residents. The program will include selections from "Porgy and Bess" and "Aida," as well as such personal favorites as the spiritual "I Will Overcome," "The Boy Next Door" from "Meet Me in St. Louis" (which Price enjoyed performing at resident recitals), and Samuel Barber's "Sure on This Shining Light."

The February 9 performance is the second of this year's new music performance series, Music at I-House: Then and Now. Tickets for the concert are priced at $30.00 in advance, $35.00 at the door (and $125.00 for VIP tickets) and are available HERE.

International House is located at 500 Riverside Drive in Manhattan. Proceeds from all performances support International House leadership programs and financial aid for deserving residents.

Leontyne Price, who became one of the first African Americans to perform in a lead at the Metropolitan Opera, while at International House worked at the front desk, and often gave impromptu recitals on Sunday afternoons in the Main Lounge, where the concert will take place. Ms. Price went on to serve on the International House Board of Trustees for more than 30 years and even gave a benefit concert at the House in 1992 to support resident programs.

Bass Baritone Donovan Singletary has been at the Metropolitan Opera in Macbeth, Don Carlo, Salome, Pelleas and Melisande and The Bartered Bride, among others, and has recently performed as Zuniga in Carmen with Seattle Opera, Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro with Fort Worth Opera, Achilla in Giulio Cesare with Fort Worth Opera, and Jake in Porgy and Bess with Seattle Opera. Concert appearances include performances with Deutsche Radio Philharmonic, Latvian National Opera, Orchestra Lamourez in Paris, Marina del Rey Symphony Orchestra, Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Aspen Chamber Symphony. Donovan is also a Certified Personal Trainer, a recently signed Fitness Model, and a health and fitness enthusiast with more than 15 years of sports, fitness, and wellness experience under his belt. He received his NCCA-accredited personal training certification from the National Academy of Science and Medicine and will be a new addition on the SMART Model Management roster.

Over four distinctly curated events, Music at I-House: Then and Now, which launched on Tuesday, January 24 with A Celebration of the Words and Music of Leonard Cohen (Class of '57), celebrates the words and music of some the House's most famous former residents through exciting interpretations by a highly talented roster of current residents from around the world who proudly share the experience and honor of learning through living at the legendary Riverside Drive institution. Future events will be Thursday, March 23, A Celebration of Musical Theater; and Thursday, April 20, A Tribute to Sakura Sweethearts at I-House. Resident performers include graduate students from Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, and Mannes School of Music, as well as highly talented part-time musicians studying engineering, economics, law, education, and other areas at Columbia, NYU and other area institutions. This exclusive series continues in the strong tradition of cross-cultural collaboration at I-House, an important piece of the resident experience since the first class of residents entered in 1924. This series compliments other longstanding and acclaimed resident performance series including the All Nations Festival and Sunday Suppers.

International House or I-House is a non-profit programmatic and residential center dedicated to fostering the next generation of global leaders. Each year, I-House serves as home to more than 750 carefully selected graduate students and young professionals from 100 countries, representing more than 70 leading universities, businesses, and cultural, non-profit, and government institutions. We provide unrivaled opportunities for residents to learn and thrive through daily interaction in a culturally, politically, and economically diverse community and through programs designed to encourage diversity of thought and experience. I-House is the destination of choice for the best and the brightest of the millennial generation who seek the skills necessary to navigate and lead the conversations that will shape our world. Learn more at www.ihouse-nyc.org.

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