Opera Star Deborah Voigt Premieres in One-Woman Show in NYC, VOIGT LESSONS Tonight

92Y presents the New York City premiere of Voigt Lessons, starring internationally beloved opera starDeborah Voigt, tonight, February 26. In this one-woman show - co-created with Tony Award-winning playwright Terrence McNally and acclaimed opera and theater director Francesca Zambello - Voigt performs arias, pop songs, standards and spirituals of deep personal significance, along with anecdotes and backstage stories describing her astonishing rise to operatic heights, despite her private challenges. Voigt Lessons, an evening imbued with Voigt's trademark warmth, candor and sense of humor, premiered at Glimmerglass in 2011 to rave reviews. The New York Times hailed it as "chatty, witty, and sometimes painfully poignant," andToronto's Globe and Mail called it "an absolute gem."

Voigt's new memoir, Call Me Debbie: True Confessions of a Down-to-Earth Diva, will be published on Tuesday, January 27, 2015 and she was named WQXR's inaugural Susan W. Rose Artist-in-Residence in September 2014. "The Sopranos with Debbie Voigt," the station's new opera series, is heard Saturdays at noon and Wednesdays at 10 pm. Call Me Debbie will be available for sale at 92Y, and Voigt will sign copies following the performance.

Deborah Voigt is recognized as one of the world's most versatile singers and one of music's most endearing personalities. Throughout her career, Ms. Voigt has given definitive performances of iconic roles in German opera, from Wagner's Sieglinde (Die Walküre) and Isolde to Richard Strauss's Ariadne and Salome. Her starring role as Brünnhilde in Robert Lepage's new Ring cycle at the Metropolitan Opera earned international acclaim. She is also noted for her starring roles in such popular Italian roles as Tosca, Aida, Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino and La fanciulla del West.

At the same time, as a devotee of Broadway and American song, Ms. Voigt has given acclaimed performances of popular fare. She has sung with Barbara Cook and Dianne Reeves at the Hollywood Bowl, Kristin Chenoweth at Carnegie Hall, and Rufus Wainwright at the BBC Proms, and she has given performances in Lincoln Center's American Songbook series. In the summer of 2011 Ms. Voigt won praise as Annie Oakley at the Glimmerglass Festival, headlining both Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun and the world premiere of her own Voigt Lessons, the one-woman show she developed with award-winning playwright Terrence McNally and director Francesca Zambello.

Leading the highlights of Ms. Voigt's 2014/15 season is HarperCollins's publication of her memoir Call Me Debbie: True Confessions of a Down-to-Earth Diva. As WQXR's inaugural Susan W. Rose Artist-in-Residence, Ms. Voigt will host the classical station's new fall series, "The Sopranos with Debbie Voigt," and several major events and master classes. She returns as artist-in-residence at the Washington National Opera, and she continues as a regular host of the Metropolitan Opera's "Live in HD" series, which is transmitted live to movie theaters around the world.

Ms. Voigt's extensive discography includes two popular and critically successful solo recordings for EMI Classics: All My Heart: Deborah Voigt Sings American Songs with pianist Brian Zeger, named one of the "Best of the Year" by Opera News magazine; and the Billboard top-five bestseller Obsessions, which presents scenes and arias from operas by Wagner and Strauss. Known to Twitter fans as a "Dramatic soprano and down-to-earth Diva," Ms. Voigt was named by The Los Angeles Times as one of the top 25 cultural tweeters to follow.

For more information, visit deborahvoigt.com, facebook.com/DeborahVoigt and twitter.com/debvoigt.

About 92nd Street Y

Now celebrating its 140th Anniversary, 92nd Street Y is a world-class, nonprofit cultural and community center that fosters the mental, physical and spiritual health of people throughout their lives, offering: wide-ranging conversations with the world's best minds; an outstanding range of programming in the performing, visual and literary arts; fitness and sports programs; and activities for children and families. 92Y is reimagining what it means to be a community center in the digital age with initiatives like the award-winning #GivingTuesday, launched by 92Y in 2012 and now recognized across the USand in a growing number of regions worldwide as a day to celebrate and promote giving. These kinds of initiatives are transforming the way people share ideas and translate them into action both locally and around the world. More than 300,000 people visit 92Y annually; millions more participate in 92Y's digital and online initiatives. A proudly Jewish organization, 92Y embraces its Jewish heritage and welcomes people of all backgrounds and perspectives. For more information, visit www.92Y.org.

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