Riverside Opera Company To Feature Winners of Open Auditions At A NIGHT AT THE OPERA

The Riverside Opera Company will present A Night at the Opera on Saturday, November 9.  Doors open at 7:30 p.m.

The concert begins at 8 p.m. and features winners of recent open auditions in September. All are accompanied by a full symphonic orchestra conducted by Maestro Alan Aurelia with narrations by Tania Eicoff.

The concert takes place at  St. Teresa's Church located at 1634 Victory Blvd. Staten Island, NY 10314. For tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/riverside-opera-company-presents-a-night-at-the-opera-tickets-1044346407217?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl  Tickets are $15 in advance/ $20 at the door. Students and children are free. This program is made possible with public funding from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs.

Featured performers:

Soprano Lynnesha Crump hails from Washington, DC and is a graduate of the Mannes School of Music and the Oberlin Conservatory, where she received her Master of Music and Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. Ms. Crump studied and performed in Italy this summer.   Ms. Crump recently won the Luana DeVol award for dramatic voices in the SAS Performing Arts vocal competition. Ms. Crump is decorated with more awards from prestigious vocal competitions, including two Grammy awards as a featured soloist in Porgy and Bess and her contribution in Fire Shut up in My Bones at the Metropolitan Opera. She sang in the inauguration of former President Barack Obama with artist Beyoncé Knowles. 

Italian-American tenor Vincenzo Fiorito is based in NYC and studied classical voice at the Manhattan School of Music. As a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, Mr. Fiorito enjoys bringing traditional repertoire to life with a modern interpretation. 

In 2022, he performed in Italy with Opera Lucca, singing in scenes from L’elisir d’amore as Nemorino, and in 2023, in The Marriage of Figaro as Don Curzio. Fiorito has sung multiple seasons with the Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company of Long Island as Frederic (Pirates of Penzance), Palmieri (The Gondoliers), Strephon (Patience), and Lieut. Officer of Dragoon Guards(The Duke of Dunstable) and Ralph Rackstraw (H.M.S. Pinafore. Additionally, he was an ensemble member at the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice in their productions of Othello, La Boheme, and Carmen. Fiorito recently graduated from the Manhattan School of Music and continues to study with his voice teacher, tenor Dmitri Piettas.

Mezzo-soprano Lorraine Helvick specializes in the works of Strauss, Verdi, and Wagner. She has performed as a guest soloist in Switzerland, Czechia, England, Ireland, Wales, France, and Canada. This past season, she was a Quarterfinalist in Cedar Rapids Opera’s Esther and Myron Wilson Vocal Competition, returned to her signature role of Fricka (Die Walküre) with New Jersey Opera Theater, made her company debut with Parlando, sang Brangäne in Wagner’s Liebestod (Tristan und Isolde) with New York Dramatic Voices, and is a finalist with CEFNY. 

Equally at home on the concert stage, Ms. Helvick made her Carnegie Hall debut as the alto soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Händel’s Coronation Mass. Other concert highlights include Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, Brahms’ Zigeunelieder, and Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder.

Soprano Hyune Kwon, based in New York City and originally from South Korea, is the Grand Prize winner of the 2020 Metropolitan International Vocal Competition. Ms. Kwon’s operatic repertoire is both extensive and varied. Her portrayal of Zerlina in Don Giovanni was praised for its nuanced delicacy and engaging charm. She made a strong impression as Sara in the world premiere of Escobar, demonstrating her skill in interpreting contemporary compositions. Her rendition of Musetta in La Bohème highlighted her ability to blend lyrical beauty with dramatic intensity.  She earned her Bachelor’s degree from Yonsei University and her Master’s degree from Mannes College of Music at The New School, where she studied under distinguished faculty. She is pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Rutgers University.

To post a comment, you must register and login.