Verdi Chorus Celebrates Aurelio De La Vega in May

The Verdi Chorus kicks off its 39th season with their Spring Concert, Hélas mon Coeur, dedicated to the memory of Verdi Chorus patriarch Maestro Aurelio De La Vega, for two performances only at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica on May 14 and 15. Led by Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum, the Verdi Chorus is the only choral group in Southern California that focuses primarily on the dramatic and diverse music for opera chorus.

Just announced - the Verdi Chorus has announced the Maestro Aurelio De La Vega Guest Artist Fund which will provide enhanced funding for guests artists that perform with the Verdi Chorus. Guest artists have included Shana Blake Hill, Malcom MacKenzie, Jamie Chamberlin, Nathan Granner, Audrey Babcock and Alex Boyer, to name a few.

Maestro Aurelio De La Vega was a hugely productive artist-his catalog includes orchestral, chamber, vocal, piano and electronic works and his commissions were sought the world over. Among them, in 1977 he composed "Adiós," one of his more ambitious pieces, for Maestro Zubin Mehta on behalf of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Throughout his long life he garnered, as a result, numerous recognitions, among them the Friedheim Award, of the Kennedy Center for the performing arts which he received twice (1978, 1984), the Cintas Foundation William B. Warren Lifetime Achievement Award; the Carlos Vo Hispanic Imperial Order, of which he was made a member; and four nominations to the Latin Grammy Awards, three times for Best Classical Contemporary Composition and once for Best Classical Album.

Verdi Chorus President Frank Strauss said, "Aurelio De La Vega was a key figure for both the classical music world and the Verdi Chorus itself. One of his greatest joys was discovering and nurturing talent. During his life, he personally sponsored the guest sopranos that sang with the Verdi Chorus. This new fund, created in his honor, will extend into the future financial support to all guest artists who sing with the Verdi Chorus, and will serve as a way to continue the Maestro's important legacy."

The upcoming Spring Concert, Hélas mon Coeur, will feature three such guest soloists: soprano Julie Makerov whom The Huffington Post declared "triumphant" in her performance of Senta in Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer with Los Angeles Opera; tenor Todd Wilander, praised by The New York Times for his "brave, vocally assured portrayals" and who has returned for eight seasons thus far with The Metropolitan Opera; and renowned baritone Roberto Perlas Gómez who, with over 100 roles to his credit, has performed extensively throughout the United States.

Hélas mon Coeur, Ketchum says includes "some of the most dramatic moments from some of the most powerful operatic works," and features selections from two Verdi operas - Ernani and Macbeth, Beethoven's Fidelio, and sequences from Ponchielli's La Gioconda and Giordano's Andrea Chénier. There will also be selections from Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann.

These performances are made possible, in part, through the generous support of the Sahm Family Foundation , The Green Foundation, and Colburn Foundation, and by grant funding from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, and the City of Santa Monica through the Santa Monica Arts Commission.

Conductor Anne Marie Ketchum says, "The title for this program, Hélas mon Coeur, feels appropriate on so many levels. Aside from being the title of one of the most beautiful ensembles from Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann, the phrase itself, 'Alas, my heart' sums up both the losses we have all experienced over the past two years, and the bittersweet hope for what lies ahead as we launch our 39th season. It's a strong and emotive program which our three sensational guest artists, Julie Makerov, Todd Wilander, and Roberto Perlas Gómez, as well as our chorus of over forty strong, will bring to rich and electrifying life."

Ketchum continues, "Our first half featuring selections from Verdi's Macbeth, will range from the powerful "Patria oppressa" which sings of a country now lost, to a powerful piece for a large ensemble, "Sangue a me." Our second half includes Ponchielli's La Gioconda with Roberto Perlas Gómez leading the chorus in the rousing fisherman's aria "Pescator," followed by Todd Wilander's rendition of the movingly beautiful aria "Cielo e mar." Giordano's Andrea Chénier will offer Julie Makerov in the sweeping and dramatic aria "La mamma morta." We will end our program with selections from Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann, always an audience favorite." In the last piece a muse implores the artist to continue to create saying 'we are made strong through love and even stronger through our tears.'"

The Verdi Chorus prepares for concerts with rehearsals every Monday night. There, an amazing thing happens as over 40 singers gather from every walk of life to become the Verdi Chorus. This wide swath of people includes singers from 18 to 80 who come from a variety of professions, and yet have one thing in common: the desire to sing side by side each week and delve into the rich, dramatic world of opera. They in turn are joined by up-and-coming opera singers at the beginning of their careers, and college students who have just begun to realize their operatic gifts, as all of them become one under the direction of Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum. Each rehearsal is like a vocal master class.

Raising their voices together they become everything from the eerie witches of Macbeth to the inner voices of courage in The Tales of Hoffmann.

Further demonstrating the organization's mission to provide performance opportunities to young professional singers, sixteen highly promising singers are hired as section leaders and rehearsal coaches. Known as the Fox Singers, named in memory of long-time Chorus and Board member Walter Fox, these singers assist the Artistic Director, provide direction for their sections in rehearsals, and have opportunities to perform as featured singers in performances. The Fox Singers also perform on occasion independently of the full Chorus, serving as a showcase for the singers and as ambassadors for The Verdi Chorus. Performances of special arias and ensembles have been presented at venues in Southern California including the Annenberg Beach House, the Huntington Library, and the Nixon Library.

The Chorus is also proud to continue with the Apprentice Singers program that was established in 2015 in which talented vocal music students at the college level gain the opportunity to work with the Chorus in rehearsals and sing operatic music in concert. Each receives a scholarship to provide funds with which they can broaden their music studies. Sahm Foundation Apprentices who successfully complete the program are invited back to sing with the Chorus for subsequent sessions.

Apprentices for this session, named in honor of a generous grant from the Sahm Family Foundation, are sopranos Amelia DeCoster, Meagan Carlson and Ariana Flores, and mezzo Bianca Gutierrez.

Performance times are Saturday, May 14 at 7:30 pm, and Sunday, May 15 at 2:00 pm at the First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica, located at 1220 2nd Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401.

Tickets are available for purchase at www.verdichorus.org. Priority seating is available for $40, general admission is $30, seniors are $25, and students aged 25 and under with a valid ID are $10.

Music Director and Founding Artistic Director ANNE MARIE KETCHUM has been the conductor of the Verdi Chorus since its beginning in 1983. Well recognized as a singer, conductor, stage director and educator, she taught on the voice faculty of Pasadena City College for 34 years until her recent retirement. During her tenure at Pasadena she directed a full opera each spring to critical acclaim. As a singer, she has appeared internationally and is well known for her performances of contemporary art music, vocal chamber music, solo recitals and opera. Her recordings of Morten Lauridsen's Cuatro Canciones and of Aurelio De La Vega's Recordatio were both honored with Grammy nominations. She has premiered numerous works by such composers as Ernst Krenek, Aurelio De La Vega, Schulamit Ran, and Hans Werner Henze. Among Ms. Ketchum's creative activities is This and My Heart: A Portrait of Emily Dickinson in Text and Song - a concert/theater piece which she co-wrote and performs with actress Linda Kelsey and pianist Victoria Kirsch. This was first presented as part of Grand Performances in Los Angeles and made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Cultural Affairs Department of Los Angeles. She has also served on the faculty of OperaWorks, Angels Vocal Art and at California State University Northridge. Ms. Ketchum and the Chorus have received commendations on several occasions from the county of Los Angeles and from the city of Santa Monica.

Accompanist LARAINE ANN MADDEN has garnered acclaim as one of the most sensitive and experienced collaborating artists in the Los Angeles area. Trained in the Bay Area, she made her solo debut with the Oakland Symphony at age 13 performing Mozart's Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 488. Ms. Madden studied Accompanying at the University of Southern California with its pioneer teacher, Gwendolyn Koldofsky and has accompanied in the master classes of Martin Katz, Geoffrey Parsons, Giorgio Tozzi, Martial Singher, Joan Dornemann and Peter Pears. She has served as "repetiteur" accompanist under conductors Simon Rattle, Christoph Perrick and Richard Buckley, and has appeared in concert with singers associated with New York City Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, and Los Angeles Opera including Alan Titus, Rod Gilfry, Erie Mills, Young Mi Kim and Ealynn Voss. Recent engagements include performing on the Jacaranda Concert Series and with the Fox Singers at the Annenberg Beach House in Santa Monica, the Huntington Library in Pasadena, and the Richard Nixon Library for the Marshall B. Ketchum University Shared Visions Gala. This is her twenty-second year as collaborator with the Verdi Chorus.

About the Soloists

The Toronto Star declares "JULIE MAKEROV as Senta... was every inch the ringing life force Wagner intended." As winner of the 2010 Dora Award, Canada's most prestigious live theater honor, Ms. Makerov was recognized for her compelling portrayal of Senta in Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer and continues to captivate audiences internationally. This gifted young dramatic soprano's voice has been described as "Gloriously commanding" (La Scena Musicale), "Sumptuous" (ArtsSF.com), and "soaring" (The Oakland Tribune). The New York Times proclaims "Julie Makerov's plush soprano voice and vulnerability were ideal for the goddess Freia,"and of her debut with Los Angeles Opera, The Huffington Post wrote "Julie Makerov is triumphant!"

Ms. Makerov's most recent engagements include singing in concert with The Pacific Symphony at the SOKA performing arts center and with The Verdi Chorus. Her previous engagements include making her debuts with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Los Angeles Opera, singing the role of The Mother in Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, and Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer. Ms. Makerov's engagements also include returning to Houston Grand Opera in their production of Strauss's Elektra, singing Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth with Opera Theater Saint Louis, and making her debut with Houston Grand Opera singing Gerhilde in Wagner's Die Walküre under the baton of Patrick Summers.

Ms. Makerov's other engagements include singing Sieglinde in Die Walküre with the American Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leon Botstein, singing the role of Chrysotemis in Elektra with Des Moines Metro Opera and performing the role of the Queen of Hearts in Unsuk Chin's Alice in Wonderland with Opera Theater of Saint Louis. The award winning soprano also performed the role of Senta in Der Fliegende Holländer in Salzburg under the baton of Sir Ivor Bolton.

Ms. Makerov's International career also include singing with Oper Frankfurt, in both the title role of Tosca and the role of Margherita in Boito's Mefistofele, and to the Canadian Opera Company where she sang Senta in Wagner's Der Fliegende Holländer. Ms. Makerov also garnered outstanding critical acclaim singing the title roles in Dvořák's Rusalka and Puccini's Tosca as well as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with the Canadian Opera Company. In addition, she reprised the role of Rusalka in the Czech Republic with the Český Krumlov International Music Festival.

Ms. Makerov's other notable international operatic engagements include debuts with Theater Erfurt singing the title role in Tosca, performing in Matsumoto, Japan with Seji Ozawa's internationally acclaimed Saito Kinnen festival. Ms. Makerov also joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera where she covered the roles of Gerhilde, Lady in waiting, The Shopkeeper, and Mme. Peronskaya in the productions of Die Walküre, Macbeth and War and Peace, and toured with them to Japan. She has sung Gerhilde in Die Walküre and Freia in Das Rheingold with Canadian Opera Company, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus with Seattle Opera and Sarasota Opera, the title role in Tosca with Sarasota Opera, Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly with Palm Beach Opera, Sarasota Opera and Opera San Jose.

Praised by Opera News for his "clear and sweet lyrical tone" and "brave, vocally assured portrayals" (The New York Times), Todd Wilander is one of America's most sought-after leading tenors. Since winning The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, he has appeared with the company as Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor (James Levine), Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Beppe in I Pagliacci, and Harry in La fanciulla del West, plus roles in Wozzeck, Two Boys, The Nose (HD Movie), Hamlet, Gambler, Macbeth, and From the House of the Dead. He appeared with New York City Opera as Charles Clayton in Stephen Schwartz's Séance On A Wet Afternoon, Uberto in La donna del lago, and Harry in La fanciulla del West. For New York Opera Society he sang Rodolfo in La bohème and Nemorino in L'Elisir D'Amore.

Recent performances include Pollione in Norma for Musica Viva (Hong Kong), Rodolfo in La bohème with Opera Tampa and for Opera Long Island, New York, Radamès in Aïda at Bohème Opera New Jersey, Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera for Amore Opera in New York, Erik in Die fliegende Holländer for Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, China, and the title role in Les contes d'Hoffmann with Opera North (U.S.A.).

Elsewhere in the U.S., he has appeared with Portland Opera as Rodolpho in View From The Bridge, Captain Leadbetter in Princess Sofia for Orpheus Project Juneau Alaska, Brooklyn Academy of Music as Molqi in Death of Klinghoffer, Pollione in Norma for Pacific Opera Northwest Washington, Don José in Carmen for Central Florida Lyric Opera, Calaf in Turandot at Mississippi Opera; with Opera Memphis and Bohème Opera New Jersey as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, the title role of Tito for West Bay Opera, at the Center for Contemporary Opera as Andrew in A Death in the Family, and as Dimmesdale in Hester. Other companies with whom he has appeared include Madison Opera as Rodolfo in La bohème, Santa Fe Opera as Young Servant in Elektra, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte for St. Petersburg Opera Florida, at Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream, as Nanki-Poo in Mikado, and as Fairfax in Yeoman of The Guard, at Opera Saskatchewan (Canada) as Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola, Chautauqua Opera as Fenton in Falstaff, Grant Park Music Festival Chicago in the title role of Candide, Nevada Opera as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Opera Orchestra of New York as Wilhelm Meister in Mignon, Opera Delaware as Macduff in Macbeth and Rinuccio in Gianni Schicch, Opera in the Ozarks in the title-role of Albert Herring, Glimmerglass Opera as Eurimaco in Il ritorno d'Ulisse, the Coach in Bounce with Manhattan's ADA Arts, and Camille in Merry Widow and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte for Opera Fairbanks, Alaska.

Upcoming engagements include Faust in La damnation de Faust (Berlioz) with Theater Erfurt (Germany), Leicester Maria Stuarda for Musica Viva (Hong Kong), and Florestan Fidelio with Symphony of the Vines (California).

With over one hundred roles to his credit, baritone ROBERTO PERLAS GÓMEZ has performed extensively throughout the United States. He has performed supporting roles with Michigan Opera, Los Angeles Opera, San Diego Opera, and San Francisco Opera. He has done multiple leading roles with most of the regional companies in California.

Mr. Gómez made his international debut as Marcello in La bohème with the Shanghai Opera. He was also in Manila, Philippines to create the title role of Jose Rizal in an opera honoring the final days of the Philippine national hero. He was recently at Kennedy Center to perform the role of Elias in the Tagalog opera Noli me tangere.

In 2008 Mr. Gómez made his Italian and European debut for the Arena di Verona Foundation as the Chinese Prime Minister Chou en-lai in the Italian premiere of John Adams' Nixon in China, a role he reprised with Long Beach Opera.

Mr. Gómez has done numerous roles to great press including the Verdi baritone leads in La traviata, Un ballo in maschera, Il trovatore, Il finto Stanislao, Don Carlo, Aïda, and Verdi's Requiem. He debuted the leading roles of the kings in Die Kluge, The Emperor of Atlantis, and in its American premiere, Vivaldi's long lost Motezuma with Long Beach Opera.

As an Opera San Jose resident artist, Mr. Gómez performed lead roles in Carmen, La traviata, Il barbiere di Siviglia, and created the role of Drosselmeier in The Tale of the Nutcracker. He has further performed what has become his signature role of Figaro with Nevada Opera, Santa Barbara Opera, Accorde Opera in Mexico, Sacramento Opera, and Opera Idaho.