Tenor Ronald Naldi, Soprano Monica Ziglar & More to be Featured in OGCMA's AMERICA SINGS Opera Recital

In the spirit of the Independence Day holiday, OGCMA will kick off its popular 'Songs on A Summer Afternoon' opera recital series on Sunday July 2nd at 3:30 PM with a program entitled "America Sings," featuring our Opera Stars-in-Residence. The concert takes place in the Bishop Janes Tabernacle, on Auditorium Square. All facilities are handicapped accessible. More info: https://www.oceangrove.org/songs

"America Sings" will feature all American composers, with Broadway, opera, jazz, early Americana, and gospel/spiritual selections. Karen Delavan is the accompanist.

Upcoming recitals will take place on July 16 (Laura Zahn), July 23 (Ronald Naldi), July 30 (Monica Ziglar),

August 6th (quartet), and August 13 (Justin Beck). Programs for the solo recitals are TBA.

About the Opera Stars:

https://www.oceangrove.org/music-staff

RONALD NALDI is celebrating his 50th Anniversary as OGCMA's tenor-in-residence. An internationally acclaimed lyric tenor, he has brought his art to the stages of the Verona Opera, Opera da Camera of Rome, L'Opera Francais, New Jersey State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Salzburger Landes theater. At the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Naldi has sung 347 performances in 30 seasons in 23 different productions, including Ismaele in Nabucco, Tschekalinsky in Pique Dame, and Vitek in the Makrapolous Case. He has performed in 3 Met premieres, 5 world premieres, and the American premieres of 3 other operas. With St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, he has sung over 200 performances of the chamber operas of Haydn, Mozart, Offenbach, Rieti, Bakst, Fioravanti, and Rossini.

From recital to opera stage Monica Rose Ziglar is known for "possessing a gift of transcending angelic high notes." Tucson Citizen Press. Ms. Ziglar hails from Tucson, Arizona where she was known throughout the Southwestern region and Sonora Mexico for her opera and concertizing programs as well as festival performances such as the Alfonso Ortiz Tirado Music festival in Alomos, Sonora, Mexico. In 1993 Monica came east to attend the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia, PA. Some of her Operatic roles include: Suor Angelica, Alice in Falstaff, Magda in The Consul, The Mother in Hansel & Gretel, and Salud in La Vida Breve. Smaller secular works include performances of Leonard Bernstein's A Julia de Burgos, Paul Hindemith's Das Marian Leben and J.S. Bach's BWV211 Coffee Cantata.

Bass-baritone Justin Beck has had a varied career both as an opera and concert soloist as well as a choral singer. He studied music with a focus on vocal performance at the University of Texas at Austin, and Texas State University. He was a Young Artist at Austin Lyric Opera for two seasons singing roles in Gounod's Faust, Puccini's La fanciulla del West, and Verdi's Rigoletto. He also spent two summers at the Aspen Music Festival in their opera theater center. Additional opera credits include three seasons with Opera Company of Middlebury in Vermont performing in Massenet's Thaïs, Puccini's La rondine, and Bizet's The Pearl Fishers. Other favorite roles include Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Dr. Falke and Frank in J. Strauss Jr.'s Die Fledermaus, both with Opera Manhattan.

Mezzo-Soprano Laura Zahn, a Philadelphia native, has been praised for her "warm, voluptuous voice clearly destined for Puccini and Verdi." This year, Ms. Zahn joined Opera Orlando for their Viva Verdi season, which focused on the works of Giuseppe Verdi. During her residency in Orlando, Laura performed Maddalena (Rigoletto), Giulietta di Kelbar (Un giorno di regno) and Flora Bervoix (La Traviata). In May, Laura sang the role of Marguerite (La Dame Blanche) with New Amsterdam Opera. In previous seasons, Ms. Zahn has performed La frugola (Il tabarro), Florence Pike (Albert Herring), Mother Goose (The Rake's Progress), Mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Dorabella (Cosi fan Tutte), Pepa (Goyescas) and Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro).

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