Merola Opera Program to Kick Off 2022 Season With A CELEBRATION OF AMERICAN SONG

San Francisco's acclaimed Merola Opera Program, one of the most prestigious and selective opera training programs in the world, kicks off its historic 2022 Summer Festival with A Celebration of American Song, an exuberant recital curated by Grammy Award winner Craig Terry. This joyous tribute celebrates the rich legacy of music by icons including Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael, Jerome Kern, Peggy Lee, Frank Loesser, Cole Porter, Jule Styne, Fats Waller, Harry Warren, Meredith Willson, and immortal songwriting teams such as George & Ira Gershwin and John Kander & Fred Ebb. A Celebration of American Song will be presented 3:00pm, Saturday, July 9 at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, 50 Oak St., San Francisco. For more information or to purchase tickets ($55/$80), the public may visit www.merola.org/calendar.

In this retrospective look at popular American song, the 2022 Merola singers will take listeners on a journey through gems from the Great American songbook, highlights from Broadway and Hollywood, WWII era anthems, poignant ballads, and brilliant songs made famous by everyone from Judy Garland to The Andrews Sisters, Peggy Lee, and Judy Collins.

Curator Craig Terry is the Jannotta Family Endowed Chair Music Director of Lyric Opera of Chicago's Ryan Opera Center, and is Artistic Director of Beyond the Aria recital series. He has performed extensively as pianist with many leading names in opera, and his discography includes collaborations with Joyce DiDonato, Patricia Racette, Stephanie Blythe, Nicole Cabell, and Lyric Opera of Chicago Principal Horn Jon Boen. In 2020, Terry won a Grammy Award for Best Vocal Solo Album (with Joyce DiDonato). Recent engagements include recitals with Joyce DiDonato (Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires; Barbican Center, London; Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; Teatro Real, Madrid), David Portillo (Kennedy Center, Washington DC), Ana María Martínez (Kimmel Center, Philadelphia), and Christine Goerke (Cal Performances, Berkeley). He has also served as Assistant Conductor at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the Metropolitan Opera.

The Merola Opera Program is widely regarded as the foremost opera training program for aspiring singers, pianists, and stage directors. Merola nurtures the opera stars of tomorrow through master classes and private coaching with opera's most accomplished singers, conductors, and directors. Participants also receive training in operatic repertoire, languages, diction, acting, stage movement, and professional development. Offered free of charge to all participants, the Merola Opera Program is unique in the industry in many ways. It is the only young artist program to provide financial support to developing artists for five years following their participation, offering aid for essential career development expenses including coaching, language classes, and audition travel.

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