Merola Opera Program's Virtual Recital Series Continues With MEROLA'S HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

San Francisco's acclaimed Merola Opera Program will continue their Virtual Recital Series with Merola's Home for the Holidays featuring Merola alums soprano Amber R. Monroe ('19), tenor Edward Graves ('21), and bass Kevin Thompson ('10). They will be accompanied by pianist James Harp. The scheduled program features arias from well-known operas, operetta, and musical theater, along with beloved holiday songs. Selections will be from composers such as Boito, Donizetti, Handel, Lehár, Puccini, and Strauss, along with music by Rodgers & Hammerstein, Margaret Bonds, and more. The virtual recital will be available to all ticket holders through January 1, 2022.

A native of Youngstown, Ohio, Amber R. Monroe has been recognized as a crystalline lyric soprano and a superb singing actress. She will be joining the Cafritz Young Artists for the 2021-22 season and recently made her Opera Columbus debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. Her professional credits include Nedda in I Pagliacci (El Paso Opera), Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro (Kentucky Opera), Clara in Porgy and Bess (Opera Western Reserve), and the title role in Nkeiru Okoye's Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed that Line to Freedom (Cleveland Opera Theater). In the summer of 2019, Monroe participated as an artist in the Merola Opera Program where she performed as Magda from La rondine in the Schwabacher Summer Concert, and Madame Lidoine from Dialogues des Carmélites in the Merola Grand Finale.

Tenor Edward Graves is a native of Oxon Hill, Maryland. Edward, a 2021 Merola Opera Program young artist was featured in a recital entitled What the Heart Desires and a filmed project entitled Back Home: Through The Stage Door. Recent performances include Policeman 2 in Blue at Michigan Opera Theatre where he was a 2019-20 Studio Artist. Other recent performances include Bastien in filmed version of Bastien and Bastienne with Raylynmor Opera, a concert with the LaPorte County Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gary Wedow, and as a soloist with the Minot Chamber Chorale in a newly commissioned virtual choral cantata entitled We Will Shine. In 2022, Edward will make his Portland Baroque Orchestra debut as the Tenor Soloist in Handel's Messiah.

American Bass Kevin Thompson has performed throughout the world, including as Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte); Mephistophélès (Faust); Grand Inquisitor (Don Carlos); Judge Turpin (Sweeney Todd); Hans Schwartz (Die Meistersinger); and in the Verdi Requiem; Mozart Requiem; and Beethoven 9th Symphony. He recently played Polonius in the world premiere of Hamlet by Joseph Summer in Ruse, Bulgaria. In 2021/2022 he will appear in Don Giovanni with San Antonio Opera, Samson et Dalila with Bob Jones, Rigoletto with Nashville Opera, Salome with Tulsa Opera, Verdi Requiem with Roanoke Opera, and Beethoven 9th with the Florida Orchestra. Mr. Thompson is an alumnus of The Juilliard School and the Santa Fe Opera Program as well as the Merola Opera Program.

James Harp is a successful pianist, soloist, writer, stage director, and arts administrator. He is the Artistic and Managing Director of Maryland Opera, the Mid-Atlantic's newest opera company and arts organization. Harp is the Principal Performance Accompanist and Chorus Master for Baltimore Concert Opera, a coach/accompanist with the Wagner Society of Washington, DC, organist for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Cantor (Organist/Choirmaster) at Baltimore's historic St. Mark's Lutheran Church. James has accompanied many artists including Stephen Costello, Marilyn Horne, and Leontyne Price.

DATE: 5:00 pm PST, Sunday, December 12

TICKETS: $25 Individuals; $40 Households; $80 VIP tickets

VIP tickets include a virtual reception with the artists after the recital premiere.

INFO: For information or to order tickets visit merola.org/calendar. Tickets are available on Eventbrite here.

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