Merola Opera to Present Holiday Concert, 12/7

The Merola Opera Program presents Opera & Ornaments: A Merola Opera Program Holiday Concert, on Sunday, December 7th, at 2 pm in the Community Hall of the Lafayette Library (3491 Mt Diablo Blvd). This special holiday concert features renowned opera performers Kristin Clayton, soprano, and Bojan Knezevic, bass-baritone.

Audiences will enjoy an afternoon of popular opera arias, as well as a mix of Broadway and seasonal favorites, including works by Rossini, Brahms, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and many more, accompanied by Bryndon Hassman on piano.

Tickets are $10 and all proceeds go to support the Lafayette Library & Learning Foundation. For information or tickets, call the Lafayette Library at 925-283-6513 x103 or visit the Merola Opera Program at www.Merola.org. Tickets are $10 and all proceeds go to support the Lafayette Library & Learning Foundation.

Performing in leading opera houses and classical stages around the world, Kristin Clayton, and Bojan Knezevic, both graduates of the Merola Opera Program as well as former Adler Fellows with the San Francisco Opera, have appeared with the San Francisco Opera, Carnegie Hall, Houston Grand Opera, New National Theatre in Tokyo, Wolftrap Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago among many others.

When Kristin and Bojan were Merola participants in 1993, they met, fell in love and married. They have two children and reside in the San Francisco Bay Area.

A Merola Opera Program young artist in 1992, 1993 and 1994, bass-baritone Bojan Knezevic has received acclaim for his many operatic portrayals in opera houses in America and Europe. Roles include Harasta in The Cunning Little Vixen and Hali in L'Italiana in Algeri with San Francisco Opera, Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with New National Theatre in Tokyo and Frosch in Die Fledermaus with Lyric Opera of Chicago. He has also appeared at Carnegie Hall in Mozart's Coronation Mass and Great Mass in C Minor, as well as the US premiere of Mascagni's Silvano.

A 1993 Merola Opera Program young artist, lyric soprano Kristin Clayton created a sensation when she sang the world premiere of Jake Heggie's (composer, Moby Dick, Dead Man Walking) and Terrence McNally's At the Statue of Venus. She received acclaim for creating the role of Beatrice in the world premiere of Jake Heggie's Three Decembers for the Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera, and also appeared on the CD recording. At San Francisco Opera, she sang the role of Nedda in I Pagliacci, Julie in the world premiere of The Dangerous Liaisons, and the Young Babylonian in Massenet's Herodiade with Placido Domingo and Renee Fleming. She has been seen with both the San Francisco and Seattle productions of Teatro ZinZanni.

For 56 years, the Merola Opera Program has been the cornerstone of San Francisco Opera's training and performance programs for promising young artists, Merola has served as a proving ground for hundreds of artists, including Ruth Ann Swenson, Deborah Voigt, Anna Netrebko, Patricia Racette, Thomas Hampson and many others.

Opera & Ornaments: A Merola Opera Program Holiday Concert, will be performed in the Community Hall of the Lafayette Library, located at 3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd. in Lafayette. Free parking is available. Tickets may be ordered in advance by calling the Library at 925-283-6513 x103 or by email at Reserve@LLLCF.org.

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