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The Gerda Lissner Foundation Presents: An Evening with Curtis Opera Theatre

An Evening with Yale Opera

Originally Aired: Friday, November 15, 2024

Overview

The Gerda Lissner Foundation presents an evening with Curtis Opera Theatre. 

Two-time Grammy Award-winning mezzosoprano and Curtis alumna J’Nai Bridges (Opera ’12) joins Curtis Opera Theatre students Sarah Fleiss, Katie Trigg, and Evan Gray for an unforgettable evening of opera with pianist Miloš Repický, Director and Hirsig Family Chair in Vocal Studies and Opera. Experience the beauty of Jacques Offenbach’s “Belle Nuit”, the emotional depth of Franz Schubert’s Die Taubenpost, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s transcendent trio from Così fan tutte, alongside works by Margaret Bonds, Erima Maewa Kaihau, Curtis luminaries Samuel Barber, Ned Rorem, and more.

You can view the event flyer here.

Presented by The Gerda Lissner Foundation.

J'Nai Bridges

Credit: Photo by Dario Acosta

Two-time Grammy® Award-winning American mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges, known for her “plush-voiced mezzo-soprano” (The New York Times), and “calmly commanding stage presence” (The New Yorker) has been “marked out at an early stage as a singer headed for top flight” (Financial Times), gracing the world’s top opera and concert stages. In her 2024-25 season, she will make her role debut as Maddalena in Verdi’s Rigoletto at The Metropolitan Opera. Her concert engagements include performing with the National Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Tacoma, Minnesota Orchestra, Boston Symphony Chamber Players, and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Bridges will perform a solo recital as an artist in residence at the Kaufman Music Center and will feature as the mezzo-soprano soloist alongside the Dessoff Choirs in Verdi’s Requiem at Trinity Church. Returning to Seattle Opera, she will debut the role of Didon in performances of Les Troyens, and in Spring 2025, will play the title role in Carmen at Wiener Staatsoper. Bridges made her Lincoln Center debut performing Peter Lieberson’s Neruda Songs, and “with a voice both voluptuous and statuesque, sang with depth and serenity” (The New York Times) had a huge success performing the role of Mary in John Adams’ El Niño at the Metropolitan Opera. Bridges is a 2012 graduate of Curtis Institute of Music

Sarah Fleiss

Credit: Photo provided by artist

Soprano Sarah Fleiss, from North Bergen, NJ, entered Curtis Institute of Music in 2019 and is currently a master’s student studying under Julia Faulkner. Described as “bright” and “stylish” by Opera News, Fleiss sings the role of Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro this season with Curtis Opera Theatre. Previously, she sang the title role in Leoš Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen and Ginevra in Handel’s Ariodante. She recently made debus as the soprano soloist in Fauré’s Requiem with Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and as the soprano soloist in Poulenc’s Gloria and Dvořák’s Te Deum with Wichita Symphony Orchestra. Beginning in Summer 2025, Fleiss joins the Le Jardin des Voix with Les Arts Florissants under William Christie and Paul Agnew and will travel internationally with the ensemble during the 2025-26 season, singing in Les arts florissants and La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers by M.A. Charpentier and Il giardino di rose by Scarlatti. In Summer 2024, Fleiss was a Renée Fleming Artist at Aspen Music Festival, covering Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and singing in a baroque concert with conductor Nicholas McGegan. Fleiss has received grants and awards from the George London Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Opera Index Foundation, and Orpheus Vocal Competition.

Katie Trigg

Credit: Photo provided by artist

Hailing from Ngāhinapōuri, Aotearoa, New Zealand, mezzo-soprano Katie Trigg is dedicated to exploring the ways music connects with communities and society. This season with Curtis Opera Theatre, she performs the roles of Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro and The Old Lady in Bernstein’s Candide. She previously performed the role of Anna I in Kurt Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins. She has also performed in concert under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin with the Curtis Symphony Orchestra, and Mozart’s Requiem with Binghamton Philharmonic under Daniel Hege. She currently studies with Julia Faulkner. She recently won the prestigious 2024 Lexus Song Quest. Trigg completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Waikato, where she was a Sir Edmund Hillary Scholar and a student of Stephanie Acraman. She has previously been a Dame Malvina Major Foundation Studio Artist with New Zealand Opera. She has also been a Studio Artist at Wolf Trap Opera, covering the roles of Juno/Ino in Handel’s Semele.

Evan Gray

Credit: Photo provided by artist

Bass-baritone Evan Gray, from Winterthur, Switzerland, performs the title role in Le Nozze di Figaro and Seneca in The Comet/Poppea this season with Curtis Opera Theatre. He has previously performed the roles of the Forrester in The Cunning Little Vixen, Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore, Rè di Scozia in Ariodante, Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte, and Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia. He has also performed the roles of Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro and Leporello in Don Giovanni with Saluzzo Opera Academy. In concert, he performed as a soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Syracuse Symphoria, Mozart’s Requiem with Wichita Symphony and Binghamton Philharmonic, and Fauré’s Requiem with Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra. As a recitalist, he has performed Schubert cycle Winterreise. He currently studies under Mark Schaible. Evan previously studied with David and Jane Thorner and participated in master classes with Robert Holl and Gerald Finley. Gray has been a two-time participant at the Marlboro Music Festival and will return in Summer 2025.

Miloš Repický

Credit: Photo provided by artist

Born in Bratislava, Slovakia and raised in France and Canada, Miloš Repický joined the faculty of Curtis Institute of Music in 2016 and is currently the Director and Hirsig Family Chair of Vocal Studies and Opera. He is on the music staff at the Metropolitan Opera, where he serves as assistant conductor and prompter, played harpsichord continuo for Le nozze di Figaro, and has led the musical preparation of Jenůfa, La fanciulla del West, Anna Bolena, The Death of Klinghoffer, and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, among many other operas. He has collaborated regularly with the Cleveland Orchestra for operas including Tristan und Isolde, Cunning Little Vixen, Ariadne auf Naxos, Pelléas et Mélisande, and Daphne; Vienna’s Musikverein; Luxembourg Philharmonie; Lincoln Center Festival; and the Joffrey Ballet. He works regularly with the Santa Fe Opera and the Canadian Opera Company, and has also worked with Houston Grand Opera, Spoleto Festival, San Francisco Opera, the Dallas Symphony, the Royal Opera House Muscat in Oman, and the Orquestra Sinfónica de Galicia. Mr. Repický is also the artistic director of Music for Montauk, on Long Island, N.Y.

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