Love in Venice
A Multicultural Fiesta
November 17 – November 20, 2016

Erica Schuller & Amanda Powell, sopranos | Owen McIntosh, tenor
Olivier Brault, violin | Kathie Stewart, traverso

Venice – where East meets West. Arab traders mingled with German tourists, Jewish merchants, and Italian priests – including one named Antonio Vivaldi. Our fiesta includes Sephardic romances; dances by Jewish composer Salamone Rossi; Arab improvisations; orchestral fireworks by Vivaldi – the evocative “LaNotte” flute concerto and “Autumn” from The Four Seasons; and timeless love duets by Monteverdi, reminding us that Love knows no ethnic boundaries.

Hear the Music

1. “Autumn” from The Four Seasons

2. Lamma bada yatathana (traditional Sephardic/Arab/Andalusian)

3. Sarao de la Minuet francés (anonymous Castellano)

afterglow_300
*FRIDAY NIGHT: Wine and light Italian and Middle Eastern treats – meet the performers! FREE! (Scroll down for concert dates.)

  • ERICA SCHULLER
    ERICA SCHULLER
    soprano
  • AMANDA POWELL
    AMANDA POWELL
    soprano
  • OWEN MCINTOSH
    OWEN MCINTOSH
    tenor
  • OLIVIER BRAULT
    OLIVIER BRAULT
    violin
  • KATHIE STEWART
    KATHIE STEWART
    flutes
These concerts are generously sponsored by
lrc_logo_150x75[divider]

Thursday, November 17, 2016, 7:30PM
FAIRLAWN Lutheran
Friday, November 18, 2016, 8:00PM
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, CLEVELAND HEIGHTS
*Afterglow Post-Concert Party!
Saturday, November 19, 2016, 8:00PM
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, CLEVELAND HEIGHTS
Sunday, November 20, 2016, 4:00PM
ROCKY RIVER Presbyterian Church
Purchase Tickets
A Fiesta Scene, on the Lido, near Venice, 1848 (oil on canvas), McInnes, Robert (1801-86) / Private Collection / Photo © Christie’s Images / Bridgeman Images

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“The U.S.A.’s hottest baroque band.” –CLASSICAL MUSIC MAGAZINE (UK)

ERICA SCHULLER
soprano

Praised for her lively personality, abundant charm, and luscious vocalism (Chicago Tribune), soprano Erica Schuller is a versatile performer, bringing committed artistry to a broad musical repertory. Her particular affinity for Baroque repertoire has brought her increasing attention from some of the country’s finest Early Music ensembles. Upcoming engagements include roles with The Boston Early Music Festival and a concert appearance with The Haymarket Opera Company’s Summer Workshop.

This past season, Ms. Schuller performed leading and supporting operatic roles with The Boston Early Music Festival, The Haymarket Opera Company and Opera Siam. In Boston, Ms. Schuller performed the roles of La Fortuna and Damigella in the 2015 Festival centerpiece opera L’Incoronazione di Poppea, and was praised for bringing beauty and bearing to her roles (Boston Globe). As Oriana in The Haymarket Opera Company’s production of Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula, Chicago Classical Review praised “her warm, agile soprano, full of passion and depth.” She also created the roles of Joan Strasinsky and Princess in the world premiere of the newly composed opera The Snow Dragon by award winning novelist and composer Somtow Sucharitkul, and was described as “ethereal” by Broadway World Magazine. She reprised these roles in Thailand with Opera Siam. Ms. Schuller also made her debut performance with Great Lakes Baroque this season, under the direction of renowned harpsichordist Jory Vinikour. Additional performances include a recital of English Baroque lute songs with The Church of Beethoven, a presentation of Couperin’s Leçons de Ténèbres through St. Chrysostom’s Church Concert Series in Chicago, and engagements with Second City Musick and Bella Voce ensembles.

WEBSITE

AMANDA POWELL
soprano

has been praised as “the star of the evening” (Seen and Heard International, UK) and “charismatic and theatrically arresting” (San Francisco Chronicle). A highly versatile musician, she is at home in repertoire from Monteverdi to Mozart to Ravel, and has toured internationally as soloist in baroque opera, oratorio, and crossover folk programs. Her tour performances with GRAMMY®-winning baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire (Jeannette Sorrell) include such venues as the National Concert Hall of Ireland in Dublin, the Irish National Opera House, the Aldeburgh Festival (UK), the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the National Gallery in Washington, and Zellerbach Hall in San Francisco, among others. Her 2019 debut as Messiah soloist with the Calgary Symphony won kudos as “the soloist of the night… singing to perfection.”

As a recording artist, Ms Powell has been featured on several Apollo’s Fire albums including Sugarloaf Mountain, Sephardic Journey, and Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain, all of which received rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic and debuted in the top ten on the BILLBOARD Classical Chart. Her 2015 solo debut album, Beyond Boundaries, is an intimate program of folk, jazz, and global music. She is a fluent improvisor and has collaborated with such artists as Bobby McFerrin and Sheila Jordan.

WEBSITE

OWEN MCINTOSH
tenor

LOVE IN VENICE

Acclaimed as a “lovely, tender high tenor” by the New York Times, Owen McIntosh has enjoyed a diverse career of chamber music and solo performance ranging from bluegrass to reggae, heavy metal to art song, and opera to oratorio. A native of remote Northern California, Mr. McIntosh has shared the stage with the country’s finest ensembles including Apollo’s Fire, Blue Heron, Boston Baroque, Carmel Bach Festival, Les Canards Chantants, New Vintage Baroque, Staunton Music Festival, TENET, Trident Ensemble, True Concord, San Diego Bach Collegium and the GRAMMY® nominated Choir of Trinity Wall Street. Recent solo engagements include; Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with Boston Baroque, Haydn’s Chamber opera L’isola Disabitata with the American Classical Orchestra, the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 with Apollo’s Fire and Green Mountain Project, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Grand Rapids Symphony, Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria with Opera Omnia and Boston Baroque, and evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion with Tucson Chamber Artists.

WEBSITE

OLIVIER BRAULT
violin

hails from Terrebonne in Québec and brings communicative enthusiasm and scholarship to concerts throughout North America and Europe. In addition to directing the chamber ensemble Sonate 1704, he performs as Music Director with Les Goûts Réunis in Luxembourg, as a member of Four Nations Ensemble in New York, and as soloist with many Montréal-based ensembles including the Ensemble Caprice, Les Boréades de Montréal, Quatuor Franz Joseph, and Les Idées heureuses. He holds a Doctorate from the Université de Montréal, where he specialized in 18th-century violin repertoire. He has led workshops and masterclasses at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, CWRU, Oberlin Conservatory, Penn State University, University of Michigan, the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Bruxelles and The Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. He has participated in over 65 recordings, many award-winning. In 2011 he received the medal of the Assemblée Nationale de Québec for cultural contributions to his nation. Mr. Brault joined the early music faculty of McGill University in Montréal teaching baroque violin in 2017.

KATHIE STEWART
flutes

Hailed as a virtuoso by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Kathie Stewart is a founding member and principal flute of Apollo’s Fire: The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra. An advocate of the baroque flute as a mainstream instrument, Stewart serves as Teacher of Baroque Flute at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Kulas Visiting Artist at Case Western Reserve University, and is Assistant Director for the Seattle Baroque Flute Workshop. Stewart has performed as soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Opera, Oberlin Baroque Ensemble, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Washington Bach Sinfonia, ARTEK, and Turn the Corner Irish Band. Stewart has performed at the BBC Proms, Snape Proms, Tanglewood Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Ojai Music Festival, Boston Early Music Festival, New World Symphony’s Baroque Festival, Oberlin College Artist Series, National Academy of Sciences, Library of Congress, and Dumbarton Oaks Series. Stewart is a faculty member of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where she serves as Curator of Harpsichords in the Historical Performance Department and additionally taught baroque flute for nearly twenty years. A proponent of historical temperaments, she tunes and maintains the Conservatory’s world-class collection of historical harpsichord reproductions.

Stewart appears on fourteen recordings with Apollo’s Fire including solo performances in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. IV (AVIE) and Telemann’s Concerto in E Minor for Flute and Recorder (AVIE). An accomplished Irish flute player, she can be heard on Scarborough Fayre: Traditional Tunes from the British Isles and the New World, Come To The River: an Early American Gathering, and Sugarloaf Mountain: an Appalachian Gathering. Radio appearances include holiday specials on National Public Radio, NPR’s World of Opera, SymphonyCast, and Performance Today. Her concerts have been broadcasted on Britain’s BBC Radio, Canada’s CBC, European Community Radio, and on WCLV’s “Seaway” syndication network carried by member stations of the European Broadcasting Union.

Stewart holds a Bachelor of Music degree from West Virginia University as a student of Joyce Catalfano and a Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music as a student of Thomas Nyfenger. She completed doctoral coursework at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as a student of George Hambrecht and participated in Eiji Hashimoto’s Baroque Ensemble. Fascination with the traverso led her to the Baroque Performance Institute at Oberlin Conservatory where she studied baroque flute and recorder with Christopher Krueger.

WEBSITE

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