“This concert series is sure to be a moving and passionate event for audiences. Schubert’s Symphony No. 4 is a dramatic complement to Mozart’s transcendent Requiem—which contains the final notes he ever composed,” said Jessica Morel. “You will not want to miss the powerful emotional journey created by these two magnificent works.
The concerts will take place on Sunday, March 31 at 3 p.m. and Tuesday, April 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Wait Chapel on the campus of Wake Forest University Tickets begin at $20 and are available in advance by calling the Symphony Box Office at 336-464-0145 or online at WSsymphony.org.
Music Lovers’ Luncheon, a fun and informative pre-concert event, will occur on Friday, March 29 from 12–1:30 p.m. at Forsyth Country Club at 3101 Country Club Road in Winston-Salem. This intimate afternoon event will include an enlightening discussion led by Jessica Morel and Christopher Gilliam. Music Lovers’ Luncheons are an opportunity to gain insights on the music presented and learn more about the performers personally. Advanced registration is required and can be made by calling 336.464.0145. The luncheon is $25 per person.
The concert will open with Schubert’s dramatic and emotional Symphony No. 4 in C minor, D 417 (Tragic). This piece takes the listener on a journey through the full range of emotions. While it is at times full of effervescence and vitality, at other moments it portrays haunting anguish and melancholy. Overshadowed by Beethoven during his lifetime, Schubert’s symphonies are now revered for the surprising harmonic turns and thrilling musical moments.
The concert continues with Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, K. 626, with the Winston-Salem Symphony Chorus and the guest singers joining the Symphony. Considered a masterpiece and one of the strongest expressions of faith that can be found in art, Mozart’s Requiem moves audiences with its transcendent power and beauty. An air of mystery surrounds the Requiem since the composer died before completing it, and many have attempted to finish the work. Robert D. Levin, a musicologist, pianist, and member of the music faculty at Harvard University, has prepared the version the Symphony and Symphony Chorus are performing.
Guest artist Ilana Lubitsch’s brilliant, high soprano cuts the orchestra with ease carrying a sizable voice to match her feisty stage presence. Among her operatic credits are appearances as Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte, Mme Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites, Miss Wordsworth in Albert Herring, Adina in L’elisir d’amore and Zerlina in Don Giovanni. Concert appearances include Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate, Mendelssohn’s Hear My Prayer and Richard Strauss’s Brentano Lieder among others. A Chicago native, Lubitsch received her training at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign where she earned her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Music and a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education. She is the winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Central Regional Auditions and the Krannert Center Concerto Competition. She is an alternate recipient of the Fulbright Grant, and the recipient of the Cook University Fellowship, the Thomas J. Smith Scholarship, and the Joseph Schlanger Memorial Opera Award. She teaches voice at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina as well as in her private studio in affiliation with Opera Carolina in Charlotte.
Stephanie Foley Davis was praised by the New York Times in her Glimmerglass Festival debut in The Tender Land as “a poised, touching Ma Moss” and Opera News said she was “a loving, careworn Ma, warm of voice and presence.” Of her role debut as Charlotte in Nightingale Opera Theatre’s production of Werther, Cleveland Classical said, “…Foley Davis and Culver were terrific in their singing and in delineating their sadness.” Davis has appeared in leading roles throughout the United States with companies such as Arizona Opera, Nashville Opera, Glimmerglass Festival, Nightingale Opera Theatre, Orlando Philharmonic and almost every professional opera company in North Carolina, including Opera Carolina, Piedmont Opera, North Carolina Opera, and Greensboro Opera. Other recent credits include Mercedes in Greensboro Opera’s Carmen, her first Suzuki in Piedmont Opera’s Madama Butterfly, the mezzo soloist in the Winston-Salem Symphony’s Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and as a distinguished alumna in Verdi’s Requiem at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Davis is currently the Associate Director and Chair of the Voice Faculty at The Music Academy of North Carolina.
Tenor Daniel Stein’s performance highlights include Azaël in L’Enfant Prodigue (Debussy), of which CVNC.org said his “ringing tenor…was outstanding. His warm timbre was especially fine.” He was in the World Premiere of the opera Picnic (L. Larsen), creating the role of Alan Seymour with UNCG Opera Theatre; Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini) with Opera North (NH), Asheville Lyric Opera, and the Mansfield Symphony; Der Steuermann in Der Fliegende Holländer (Wagner) with Opera Carolina; among other roles. Equally at home on the concert stage Stein has performed with the Arizona MusicFest Festival Orchestra, the Portland (ME) Symphony, the Winston-Salem Symphony, the Mansfield (OH) Symphony, the Charlotte Symphony, the Brevard Music Center Festival Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic, Greensboro Symphony, Gwinnett Symphony, and the South Carolina Philharmonic to name a few. Stein completed his Master of Music at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He currently serves on the voice faculty of Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.
Andrew René, baritone, has performed with the Virginia Opera Association, Opera Raw, Piedmont Opera, the A. J. Fletcher Opera Institute, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, and the Princeton Festival. The summer of 2015 marked his third year at the Bay View Music Festival where he performed the role of Marcello in Puccini’s La bohème. In 2017, he returned to sing the role of Escamillo in Carmen. His previous roles include John Sorel in Menotti’s The Consul, the Pirate King in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance, Guglielmo in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Riolobo in Catan’s Florencia en el Amazonas, Harlequin in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, Father Palmer in Silent Night, Sam in Trouble and Tahiti, Dandini in La Cenerentola, Golaud in Impressions de Pelléas, and the title role in Verdi’s Falstaff. René recently received his undergraduate degree from Capital University and is pursuing a Master of Music degree at the A. J. Fletcher Institute of Opera of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where he studies with Dr. Marilyn Taylor and Robert Overman.
This concert and the Winston-Salem Symphony are sponsored by Season Presenting Sponsors Bell, Davis, & Pitt, P.A. and BB&T; Symphony Unbound Sponsor Chris & Mike Morykwas; Classics Media Sponsors Fox 8 WGHP and 89.9 FM WDAV Classical Public Radio; as well as the Arts Council of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County and the North Carolina Arts Council.
About the Winston-Salem Symphony
The Winston-Salem Symphony, one of the Southeast’s most highly regarded regional orchestras, began its 72nd season in October 2018. The season will include performances featuring the five finalists for the Music Director position. Each candidate will conduct a pair of Classics Series concerts, and attendees will have a chance to play a role in the selection process. In addition, the 2018–2019 season will include a Plugged-In Pops series, Discovery Concerts for Kids series, an annual performance of Handel’s Messiah, the Concert for Community featuring Winston-Salem Symphony and Youth Symphony musicians, holiday concerts, three youth orchestra ensembles, and a multitude of educational and community engagement programs, including the newest offering, the P.L.A.Y. (Piedmont Learning Academy for Youth) Music program providing, primarily to under-served youth, instrumental music instruction and more. The Symphony is supported by Season Presenting Sponsors BB&T and Bell, Davis & Pitt, P.A., as well as generous funding from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, the North Carolina Arts Council, and other dedicated sponsors. For more information, visit WSsymphony.org.
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