Valparaiso: A New Chamber Opera by Luksan/Ramey
Free
- Charles Robert Stephens, baritone
- Nerys Jones, mezzo soprano
- Karen Early Evans, soprano
- Glenn D. Guhr, baritone
- Steven Luksan, piano
Valparaiso is a chamber opera set in a retirement home that explores the humor and pain, the love and loss, of four residents as they navigate the changes and challenges of advancing age.
Ron and his ex-wife Dorothy: Ron has lived in the retirement home for several years, and Dorothy has just moved in. He hopes to revive their love, but she immediately sets off with a new lover on a tour that ultimately arrives in Valparaiso, Chile. It does not go well for her.
Sam, a widower and Ron's best friend: Sam is cranky, salty, but also suffering from the loss of his dear wife Mary.
Sarah, a widow: In her dementia she can't accept the loss of her late husband Thomas.
Dorothy returns home with a broken wrist and a new appreciation of what she might have with Ron. Sam and Sarah learn that they both have found a deep source of comfort for their loss.
Run time: Approximately 90min, including a short intermission
This project was supported, in part, by a grant from 4Culture and by an enrichment grant from Horizon House.
About Charles Robert Stephens, baritone
Charles has enjoyed a career spanning a wide variety of roles and styles in opera and concert music. His performances have shown "a committed characterization and a voice of considerable beauty." (Opera News, 1995) At the New York City Opera he sang the role of Professor Friedrich Bhaer in the New York premiere of Adamo's Little Women, and was hailed by the New York Times as a "baritone of smooth distinction." Other New York City Opera roles since his debut as Marcello in 1995 include Frank in Die Tote Stadt, Sharpless in Madame Butterfly, and Germont in La Traviata. He has sung on numerous occasions at Carnegie Hall in a variety of roles with the Opera Orchestra of New York, the Oratorio Society of New York, the Masterworks Chorus, and Musica Sacra.
Now based in Seattle, Charles has sung with the Seattle Symphony, Tacoma and Spokane Symphonies and Opera Companies, Portland Chamber Orchestra and many other orchestras and opera companies in the Pacific Northwest. He joined the roster of the Seattle Opera in 2010 for the premiere of Amelia by Daron Hagan.
Recent collaborations with early music expert Stephen Stubbs include the role of Haman in Handel's Esther with Pacific Musicworks as part of the Seattle Handel Festival, Messiah with Portland Baroque and the role of Tiresias in the Boston Early Music Festival's lavish production of Steffani's Niobe, Queen of Thebes. A long association with Maestro Gary Thor Wedow has recently led to two performances with the Seattle Symphony: Messiah and "Opera Festival."
http://www.charlesrobertstephens.com/About Nerys Jones, mezzo soprano
About Karen Early Evans, soprano
Karen Early Evans has performed the role of Fiordiligi with Utah Opera and Tacoma Opera. She was most recently heard singing Bach's Peasant Cantata with Yakima Symphony and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel with Bellevue Opera, where she has also performed the role of the 1st Lady in their production of The Magic Flute. She sings regularly with the Seattle Opera chorus and was recently invited to sing the roles of Nurse and Trang in a workshop for Amelia, a newly commissioned work for Seattle Opera. Ms. Early Evans performed Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Northwest Sinfonietta as soprano soloist and has also been a soloist with Tacoma Symphony, Boise Philharmonic, Utah Symphony and Eugene Concert Choir. She has performed roles with Lyric Opera Northwest, Skagit Opera, Opera Idaho and Glimmerglass Opera. Ms. Early Evans has been honored as a Finalist in the Metropolitan National Vocal Competition as well as the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition. She was chosen as the audience favorite in both the Eleanor Lieber competition and the Bella Voce competition.
http://www.pugetsoundconcertopera.org/artists.html#karenearlyevansAbout Glenn D. Guhr, baritone
"Glenn Guhr is terrific with his big warm voice and confident swagger," raves Mary Murfin Bayley of The Seattle Times. Other critics agree, Glenn Guhr is a performer of unique and outstanding ability.
Mr. Guhr is an original member of the Black Box Opera Theater ensemble with which he appeared in operas by Ned Rorem, Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis, and numerous cabaret performances.
Equally at home in everything from Shakespeare to Sondheim and Monteverdi to Verdi, Mr. Guhr has always prided himself on his versatility. He has appeared in operas, operettas, musicals, plays, and film with the Pacific Northwest Ballet, Seattle Opera, Civic Light Opera, Tacoma Opera, ACT Inc. (St. Louis), The St. Louis Shakespeare Company, Theatre Factory St. Louis and others in such roles as Gianni Schicchi, Papageno (The Magic Flute), Ford (Falstaff), Germont (La Traviata), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Grosvenor (Patience), and Fred Graham/Petruchio (Kiss Me, Kate).
In addition to his stage roles, Mr. Guhr appears frequently in recital and concert in the Pacific Northwest, performing with the Walla Walla Symphony, the Bellevue Philharmonic, Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers, the Seattle Choral Company, the Everett Symphony, the Port Angeles Symphony, the Seattle Philharmonic, and others.
Mr. Guhr received a BA in music from Tabor College and an MM in Music History from Kansas State University. He also completed course work towards a PhD in Musicology at Washington University in St. Louis before turning his full attention to performance. In 2002, he finished a DMA in Vocal Performance at the University of Washington, where he studied with renowned baritone Julian Patrick.
https://www.plu.edu/music/staff/glenn-d-guhr/