The Art of Song
Opus Nova kicks off its 2022-2023 season with a program of irresistible lyricism. Aaron Copland's Old American Songs are as memorable and catchy as they are profound; Louis Spohr's set Six Songs are less-programmed masterpieces that evoke all the emotional states of German Romanticism; Felix Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words are some of the composer's earliest and most instinctual instrumental works, demonstrating his supreme melodic talents; finally, an original arrangement of Mozart's famous aria Non piu andrai will cap the evening. The program will open with one of Carl Maria von Weber's most virtuosic instrumental pieces, the Grand Duo Concertant for clarinet and piano. The dramatic work shows off the clarinet's singing abilities, but the true test for both instruments is its blistering finale.
This concert will be held at the beautiful Beth-El Congregation, Fort Worth, featuring acclaimed guest baritone James Rodriguez, esteemed collaborative pianist Cecilia Kao, with directors Stas Chernyshev and Ann Hung on clarinets.
$55 ticket includes pre-concert reception (6:45 pm) with drinks and hors d’oeuvres.
Opus Nova kicks off its 2022-2023 season with a program of irresistible lyricism. Aaron Copland's Old American Songs are as memorable and catchy as they are profound; Louis Spohr's set Six Songs are less-programmed masterpieces that evoke all the emotional states of German Romanticism; Felix Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words are some of the composer's earliest and most instinctual instrumental works, demonstrating his supreme melodic talents; finally, an original arrangement of Mozart's famous aria Non piu andrai will cap the evening. The program will open with one of Carl Maria von Weber's most virtuosic instrumental pieces, the Grand Duo Concertant for clarinet and piano. The dramatic work shows off the clarinet's singing abilities, but the true test for both instruments is its blistering finale.
This concert will be held at the beautiful Beth-El Congregation, Fort Worth, featuring acclaimed guest baritone James Rodriguez, esteemed collaborative pianist Cecilia Kao, with directors Stas Chernyshev and Ann Hung on clarinets.
$55 ticket includes pre-concert reception (6:45 pm) with drinks and hors d’oeuvres.
Program
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Weber: Grand Duo Concertant Mendelssohn: Selection from Lieder ohne Worte Copland: Old American Songs Spohr: 6 Gesänge, Op.154 Mozart: Non piu andrai, arr. for voice, 2 clarinets and piano |
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Musicians
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Praised for his “authoritative and rich baritone”, James D. Rodriguez has appeared as Escamillo (Carmen), Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Dandini (La Cenerentola), Harlekin (Ariadne auf Naxos), Faninal (Der Rosenkavalier), Belcore (L’elisir d’amore), Captain Magallanes (Salsipuedes), Dr. Rappaccini (La Hija de Rappaccini), Baron de Gondremarck (La Vie Parisienne), Harašta (The Cunning Little Vixen), Vicar (Albert Herring), Nardo (La finta giardiniera), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Tonio (Pagliacci) and as the title roles in Don Giovanni and Rigoletto with such companies as Des Moines Metro Opera, Opera IOWA, Opera in the Heights, Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, the Natchez Festival of Music, and the Moores Opera Center. Concert appearances include Beethoven’s 9th Symphony & Mass in C, Fauré’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Carlisle Floyd’s Pilgrimage, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Goodall’s Eternal Light: A Requiem, and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with the Houston Camerata, Fort Bend Symphony, and San Antonio Symphony, among others.
He has performed recitals with the American Festival for the Arts, Mt. Vernon Music, PianoTexas Festival, the Festival of American Song (with composer Libby Larsen), the Phil Kramer Recital Series, Memorial Classic Music Series (Houston), and Austin Chamber Music Center, for which he was awarded an Austin Critics Table Award for his participation in “Black Composers Concert: The Black Female Composer”, with pianist, Dr. Artina McCain. He was also the first place winner of the Young Texas Artists Vocal Competition in 2012. Rodriguez holds the Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degrees from the University of Houston, a Bachelor of Music from Southern Methodist University, and is a Certified Vocologist from the National Center for Voice and Speech where he studied under the guidance of Dr. Ingo Titze. Dr. Rodriguez is an Assistant Professor of Voice and Voice Pedagogy at Texas Christian University and Chair of the Vocal Arts Division. |
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Taiwanese Pianist Cecilia Lo-Chien Kao enjoys performing in a wide variety of settings, which includes chamber music, opera, orchestral ensembles, new music ensembles and choral music. She has collaborated with many distinguished artists including Lynn Harrell, Stefan Jackiw, Robert McDuffie, Bion Tsang, Gerardo Riberio, David Coucheron, Jennifer Stumm, and many members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.
Kao is currently the Assistant Professor of Professional Practice and Collaborative Piano Artist at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. She is also the collaborative piano coordinator at the prestigious Meadowmount School of Music in Westport, New York. She has been a collaborative pianist at Columbus State University and Mercer University in Georgia, where she worked with students of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings. She has appeared at Carnegie Weill Hall and can be heard with cellist Bion Tsang on his CD The Blue Rock Sessions. She was also a member of the Boulder Altitude Directive, a modern music ensemble dedicated to commissioning and performing new music, during their inaugural season. Cecilia has received fellowships for both the Aspen School of Music and the Music Academy of the West, where she studied with Jonathan Feldman. She also was a chamber music artist at the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival in Florida. Kao holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Colorado Boulder and a Master of Music degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied with the pioneer pedagogue, Anne Epperson. Prior to her move to the U.S., she was one of the first pianists to receive the Master of Arts degree in Collaborative Piano from National Taiwan Normal University in Taipei, where she also received her bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance. Her principal teachers include Anne Epperson, Margaret McDonald, Alexandra Nguyen, Elizabeth Pridgen, Chi-Chen Wu, and Shu-Cheng Lin. |
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Stas Chernyshev, a native of St. Petersburg, Russia, is recently appointed principal clarinetist of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. He is the founder and artistic director of Fort Worth Performances for Autism, and a co-director of Opus Nova Chamber Music Series. Mr. Chernyshev is a prize winner of many international competitions, and has appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York, Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as in Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Russia, South Korea, Japan. A devoted chamber musician, Mr. Chernyshev has collaborated with Grammy-winning ensemblesEighth Blackbird and Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, commissioned new works for his instrument. He has been featured on WQXR -New York’s classical music station and WHYY’s television program - On Stage at Curtis. Mr. Chernyshev holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music, and a Master’s degree from St. Petersburg Conservatory, Russia. He is an alumnus of Ensemble Connect (formerly Ensemble ACJW), a program of Carnegie Hall, the Juilliard School and the Weill Music Institute, and ArtistYear, a program of the Curtis Institute of Music.
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Ann Hung, born in Taipei, Taiwan, began her musical studies at a young age, starting with piano at age five and clarinet at age nine. Dr. Hung is an active performer in the Dallas and Fort Worth area who regularly performs in the realms of both the orchestral and chamber music. She has shared the stage with the Fort Worth Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the members of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the faculty of the Juilliard School. Dr. Hung is always pushing the boundaries of her repertoire and skills, such as collaborating with jazz musicians and commissioning new composers. As a proponent of new music, she has avidlycommissioned new works including a wind quintet with her quintet Opus Now premiering in Symphony Space in NYC. One of the new works that Dr. Hung commissioned is included in a recently released album “Stained Glass Story” by Eldad Tarmu. Dr. Hung is currently teaching in Lewisville ISD, Burleson ISD as private lesson instructor and often plays with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. She is the associate director of the Fort Worth Performances for Autism and co- founder of Opus Nova Chamber Music Series.
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