upcoming events    2012 Opera Gala: From Vienna to Paris to New York

Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 8:00 p.m.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW FROM $25.00 to $65.00 EACH - CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE.

After the Gala

Meet the stars for savories and sweets in the TMA Green Room (cash bar).
$25 per person, Space is limited. Reserve early by calling Toledo Opera at 419-255-7464.
*Gala reservations can only be made over the phone.

STEFAN SANDERLING DEBUTS AS OPERA GALA CONDUCTOR

At this year's Gala, opera music is celebrated in Toledo, doing what this music does so well, exploring the human heart and soul. Stefan Sanderling, Principal Conductor of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, leads five vocal artists, the Toledo Opera Chorus and the Symphony in a program of solos, duets, ensembles and orchestral overtures. Maestro Sanderling takes us on an aria tour of three of the world's great musical capitols during three important phases of stage music history. In Mozart's 18th-century Vienna we see everything from comic absurdity, mystical symbolism and Greek tragedy to dramatic intrigue. Next is 19th-century Paris, as seen by Georges Bizet and his countrymen, all in the thrall of exotic Spain. Finally, witness the 20th-century New York City of Leonard Bernstein, where high art and entertainment blended with such memorable perfection. On display throughout the evening is some of the best music ever written for the human voice.

Guest ARtists

Laura Pedersen, soprano
Lyric soprano Laura Pedersen has gained popularity in both opera houses and concert halls in the past decade. A graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music, the versatile Midwest native has developed a winning combination of brilliant singing and equally convincing acting. Since her Carnegie Hall debut in 2004, Pedersen has become a regular soloist with Opera Cleveland and Opera Delaware, the Florida Opera Theater, Indianapolis Opera, the Cleveland Orchestra and its Blossom Festival, and the Cincinnati Symphony. Internationally, Pedersen has earned raves in Kaliningrad, Russia. She spent three years as soloist with the Bremen Opera and this year is returning to Opera Panama to sing her first Mimi in Puccini's La bohéme.

Marcy Richardson, soprano
Ever the soubrette, coloratura soprano Marcy Richardson is carving a distinctive niche in the opera, musical theater, and concert worlds with her sparkling voice and impressive dramatic skills. A native of Grosse Pointe, Richardson graduated from Indiana University and quickly became known for pristine Baroque performances, sophisticated theater, and demanding contemporary music. She recently made her Lincoln Center debut with performances in both Alice Tully and Avery Fisher halls. Richardson also has performed at the Princeton Festival, Opera Columbus, the Baltimore Opera, the Orlando Philharmonic, and the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland. She has been honored by the Kurt Weill and Gerda Lissner foundations, the Metropolitan Opera National Council, and the Heida Hermanns International Voice Competition, among others.

Nora Graham-Smith, mezzo-soprano
Nora Graham-Smith has sung the title role in Carmen with the New York Lyric Opera Theatre. A resident artist of the Syracuse Opera, she performs frequently around upstate New York. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, she won the prestigious Corbett-Zimmerman scholarship. While studying at the Eastman School of Music, she was the grand prize winner of the Eastmen/Rochester Philharmonic League's Devarian Classical Voice Award. She has apprenticed at the Cincinnati and Aspen opera companies, Tanglewood Institute, and the Opera Theater of Lucca, Italy.

Cody Austin, tenor
Cody Austin has launched his career like a skyrocket. He has appeared in opera productions in Philadelphia, Shreveport, and Richmond since graduating in 2009 from the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. Austin also has made his mark in musical theater with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops and the New Jersey Master Chorale. While a graduate student at Indiana University, he sang the role of George Gibbs in Ned Rorem's opera, "Our Town." He has been a young artist at Central City Opera and Opera New Jersey, and has won the Ralph Appelman Award, a Mario Lanza Scholarship, second place in the Dallas Opera Competition, and the Arthur E. Walters Memorial prize.

Michael Krzankowski, baritone
Michael Krzankowski, a Chicago native, is busy on opera circuits in the U.S. and abroad. He drew compliments for his recent debut with the San Antonio Opera, and has become a regular at Glimmerglass Opera. Krzankowski earned an undergraduate music degree at the University of Iowa and took his master's degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. He has performed with the Seattle Opera's Young Artist Program, and has performed with the Santa Barbara Opera as well as the Lucca Opera Festival in Italy and the Europaische Akademie in Germany. He was named a finalist at the Julio Gari International Voice Competition.

Stefan Sanderling, Conductor
Principal conductor Stefan Sanderling has swiftly emerged as one of the leading German conductors of his generation. Since the beginning of the 2003/04 season, he has simultaneously occupied the positions of music director of the Florida Orchestra and principal conductor and artistic advisor of the Toledo Symphony Orchestra. During the Toledo Symphony's debut performance at Carnegie Hall in 2011, Mr. Sanderling was heralded as a "gifted conductor" having "conducted a brilliant performance" of Shostakovich, according to New York Times reviewer James Oestreich.

As one of Germany's youngest chief conductors, Mr. Sanderling first held this position at the Brandenburgische Philharmonie and the Potsdam Opera in 1990. After five years, he then went on to become music director and chief conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra and Staatsheater in Mainz until 2001. Between 1997 and 2004, he also served as music director or the Orchestre de Bretagne in France.

Worldwide guest conducting appearances include the Bamberg Symphony, Berliner Sinfonie Orchester, Berliner Staatskapelle, Bournemouth Symphony, London Philharmonic, London Symphony, Mozarteum Orchestra (Salzburg), NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg, NTO (Vienna), Philharmonia Orchestra London, Prague Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic London, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, and the Vienna Radio Symphony. Mr. Sanderling has also guest conducted at both the Deutsche Oper and Komische Oper in Berlin. He made debuts in Australia with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and in Japan with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra.

Also an active recording artist, Stefan Sanderling made his first recording on the Sony Classics label with the London Symphony Orchestra. Three CDs with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have recently been released featuring symphonies by Haydn and Mendelssohn. For Naxos, he has recorded the complete Tchaikovsky Orchestral Suites and Stravinsky's ballet Pulcinella, as well as a recently-released disc of the tone poems and symphonies of Honegger.

The 2012 Opera Gala is made possible through a generous gift from the Toledo Opera Guild and support from the Ohio Arts Council.