Got Opera?!–The Venture Beyond

TACOMA, Wash. –  Four gifted vocalists will share a selection of well-beloved songs from the worlds of both opera and musical theater at the next Jacobsen Series concert at University of Puget Sound.

Got Opera?!—The Venture Beyond will include arias from Mozart, Verdi, Donizetti, and Rossini, plus song favorites by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Leonard Bernstein, and Frank Wildhorn and Nan Knighton, among other works. In the words of two of the performers, the concert will be an adventure in music:

“Buckle up! It’s going to be an exciting evening!” says Christina Kowalski, soprano. Dawn Padula, mezzo-soprano, adds, “It’s always a great opportunity for Christina and I to collaborate with guest vocalists on operatic solos and ensembles. But this year we’ve decided to mix it up a bit by adding songs and ensembles from the musical theater canon, as well. We are excited to showcase a little bit of everything ranging from Mozart to Jason Robert Brown.”

Ryan Bede ’05, baritone, a Puget Sound School of Music alumnus who now performs professionally in the region and internationally; and Jesse Nordstrom, tenor, a Seattle native who has sung lead parts with Puget Sound Concert Opera and Pacific Northwest Opera, will join Padula and Kowalski on stage. Jinshil Yi ’14 will accompany the singers on piano.

Got Opera!—The Venture Beyond will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23, in Schneebeck Concert Hall, near the corner of Union Avenue and N. 14th Street. Everyone is welcome and ticket information is below. The evening concert will include more than a dozen pieces. Some of them are:

Just One Step – from Songs for a New World, by Jason Robert Brown
"Re dell’abisso affrettati” – from Un Ballo in Maschera, by Giuseppe Verdi
Don’t Cry for Me Argentina – from Evita, by Andrew Lloyd Webber
“Ich baue ganz” – from Die Entführung aus dem Serail, by Wolfgang Mozart
Maria – from West Side Story, by Leonard Bernstein
"Ai cappricci, della sorte” – from L’Italiana in Algeri, by Gioachino Rossini
Ohio – from Wonderful Town, by Leonard Bernstein
“Mask” Trio – from Don Giovanni, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Quartet – from The Secret Garden, by Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman

Dawn Padula, director of vocal studies at Puget Sound, has performed many of the major mezzo-soprano operatic roles and has appeared extensively as a soloist in oratorios and orchestral pieces. For a full bio visit: pugetsound.edu/faculty-pages/dpadula.

Christina Kowalski, affiliate artist, has performed a diverse repertoire of opera and concert music in Europe and the United States, including five productions with the Portland Opera. For a full bio visit: pugetsound.edu/faculty-pages/ckowalski.

The Jacobsen Series, named in honor of Leonard Jacobsen, former chair of the piano department at Puget Sound, has been running since 1984. The Jacobsen Series Scholarship Fund awards annual music scholarships to outstanding student performers and scholars. The fund is sustained entirely by season subscribers and ticket sales.

FOR TICKETS: Tickets are available online at tickets.pugetsound.edu, or at Wheelock Information Center, 253.879.3100. Admission is $15 for the general public; $10 for seniors (55+), students, military, and Puget Sound faculty and staff. The concert is free for current Puget Sound students. Any remaining tickets will be available at the door.

For directions and a map of the campus: pugetsound.edu/directions.
For accessibility information please contact accessibility@pugetsound.edu or 253.879.3931, or visit pugetsound.edu/accessibility.

Press photos of the artists can be downloaded from pugetsound.edu/pressphotos.
Photos on page: From top right: Times Square, by Ludovic Bertron; Dawn Padula; Christina Kowalski; Ryan Bede, by Danielle Barnum; Jesse Nordstrom.

For More Music Events visit the School of Music calendar.

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