Madison Symphony Orchestra
Overture Center-Overture Hall 201 State St., Madison, Wisconsin 53703
press release: A seasonally-conclusive display of immense proportions (500+ artists on stage), John DeMain and the Madison Symphony Orchestra partner with three choirs and eight opera singers to present one of the greatest musical feats in the classical repertoire, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8. The Symphony of a Thousand is an unprecedented accomplishment of human musicality, literary poeticism, and fundamental creativity.
About Alexandra LoBianco
American Soprano Alexandra LoBianco is a consummate singing actress whom Opera News praised for possessing a “wonderful voice that should be heard in major houses.” She recently made her European stage debut in 2016 as Leonore in Fidelio with Wiener Staatsoper, and met with success as Turandot with Des Moines Metro Opera in the summer of 2017. Other performance highlights include roles at the Minnesota Opera, Opera Colorado, Sante Fe Opera, and singing the role of Amelia in Un ballo in maschera with the Madison Opera in 2012.
About Emily Birsan
Emily Birsan is a critically acclaimed recitalist and well known for her prominent interpretations of concert and operatic repertoire. Ms. Birsan was last in Madison performing the role of Juliette in Madison Opera’s 2016 production of Gounod’s Romeo and Juliette. She has also performed with the BBC Symphony in London, the Chicago Philharmonic, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, in the Edinburgh International Festival, and at Carnegie Hall performing her debut with Mozart’s Mass in C minor.
About Emily Pogorelc
Praised for her “lively, incisive soprano” by the New York Times, Soprano Emily Pogorelc currently attends the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Emily Pogorelc has performed with the Opera Philadelphia, Glimmerglass Opera Festival, Curtis Opera Theatre, and Florentine Opera. Emily has won first place in numerous competitions, and she was featured on National Public Radio’s, From the Top.
About Milena Kitic
Milena Kitic, a renowned mezzo-soprano, has performed numerous roles with opera companies around the world in the last three decades. Perhaps best known for her performance as the title role in Carmen, Kitic has played Carmen in major performance venues across the United States and Europe. Ms. Kitic has received numerous accolades for her performances, including the German Music Critic’s Award for “Performers of the Season” in 1998 and the Opera Pacific Guild’s “Diva of the Year” in 2005. The International Jeunesses Musicales Competition in Belgrade, Serbia, has established a special prize for “the best young mezzo-soprano” in Kitic’s name.
About Julie Miller
Hailed as possessing a voice of “spell-binding power and intensity” (The Register-Guard), Mezzo-Soprano Julie Miller has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras and in many major concert halls across the country. Ms. Miller is the recipient of the Jerome and Elaine Nerenberg Foundation Scholarship and the Rose McGilvray Grundman Award (American Opera Society of Chicago), the Richard F. Gold Career Grant (Shoshana Foundation), and the Edith Newfield Scholarship Award (Musicians Club of Women).
About Clay Hilley
Hailed by Broadway World as “every bit the heldentenor that Siegfried demands,” young tenor Clay Hilley is already in demand internationally for German, Czech, Italian, and French heroes. In 2017/2018 Hilley joined the roster of The Metropolitan Opera. He debuted at Lincoln Center in 2013 as tenor soloist for Verdi’s Requiem. A native of Georgia, he received his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education at the University of Georgia, the Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Georgia State University, a Professional Studies Certificate from the Manhattan School of Music, and a Performer’s Certificate from the Opera Institute at Boston University.
About Michael Redding
Michael Redding has been thrilling audiences in the U.S. and in Europe with his vocalism and theatrical presence in roles ranging from Handel to classic American Music Theatre. Recent credits include performances with the Sarasota Opera, the Virginia Opera, and an international tour of Porgy and Bess with the York Harlem Theatre. Mr. Redding too has performed the concert suite arrangement of Porgy and Bess with the Belgrade Philharmonic and the La Verdi Orchestra. Mr. Redding last performed with the Madison Symphony Orchestra singing parts from Porgy and Bess as part of the all-Gershwin concert in May, 2012.
About Morris Robinson
Morris Robinson regularly appears at the Metropolitan Opera, where he is a graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Program. He has also appeared at the San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Opera Australia, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Also a prolific concert singer, Mr. Robinson recently made his debut at the BBC Proms in a performance of the Verdi Requiem with Marin Alsop and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
Repertoire
- MAHLER | Symphony No. 8
$93-$18.