The 36th season of the Verdi Chorus continues with the Walter Fox Singers in Love is Timeless for one night only at the First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica on May 4, at 7:30pm. Led by Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum, the Walter Fox Singers comprise the professional ensemble of the Verdi Chorus, which is the only choral group in Southern California that focuses primarily on the dramatic and diverse music for opera chorus. This program, devoted to the timeless nature of love in all of its intricacies, will feature best loved arias, duets and emsembles from the world of opera, as well as favorite songs from the canon of mid-century American musical theater
The Walter Fox Singers demonstrate the mission of the Verdi Chorus to provide performance opportunities to young professional singers, and these sixteen highly promising singers, named in memory of a long-time Chorus and Board member, not only serve as section leaders and rehearsal coaches for the Verdi Chorus, but also have opportunities to perform as featured singers in performances, and perform on occasion independently of the full Chorus. They are: sopranos
Tiffany Ho, Megan McDonald, Sarah Salazar and Emily Peterson; mezzo-sopranos Charlotte Bash, Judy Tran Gallego, and Ariana Stultz; tenors Manfred Anaya, Elias Berezin, Thomas Hollow, Joseph Gárate and Brennan Meier; baritone Andrew Walker; and basses
Esteban Rivas, DeJuan Carlos and Raed Saade.
The Walter Fox Singers have been presented at several venues in
Southern California including the Annenberg Beach House,
The Broad Stage, the Huntington Library, and the Nixon Library.
Director Anne Marie Ketchum says, " I am thrilled to present the Walter Fox Singers in a concert of their very own, and I'm planning to have many more in the future. This is a very special group of exceptionally talented young professional singers. As the Founding Artistic Director of the Verdi Chorus, it is so important to me to not only nurture and foster the love of opera for both the community and the Verdi Chorus as a whole, but to also curate the next generation of operatic professionals. With an evening such as this, the Walter Fox Singers have the opportunity to develop and perform a variety of operatic and musical roles that will very likely be part of their future performance careers, and I know our audience will be delighted with the evening we have in store."
Love is
Timeless will be presented one night only on Saturday, May 4 at 7:30 pm at the
First United Methodist Church in Santa Monica, located at 1008 11th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90403.
Tickets are available for purchase at
www.verdichorus.org or by calling (800) 838-3006. Priority seating is available for $40, general admission is $30, seniors are $25, and students aged 25 and under with a valid ID are $10.
Music Director and Founding Artistic Director ANNE MARIE KETCHUM has been the conductor of the Verdi Chorus since its inception in 1983. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Choral Conducting and a Master's degree in Voice Performance from
California State University, Northridge, where she studied choral conducting with John
Alexander and served as his assistant conductor. As a singer, she has appeared internationally and is well known for her performances of contemporary art music, vocal chamber music, solo recitals, and opera. She has made several recordings of contemporary music. Among her more recent activities Ms. Ketchum was the Stage Director for the
Metropolitan Opera National Council - Western Region
Showcase Concerts in
Palm Springs for five years. She helped create This and My Heart: A
Portrait of Emily Dickinson in Text and Song, a concert/theater piece that she co-wrote and performed with actress Linda Kelsey and pianist Victoria Kirsch. This was presented as part of
Grand Performances in Los
Angeles and made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Cultural Affairs
Department of Los Angeles. She recently premiered and recorded a piece in New York by
Aurelio De La Vega entitled Recordatio for soprano and ten instruments, which was written for her and subsequently nominated for a Latin Grammy.
Accompanist LARAINE ANN MADDEN has garnered acclaim as one of the most sensitive and experienced collaborating artists in the Los
Angeles area. Trained in the Bay Area, she made her solo debut with the Oakland
Symphony at age 13 performing Mozart's Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 488. Ms. Madden studied Accompanying at the University of
Southern California with its pioneer teacher, Gwendolyn Koldofsky, and has accompanied in the master classes of Martin Katz, Geoffrey Parsons, Giorgio Tozzi, Martial Singher, Joan Dornemann and Peter Pears. She has served as "repetiteur" accompanist under conductors Simon Rattle, Christoph Perrick and Richard Buckley, and has appeared in concert with singers associated with New York City Opera, the
Metropolitan Opera, and Los
Angeles Opera including Alan Titus, Rod Gilfry, Erie Mills, Young Mi Kim and Ealynn Voss. Recent engagements include performing on the Jacaranda Concert Series and with the Walter Fox Singers at the Annenberg
Beach House in Santa Monica, the Huntington Library in Pasadena, and the Richard Nixon Library for the
Marshall B. Ketchum University Shared
Visions Gala. This is her 21st year as collaborator with the Verdi Chorus.
About The Verdi Chorus
The Verdi Chorus is a
Southern California nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting opera choruses in concert and to providing career development opportunities for young professional singers. As the only choral group in
Southern California that focuses primarily on the dramatic and diverse music of the opera chorus, the Verdi Chorus gives talented amateur singers the unique opportunity to sing side-by-side with professional singers in rehearsals leading up to performances held to the highest artistic standards. Under the direction of its remarkable Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum, each rehearsal is like a vocal master class.
The Verdi Chorus was founded in 1983 at the Verdi Restaurant in Santa Monica. When the restaurant closed in 1991, the Verdi Chorus continued. In 1999, the Chorus incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Under the continuous direction of Founding Artistic Director Anne Marie Ketchum, the Chorus presents four concerts each year as well as other collaborative events. Its repertoire includes over 300 choruses from 81 operas in seven languages.
For more information visit:
www.verdichorus.org.
