See the 'Fox Valley Rising Stars' at outdoor concert

On Saturday, June 27, Soirée Lyrique, NFP presents "The Fox Valley Rising Stars - A Young Artist Program and Outdoor Concert."

Two different productions will be held at 1 and 3 p.m. on the Terrace of Snuffy's Villa in West Dundee.

Seating area available or bring your own lawn chair or blanket and enjoy the beautiful three acres of rolling landscape. If there is rain, it will be rescheduled to Sunday, June 28, at the same time. Performances will be moved to the Music Room in case of rain on Sunday.

Come and support these young artists and be amazed by the local talent!

The Fox Valley Rising Stars will featured Julie Baker of Huntley, 11-year-old Blake Buczkiewicz of Huntley, Jim Hinton of Elgin, Valerie Meachum of Elgin, 16-year-old Colin McGonalge of Schaumburg, 15-year-old Tessa Newman of Naperville, 17-year-old Lauren Parnell of Elburn, Ronald Spriggs of Elgin, 10-year-old Julia Smitendorf of Lake in the Hills, 16-year-old Ellie Tate of St. Charles, and 11-year-old Kaitlyn Ziebell of Huntley.

Music selection will include excerpts from "The Magic Flute," "The Marriage of Figaro," "Don Giovanni," "Carmen," "Porgy & Bess," "Man of La Mancha," "Show Boat," "South Pacific," "The Sound of Music," "West Side Story," "Les Misérables," "Kiss Me Kate" and more.

There are no ticket sales; suggested donation is $15 to $30 per person. Soirée Lyrique, NFP is a 501 (c)3) nonprofit organization.

For information and a map of the location, visit www.soireelyrique.org.

For reservations, call (224) 595-1526 or email ssior@soireelyrique.org.

Snuffy's Villa, 17N405 Oak Ave. in West Dundee, is surrounded by Snuffy's Prairie and Raceway Woods Forest Preserve.

Biographies

• Soprano Julie Baker recently performed as a soloist for community events with the Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Master Chorale, Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce, Altrusa International, and the corporation, Wynergy. During her college years, Baker performed the roles of Pamina in Mozart's "The Magic Flute," Pitti-Sing in Gilbert and Sullivan's opera "The Mikado," Alice in "Alice in Opera-land," and performed as a soloist with orchestra in a concert medley of "Porgy and Bess." In her junior year, she took second place in the Tri-State National Association of Teachers of Singing competition and performed professionally with Opera Illinois (Peoria) for two seasons in chorus roles. After graduating from Western Illinois University with a bachelor of arts in music business, Baker has worked for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Choral Union (now Elgin Master Chorale) and the Elgin Symphony Orchestra, where she continues to work today as the marketing director.

• Eleven-year-old Blake Buczkiewicz (boy soprano) was encouraged at a young age to be involved in the arts. At the age of 4, Blake started with Kinder Musik, followed by Encore Music Academy. Blake has trained at Metropolis to further his love of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Some of his favorite projects include the opera "Dead Man Walking" at Northwestern, "A Christmas Carol" at Metropolis and several of the local high school and middle school musical productions. Blake has started to take his craft to the next level by taking private lessons with Tetyana Torzhevska. Blake looks forward to learning how to play the flute and join his future middle school's choir in the fall.

• A native of Central Illinois, Jim Hinton (bass-baritone) has worked as a professional actor and singer since 1970 in Urbana, Chicago, Elgin and the Midwest. His credits include solo work with Elgin Opera, the Elgin Choral Union and the Elgin Symphony Orchestra. His Chicago area credits include working with Light Opera Works, Whirlwind Performance Company and the Illinois Theatre Centre. He studied acting at the University of Illinois in Urbana and his voice teachers include Roger Cooper (a student of William Warfield), Terri Brancaccio-Hanson, Solange Sior and Kathi Bernhard.

• Fifteen-year-old Tessa Newman (soprano) has been studying voice for 8 years. She was the understudy for the role of Louisa in the production of "The Sound of Music" at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She performed the lead role of "Annie" for the Theater on the Move, and Judy Albright and Zuzu in "It's a Wonderful Life." Other credits include the principal role of Cat in "Brundibar," Fan Scrooge & Elizabeth Cratchit in "A Christmas Carol," Lee Bouvier in "Grey Gardens," the principal role of Little Lucie in the "A Tale of Two Cities," Young Helen Muir in John Muir's "Mountain Days" and Baby June in "Gypsy". Tessa is an AGMA member and winner of the 2012 Granquist competition. She has performed for the Theatre at the Center, Fox Valley Repertory, Theatre at the Center, Petite Opera Productions, Metropolis Performing Arts Centre, the Jedlicka Performing Arts Center, the Theatre Hikes and the Dominican University. She will be returning to Petite Opera Productions in the fall in the role of the Second Spirit in their production of "The Magic Flute" by Mozart.

• Seventeen-year-old Lauren Parnell (mezzo soprano) was born and raised in Northern Illinois. Her early influences were classical and opera music which took place at Kaneland Harter Middle School. When she heard the "Queen of the Night" aria, she knew then that she wanted to sing opera. Since then, Lauren has been taking vocal lesson from Solange Sior and has been participating in various performance and productions. Her most recent performance was singing the national anthem for the City of Elgin.

• Ronald Spriggs, baritone, was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He was often a featured soloist for the Philharmonics of Hampton Roads in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Ronald has performed and soloed with many Hampton Roads Area choral groups and theater companies. Ronald recently moved to Elgin and has been attending weekly voice lessons locally with Solange Sior and has even performed the national anthem twice for the city of Elgin. Ronald has gone back to school to pursue a second bachelor's degree in music with a concentration in vocal performance at Northern Illinois University and he has successfully completed his first semester.

• Julia Smitendorf, soprano and pianist, is 10 years old and has been studying classical music (voice and piano) for over four years. Julia won first place in her division/category at the 2013 and 2014 Granquist Music Competition, Geneva. Julia appeared for the following groups/organizations: 2015 Huntley High School Variety Show (voice and piano), ECHO Children's Choir at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Crystal Lake, and solo performer for the national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner" for two local area swim teams for hosted invitationals/dual meets as well as the November 2014 High School Girls Fox Valley Conference Meet/Invitational, Woodstock. Julia is a student of Tetyana Torzhevska.

• Sixteen-year-old Ellie Tate (soprano) is a student of Solange Sior. An attendee of St. Charles North, she is a member of the honors' jazz choir and the chorale, North's highest mixed choir. Recently, they traveled to Prague, Czech Republic and gave concerts in castles, cathedrals and villas. Along with singing she loves theater and dances. She hopes to be a Broadway legit someday but most importantly, she just wants to sing.

• Eleven-year-old Kaitlyn Ziebell, soprano, has performed in several musicals at her elementary school and a variety show at Huntley High School. She is a student of Tetyana Torzhevska and had the opportunity to perform at the student recitals.