Soiree Lyrique to perform 'Concert for Peace and Redemption'
Soiree Lyrique will launch its third season with "A Concert for Peace and Redemption" to be presented at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5, at the Professional Building, 164 Division St., Elgin.
Repertoire will include excerpts from operas such as "Carmen," "Cavalleria Rusticana," "Nabbuco," "Faust," "Andrea Chenier," "Hansel und Gretel," "The Pearl Fishers," and sacred works such as excerpts from the Verdi's "Requiem," Rossini's "Stabat Mater," the "Messiah" and more. The cast will include Solange Sior, soprano; Jennifer Kosharsky, mezzo-soprano; Cornelius Johnson, tenor; Aaron Wardell, baritone and pianist Dr. Chiayi Lee. The Elgin Master Chorale Children's Chorus has been invited to perform a few selections.
There are no ticket sales for the event. Suggested donations are $15 to $30 per person/event.
For information or to download a brochure visit www.soireelyrique.org or contact office@soireelyrique.org or (224) 595-1526.
The musicians
• Solange Sior, soprano: Founder and artistic director of "Soirée Lyrique NFP," Sior is a former winner of the Canadian Music Competition and winner of the National Bel Canto Competition, as well as finalist of The Metropolitan Opera National Council.
Sior has performed with many organizations in the Midwest and in Canada, including Lyric Opera of Chicago, Florentine Opera Company, Light Opera Works, Lincoln Opera, Chamber Opera Chicago, Chicago Concertante, New Music Chicago, New Millennium Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Elgin Choral Union, and Youth and Music Canada.
She is the recipient of the 2014 Margaret Hillis Award for the Arts and received Elgin's 2010 Image Award for her 10 years of accomplishments as the artistic director of Elgin OPERA.
• Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Kosharsky: Kosharsky has portrayed the role of Princess Eboli in "Don Carlo" for Houston's Opera in the Heights, and Suzuki in "Madama Butterfly" for Elgin Opera, Music by the Lake, Golden Gate Opera, and Muddy River Opera. Recent performances include her return to Music by the Lake for the role of Augusta Tabor in "The Ballad of Baby Doe."
Awards include second place in the The Classical Singer International Emerging Professional Competition, a two-time regional winner for the National MacAllistar Awards (Chicago), and semifinalist in both the Tito Gobbi International Competition and the International Giovan Battista Velluti Competition (Italy).
• Tenor Cornelius Johnson: Johnson's voice has been hailed by critics as "expressive and soaring." Career highlights include performances at the Opera Bastille in Paris, La Scala in Milan, the Bunkamura Theater, with the Tokyo Philharmonic, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago "Opera In The Neighborhoods," Chautauqua Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Teatro Real in Madrid, Atlanta's Symphony Center, Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, and the Ravinia Music Festival. Johnson's repertoire includes operatic roles in "Carmen," "Don Pasquale," "La Bohème," "The Magic Flute," "Porgy and Bess," "Tosca" and "Troubled Island."
Johnson received the Frank Pandolfi Award from Connecticut Opera Guild Competition, was a regional finalist in the MacAllister Awards, and received a performance scholarship from the Atlanta Opera.
• Aaron Wardell, baritone: Wardell is in demand as a performer of opera and concert in the Midwest and beyond. He was most recently seen as Giove in "La Calisto" with Chicago's Haymarket Opera, Angelotti in "Tosca" with the Fort Wayne Symphony and Yamadori in "Madama Butterfly" with the Castleton Festival. He has also appeared with Chicago Fringe Opera, Chamber Opera Chicago, Main Street Opera, Dayton Opera, Opera Tampa, Central City Opera and internationally at Teatro National de Sucre in numerous operatic roles.
• Pianist Chiayi Lee: Lee received a doctor of Musical Arts in Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Iowa, and both a master's degree and a performer's certificate from Northern Illinois University.
Chiayi is an active pianist with an extensive background in solo and chamber music performance. She has worked and performed with numerous ensembles, instrumentalists and vocalists. She is currently the adjunct piano faculty and staff accompanist at Harper College. Chiayi is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, the national Music Honor Society.