Brenda Lewis
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Brenda Lewis
Brenda Lewis (March 2, 1921 – September 16, 2017) was an American operatic soprano, musical theatre actress, opera director, and music educator. She enjoyed a 20-year-long collaboration with the New York City Opera (NYCO) with whom she notably created roles in several world premieres by American composers; including the title role in Jack Beeson's ''Lizzie Borden'' in 1965. She also performed with frequency at the Metropolitan Opera from 1952 to 1965, and was active as a guest artist with notable opera companies both nationally and internationally. Although she is mainly remembered as an exponent of American operas and musicals, she performed a broad repertoire of works and was particularly celebrated for her portrayals of Marie in ''Wozzeck'', Rosalinde in ''Die Fledermaus'', and the title roles of ''Carmen'' and '' Salome''; the latter of which she performed for the inauguration of the Houston Grand Opera in 1956. Lewis was also a familiar face to Broadway audiences in opere ...
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Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pennsylvania. Harrisburg is situated on the east bank of the Susquehanna River. It is the larger principal city of the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area, also known as the Susquehanna Valley, which had a population of 591,712 as of 2020, making it the fourth most populous metropolitan area in Pennsylvania after the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Lehigh Valley metropolitan areas. Harrisburg played a role in American history during the Westward Migration, the American Civil War, and the Industrial Revolution. During part of the 19th century, the building of the Pennsylvania Canal and later the Pennsylvania Railroad allowed Harrisburg to develop into one of the most industrialized cities in the Northeastern United States. ...
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Hartt School Of Music
The Hartt School is the comprehensive performing arts conservatory of the University of Hartford located in West Hartford, Connecticut, United States, that offers degree programs in music, dance, and theatre. Founded in 1920 by Julius Hartt and Moshe Paranov, Hartt has been part of the University of Hartford since its charter merged the then Hartt College of Music, the Hartford Art School, and Hillyer College to create the university in 1957. The Hartt School offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in music, dance, and theatre, and associated disciplines. The Hartt Community Division offers a variety of opportunities in music and dance for students of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. Organ Studies Since its founding, Hartt had an organ program of study. In 1970, the school acquired a new Gress-Miles pipe organ; it was inaugurated with a performance of Bach's '' Wir glauben all' an einen Gott''. The organ program's director, John Holtz, subsequently launched the Interna ...
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The Bartered Bride
''The Bartered Bride'' ( cz, Prodaná nevěsta, links=no, ''The Sold Bride'') is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The work is generally regarded as a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It was composed during the period 1863 to 1866, and first performed at the Provisional Theatre, Prague, on 30 May 1866 in a two-act format with spoken dialogue. Set in a country village and with realistic characters, it tells the story of how, after a late surprise revelation, true love prevails over the combined efforts of ambitious parents and a scheming marriage broker. The opera was not immediately successful, and was revised and extended in the following four years. In its final version, premiered in 1870, it rapidly gained popularity and eventually became a worldwide success. Until this time, the Czech national opera had only been represented by minor, rarely performed works. This opera, Smetana's second ...
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Philadelphia Opera Company
The Philadelphia Opera Company was the name of two different American opera companies active during the twentieth century in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The first company was founded by impresario Oscar Hammerstein I in 1908. That company disbanded only two years later as a result of financial problems. The second company was founded by conductor Sylvan Levin in 1938 and was active for six years before it too closed due to financial reasons in 1944. Hammerstein's Philadelphia Opera Company: 1908-1910 In 1907 Oscar Hammerstein I hired architect William H. McElfatrick of the firm J.B. McElfatrick & Son to design a new opera house for the city of Philadelphia. The plans were approved and in 1908 the Philadelphia Opera House was built over the course of just a few months at 858 North Broad Street. The structure was built specifically for Hammerstein's latest artistic venture, his new opera company, the Philadelphia Opera Company (POC). Notable singers to have performed with the POC ...
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Sylvan Levin
Sylvan Levin (190310 August 1996) was an American concert pianist and conductor. He served as the assistant conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York City Symphony under Leopold Stokowski for many years. He also founded the Philadelphia Opera Company in 1938, serving as its director for six years. Biography Born in Baltimore, Levin won a scholarship to study piano at the Peabody Institute at the young age of 12, studying there for several years. He continued with further piano and conducting studies at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. While still a student, Levin began to work as a concert pianist. He appeared several times as a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra, notably playing the American premiere of Ravel's ''Piano Concerto in G'' with the orchestra in 1932 under the baton of Stokowski. After graduating from Curtis he became highly active in Philadelphia's musical scene, notably becoming a principal conductor with the Philadelphia Grand Opera ...
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The Marriage Of Figaro
''The Marriage of Figaro'' ( it, Le nozze di Figaro, links=no, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 1 May 1786. The opera's libretto is based on the 1784 stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, '' La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro'' ("The Mad Day, or The Marriage of Figaro"). It tells how the servants Figaro and Susanna succeed in getting married, foiling the efforts of their philandering employer Count Almaviva to seduce Susanna and teaching him a lesson in fidelity. Considered one of the greatest operas ever written, it is a cornerstone of the repertoire and appears consistently among the top ten in the Operabase list of most frequently performed operas. In 2017, BBC News Magazine asked 172 opera singers to vote for the best operas ever written. ''The Marriage of Figaro'' came in first out of ...
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The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid digital subscribers. It also is a producer of popular podcasts such as '' The Daily''. Founded in 1851 by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones, it was initially published by Raymond, Jones & Company. The ''Times'' has won 132 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any newspaper, and has long been regarded as a national " newspaper of record". For print it is ranked 18th in the world by circulation and 3rd in the U.S. The paper is owned by the New York Times Company, which is publicly traded. It has been governed by the Sulzberger family since 1896, through a dual-class share structure after its shares became publicly traded. A. G. Sulzberger, the paper's publisher and the company's chairman, is the fifth generation of the family to head the pa ...
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Marion Freschl
Marion Freschl (née Szekely) (January 16, 1896 - November 23, 1984, New York City) was an American operatic contralto and voice teacher of Hungarian descent. A member of the voice faculties at the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, she taught several highly successful singers, including Marian Anderson, Joan La Barbara, Brenda Lewis, Joanna Simon, Shirley Verrett, and Camilla Williams. Both Freschl and her brother, baritone and voice teacher Rudolph Szekely, were trained at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music and began their careers as resident artists at the Hungarian State Opera House. She went on to sing leading roles at opera houses in Germany, Austria and Scandinavia before immigrating to the United States in 1941. In the 1920s she was active with the Berlin State Opera. Freschl played an instrumental role in getting African-American soprano Camilla Williams an audition for the New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company ...
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Emilio De Gogorza
Emilio Eduardo de Gogorza (May 29, 1872May 10, 1949) was an American baritone of Spanish parentage. Biography He was born in Brooklyn, New York, but brought up and trained musically in Spain. He returned to the USA in his early 20s. He sang in many languages, including French, Italian and English, as well as Spanish. Owing to pronounced near-sightedness, he did not appear on the operatic stage but became a renowned concert and recital artist instead. De Gogorza recorded prodigiously for the Victor Talking Machine Company. His records display the intelligence and sensitivity of his singing, as well as a polished vocal technique. Victor released many recordings not only under his own name but under various aliases such as Carlos Francisco and Herbert Goddard. He used these pseudonyms for records issued on Victor's lower priced black label instead of the premium priced Red Seal label for which he usually recorded. In addition to recording, he also served as an early A&R man for Vi ...
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Curtis Institute Of Music
The Curtis Institute of Music is a private conservatory in Philadelphia. It offers a performance diploma, Bachelor of Music, Master of Music in opera, and a Professional Studies Certificate in opera. All students attend on full scholarship. History The Curtis Institute of Music was founded in 1924 by Mary Louise Curtis Bok. She named the new school for her father, publishing magnate Cyrus Curtis. Early faculty at the institute included conductor Leopold Stokowski and the pianist Josef Hofmann. The institute has not charged tuition since 1928; it provides full scholarship to all admitted students. In 2020, following credible allegations of abuse at the hands of past faculty, the school ended its practice of keeping students enrolled "at the discretion of their major instrument teacher". In accepting the findings of an independent investigation of abuse allegations that found the practice was a "real threat" a student "could be dismissed for any reason at any time", Curtis pl ...
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Glee Club
A glee club in the United States is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it was very popular in most schools and was made a tradition to have in American high schools from then on. Glee clubs were named after a form of English part song, called a glee, which they typically sang. The first named Glee Club held its initial meeting in the Newcastle Coffee House in London in 1787. Glee clubs were very popular in Britain from then until the mid-1850s but by then they were gradually being superseded by larger choral societies. But by the mid-20th century, proper ''glee'' clubs were no longer common. Testifying to the importance of glee clubs in 19th Century America, Henry Stone, a Union veteran of the American Civil War, recalled that "A glee club came down from Chicago, bringing with them the new song, "We'll rally ...
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Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became the state's only Land-grant university, land-grant university in 1863. Today, Penn State is a major research university which conducts teaching, research, and public service. Its instructional mission includes undergraduate, graduate, professional and continuing education offered through resident instruction and online delivery. The University Park campus has been labeled one of the "Public Ivy, Public Ivies", a publicly funded university considered as providing a quality of education comparable to those of the Ivy League. In addition to its land-grant designation, it also participates in the sea-grant, space-grant, and sun-grant research consortia; it is on ...
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