Press Releases
Opera Singers for the 2010 Season
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Press Release - Pine Mountain Music Festival
For Immediate Release
Contact: Peter Van Pelt
Pine Mountain Music Festival
906-482-1542
Date: March 2, 2010
Pine Mountain Music Festival
Announces Opera Singers
Hancock - Pine Mountain Music Festival's 2010 opera is Verdi's masterpiece about thwarted love, "La Traviata." It is one of the most popular operas ever written, and will be performed in Houghton, Marquette and Norway, MI.
The leading lady role, Violetta, will be sung by Jessica Rose Cambio, a highly accomplished soprano who in 2009 was a National Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Council auditions. She has sung professionally in Italy and St. Petersburg, Russia.
The role of Germont will be sung by Eric Greene, an experienced baritone who has appeared with San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera and other regional and international companies.
Other singers include seven Resident Opera Artists, one of whom is Bernard Holcomb, who was with the Festival last year in "The Secret Marriage." Recently he has appeared with Sarasota Opera. Cathleen Candia, a mezzo-soprano, is from southern California and has experience with Sarasota Opera and Opera New Jersey. Soprano Leah Edmondson Dyer resides in Pennsylvania, studied in Ohio and Texas, and has won awards in various voice competitions. Baritone Branden Hood, from Ypsilanti, MI, studied at University of Michigan and was an apprentice at Dayton Opera.
Brian Pettey, another baritone, is a graduate of Peabody Conservatory and is now studying for his master's degree in voice at University of Texas, Austin. Alexander Scopino, bass, has a master's degree in voice from Binghamton University and has been through apprentice programs at Chautauqua Opera and Opera Colorado. Jeffrey Taveras, tenor, is from Long Island, New York, and is currently working on his master's degree in vocal performance at Boston University.
These singers were selected from over 450 applicants, of whom over 200 were auditioned in Ann Arbor and New York by Festival artistic staff. PMMF artistic director Joshua Major says, "This is probably the best group of singers we have had in recent years, and I think audiences will be thrilled."
"La Traviata" will be presented at the Rozsa Center on the campus of Michigan Tech on Sunday July 18 at 3:00 pm. It will also be presented in Marquette on July 13 and in Norway MI on July 15, at 7:30 pm.
The Resident Opera Artists will also present an evening of popular music called "Jerome Kern and Irving Berlin in Revue." This will be at the Calumet Theatre on June 24, 7:30 pm, and in other towns on other dates.
They will also give a recital of art songs at Grace United Methodist Church in Houghton on July 9, and will be the featured attraction at two season-opening events. The first will be a benefit event on June 16 in a private home in the Keweenaw, and the second the next day at the Chippewa Club in Iron Mountain.
Pine Mountain Music Festival presents a season of opera, classical and popular music each June-July in the Dickinson County area, the Marquette area, the Keweenaw Peninsula, and other smaller towns in the Upper Peninsula. Headquartered in Hancock, Michigan, it is supported by donations, ticket sales and grants. Visit the web at pmmf.org, or call 1-877-746-3999 for tickets (after April 12) or 888-309-7861 for more information.
Laura Jean Deming Award
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Press Release – Pine Mountain Music Festival For Immediate Release Contact: Peter Van Pelt Pine Mountain Music Festival 906-482-1542 Date: July 14, 2009 Music Festival Presents Deming Award to Harrison Marilee Harrison of Crystal Falls received the Laura Jean Deming Award from the Pine Mountain Music Festival for her outstanding volunteer work in managing the Festival the last few years. Currently president of the Board of Trustees, Harrison also served on the Festival’s Management Committee from January 2008 to April 2009. “Marilee showed awesome dedication to the Festival, meticulous attention to ensuring that planning and projects got done right, and a caring attitude toward staff, volunteers, artists and patrons. She is a shining example of commitment and wise leadership,” said Peter Van Pelt, executive director. “Every week she drove from Crystal Falls to the Festival office in Hancock, and she successfully helped shepherd the Festival through a difficult period of financial stress and uncertainty. She went way beyond the call of duty.” The Laura Jean Deming Award is named for the founder of Pine Mountain Music Festival and is presented annually to a person or group that has helped the Festival in exceptional ways. It was presented to Marilee Harrison in a public ceremony at Norway-Vulcan Fine Arts Center on July 8 when the Festival presented the opera “The Secret Marriage.” In her response, she spoke of her “great joy in working with the Festival’s volunteers and bringing music to so many communities.” The Festival’s 2009 season started on June 10 and ended July 12 with “The Secret Marriage” opera at the Rozsa Center in Houghton. In between, some 27 ticketed events and six free events for children were presented in communities ranging from Munising in the east to Ontonagon in the west. Music types ranged from opera to organ, chamber music and jazz. Pine Mountain Music Festival is supported by donations, ticket sales and grants. Visit the web at pmmf.org, or call 1-888-309-7861 for more information.
The Secret Marriage
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Press Release – Pine Mountain Music Festival
For Immediate Release
Contact: Peter Van Pelt
Pine Mountain Music Festival
906-482-1542
Date: June 24, 2009
Secret Marriage Leads
To Zany Complications
Opera returns to the Upper Peninsula with Pine Mountain Music Festival’s production of “The Secret Marriage” by Domenico Cimarosa. It will appear on July 8 at Norway-Vulcan Fine Arts Center in Norway, July 10 at Kaufman Auditorium in Marquette, and on July 12 at Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts in Houghton.
The Houghton show is at 3:00 p.m., and the others at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 (students and children $10) and are available from the Rozsa Center box office, tel. 906-487-3200 or 1-877-746-3999. A pre-opera talk, free to ticket holders, starts one hour before curtain time.
“The Secret Marriage” is a highly entertaining farce about the consequences of keeping secrets and the zany actions of mismatched couples. Although it was composed at the time of Mozart, this production is set in the 1960s and will be totally understandable and contemporary.
The featured singers will be the Festival’s six Resident Opera Artists, young professionals selected through nationwide auditions from a pool of over 400 applicants. An orchestra of 18 will play, and there will be English surtitles projected on a screen above the stage.
“This production is going to be sparkle and will be a lot of fun for the audience. It’s a great one for people not familiar with the world of opera,” says Joshua Major, artistic director of Pine Mountain Music Festival. “It’s a real romp, and is produced with the same high quality that the Festival is noted for.”
The Festival’s theme this year is “Anything Goes,” which highlights the fact that audience members do not need to know the story or dress up to enjoy the opera. “Just come, sit back, and let it wash over you,” says Peter Van Pelt, executive director of the Festival. “You’ll wonder why you didn’t discover opera sooner.”
The Pine Mountain Music Festival presents a season of opera, classical and jazz music each June-July in the Dickinson County area, the Marquette area, the Keweenaw Peninsula, and other smaller towns in the Upper Peninsula and northeastern Wisconsin. Headquartered in Hancock, Michigan, it is supported by donations, ticket sales and grants. Visit the web at pmmf.org, or call 1-877-746-3999 for tickets or 888-309-7861 for more information.