Opera virtuosos in concert at UD March 1

4:10 p.m., Feb. 24, 2005--“Catch the Stars of the ‘Met’!” an evening of arias and art songs, the next concert in UD’s Master Players Chamber Series, is set for 8 p.m., Tuesday, March 1, in Mitchell Hall.

The concert features Ian Greenlaw, baritone with the Metropolitan Opera; Alexandra Deshorties, soprano with the Metropolitan Opera; Howard Watkins, piano coach and accompanist with the Metropolitan Opera; and Marie Robinson, University of Delaware faculty soprano. The program will include art songs of Francis Poulenc, Hugo Wolf, Maurice Ravel, John Carter and Kurt Weill, as well as gems from the operatic repertoire of Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Handel, Gounod and Puccini.

Tickets are $17 for adults, $12 for senior citizens/UDstaff and alumni and $5 for students and are on sale at UD box offices, through TicketMaster, by calling (302) 984-2000, and at the door.

Alexandra Deshorties

This series is under the management of the University of Delaware Department of Music and cosponsored by the University of
Delaware Performing Art Series and the Office of the President.

A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artists Development Program, Alexandra Deshorties has developed a strong relationship with the Metropolitan Opera over the past few seasons. She made her house debut during the 1999-2000 season as the Priestess in Aida. The following season she sang the role of Anna in the Met’s new production of Nabucco, as well as First Lady in Die Zauberflote.

This past season Deshorties returned as Donna Anna in a new production of Don Giovanni and as Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro. Deshorties studied at the Marseilles Conservatory, where she earned a gold medal/first prize for her performance in vocal juries. She continued her education at the Manhattan School of Music.

Ian Greenlaw

Baritone Ian Greenlaw is quickly gaining a reputation as an up-and-coming baritone. This past season, Greenlaw returned to the Metropolitan Opera for its production of The Merry Widow. He also made his debut with Opera Colorado singing Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia. This current season he made his debut with the Arizona Opera as Dandini in La Cenerentola, and returns to Chicago Opera Theater as Demetrius in its new production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

A native of Saint Louis, Greenlaw received his bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music and his master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Marie Robinson is an associate professor of voice at UD. A native of Thomasville, Ga., Robinson made her operatic debut as Aida with the Graz Opera Theatre, where she was principal soloist for three years.

Marie Robinson

Subsequent engagements took her to Mannheim, Frankfurt, Berlin, Prague, Zurich, a tour of Japan, the Ravina Festival and Mexico, Hong Kong, Marseille and Lyon. Her repertoire includes 33 major roles and she appeared with 42 companies in Eastern and Western Europe as well as the United States, Canada and South America. Robinson earned her doctorate at Florida State University, where she studied with Elena Nikolaidi and Yvonne Cianella.

American pianist Howard Watkins is in the vanguard of the current generation of collaborative pianists. In recent years, he has assisted many of the world’s leading musicians both on the concert stage and in his work as an assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. Watkins was one of only two pianists from a worldwide audition invited into the Lindemann Young Artist Program of the Metropolitan Opera in 1998, and he was soon invited to join the
regular music staff.

Howard Watkins

In September 2002, he made his performing debut at the Metropolitan as the harpsichord recitative accompanist for Rossini’s La Cenerentola. Watkins has performed in recitals and concerts throughout the United States, South America, Europe, Russia, Israel and the Far East. A native of Dayton, Ohio, Watkins received his undergraduate degree from the University of Dayton and earned his doctorate at the University of Michigan.

For more information, call (302) 831-2677.

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