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A Russian Winter's Night, Friday, February 12
th
2010
Instantly, Irina Mozyleva’s silvery soprano can turn winter into spring. Critics have variously described her voice as sweet-timbered with beautifully rounded top-to-bottom tone, brilliant, melting and of impressive virtuosity. She is a recitalist and chamber performer whose New York appearances have included Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall and Trinity Church near Wall Street. Outside New York she has delighted audiences in Washington DC, on North Carolina’s Outer Banks and in Highland Heights, Kentucky. In all, Ms. Mozyleva has performed over fifty solo recitals in various venues. She is a frequent guest performer at The Russian Chamber Arts Society, Washington DC; Afternoon Recitals in the Music Room at Caramoor, Katonah; Downtown Music at Grace, White Plains; and the New York Public Library Series.
Ms. Mozyleva often performs the music of Russian composers, particularly of Shostakovich, whose works she has sung with the New York Philharmonic Ensembles, the Philadelphia Piano Trio, the Innisfree Piano Trio and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra; with the latter she performed From Jewish Poetry. “History Through Song,” a series of thematic recitals of lesser-known chamber compositions conceived and developed by Irina Mozyleva, had a successful run for several years in Beacon, NY. “Songs from the Ashes”—celebrating the music of Holocaust composers - and “Wives and Colleagues” – exploring the lives and works of Clara Schumann and Alma Mahler, were among the titles featured in the series. “History Through Song” received ongoing grants from The Dutchess County Arts Council.
Among others, Ms. Mozyleva’s operatic engagements have included the role of Rosina in John Copley’s production of “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” for the San Francisco Opera Merola Young Artist Program and the role of Anna in The Curtis Institute of Music production of “Kissing and Horrid Strife” in association with the Philadelphia Opera Company.
Ms. Mozyleva has presented workshops and recitals of Russian repertoire at universities and schools around the country, including Mannes School of Music in New York, Northern University of Kentucky, College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Poughkeepsie Day School in Poughkeepsie, New York. As a voice teacher she was on the faculty of Amadeus Conservatory of Music in Chappaqua, New York for many years.
Born in Belarus, Ms. Mozyleva studied opera at the Moscow Conservatory in Russia and at the Julliard School of Music in New York. She then completed formal training at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and was the recipient of a full scholarship at The Tangelwood Music Festival in Massachusetts.
In 2001, she released a CD, “Russian Lullabies,” dedicated to her daughter Leah.
Update: Listen to excepts from Irina's performance recorded live from recital in Washington DC, in
December of 2006. This performance was presented by Russian Chamber Arts Society, an
organization specializing in presenting Russian chamber vocal music.All three pieces are Vintage Russian Art Songs
of the 19th Century. Click the play button under Irina's picture to listen to these selections. |
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Irina Mozyleva
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Louis Menendez has earned a reputation for extraordinarily sensitive and powerfully dramatic musicianship at the podium as an opera conductor, on stage collaborating in recital, and at the piano as vocal coach.
Immediately upon obtaining his Master of Music degree from Temple University, Mr. Menendez was invited to join the faculty of the Curtis Institute of Music and subsequently, Philadelphia’s Academy of Vocal Arts, holding both positions for a number of years.
As a conductor, Mr. Menendez most recently toured with a production of Porgy and Bess in Italy, Spain, and Germany, where he made his European debut at the Staatsoper in Hannover. Earlier this season, he conducted Pucinni’s Madama Butterfly with the Shreveport Symphony and Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the Brooklyn Opera. Past productions conducted include: Idomeneo and Die Zauberflöte for the California Music Festival in San Francisco; La Clemenza di Tito, Cosi fan Tutte, and La Traviata at the New York Opera Studio; Rigoletto and Die Entführung with the Philadelphia Concert Opera; and Suor Angelica and Falstaff at the Academy of Vocal Arts.
As one of New York’s busiest and most respected operatic coaches, Mr. Menendez has assisted such artists as Sherrill Milnes, Birgit Nilsson, Renata Scotto, Regina Resnick, Régine Crespin, Alfredo Kraus, Mignon Dunn, Luciano Pavarotti, Jennifer Larmore, Fabrizio Melano, Martina Arroyo, Joan Dorneman, Tito Capobianco, Nico Castel, and Bruno Rigacci, in master classes and private sessions.
As collaborative pianist, Mr. Menendez recently premiered Sean Hickey’s Ampersand with violinist Julia Sakarova at Julliard and Steinway Hall. He has also been heard in Lincoln Center as recitative harpsichordist for a concert performance of Rossini’s La Cambiale di Matrimonio at Alice Tully Hall. Mr. Menendez counts among his most memorable experiences recitals with singers Louis Quilico, Jerome Hines, Stephanie Blythe, Nico Castel, Elizabeth Futral, and Allan Glassman.
Mr. Menendez’s passion and love for chamber music began early in his career – he has since had the pleasure of working with such artists as Yo Yo Ma, Raphael Druian, Jaime Laredo, Aaron Rosand, Felix Galimir, Orlando Cole, Jasha Brodsky, and renowned flutists Julius Baker and James Galway. For ten years, he toured extensively with his piano trio Orpheus III, which included members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. In its tenure, the Trio commissioned and premiered original works and performed the Beethoven Triple Concerto with many regional orchestras.
A dedicated educator and administrator, Mr. Menendez has served as Artistic Director of the Anchorage Opera Studio Theatre; Music Director for Sarasota Opera’s Studio Artists; Founder and Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Concert Opera; Founder and Director of the Apprentice Coach Program at Sherrill Milnes’s “Voice Experience”; and has been on the coaching staffs for the International Institute of Vocal Arts in Chiari, Italy, the Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, the California Music Festival in San Francisco, and Martina Arroyo’s “Prelude to Performance”. Since 2003, he has been Music Director for the New York Opera Studio, headed by Nico and Carol Castel. Classical Singer Magazine interviewed him and published the article “Time Stands Still, a Formula for Developing Artistry” in the October 2005 issue.
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Louis Menendez
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Copyright © 2010
Saint George Russian Orthodox Church
4905 Myrtle Ave.
Blue Ash, Ohio 45242-6134
(513) 791-6540
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