The Eastern Upper Peninsula welcomes the Festival of Voice to the Arts Center stage at Lake Superior State University on Wednesday, February 28. Choirs and soloists from around the eastern Upper Peninsula will performing at this annual event celebrating singing!
Area schools, including Rudyard, Sault Ste. Marie and Cedarville, will come with their choral groups to the Arts Center to perform for an adjudicator. Each year a guest voice professional comes in to provide constructive feedback for the singers to improve upon their performance techniques; which include diction, sound production, and overall interpretation of their pieces.
We are pleased to announce that this year’s adjudicator will be Central Michigan University lecturer, Soprano Amanda Pabyan. Ms. Pabyan has been acclaimed for her technical ability, power and her multi-shaded performances of eclectic repertoire spanning the compositions of Mozart, Beethoven, Mahler, Strauss, Britten, and Moravec.
Ms. Pabyan made her Metropolitan Opera debut as the formidable Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte under the baton of James Levine. She has also appeared on the operatic stage with Washington National Opera, Minnesota Opera, Florida Grand Opera, New York City Opera, Dallas Opera, Opera Colorado, Opera Atelier, and Arizona Opera. Moving into more dramatic repertoire, Ms. Pabyan recently made her role debut as Roselinda in Die Fledermaus with Opera on the James, Leonore in Beethoven’s Fidelio at the Shippensburg Festival, and appearances with the Cincinnati Symphony including excerpts from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Verdi’s Requiem, and in Guatemala performing Mahler’s Rückert Lieder.
On the concert stage, Ms. Pabyan has appeared with the Seattle Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, American Symphony Orchestra, Boston Baroque, New Haven Symphony and the National Symphony of Guatemala. Also active with opera and choral festivals, she has appeared with the Cincinnati May Festival, Lyrique-en Mer, the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, and La Folle Journée Festival in Japan. Her collaborators have included such notable conductors as James Conlon, Gustavo Dudamel, Martin Pearlman, Leon Botstein and Gerard Schwartz.
We are honored to have Ms. Pabyan as our adjudicator for this year’s festival.
In addition to the morning choral portion of the event, soloists will perform in the afternoon for Ms. Pabyan. The participating choirs will also sing together a piece chosen in advance that they will prepare and perform with the other groups. This group selection allows all of the singers to raise their voices in harmony altogether and experience singing in a large ensemble. The selection chosen for this year’s group piece is “Ashokan Farewell.”
This festival is open to all singers. Voice categories include 13 and under, 14-18, 19-26 and the adult singer. Anyone with a desire to get professional feedback on their solo performance is invited to participate. A registration fee of $15 per soloist is required at the time of registration. Registration forms can be found at www.sootheatre.org or in person at the Soo Theatre Office at 534 Ashmun Street. Hosted by Soo Opera Founder and Director, Karen Hughes Beacom and Sault High Choral Director, Lisa Justin, either host can be contacted for more information on how to register for this special event. Registrations will be taken through February 25, 2018.
This is event is open to the public. A full schedule of events will be posted on the Soo Theatre website as well as being posted in the lobby of the Arts Center on February 26th.
To read more about Amanda Pabyan you can visit her website at www.amandapabyan.com.
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