• UNC Charlotte Department of Music Presents Opera World Premiere

• Saturday, December 3rd, 2011
• Department of Music

Timothy Nelson’s Songs of the Fisherman
January 9@ 8 pm
Belk Theater, Robinson Hall
UNC Charlotte

The UNC Charlotte Department of Music will present the world premiere of a chamber opera by Timothy Nelson, director of American Opera Theater, on Monday, January 9, 2012 in the Anne R. Belk Theater at Robinson Hall. Inspired by Homer’s Odyssey and the creation story in Genesis, Songs of the Fisherman presents the simultaneously intimate and universal journey of a life, from birth through self-discovery, alienation, reconciliation, and ultimately, death.

Songs of the Fisherman is written for tenor and dancer, with an accompanying ensemble of string quartet, piano, and percussion. The premiere will feature UNC Charlotte Assistant Professor of Voice Brian Arreola and guest dancer Alison Mixon. Gretchen Alterowitz, Assistant Professor of Dance at UNC Charlotte, choreographed the opera; the scenic design is by Assistant Professor of Theatre Anita Easterling.

The instrumental ensemble includes special guest artists Wei-Wei Le, violin, and Yin Zheng, piano; Assistant Professor of Cello Mira Frisch; Charlotte Symphony Assistant Concertmaster Kari Giles; violist and UNC Charlotte instructor Kirsten Swanson; and percussionist Scott Christian, Principal Timpanist of the West Virginia Symphony.

Prior to the opera performance on January 9, Wei-Wei Le and Yin Zheng will present a lecture recital that explores Chinese and western art music and looks at the culture of music education in China and the U.S. That performance will take place at 3:30 pm in the Rowe Recital Hall at UNC Charlotte. It is free and open to the public.

The world premiere of Songs of the Fisherman and the recital of Chinese music are funded through a UNC Charlotte Chancellor’s Diversity Challenge Grant, a Faculty Research Grant, and a Regional Artist Project Grant from the Arts & Science Council.

Tickets are $9, $7 for seniors and UNC Charlotte faculty and staff, and $6 for students. For more information, call 704-687-1849 or visit www.performances.uncc.edu.

Special Guest Artists:

Timothy Nelson, composer and director is Artistic Director at Accademia Europea Dell'Opera, Canadian Operatic Arts Academy, American Opera Theater, and Netherlands Opera Studio. Hailed by the New York Times as "the future of opera," Timothy Nelson leads a new generation of American directors. In 2009 he was one of four awardees in the Opera Europa International Directing Prize, and has also received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Geoffrey C. Hughes Foundation, and the Virginia Commission on the Arts. He maintains an active career in North America and Europe, focused on connecting opera and social commentary. Nelson is also active as a composer, primarily of vocal music.

Alison Mixon is a professional dancer, dance teacher, and Juilliard graduate specializing in ballet, pointe, modern, and musical theater. She has performed professionally for Paramount Pictures, Disneyland Entertainment, eBay, NewBalance, She Beest, Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Carolina, Baltimore Centerstage, Pasadena Playhouse, and Theater League. She enjoys sharing her passion for dance with students of all ages. She has taught for Harlem School of the Arts, Columbia Performing Arts Centre, New Dance Group, Dance Temp., MUSE Dance, Elizabeth Modeling & Talent, and Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers.

Wei-Wei Le, violin, has won numerous international violin competitions, including the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition (England), the Kloster Schontal International Violin Competition (Germany), and the Starling International Violin Competition (USA).  As a solo performer, Ms. Le has given recitals and concerts all over the world and has been featured in leading music stages such as Carnegie Hall, Barbican Center, and Wigmore Hall. She has also soloed with noteworthy orchestras such as the Hong Kong Philharmonic (Hong Kong) and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (London). She was the first violin of Vega Quartet in 2006-2008, the Quartet-in-Residence at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The quartet appeared at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in February of 2007 and made their Zankel Hall debut with Richard Stoltzman. Wei-Wei Le currently resides in Las Vegas, where she was recently appointed Assistant Professor in Violin at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Pianist Yin Zheng has performed extensively across Europe, US, and Asia.  Shev has been featured on leading music stages such as Carnegie Hall and Steinway Hall in New York City and, in worldwide reputable music festivals in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Spain, Portugal, China, and Canada. China’s youngest female PhD in Piano Performance and Literature, she has won
first prizes in both the 28th Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competition held by New York Piano Teachers’ Congress and the Empire State Piano Competition of the New York State Music Teachers’ Association. Her chamber performance was recorded by Radio Suisse Romande. In 2006 she was engaged for Mozart double and triple piano concerto performances with Nelita True in the prestigious Oriental Arts Center collaborating with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. She was recently invited to record a Mozart cycle for the Hong Kong record label. Dr. Zheng was appointed Assistant Professor of Piano and Coordinator of the Keyboard Program at Oakland University in Michigan in fall, 2007.

UNC Charlotte Faculty Artists:

Brian Arreola, tenor, is an Assistant Professor of Voice at UNC Charlotte. He is an internationally recognized classical singer (having sung more than 20 operas with major companies, including recent roles with Minnesota Opera, St. Louis Opera Theater, Opera Carolina, Grachtenfestival (Netherlands), Ente Concerti (Italy) and American Opera Theater).  He also previously co-founded and served as co-Artistic Director of Cantus, a full-time 11-member male classical singing ensemble that is widely regarded as the premier male vocal ensemble in the country. Arreola sang with Cantus for 10 years and recorded nine CDs with them before pursuing a career in opera. He has soloed with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Indianapolis Symphony.

Gretchen Alterowitz, choreographer, is an Assistant Professor of Dance at UNC Charlotte. Alterowitz's choreography has recently been presented by the 11th annual Women on the Way Festival in San Francisco, CA; the Emerging Choreographers showcase in Monterrey, CA; and the North Carolina Dance Festival. In 2008 she performed in Beijing and Shanghai as a dance and cultural ambassador to the cultural festival surrounding the Olympic Games. Alterowitz regularly presents her work at international and national dance conferences.

Anita Tripathi Easterling is the Assistant Professor of Scene Design at UNC Charlotte's Department of Theatre.  She teaches classes in design, stage properties, scene painting, and portfolio development and designs professionally at venues such as The New Jersey Shakespeare Theatre and Greenbrier Valley Theatre. She holds an MFA in Scene Design from the University of South Carolina.  Her work can be viewed at www.aeasterling.com.

Mira Frisch, cello, is an Assistant Professor of Cello, and Director of String Chamber Music at UNC Charlotte. She has performed as a recitalist and chamber musician throughout the United States and in Bermuda, Italy, and France. In Duo XXI, with violinist Anna Cromwell, she has performed at the National Gallery of Bermuda, the University of Minnesota's Bravo! Festival, the McColl Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, and at many universities throughout the United States.

About the UNC Charlotte Department of Music

Part of the College of Arts + Architecture at UNC Charlotte, the Department of Music represents more than 70 students, 16 full-time faculty, and 19 part-time faculty. The department offers a B.A. in Music, a B.M in Music Performance and in Music Education, a Graduate Certificate in Violin, and a music minor. For more information, visit www.coaa.uncc.edu.