Saturday, April 6, 2024 • 7:30 p.m.
location TBA
Harmonia Orchestra & Chorus
William White, conductor
Joseph Vaz, piano
Ellaina Lewis, soprano
Melissa Plagemann, mezzo-soprano
Brendan Tuohy, tenor
Zachary Lenox, baritone
Program
Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)
Candide Overture
George Gershwin (1898–1937)
Rhapsody in Blue
— intermission —
William C. White (*1983)
Cassandra [world premiere]
About the Concert
An all-American program with a dramatic flair, this concert promises to be one of the most lively, toe-tapping events of the season!
Guest Artists
A “performer of complex repertoire” (Isle of Wight Arts League Creative Voice), pianist Joseph Vaz has performed internationally as a soloist and chamber musician in the United States, Canada, Austria and Italy, in venues from Carnegie Hall to the Arnold Schönberg Center in Vienna. Born in Faro, Portugal, Mr. Vaz now lives in New York and studies at the CUNY Graduate Center with the renowned pianist and pedagogue Julian Martin. He is a laureate of several national and international competitions since 2012, with recent performances at the Seattle International Piano Competition, Robert Beardsley Piano Prize Competition and the West Virginia International Piano Competition.
Mr. Vaz frequently performs at international festivals, including recent appearances at the Internationale Sommerakademie in Reichenau, Orford Music Academy, Bowdoin Music Festival and Chautauqua Piano Institute. He has played for several acclaimed artists and pedagogues, including Byron Janis, Jerome Lowenthal, Jon Nakamatsu, John Perry and Natalya Antonova. His orchestral debut came with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra in 2015, and he has also performed as soloist with the Seven Hills Sinfonietta and other orchestral ensembles.
An active collaborative pianist, Mr. Vaz has worked with a diverse array of musicians in chamber music and with multiple orchestras and choirs for operas and concert programs. He is a proponent of new music, working closely with several composers on pieces for world premieres. Interested in many genres, he enjoys working in contemporary music ensembles, musical theater and popular music. Outside of music, Mr. Vaz holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a minor in French from Indiana University, and can be found on the 6 train with his nose in a book.
Praised for “a broad, resonant baritone that is exquisitely controlled throughout his entire range,” Zachary Lenox has performed across North America, including the roles of Silvio (Pagliacci), Marcello (La Bohème), Marullo (Rigoletto), Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Guglielmo and Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Father (Hansel and Gretel), Sid (Albert Herring), Gianni Schicchi and Betto (Gianni Schicchi), and Dick Deadeye (H.M.S. Pinafore). He has appeared with Portland Opera, Opera Parallèle, Pacific Music Works, Cascadia Chamber Opera, Portland Summerfest, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Portland Concert Opera, Eugene Concert Choir, Bravo Northwest and the Astoria Music Festival. Concert appearances include Handel’s Messiah, Samson and Judas Maccabeus, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Schubert’s Mass in G, the Mozart, Verdi and Fauré Requiems, Orff’s Carmina Burana and many works of J.S. Bach, including both the role of Jesus and the baritone arias (the latter on short notice) in the St. Matthew Passion with Harmonia. His engagements this season include Beethoven’s Ninth with the Oregon Symphony, the world premiere of William C. White’s Cassandra with Harmonia, and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with Festival Chorale Oregon.
- Learn more: zacharylenox.com