Sweet and Friends - An Afternoon of Opera on February 22

Westminster Choir College presents “Sweet and Friends Benefit Concert” Sunday, February 22 at 3 p.m. in Bristol Chapel on the campus of Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, N.J.  Proceeds will benefit the Westminster Graduate Voice Performance Scholarship Fund. 

The program will feature soprano Sharon Sweet with fellow Westminster Choir College faculty members and special guests, including include Elizabeth Sutton, soprano; Nova Thomas, soprano; Theodora Hanslowe, mezzo-soprano; Keith Buhl, tenor; Tom Faracco, tenor; Eric Rieger, tenor; Tom Studebaker, tenor; Elem Eley, baritone; Mark Moliterno, baritone; and more. They will be accompanied by pianists William Hobbs and J.J. Penna, with narration by Margaret Cusack. The performance will feature excerpts from Wagner's Lohengrin and Die Walküre; Rossini's L’italiana in Algeri and Le Comte Ory; Verdi's Otello and La Traviata; Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos; Bellini's I Puritani; Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffman; and Giordano's Andrea Chénier.

Dramatic soprano Sharon Sweet began her international career with a concert performance of Aida in Munich that brought her an invitation to join the Deutsche Oper Berlin at the beginning of the 1986-1987 season, where she was particularly acclaimed for her interpretation of Leonora in Il Trovatore and Elisabeth in Tannhäuser. Her debut at the Paris Opéra in 1987 as Élisabeth di Valois in Don Carlos was the springboard for her subsequent international career. She sang her first Norma at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie under the late Sir John Pritchard and made her first Italian appearance in Aida at the Arena di Verona.

Ms. Sweet’s operatic discography includes complete recordings of Don Giovanni under Sir Neville Marriner; Falstaff, Lohengrin and Der Freischütz under Marek Janowski; and Il Trovatore. In 1999 she joined the faculty at Westminster Choir College of Rider University, where she is professor of voice. She is in frequent demand to lead master classes and to judge international competitions.

One of the most gifted collaborative pianists of his generation, J. J. Penna has performed in recital with very notable singers. Dr. Penna has been heard at Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.; Weill Hall, Zankel Hall and Merkin Recital Hall in New York City; the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City; Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood; Wigmore Hall in London; as well as on concert tours throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, the Far East, South America and the former Soviet Union.  Devoted to the performance and study of new music, he has premiered song cycles by William Bolcom, Ricky Ian Gordon, Richard Hundley and Lowell Liebermann. He has performed and held fellowships at prestigious festivals, such as Tanglewood Music Center, Chautauqua Institution, Banff Center for the Arts, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, the Music Academy of the West, and San Francisco Opera Center’s Merola Program, where he received the Otto Guth Award.  In addition to serving on the Westminster Choir College faculty he is a coach at The Juilliard School.

A member of the faculty at Westminster Choir College faculty, William Hobbs also works at many of the world’s major opera houses as con­ductor and coach. These include the Opéra National de Paris, the Salz­burg Festival, San Francisco Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Seattle Opera, Washington Opera and the Opéra de Monte-Carlo. His repertoire ranges from Handel to the Euro­pean avant-garde, as well as works by Slavic composers and a number of premieres by American com­posers He has assisted conductors and has worked closely with such singers as Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Olga Borodina, Frederica von Stade, Roberto Alagna, Paul Groves, Placido Domingo, Rod Gil­fry, Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Sam Ra­mey.

General admission is $25. All proceeds will benefit the Westminster Graduate Voice Scholarship Fund. Tickets can be purchased at the door, through the Westminster Box Office at 609-921-2663 or online at www.rider.edu/arts.

Westminster Choir College is located at 101 Walnut Lane in Princeton, N.J. For more information, visit www.rider.edu/arts.