Free Admission
FEB 14 THE CREATIVE PROCESS: A DISCUSSION WITH MICHAEL FABIANO, TENOR, LAURENT PHILIPPE, PIANO, JIMMY LÓPEZ BELLIDO, COMPOSER, & NILO CRUZ, POET7pm / Holsclaw Hall / UA School of Music / Free and Open to the PublicFestival Coordinator George Hanson leads a discussion about the creative process behind Jimmy’s new work. How do composers and performers collaborate, exchange ideas, and inspire each other? The atmosphere is casual with a Q and A opportunity for the audience.Cuban-American playwright Nilo Cruz rose to national prominence in 2003 when he won the Pulitzer Prize for drama for his play Anna in the Tropics. The immigrant experience is a common theme in many of Cruz’s plays, and he has become known for his ability to successfully weave strains of magic realism and other literary traditions into his works. As a lyricist, he has written the libretti for The Conquest Requiem and The Santos Oratorio for composer Gabriela Lena Frank and adapted Ann Patchett’s 2001 novel Bel Canto for the Lyric Opera of Chicago with music by Peruvian composer Jimmy López Bellido.The recipient of the 2014 Beverly Sills Artist Award and the 2014 Richard Tucker Award, internationally renowned tenor Michael Fabiano is the first singer to win both awards in the same year and is considered one of the great voices of our time. Of Fabiano’s debut as Lensky in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at the Royal Opera, The Sunday Times in London wrote: “I can’t think of a Lensky at Covent Garden who has held the audience so spellbound in 40 years of Onegin-going… a glorious debut.” Recent appearances at The Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, and San Francisco Opera drew critical accolades.Award-winning composer Jimmy López Bellido is considered “one of the most interesting young composers anywhere today” (Chicago Sun-Times) and an “expert in orchestration” (New York Times) with a distinct voice that is “adventurous and winning” (Denver Post). His works have been performed by leading orchestras around the world and heard in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, the Sydney Opera House, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Vienna’s Musikverein, and Konzerthaus Berlin. In 2015, the Lyric Opera of Chicago commissioned him a full-length opera based on the bestselling novel Bel Canto, which premiered to critical acclaim and became the bestselling opera of Lyric’s 2015-2016 season.A French native, Laurent Philippe has established himself as a premier pianist and vocal coach to some of the world’s greatest singers including Jonathan Abernathy, Ambur Braid, Michael Fabiano, and Denyce Graves. He has enjoyed a 19-year tenureship as a faculty member at the celebrated Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and has worked as a guest coach for numerous opera companies and young artist programs across the globe. Philippe studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris from which he graduated with two Premier Prix.