The Lakes Area Music Festival will present the third concert of its digital Winter Series: Transcending the Night.
Curated by Music Festival artistic advisor Paul Hopper of the Metropolitan Opera, this vocal recital will premiere at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, on the Lakes Area Music Festival’s website and Facebook page. To join the broadcast visit lakesareamusic.org/transcending/ or call 218-275-5263 (ASK-LAMF).
“It has been such a joy to come full circle with LAMF, curating my first concert as an artistic advisor after performing in the first few seasons of the festival over a decade ago,” Hopper stated in a news release.
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“Transcending the Night stars soprano Brandie Sutton and baritone Justin Austin, two New York-based singers that I met through my work at The Metropolitan Opera. Together, with pianist Eric Edgwick, we have curated a wide-ranging program of works that the artists have turned to for comfort and catharsis over the last year. Spanning art song, jazz, spiritual and opera, I hope this program brings the audience solace and hope as we look towards brighter days ahead.”
Hopper, who began his career as a singer with Wolf Trap Opera, the Lakes Area Music Festival, and others, has overseen the casting of supporting roles for the Metropolitan Opera since 2018. Previously, he was the assistant artistic director at Houston Grand Opera, where he helped to guide long term artistic planning and casting, managed special artistic initiatives, and led a variety of audiences to learn more about opera.
Sutton, soprano, made her debut at Vienna’s Theater an der Wien in the autumn of 2020 as Clara in Porgy and Bess. This was also the role of her Metropolitan Opera debut in February 2020. She will return to the Met next season as La Fée in Cendrillon.
Baritone Justin Austin was born in Stuttgart, Germany, to professional opera singer parents. He has appeared with the Bavarian State Opera, Munich, the Grand Theatre de Geneve, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, New York Festival of Song and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.
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There also will be an online question and answer session before the virtual concert at 10 a.m. Saturday. This session will be offered via Zoom and Facebook Live, giving the audience a chance to meet Sutton, Austin and Hopper and ask questions about their lives, careers, and creativity.
For more information on this program, visit lakesareamusic.org/transcending/ or call 218-275-5263 (ASK-LAMF). Accessibility is a key value of the Lakes Area Music Festival; as such, all programs are offered without charge, with donations accepted in lieu of admission fees.
