CARNEGIE HALL PRESENTS

Performance Tuesday, January 17, 2012 | 7:30 PM

The Song Continues... Renée Fleming Master Class

Zankel Hall Seating Chart
The young singers of The Song Continues … are in for a real treat—and so are you. Sit in as the incomparable Renée Fleming—a fearless advocate for the art of singing—helps young singers hone their vocal skills.

Performers

  • Dušica Bijelic, Soprano
  • Melissa Shippen Burrows, Soprano
  • Nathalie Mittelbach, Mezzo-Soprano
  • Marco Stefani, Tenor
  • Jonathan Estabrooks, Baritone (Alternate)
  • Brent Funderburk, Piano
  • Saule Tlenchiyeva, Piano

Bios

  • Dušica Bijelić


    Soprano Dušica Bijelić was born in Bosnia and later moved to Serbia, where she earned a master's degree under the tutelage of Ljudmila Groß-Popović. She has studied with Daniel Ferro, Renata Scotto, Dawn Upshaw, Lorraine Nubar, and Raúl Giménez.

    Ms. Bijelić made her debut at the Teatro Real in Madrid in the role of La Contessa di Foleville in Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims. She sang the title role in Pietro Generali's Adelina and the role of Clodina in Giuseppe Balducci's Il noce di Benevento at the Rossini in Wildbad festival. She has performed recitals in New York, Japan, Italy, Spain, Austria, Bosnia, Slovenia, and Serbia.

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  • Melissa Shippen Burrows


    First-prize winner at Munich's Viotti "Vokal Genial" Competition and the Opera Birmingham competitions, soprano Melissa Shippen Burrows debuted on Vesselina Kasarova's recording Belle Nuit. As recipient of The Opera Foundation Scholarship, she was contracted with the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Ms. Burrows has performed Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony and Britten's War Requiem at Carnegie Hall, and has also sung at The Kennedy Center. She is a Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions District Winner and Regional Finalist. Ms. Burrows has performed the operatic roles of Mimi, Antonia, Mařenka, Marguerite, and Blanche with Wolf Trap Opera Company, Aspen Opera, Palm Beach Opera, and Juilliard Opera. She earned her master's and bachelor's degrees in music from The Juilliard School.

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  • Nathalie Mittelbach


    A native of Basel, Switzerland, mezzo-soprano Nathalie Mittelbach is currently a second-year graduate student at The Juilliard School, where she studies with Dr. Edith Wiens. She is the recipient of several scholarships, including the Bertha Levin Scholarship and the Otto Lehmann Award. She has also received the Deutscher Akademische Austausch Dienst Prize (2006) and the International Summer Academy of the Mozarteum Salzburg"Young Artist" Prize (2009).

    She has performed the roles of Hansel, Cherubino, and Orlofsky. In the upcoming season, Ms. Mittelbach will be singing a recital presented by the Hugo Wolf Academy in Stuttgart.

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  • Marco Stefani


    Hailing from Pleasanton, California, Marco Stefani completed his undergraduate studies at the University of the Pacific and is a three-time alumnus of the Music Academy of the West. This past December, he received his master's degree in music from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Recently, he sang the role of Rinuccio in his debut with the Stockton Opera. Mr. Stefani has performed as the tenor soloist in Mozart's Requiem and Janáček's Otče náš,and will give a solo recital in his hometown at the Firehouse Arts Center in March 2012.

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  • Jonathan Estabrooks


    The first-place winner of the prestigious Oratorio Society of New York Vocal Competition at Carnegie Hall, Jonathan Estabrooks recently made his Canadian Opera Company debut with Opera Lyra Ottawa to rave reviews. He has performed for President Clinton and United Nations delegates; and has appeared with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Israeli Chamber Orchestra. He has also performed on the New York Festival of Song series and as Belcore in L'elisir d'amore on a 20-city tour. His principle roles include Guglielmo, Papageno, Shaunard, Pelléas,Tarquinius, and Smirnov. His upcoming engagements include performances of Menotti's The Telephone, Finzi's In Terra Pax with the Greenwich Choral Society, and a gala performance with Canadian Chamber Orchestra of New York City. Visit youtube.com/jonathanestabrooks to view his original video blog called A Singer's Life.

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  • Brent Funderburk


    South Carolina native Brent Funderburk is a versatile collaborative pianist and maintains an active schedule as a recitalist, studio accompanist, and audition pianist in New York. Mr. Funderburk has participated in renowned summer programs, including the Music Academy of the West, SongFest, and the Steans Music Institute at Ravinia Festival. He is currently a piano fellow at the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts at The Juilliard School, from where he received his master's degree in collaborative piano in 2011 under the tutelage of Brian Zeger, Margo Garrett, and Jonathan Feldman.

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  • Saule Tlenchiyeva


    Saule Tlenchiyeva has studied at both the Kazakh National Academy of Music and the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory. She was a top-prize winner of the Shabyt International Competition, Franz Schubert International Piano Competition, and International Edvard Grieg Piano Competition.

    In 2009, Ms. Tlenchiyeva won a full scholarship from Southern Methodist University, where she studied with Joaquín Achúcarro. In summer 2011, she won the prestigious Marilyn Horne Song Competition. Currently, Ms. Tlenchiyeva is a doctoral candidate in both piano performance and vocal collaborative piano at the University of North Texas under the tutelage of Vladimir Viardo.

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Renée Fleming

One of the most beloved and celebrated musical ambassadors of our time, Renée Fleming captivates audiences with her sumptuous voice, consummate artistry, and compelling stage presence. Known as “the people’s diva,” she continues to grace the world’s greatest stages, now extending her reach to include other musical forms and media. Ms. Fleming has hosted a wide variety of television and radio broadcasts, including the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series for movie theaters and television, and Live From Lincoln Center on PBS.

In the 2011–2012 season, Ms. Fleming reprises her celebrated portrayal of the title role in Handel’s Rodelinda at the Metropolitan Opera. After beginning the season as Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia at San Francisco Opera, she will sing Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos at Baden-Baden in a new production by Philippe Arlaud, and will appear in the title role of Arabella at both the Vienna Staatsoper and the Opéra national de Paris. She joins Dmitri Hvorostovsky and Sir Andrew Davis in a duo concert at Lyric Opera of Chicago, sings Strauss with Christoph Eschenbach and the London Philharmonic, and returns to Carnegie Hall with The MET Orchestra to perform Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder.

A three-time Grammy winner, Ms. Fleming has an extensive and wide-ranging discography on both CD and DVD. She has recorded everything from Strauss’s complete Daphne to a jazz album Haunted Heart and the movie soundtrack of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Other recent releases including the CD Dark Hope, which features Ms. Fleming covering songs by indie-rock and pop artists; and DVDs of Massenet’s Thaïs, Rossini’s Armida, and Verdi’s La Traviata, filmed at London’s Royal Opera House.

Ms. Fleming is a champion of new music and has performed works by a wide range of contemporary composers, including Henri Dutilleux, Brad Mehldau, Sir André Previn, and Wayne Shorter. Among her numerous awards are the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal (2011), Sweden’s Polar Prize (2008), and the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur from the French government (2005). In 2010, she was named the first ever Creative Consultant at Lyric Opera of Chicago.
The Song Continues… is supported by The Herman Lissner Foundation.
Professional Training Workshops are made possible, in part, by Mr. and Mrs. Nicola Bulgari and The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.
This program is part of the Marilyn Horne legacy at Carnegie Hall.

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