D’Anna Fortunato, mezzo-soprano, with Ensemble Aubade (flute, viola, harp), concert November 2

BOSTON - Oct. 25, 2014 - PRLog -- Sunday Afternoon at the Greenough House presents mezzo-soprano D’Anna Fortunato, a favorite on the international concert stage, with the acclaimed trio Ensemble Aubade (Peter H. Bloom, flute; Francis Grimes, viola; Mary Jane Rupert, harp) on Sunday, November 2, 2014 at 3:00 pm, The Loring-Greenough House, 12 South Street, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130.  Donations $15, $10 seniors, students and JPTC members. Limited seating. Reservations 617.524.3158 or lghouseconcerts@aim.com

http://loring-greenough.org/publicevent/sunday-afternoon-at-the-greenough-house-parlor-concert-7/

The centerpiece of this Gala Vocal Chamber Concert will be the world premiere of At the Landing: Verses from a Poet’s Life by David Owens (text by Elisavietta Ritchie).   Other selections will include Romanza for Voice, Viola and Harp by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) Sonatine en Trio by Maurice Ravel,  Vowels (1993) by Daniel Pinkham, and the magnificent Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp by Claude Debussy, performed on the eve of its centenary (the piece was written in 1915).

An admired favorite on the international concert stage, D’Anna Fortunato (mezzo-soprano) has appeared as a soloist with Kurt Mazur and the New York Philharmonic, with Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and with other top American orchestras (Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Cleveland, Dallas, Minnesota, St. Luke’s Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and others).  She has performed major operatic roles with leading companies, including Glimmerglass, Kentucky Opera, Connecticut Grand Opera, Opera San Jose, and Boston Lyric Opera.  She has performed Handel’s operas in such venues as Merkin Hall, Carnegie Hall, and Monadnock Music, while singing major roles in 8 premiere Handel CDs for Albany, Newport Classic, and Vox.  Among her many repeat festival appearances are Vaison-la-Romaine, Berlin’s Spectrum Concerts, the Rome Bach Festival, Marlboro, Casals, Tanglewood, Blossom, and Newport.  She has recorded 40 CDs for Harmonia Mundi, London/Decca, Sony Classical, Nonesuch, Koch International, Naxos, and Albany. A regional Met Winner, she also received the Naumburg Prize and the Jacopo Peri Award.  She serves on the faculty of the New England Conservatory College Division.  In 2006, Ms. Fortunato was a Grammy nominee in three categories including best classical vocal recording.

Peter H. Bloom (flute and alto flute), whose playing has been called “a revelation for unforced sweetness and strength” (The Boston Globe), tours widely in North America, Europe and Asia, and appears on 40 CDs from labels including SONY Classical, Dorian, Newport Classic, and Leo Records.  Winner of the American Musicological Society’s Noah Greenberg Award, he performs with leading classical ensembles including Ensemble Chaconne, Olmsted Ensemble and the New Mendelssohn Quintet Club, and is also a noted jazz artist, long-time flutist/saxophonist with the renowned Aardvark Jazz Orchestra (“a saxophonic blend worthy of Ellington’s finest reed sections” - Jazz Times).  He serves as historical woodwind consultant for the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; provides musical direction for museum exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad; and has given lectures, workshops and master classes worldwide on such diverse topics as historical performance, masterworks of the literature, new music, and improvisation. A contributing editor for Noteworthy Sheet Music, he received a Master of Music with Distinction from the New England Conservatory of Music, and holds a BA in Philosophy from Boston University.

Mary Jane Rupert (harp), praised by the New York Times as exhibiting “indeed real sensitivity,” has performed throughout the world from Carnegie Recital Hall to the Beijing Concert Hall.  She has appeared as concert pianist and harpist with symphony orchestras and chamber music groups across the United States, including Silverwood, The Record Players, Musica Sacra, Cecilia Society, Masterworks Chorale, the Boston Philharmonic, the New Hampshire Symphony, Boston Classical Orchestra and New Philharmonia.  She records for North Star Records and Harmony Hill and serves on the music faculties of Tufts University and Boston College.  Previously, she held teaching positions at Missouri Western College, Western Michigan University, MIT, and Wellesley College, where she taught harp for 20 years. Her arrangements of the Nutcracker Suite for Flute & Harp and Flute & Piano are published by Noteworthy Sheet Music.  Dr. Rupert holds a DM in Piano Performance and Music Literature, an MM in Piano, and an MM in Harp from Indiana University, as well as a BM in Piano from Oberlin College.

Francis Grimes, viola, is an esteemed chamber musician, orchestral player and educator.  He has performed with the Boston Pops, Boston Opera, Masterworks Chorale, Sinfonova, Boston Ballet, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Harvard Chamber Orchestra, and other premier ensembles during his extensive career.  He regularly serves in the orchestras of the Colonial and Schubert Theatres, and frequently performs as a member of Copley Chamber Players. Mr. Grimes has served on the faculties of Milton Academy, All Newton Music School, Community Music Center of Boston, the Rhode Island Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and the Young People’s Symphony of Rhode Island.  He attended Boston University’s School of Fine Arts, and completed his BM at Indiana University as a student of William Primrose. He attended summer programs at Tanglewood and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara.  He also studied with Roman Totenberg, Bernard Kadinoff, Eugene Lehner, and members of the Berkshire String Quartet at Indiana University, and the Fine Arts Quartet at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Bloom and Rupert have concertized internationally for more than 20 years as the duo “2”, with recent tours in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and the United States.  “2” is featured on the title track of a recent CD from Navona Records,Kleemation and Other Works by Elizabeth Vercoe (“outstanding in every respect, an artistic masterwork” – Dr. Laura G. Kafka, IAWM Journal).

Management by Americas Musicworks, Rebecca DeLamotte, Managing Director, 29 Newbury Street, Somerville, MA 02144-2442 USA.  Telephone:  617-776-8778  or  888-887-7169.