Jamie Barton, mezzo, Kathleen Kelly, piano
Thursday, December 10, 2009, 7:30 PM, Terrace Theater
in association with The Marilyn Horne Foundation

American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, whose voice has been hailed as, “dark and bright, soft and loud, serene and vivacious,” is a winner of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council awards and a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio. She recently made her Houston Grand Opera debut as Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte in January of 2008. She made her professional operatic debut as Annina in La Traviata at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in 2007, and has worked with OTSL covering roles such as Olga Olsen in Street Scene, Katisha in The Mikado, Mrs. Rochester in the American premiere of Michael Berkeley's Jane Eyre, and Betsy in the world premiere of David Carlson’s Anna Karenina. She returns to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis to do Suzuki in their 2008 performance of Madame Butterfly. As a masters student at Indiana University, Jamie performed the roles of the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, Tisbe in La Cenerentola, Buttercup in HMS Pinafore, and Mrs. Soames in the 2006 world premiere of Ned Rorem's Our Town. Future roles include the Witch in Hansel and Gretel at Aspen Music Festival, Ursule in Beatrice and Benedict, Giovanna in Rigoletto, and Mrs. Rolandson in the world premiere of André Previn’s Brief Encounter at Houston Grand Opera.

Jamie Barton is a respected recitalist. Ms. Barton recently opened the 2007-2008 Marilyn Horne Foundation On Wings of Song recital series with pianist Kathleen Kelly with enormous success. Jamie will be making her Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall debut in a duo recital presented by the Marilyn Horne Foundation in January of 2009. She has received extensive training as a recitalist at the Tanglewood Music Center where she was a Fellow in Vocal Studies for the summers of 2006 and 2007. While working at Tanglewood Music Center, Jamie had the pleasure to work with artists and coaches such as Dawn Upshaw, James Levine, Ira Siff, Alan Smith, Olly Wilson, Lucy Shelton, Kayo Iwama, and Phyllis Curtin. Since beginning with the Houston Grand Opera Studio she has also participated in several recital series’ including the popular Recital at Rienzi. While Jamie’s recital repertory is inclusive of many musical eras, she has devoted quite a bit of time to the ever expansive genre of 20th century and new music, adding the works of Charles Ives, Betsy Jolas, Paul Hindemith, Anna Jacobs, and Olly Wilson to her extensive recital repertory.

Jamie made her Spivey Hall and her NPR debut singing Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody in 2000. Other oratorio performances include the world premiere of Chris Theofanidis’s The Refuge with the Houston Grand Opera, Durufle’s Requiem, Bach’s Cantata 197, Handel’s Alexander’s Feast, Honegger’s King David, and Mozart’s Requiem for which she has been a featured soloist 8 times and has had the pleasure of covering Susan Graham in the 2006 Tanglewood Music Center performance with James Levine.

Kathleen Kelly, Houston Grand Opera's incoming head of music staff, visits with Laura Chandler about her new role in shaping the company’s musical future.

"Outside the box," even though the phrase has become a cliché, is nonetheless a good description of the thinking that has always guided Houston Grand Opera. It's also a good description both figuratively and literally for Kathleen Kelly, who will become HGO's head of music staff this fall. Kelly really has been in a box--the prompter's box--at the Metropolitan Opera for a good part of the past eight years. Her experience at the Met as assistant conductor, coach, and prompter has been invaluable, but she is now ready to "live above ground," she says with a laugh.

A circuitous path led her to this point. Her father was active in amateur musical theater, and as a girl, Kelly watched in awe as the director led rehearsals from the piano. "She knew every note and every word," she recalls. Kelly grew up thinking she wanted to accompany singers, and she started by accompanying her father in church.

But Kelly, who describes herself as "competitive by nature--a part of me likes to win gold stars"--discovered that she preferred being a solo performer; in fact, her master's degree is in piano performance. Her university didn't have an opera program, nor was she interested in playing for opera. "I had the same kinds of prejudices a lot of people have--that it's something you do when you can't be a concert pianist." She began to change her mind, however, after an encounter with HGO Music Director Patrick Summers--an encounter she vividly recalls.

Kelly's formidable skills transfer easily to her work at HGO. As head of music staff, she will supervise the musical preparation of the singers and will coach artists herself. She will also be called upon to conduct. In general, her job is to be, as she says, "Patrick Summers's right hand" in implementing the company's musical standards. Also, Kelly will become the music director for the Houston Grand Opera Studio, HGO's young artist training program. Having previously served on the Studio's guest faculty, she looks forward to working one on one with the members in greater depth. And, yes, the Studio pianist-coaches will study prompting with her--"even though they will probably never do it"--because of its value to their development.