Patricia Racette, soprano, Craig Terry, piano
Friday, April 9, 2010, 7:30 PM, Embassy of Austria

Soprano Patricia Racette continues to set the standard in works both classic and new.

Ms. Racette maintains strong relationships with the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera (where she is an almuna of the Merola Opera Program and a former Adler Fellow), Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Washington National Opera, and the Santa Fe Opera. Seen regularly at these houses, her many roles have included the title roles in Jenufa, Luisa Miller, Madama Butterfly,Tosca, and Kátya Kabanová; Violetta in La Traviata, Blanche de la Force and Madam Lidoine in Dialogues des Carmélites, Mimi and Musetta in La Bohéme, Nedda in Pagliacci, Desdemona in Otello, Marguerite in Faust, Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, Amelia in Simon Boccanegra, Elisabetta in Don Carlos, Magda in La Rondine, Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes, Liu in Turandot, Micaela in Carmen, Antonia in Les Contes d'Hoffman, Alice in Falstaff, Mathilde in Guillaume Tell, and Margherita in Boito's Mefistofele.

Ms. Racette has also appeared at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Opera National de Paris, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro Comunale Di Firenze, Opera di Genova, Bayerische Staatsoper, Vienna State Opera, Welsh National Opera, and the Saito Kinen Festival.

A supporter of new works by today's leading composers, Ms. Racette most recently create the role of Roberta Alden in the world premiere of Tobias Picker's new opera, An American Tragedy at the Metropolitan Opera. She also created the title role in the Santa Fe Opera's world premiere of Tobias Picker's Emmeline, which was shown on PBS' Great Performances, and the role of Love Simpson in the Houston Grand Opera's world premiere of Carlisle Floyd's Cold Sassy Tree.

On the concert platform, Ms Racette has appeared with many of the world's most prestigious orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Houston Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the London PhilharmonicOrchestra, Dusseldorfer Philharmoniker, and the Cologne Philharmonic. She also recorded Zemlinsky's Der Traumgorge with James Conlon and the Cologne Philharmonic.

This season, Ms. Racette returns the Metropolitan Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the San Diego Opera for performances of Madama Butterfly, and to the Washington National Opera for Peter Grimes.

Born and raised in New Hampshire, Ms. Racette studied jazz and music education at North Texas State University. She is winner of the prestigious 1998 Richard Tucker award.

A native of Tullahoma, Tennessee, pianist Craig Terry has launched an international career performing with some of the world's leading singers and instrumentalists.  Currently Mr. Terry is in his fourth season as assistant conductor at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Previously, he served as assistant conductor at the Metropolitan Opera after joining its Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.  Mr. Terry has performed with such esteemed vocalists as Sir Thomas Allen, Christine Brewer, Eric Cutler, Joyce DiDonato, Susanna Phillips, Patricia Racette, Catherine Wyn-Rogers, Hugh Russell, and Garrett Sorenson.  He has collaborated as a chamber musician with members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago Orchestra, the Gewandhaus Orchester, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, and the Pro Arte String Quartet.

Mr. Terry made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2000 and has also performed in Avery Fisher Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Recent engagements include his conducting debut with the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra leading a production of Lucia di Lammermoor and performances of both the Ravel Concerto in G Major and Beethoven Choral Fantasy with the Adrian Symphony Orchestra in Adrian, Michigan under the baton of John Dodson. In 2008, Mr. Terry performed both the Chopin Concerto No. 1 in e minor and the Mendelssohn Piano Concerto in g minor with the Chicago Philharmonic Orchestra. Upcoming engagements include recitals with Patricia Racette and Susanna Phillips, concerts with the Adrian Symphony Orchestra in which Mr. Terry will conduct Mozart's Concerto No. 19 in F Major from the piano, and a conducting debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago, leading student matinee performances of L'Elisir d'Amore.

Mr. Terry received his Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Tennessee Technological University, continued his studies at Florida State University and received his Masters of Music in Piano Performance/Accompanying from the Manhattan School of Music where he was a student of pianist Warren Jones.