"I love being part of this program because I feel I learn so much and really benefit from it," he says.
"It's a little like herding cats to put together."īisantz tries to encourage singers at every level in their careers. "We do works that people love and want to hear again and works that are new," Bisantz says. "The young artists will be featured prominently. "The goal of the finale is to give everybody a great evening of a wide range of repertoire that is entertaining and highlights all the singers who are here as part of the program," he says. "It's involving and complex and that music is just glorious."Īs the director of the festival finale, Bisantz looked for a mixture of styles.
"It's just an absolute joy to do that work every time you get to do it," Bisantz says. "I'm not the first person nor the last to say it's a piece that's revealing new things every time you approach it. "What's great about it is that you always find something new and interesting," he says. In his career, Bisantz has conducted "Don Giovanni" three times previously. "I was on the coaching faculty for the length of the festival," he says. Last summer, Bisantz conducted the finale of the first Savannah VOICE Festival. He thought of me as a good fit with VOICExperience." "Sherrill was on the faculty at that time and we got to work together. "I met Sherrill and Maria when I was the conductor at Northeastern University," Bisantz says. Bisantz has been a member of the VOICExperience faculty since 2007. Bisantz also will conduct Rossum's "Universal Robots" for the 2015 Prague Proms Festival, and has appeared with the Florida Grand Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, the Wolf Trap Opera, Glimmerglass Opera and the Brevard Music Center. He'll conduct "La Traviata" in his upcoming debut with the Virginia Opera. Bisantz is in his fifth season as music director of the Eugene Opera, where he has conducted "Don Giovanni" and many other opera favorites. Pianist Christopher Cano, who appeared in concert with his wife, Jennifer Johnson Cano, on Aug. "They provide world-class talent in an intimate setting."Ĭonducting the finale will be Andrew Bisantz, who also conducted the opera "Don Giovanni" earlier in the festival. "I love their performances, they're tremendous," Lauretti says. "She has sung with them before and I have gone to their performances many times. "My younger daughter just attended a VOICExperience school in Tampa," he says. While the society has been seeking to expand its role in community outreach efforts, Lauretti's connection also is personal. "We've provided them a nice level of economic and promotional support." "They've done performances for us in some events," he says. The society has worked with VOICExperience in the past, Lauretti says. "We wanted to do community outreach," he says.
"Voice was a fast-growing, important cultural offering to the community. "Italian culture has a strong, historic link to opera as an art form," Italian Society president Scott Lauretti says. The finale is sponsored by the Italian Society of Savannah. "We encourage everyone to be at First Presbyterian Church to say farewell to their favorite singers in this exciting closing event." "We have once again raised the standards of vocal excellence throughout the second annual festival," says artistic director Sherrill Milnes.
#Voice finale 2014 plus#
16 with a range of music from opera to musical theater and popular songs, plus some surprises added to the mix. Sadly, all good things must come to an end, including the 2014 Savannah VOICE Festival.īut happily, the festival finale, a 90-minute concert titled "From Bizet to Broadway," will be presented Aug.