CONCERT | LINDEMANN YOUNG ARTIST DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
This special event at the Austrian Cultural Forum will feature young singers from the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in concert: Lei Xu and Elliot Madore will perform Lieder, Arias, and Canciones by Schubert, Wolf, Mozart, Faure, and de Falla, accompanied by pianist Bryan Wagorn.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Soprano Lei Xu, from China, is in her third year of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and The Juilliard School’s Artist Diploma in Opera Studies Program. This season at the Met, Ms. Xu performs the Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel. Ms. Xu made her Met debut last season as the First Priestess in Iphigénie en Tauride and as Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos and performed Pamina in Peter Brook’s adaptation of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in Paris at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord. In the summer, of 2010 Ms. Xu sang Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro with James Conlon conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Xu began her classical studies at the age of seventeen with Professor Ruo-e Liu of The Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance in 2006 and went on to receive her master’s degree from Juilliard where she performed the roles of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte and Ilia in Idomeneo. She has participated in several music festivals, including The Ravinia Festival’s Steans Institute for Young Artists; the Marlboro Music Festival, where she studied with Richard Goode and Mitsuko Uchida; and The Chautauqua Music Festival, where she performed Poppea in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea.
Canadian baritone Elliot Madore is in his second year of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. This season, Mr. Madore makes his Met debut as Lysander in the Met’s original Baroque fantasy, The Enchanted Island and will appear as the Novice’s Friend in Billy Budd. Recent engagements include a return to Opera Theatre of St. Louis to perform the title role in Don Giovanni and Mamoud in The Death of Klinghoffer by John Adams; Schaunard in La Bohème at Opera Colorado; and covering the title role in Don Giovanni with the Salzburger Festspiele. Mr. Madore made his recital debut at the National Arts Centre in Canada which was broadcast on the CBC Radio Two’s “Next! Canada’s Music Future” series. In the 2009-2010 season, Mr. Madore returned to the Tanglewood Music Festival as the Harlekin and the Music Master in Ariadne auf Naxos under the baton of Christoph von Dohnányi. Previously at Tanglewood, he was seen in the title role of Don Giovanni under James Levine. While pursuing his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Curtis Institute of Music, Mr. Madore was seen as Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, the title role in Don Giovanni, Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore, Sid in Albert Herring, and Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas. Mr. Madore made both Opera Company of Philadelphia and Opera Theatre of St. Louis debuts as Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly. Mr. Madore was the National Winner of the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the 2010 George London Award for a Canadian Singer, a Finalist in the 2010 Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers in Houston, and the winner of the 2009 Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition.
Pianist Bryan Wagorn, from Ottawa, Canada, is in his first year of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. He has appeared throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia as both soloist and chamber musician and has been broadcast on CBC Radio, Radio-Canada, and Rogers Television. Mr. Wagorn has performed at New York’s Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, Town Hall, Steinway Hall, Yamaha Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall, Toronto’s Glenn Gould Studio, the Canadian Opera Company’s “Four Seasons Centre”, La Chapelle Historique du bon Pasteur in Montreal, the Wiener-Saal in Salzburg, and the National Arts Centre of Canada. Mr. Wagorn received his BM in Piano Performance from The University of Ottawa; MM in Piano Performance from The Mannes College of Music and his DMA from The Manhattan School of Music.
ABOUT THE LINDEMANN PROGRAM
The Lindemann Young Artist Development Program was created in 1980 by the Met’s Music Director James Levine to identify and develop extraordinarily talented young artists in the realm of opera. The program has trained a new generation of celebrated American and international opera singers, as well as coaches and pianists, who perform at the highest standards in productions at the Met and opera houses around the world.
While many opera companies across the country conduct young artist training programs, the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program is unparalleled for the quality and scope of resources available to its participants. Throughout their instruction, young artists draw upon the vast pool of world-renowned talent available at the Met, including current and former Met artists, internationally recognized coaches and master teachers, and staff from the Metropolitan Opera’s music and artistic departments. Program participants have access to daily rehearsals and practice sessions, where they can observe opera’s great singers preparing their roles for the current Met repertory. They are presented with the unparalleled opportunity to perform onstage in Met productions, as many are assigned supporting roles and serve as understudies for featured singers.
The Young Artist Development Program is named after Mr. and Mrs. George Lindemann, in recognition and gratitude for their leadership and generous support.
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