Soprano Ying Fang will perform songs by Bizet, Handel, Rachmaninoff, and Wolf, as well as a selection of songs by Chinese composers Huang Zi, Li Yinghai, and Lu Zaiyi on Juilliard’s 18th annual Alice Tully Vocal Arts Recital on Monday, May 9, 2016, at 7:30pm.
Ms. Fang holds a master’s degree and an Artist Diploma in Opera Studies from Juilliard and is a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. She will be joined by pianist Brian Zeger, artistic director of Juilliard’s Marcus Institute and executive director of the Met Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.
Tickets for $20 are available at events.juilliard.edu or at the Alice Tully Hall Box Office. Tickets are free for Juilliard students; non-Juilliard students with valid ID may purchase tickets for $10, available only at the Alice Tully Hall Box Office.
Juilliard’s Alice Tully Vocal Arts Recital is supported by a generous gift from the Alice Tully Foundation. Past recipients of the Alice Tully Vocal Arts Recital include: Paul Appleby, Jennifer Aylmer, Sasha Cooke, William Ferguson, Sari Gruber, Stephanie Houtzeel, Mariana Karpatova, Michèle Losier, Brenda Patterson, Susanna Phillips, Randall Scarlata, Shenyang, Raquela Sheeran, Lauren Skuce, Katherine Whyte, Sarah Wolfson, and Jennifer Zetlan.
About Ying Fang
Soprano Ying Fang’s 2015-16 season includes a return to the Metropolitan Opera for Giannetta in L’elisir d’amore and the Shepherd in Tannhäuser conducted by James Levine. She will make her Verbier Festival and role debut singing Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff in a cast led by Carlo Rizzi, and will return to the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence for their production of Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno. On the concert stage, she will debut at the Ravinia Festival in Mahler’s Second Symphony under the baton of James Levine. She will appear in recital with Carnegie Hall as part of the Neighborhood Concert Series and at the Kennedy Center under the auspices of Vocal Arts DC, both with pianist Ken Noda.
Ms. Fang began last season as Barbarina in the season opening new production of Le nozze di Figaro conducted by James Levine at the Metropolitan Opera, where she was also seen as the Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. The 2014-15 season also saw her as Susanna in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro directed by Stephen Wadsworth at The Juilliard School, where she also sang the title role in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Aulide conducted by Jane Glover. She joined the Mediterranean Youth Symphony for a European tour of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony conducted by Carlo Rizzi, and was featured in the Metropolitan Opera and the Juilliard School’s co-production “A Concert of Comic Operas” conducted by James Levine, in which she sang Konstanze, Teresa, and Adina.
Ms. Fang made her Metropolitan Opera debut in their 2013-14 season singing the role of Madame Podtochina’s Daughter in Shostakovich’s opera The Nose. Other notable recent appearances include Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare and Contessa di Folleville in Rossini’s Il Viaggio A Reims, both with the Wolf Trap Opera Company, the title role in Mozart’s Zaïdewith the New World Symphony, and Bellezza in Handel’s oratorio Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disingannowith Juilliard415 conducted by William Christie at Alice Tully Hall. She was heard in the role of Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with the Aspen Opera Theater Center, of which the Aspen Times wrote: “Soprano Ying Fang sang Pamina with a creamy tone and marvelous specificity in each moment,” where she was also seen as Maria in West Side Story.
At The Juilliard School, she has been seen as Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Fanny in Rossini’s La Cambiale di Matrimonio, and the Spirit of the Boy in Britten’s Curlew River. She made her Alice Tully Hall debut performing Handel’s motet Silete Venti with conductor Steven Fox leading the Juilliard 415, and appeared as the soprano soloist in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with the National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap.
A native of Ningbo, China, Ms. Fang is the recipient of the Martin E. Segal Award, the Hildegard Behrens Foundation Award, the Rose Bampton Award of The Sullivan Foundation, The Opera Index Award, and the 1st Prize Award of the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition. She won one of China’s most prestigious awards – the 2009 7th Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music, one of the youngest singers ever accorded this honor, she has been hailed as “the most gifted Chinese soprano of her generation” (Ningbo Daily).
Ms. Fang holds a master’s degree and an Artist Diploma in Opera Studies from Juilliard and a bachelor’s degree from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She is a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.
About Brian Zeger
Widely recognized as one of today’s leading collaborative pianists, Brian Zeger has performed with many of the world’s greatest singers including Marilyn Horne, Deborah Voigt, Anna Netrebko, Susan Graham, René Pape, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Frederica von Stade, Piotr Beczala, Bryn Terfel, Joyce DiDonato, Denyce Graves and Adrianne Pieczonka in an extensive concert career that has taken him to the premier concert halls throughout the United States and abroad.
His new recordings released this season include Preludios – Spanish songs with Isabel Leonard – and a recording of Strauss and Wagner lieder with Adrianne Pieczonka, both for the Delos label. Last season Delos released Dear Theo: 3 Song Cycles by Ben Moore (Delos) with Paul Appleby, Susanna Phillips and Brett Polegato.
Highlights from this season include recitals with Adrianne Pieczonka; a recital CD with mezzo Jamie Barton and two concerts where he is both pianist and curator: Juilliard Songfest at Alice Tully Hall and Pergamon: The Romantic Obsession at Metropolitan Museum of Art with soprano Susanna Phillips and bass-baritone Shenyang. He also took part in a celebration of the songs of Ben Moore for Cliburn Concerts in Fort Worth with baritone Ed Parks and other artists.
In addition to his distinguished concert career, he also serves as artistic director of the Vocal Arts Department at The Juilliard School and the executive director of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artists Development Program.
For more information about Mr. Zeger’s activities, please visit his website, www.brianzeger.com
About the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts
One of America’s most prestigious programs for educating singers, The Juilliard School’s Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for Vocal Arts offers young artists programs tailored to their talents and needs. From bachelor and master of music degrees to an advanced Artist Diploma program in Opera Studies, Juilliard provides frequent performance opportunities, featuring singers in its own recital halls, on Lincoln Center’s stages, and around New York City. Juilliard Opera has presented numerous premieres of new operas as well as works from the standard repertoire.
Juilliard graduates may be heard in opera houses and concert halls throughout the world; diverse alumni artists include well-known performers such as Simon Estes, Renée Fleming, Leontyne Price, Risë Stevens, Tatiana Troyanos, and Shirley Verrett. Recent alumni include Paul Appleby, Sasha Cooke, Isabel Leonard, Erin Morley, and Susanna Phillips.
