Eastern Festival Orchestra with Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano

Gerard Schwarz, conductor
Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano

July 3rd Program:

PIERRE JALBERT         World Premiere

MOZART      Parto, ma tu bene mio from La Clemenza di Tito  

HANDEL      Ombra mai fu from Xerxe  

BIZET         Suite No. 1 from Carmen

BIZET        L’amour est un oiseau rebelle (Habañera) from Carmen

BIZET        Près des remparts de Sévilla (Séguidialla) from Carmen

LEHÁR       Vilja Lied from Die Lustige Witwe

                       featuring  Susan Graham, mezzo-soprano

BRAHMS    Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73

Grammy Award-winner Susan Graham is one of the world's foremost stars of opera and recital and is a compelling and versatile singing actress. At home and abroad, she has sung leading roles from the 17th to 20th centuries in the great opera houses of the world, including Milan's La Scala, the Royal Opera House, Vienna State Opera, Opéra national de Paris and the Salzburg Festival, and she has appeared with many of the world's leading conductors and orchestras. Her complete opera recordings range from Handel's Alcina and Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride to Barber's Vanessa and Heggie's Dead Man Walking.

Growing up in Texas, Graham studied at Texas Tech University and the Manhattan School of Music, which awarded her an honorary Doctor of Music in 2008. She won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Schwabacher Award from San Francisco Opera's Merola Opera Program. Graham was Musical America's 2004 Vocalist of the Year and has been dubbed "America's favorite mezzo" by Gramophone magazine. Graham captivates audiences with her expressive voice, tall and graceful stature, and engaging acting ability in both comedy and tragedy.

"Graham's mezzo-soprano is a voice without regrets, healthy, rounded, ineffably musical, and eager for a challenge." - New Yorker

"The American mezzo-soprano Susan Graham has for the better part of a decade impressed audiences with her creamy singing and chiseled characterizations..." - The New York Times

Pre-concert concessions provided by Peabody's Wine & Beer Merchants and Crippen's Restaurant.