George London Foundation Presents Raehann Bryce-Davis, Mezzo-Soprano, In Recital Next Month

Raehann Bryce-Davis, the young mezzo-soprano whose star has been rising since her 2018 George London Award win, performs the first recital of the George London Foundation for Singers 2022-23 season on Sunday, October 2, at 4 pm at The Morgan Library & Museum. Ms. Bryce-Davis will present Amy Beach's Three Browning Songs; Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder; three songs from Peter Ashbourne's Fi Mi Love Have Lion Heart based on Jamaican folk songs; songs by Melissa Dunphy, Margaret Bonds, and Florence Price, and the world premiere of Maria Thompson Corley's "The Beauty in my Blackness," with pianist Jeanne-Minette Cilliers for her George London program. (See full program details below.)

The George London Foundation and George London Awards are named for the legendary Canadian-American bass-baritone (1920-1985), one of the great opera singers of 20th century, who devoted much of his time and energy in his later years to the support and nurturing of young singers.

On September 2, Raehann Bryce-Davis performed in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Chineke! Orchestra at the BBC Proms. Later this fall, she sings the role of Azucena in Il trovatore at the Washington National Opera, and joins the Oratorio Society of New York for the world premiere of the Paul Moravec/Mark Campbell work A Nation of Others at Carnegie Hall. This past May, Raehann made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Baba the Turk in The Rake's Progress, the New York Observer saying, "In her Met debut Raehann Bryce-Davis embraced with relish the brassy scene-stealing histrionics of Baba the Turk, Tom's bearded bride. The American mezzo has recently been garnering notice for her dramatic roles but she clearly enjoyed showing off another side of her talents." Of her performance as Azucena in the Los Angeles Opera's September 2021 production of Il trovatore, Parterre Box said, "the biggest surprise of the evening came from our Azucena mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis. ...nothing could have prepared me for her portrayal of Verdi's Romani sorceress. In a part I thought to be overplayed by almost everyone she presented a completely original interpretation that was fearless on nearly every level."

The George London Foundation for Singers 2022-23 season continues with the 51st annual George London Foundation Competition for American and Canadian opera singers, one of the opera world's most prestigious competitions (finals on February 17, 2023); and a recital by baritone Benjamin Taylor (April 16, 2023), also a 2018 George London Award winner.

The goal of the George London Foundation for Singers, the support and nurturing of young opera singers, was an abiding interest of George London and his wife, Nora London, who passed away in June 2022 after leading the foundation as president for 37 years. "Remembering his difficult road to success, George wanted to devise a way to make the road a little easier for future generations of singers," Nora London said. Since 1971, the annual competition of The George London Foundation for Singers has given more than 300 awards, and a total of more than $2 million, to an outstanding roster of young American and Canadian opera singers who have gone on to international stardom - the list of past winners includes Joyce DiDonato, Renée Fleming, Christine Goerke, Catherine Malfitano, James Morris, Eric Owens, Matthew Polenzani, Sondra Radvanovsky, Neil Shicoff, and Dawn Upshaw.

The George London Foundation Recital Series, which began at the Morgan in 1995, was established to give grantees exposure and experience, and, in many cases, a New York recital debut. In addition, since 2010, the foundation has sponsored a program which gives scholarships to selected vocal students in the pre-college programs of The Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music.

www.georgelondon.org

Raehann Bryce-Davis has been hailed by The New York Times as a "striking mezzo soprano" and by the San Francisco Chronicle for her "electrifying sense of fearlessness." Her 2022-23 season includes performances as Amneris in Aida at the Royal Danish Opera and as Ježibaba in Rusalka At Dutch National Opera. In the 2021-22 season, Ms. Bryce-Davis made notable house debuts at the Metropolitan Opera in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress, at La Monnaie de Munt, Brussels, as La Zia Principessa in Suor Angelica, and at the Glimmerglass Festival singing Azucena in Il trovatore. She returned to both Los Angeles Opera and the Staatstheater Nürnberg as Azucena in Il trovatore, and to Opera Ballet Vlaanderen as Der Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos.

As a producer/performer Bryce-Davis has released "To the Afflicted," her first music video, which received much critical acclaim and was chosen as an official video for World Opera Day. Her second digital short, "Brown Sounds," was co-produced with LA Opera and Aural Compass Projects, and won Best Music Video at film festivals around the globe including the New York International Film Awards, New York Cinematography Awards, Hollywood Boulevard Film Awards, the Anatolian Short Film Festival, and the Silk Road Film Awards - Cannes. Raehann Bryce-Davis is a co-founder of the Black Opera Alliance and is an advocate for social justice in opera. www.raehann.com

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