Deborah Voigt to Bring VOIGT LESSONS to Calderwood Pavilion, 11/21-22

As the Associated Press observes, Deborah Voigt boasts "a stage presence that radiates an endearing charm." This fall, the superstar soprano returns to Boston's Celebrity Series with two performances of Voigt Lessons at the Calderwood Pavilion on Thursday, November 21 and Friday, November 22, with Kevin Stites on piano. An intimate one-woman show, Voigt Lessons was developed in working sessions with award-winning playwright Terrence McNally and director Francesca Zambello at the famed MacDowell Colony, and takes the leading dramatic soprano's life and career as the basis for a revealing script that incorporates 18 songs and arias of special importance to her. At its premiere at the 2011 Glimmerglass Festival, Voigt Lessons impressed the New York Times as "chatty, witty, and sometimes painfully poignant," while Toronto's Globe and Mail pronounced it "an absolute gem."

When she first launched Voigt Lessons, Deborah Voigt explained:

"This is the first time that I'll speak directly to the audience in a performance environment about my life and my career. I've made little quips and comments during a recital, but I've never talked about myself that openly on stage. It's exciting, but because it's so personal, it's also a little daunting."

About the upcoming performances of Voigt Lessons in Boston, Voigt adds: "I am so happy to return to this piece that means so much to me and allows me to tell my personal story."

This spring, after making her role debut opposite Thomas Hampson in Berg's Wozzeck at the Metropolitan Opera (March 6-22), the soprano looks forward to returning to the Celebrity Series of Boston for a recital of Amy Beach, Richard Strauss, Respighi, Tchaikovsky, and Bernstein at Symphony Hall (April 27). As the New York Times remarks, "The first thing to be said about Deborah Voigt...is that she knows how to put together a compelling recital program."

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