Tenor Paul Appleby Wraps 2013-14 with DEAR THEO Recording, WNO's THE MAGIC FLUTE, May 2014

American tenor Paul Appleby closes his 2013 -2014 with a strong finish. His latest recording is today's (April 28, 2014) Delos release of the world premiere recording of Dear Theo, a CD of three song cycles by celebrated American composer Ben Moore. In early May, he makes his company debut with the Washington National Opera singing the role of Tamino under the baton of conductor Philippe Augin in the company's spring production of Mozart's The Magic Flute.

Mr. Appleby's voice is the first and last heard on Dear Theo, the first album dedicated solely to works by the celebrated Mr. Moore. Mr. Appleby sings the first cycle (the cycle from which the CD takes its titel) of the three cycle album, accompanied by the celebrated pianist Brian Zeger, with whom he regularly collaborates. Dear Theo, which comprises seven songs, incorporates passages of letters written by the artist Vincent Van Gogh to his brother Theo, in which he relays his thoughts on such subjects as painting, relationships, and emotional and financial struggles. Paul also sings the bonus track, Mr. Moore's widely performed setting of W.B. Yeats poem, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree."

The recording also features soprano Susanna Phillips singing the second cycle, So Free Am I, and baritone Brett Polegato singing the third cycle, Ode to a Nightingale. Both cycles also feature Mr. Zeger.

Following the CD's release, May 5, 7, 10 and 17, 2014 Paul Appleby can be heard singing the role of Tamino in The Magic Flute in his company debut with Washington National Opera.

Dynamic and versatile, tenor Paul Appleby is an admired and exciting presence on the world's leading concert, recital, and opera stages. A recent graduate of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and the recipient of a 2012 Leonore Annenberg Fellowship in the Performing and Visual Arts, Mr. Appleby counts among his performance credits appearances with the Metropolitan Opera, Oper Frankfurt, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Wolf Trap Opera, and concerts with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Cincinnati Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrucken Kaiserslautern, to name a few.

In addition to his May debut with the Washington National Opera, Mr. Appleby's 2013-2014 season operatic engagements included debuts with the Santa Fe Opera and the Canadian Opera Company, as well as returns to the Metropolitan Opera and to Oper Frankfurt. Concert performances included Maverick Concerts, Carnegie Hall's "Britten Discovery Day", a recital at Pace University, the Canadian Opera Company's Free Concert Series, and a joint recital with baritone Joshua Hopkins presented by the Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Highlights of Mr. Appleby's upcoming 2014-2015 season include his return to the Metropolitan Opera for two productions: first as David in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, and later as Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress.

Mr. Appleby has also been recognized with the 2012 Top Prize by the Gerda Lissner Foundation, 2012 Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center, 2011 Richard Tucker Career Grant and George London Foundation Award, and was a National Winner of the 2009 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. A recipient of an Artist Diploma in Opera Studies Program at The Juilliard School, he received a Master's Degree from Juilliard and a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature and in Music from the University of Notre Dame.

More information on Mr. Appleby can be found at: paulapplebytenor.com.

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