Joy In Singing Presents 2014 Artist Award Recital for Tami Petty Tonight

Joy In Singing presents the debut recital of soprano Tami Petty, winner of its 2014 Artist Award, tonight, October 29th at 8 at Merkin Concert Hall.

Hailed "a powerful soprano" (The New York Times) with "...a beauty and purity of tone, which is so rare..." (Classical Music Network), Ms. Petty has an impressive record of career distinctions including the first Emerging Artist Award from the Sorel Organization honoring women in music, as well as grants and prizes from the Lotte Lehmann Foundation, the Lotte Lenya Competition, the Chautauqua Opera Guild, Connecticut Opera Guild and the prestigious Merola Opera Program of the San Francisco Opera Center.

She will be accompanied by pianist Miori Sugiyama in an eclectic and moving program of songs by Poulenc, Marx, Griffes, Greer, Turina and more highlighting her expressive style and communicative gifts. "Tami is a wonderful artist with a gorgeous voice and beautiful technical control, which she puts to the service of the words and the music. Joy In Singing's purpose is to seek out marvelous artists like Tami and provide opportunities to advance their careers," remarks Paul Sperry, Music Director of Joy In Singing.

About Joy In Singing

Founded by international soprano Winifred Cecil in 1956, Joy In Singing is the first organization to foster Master Classes dedicated to improving the performance skills of young recitalists and passionately continues to promote knowledge and love of song literature, assist the careers of young recitalists and composers as well as educate a wider audience in the joy of song. www.joyinsinging.org

The performance will take place at Merkin Concert Hall, 129 W. 67th Street, New York, NY. Call (212) 501-3330 for more information, or visit www.kaufmanmusiccenter.org/mch/event/joy-in-singing-award-recital. Subway: 1 to 66th St./Lincoln Center; 2 & 3 to 72nd St. Admission: $30 for Reserved Seating; $15 for Seniors; FREE for students with ID.

On the Program:

Shakespeare Songs for the American Parlor

Various Composers

Four Songs

Josef Marx (1882-1964)

A Sarah Binks Songbook

John Greer (b. 1954)

Four Impressions by Oscar Wilde

Charles T. Griffes (1884-1920)

War Songs

Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)

Poema en forma de canciones

Joaquin Turina (1882-1949)

Tami Petty, Soprano - Tami Petty made her Lincoln Center debut singing Rossini's PETITE MESSE SOLENELLE with the Voices of Ascension at Alice Tully Hall in 2010. The New York Times praised Petty's "powerful soprano" and Classical Music Network declared, "Such a beauty and purity of tone is so rare that I could only listen in ethereal pleasure." Other New York City performances include Pani Paskova in Janacek's CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN at Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic and Artistic Director Alan Gilbert, and Die Alte Falourdel in a rare performance of Schmidt's NOTRE DAME at Carnegie Hall with the American Symphony Orchestra.

Operatic highlights from past seasons include the final scene from Wagner's DAS RHEINGOLD as Woglinde with the American Symphony Orchestra at Bard Summerscape Festival, the title role in Puccini's SUOR ANGELICA with Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra and Leonore in Beethoven's FIDELIO with Opera Fort Collins. Orchestral highlights include Vaughan Williams's A SEA SYMPHONY with the Buffalo Philharmonic,Michael Tippett's A CHILD OF OUR TIME singing alongside a remarkable tenor soloist, her brother Billy

Petty, with the Manchester Choral Society, Vaughan Williams's DONA NOBIS PACEM with the Choral Society of Grace Church of New York, Mozart REQUIEM with Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, and the FOUR LAST SONGS of Richard Strauss with the symphonies of Fort Collins and St. Joseph.

Ms. Petty has collaborated on song projects with 5BMF (Five Borough Music Festival), BASS (Brooklyn Art Song Society), NYSTA (New York Singing Teachers Association), firstARTS concert series in Salisbury, NC, Jose Limo?n Dance Company, Cherylyn Lavignino Dance Group, Lotte Lehmann Foundation, and Finger Lakes Chamber Ensemble. She is Co-Artistic Director of a new salon recital series at Marble Church called Nextdoor, which boasts innovative programming in an intimate venue featuring NYC artists. She has had the great opportunity to work with these great master clinicians and teachers among countless others: Dalton Baldwin, Jane Eaglen, Daniel Ferro, Reri Grist, Thomas Grubb, Marilyn Horne, Warren Jones, Anthony Manoli, Patricia Misslin, Gary Norden, Regina Resnik, Rita Shane, Gai?t Sirguey, Paul Sperry, Masako Toribara, Carol Webber, Dolora Zajick and Mira Zakai.

Tami Petty is the first recipient of the Emerging Artist Award from the Sorel Organization honoring women in music. In addition to winning the Joy In Singing prize this year, she has also been a finalist in the Mary Trueman Competition sponsored by the Art Song Preservation Society of New York, the Positively Poulenc! Competition and the American Traditions Competition in the quarter-final round. Winner of career grants and prizes from the Lotte Lehmann Foundation, the Lotte Lenya Competition, the Chautauqua Opera Guild, Connecticut Opera Guild, and the prestigious Merola Opera Program of the San Francisco Opera Center, Ms. Petty also received special recognition from the Marilyn Horne Foundation for her participation in the Music Academy of the West in 2005. She was awarded the top prize in the Jessie Kneisel German Lieder Competition and received an award from the Richard Tucker Foundation while a student of the Eastman School of Music.

Upcoming New York performances include a Carnegie Hall performance of Sametz's CARMINA AMORIS, lieder of Marx and Strauss at the Kosciuszko Foundation, Rossini's PETITE MESSE SOLENNELLE with the Dalton Chorale, Poulenc's METAMORPHOSES and MIROIRS BRULANTS with Brooklyn Art Song Society. Other appearances include Beethoven's SYMPHONY NO. 9 with Altoona Symphony Orchestra and Vaughan Williams' A SEA SYMPHONY with Manchester Choral Society. For more information, visit www.TamiPetty.com.

Miori Sugiyama, Pianist - Pianist Miori Sugiyama has been an active soloist and collaborative artist in the US and abroad. Recent highlights include solo debut recitals at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, and Bargemusic, as well as appearances at Lincoln Center, Galapagos Art Space, and on Aspen Public Radio. Praised by the New York Times for her performance of the Charles Ives songs, she is a regular member of the Brooklyn Art Song Society with whom she has performed on projects such as the Hugo Wolf Project, In Context, Schubert: The Last Year, and marathon performance of the complete songs of Charles Ives. She is the founder of Half Moon Music Series, a chamber music and art song series dedicated to exploring works by female composers. This season, she makes her New York recital debut as a collaborative pianist at Merkin Concert Hall in a recital with soprano, Tami Petty.

She has held the position of accompanying coordinator and teaching assistant to Rita Sloan at the Aspen Music Festival and School. She is a collaborative pianist at Westchester Summer

Vocal Institute and for the vocal department at the Aaron Copland School of Music, where she also coaches chamber music. An avid educator, Sugiyama holds a Master of Education from Columbia University's Teachers College and maintains a private teaching studio in Manhattan. Her teachers have included Morey Ritt, Paul Rutman, Julian Martin, and Rita Sloan. Dr. Sugiyama holds a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from Aaron Copland School of Music (Queens College), Master of Music in piano performance from the Juilliard School and received a Doctor of Musical Arts in collaborative piano from the University of Maryland-College Park. She resides in Manhattan with her husband, composer Matthew Kajcienski and their dog, Ralphie. For more information, please visit: www.miorisugiyama.com.

Photo Credit: Nick Amonson