Mezzo-Soprano Jamie Barton Joins Tucker Foundation's 2015 Fall Gala Lineup

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation holds its annual gala, one of the most highly anticipated events of the opera season, on Sunday, November 1 at the newly renamed David Geffen Hall in New York's Lincoln Center.

Mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, winner of the 2015 Richard Tucker Award, joins a lineup of some of the opera world's greatest stars - past Tucker Award-winners Renée Fleming, Christine Goerke, Isabel Leonard, Lawrence Brownlee, and Stephen Costello; soprano Nadine Sierra, and tenors Piotr Beczala and Andrea Bocelli. Also performing with the singers will be members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and New York Choral Society under Maestro Eugene Kohn.

American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton, who takes the stage at the gala as winner of the 2015 Richard Tucker Award, has been praised by the New Yorker as "a fresh wonder of the opera world, possessing a voice of preternatural beauty and power." The winner of both the Main and Song Prizes at the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, she has been described by The Guardian as "a great artist, no question, with an imperturbable steadiness of tone, and a nobility of utterance that invites comparison not so much with her contemporaries as with mid-20th century greats such as Kirsten Flagstad." She is also a winner of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a Grammy nominee, a 2012 Richard Tucker Career Grant winner, and the Kennedy Center's 2014 Marian Anderson Award recipient.

In advance of the annual gala, WQXR 105.9 FM, New York's classical radio station, stages a special event to introduce Barton as the 2015 Richard Tucker Award-winner on Thursday, September 3 at The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space in Lower Manhattan. Joining Barton in both conversation and performance is 2001 Tucker Award-winner, soprano Christine Goerke, who will be singing the title role in Turandot at the Metropolitan Opera this fall. Tickets and more information are available here, and the event will also be a live video webcast at www.wqxr.org.

Bocelli's appearance marks his Richard Tucker Gala debut. In a letter to the Foundation, he explains: "I'm looking forward to appearing on the Richard Tucker Music Foundation concert at Lincoln Center, and thank you for this invitation in the name of one of history's greatest tenors. I admire the voices of the other artists on the program, am aware of the importance of the Foundation's work in discovering and funding young American talents, and happy to support it with my presence."

Founded in 1975, the Richard Tucker Music Foundation is a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to perpetuating the artistic legacy of the great Brooklyn-born tenor by nurturing the careers of talented young American opera singers. Through awards, grants for study, performance opportunities, and other activities, the Foundation provides professional development for singers at various stages of their careers. It also offers free performances in the New York metropolitan area and supports music education enrichment programs. Each year, the Foundation confers its most prestigious prize, the Richard Tucker Award, on an artist poised at the edge of a major international career. Often referred to as the "Heisman Trophy of Opera," the award comes with a $50,000 cash prize as well as the ongoing support of the Tucker family and Foundation.

The full list of singers featured on the gala program is provided below. Tickets for this year's event range from $40 to $600 and are on sale to the public through the Richard Tucker Music Foundation's website, www.richardtucker.org. Reservations for the gala dinner on the Grand Promenade that follows the concert can be arranged by contacting the Tucker Foundation offices at (212) 757-2218.

Further information about the 2015 gala and the work of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation is available at www.richardtucker.org.

IF YOU GO:

Richard Tucker Music Foundation presents:
2015 RICHARD TUCKER GALA
November 1 at 6:30pm
David Geffen Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City

Featuring...

2015 Richard Tucker Award winner Jamie Barton
Winners of Richard Tucker Music Foundation grants and honored guests:
Piotr Beczala, tenor
Andrea Bocelli, tenor
Lawrence Brownlee, tenor (2006 Richard Tucker Award winner)
Stephen Costello, tenor (2009 Richard Tucker Award winner)
Renée Fleming, soprano (1990 Richard Tucker Award winner)
Christine Goerke, soprano (2001 Richard Tucker Award winner)
Isabel Leonard, mezzo-soprano (2013 Richard Tucker Award winner)
Nadine Sierra, soprano (Tucker Career and Study Grant winner)
New York Choral Society
Members of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
Maestro Eugene Kohn, conductor

WQXR 105.9 FM, which streams live at www.wqxr.org, is New York City's only all-classical music station, immersing listeners in the city's rich musical life. WQXR presents new and landmark classical recordings as well as live concerts from Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and the New York Philharmonic, among others. WQXR also broadcasts essential destination programs including the Metropolitan Opera Radio Saturday Matinee Broadcasts, New York Philharmonic This Week, and The McGraw-Hill Financial Young Artists Showcase. For listeners in search of the new, WQXR operates Q2 Music, an online music stream dedicated to contemporary classical composers, cross-genre adventures, and performances from New York City's edgier venues. Operavore is WQXR's opera site featuring news, interviews, and commentaries from the world of opera, as well as a 24/7 all-opera stream. WQXR.org provides essential playlist information and online listening, as well as original content, host blogs, NYC cultural news, videos, and a free app that allows listeners to take WQXR with them wherever they go.

Photo by Dario Acosta

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