Schimmel Center to Welcome Soprano Heidi Melton for 'VOCE' Series, 5/17

On Sunday, May 17 at 3pm, Schimmel Center at Pace University will present an afternoon with the dramatic soprano, Heidi Melton, accompanied by pianist John Parr.

Ms. Melton continues to impress and delight audiences with her thrilling voice, powerful stage presence and innate musicality. She regularly performs in the world's leading opera houses. This season she will be singing with the Baltimore and Montreal Symphony Orchestras. Next season, Ms. Melton will perform at the Opening Night Gala for the Austin Lyric Opera, she will sing the roles of Venus and Elizabeth in Tannhaüser at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, make her New York Philharmonic debut singing the "Strauss Orchestra Lieder" and the "Finale to Act 3" of Die Walkure (Brunnhilde), and make her Carnegie Hall debut with the Vienna Philharmonic singing the Immolation Scene from Gotterdammerung (Brunnhilde) conducted by Valery Gergiev.

The afternoon will feature Beethoven's "Ah! Perfido," Wagner's "Wesendonck Lieder," Debussy's "Chansons di Bilitis," Berg's "Seven Early Songs" as well as Weill's "Je ne t'aime pas," "September Song (Knickerbocker Holiday)," "Stay Well (Lost in the Stars)," and "My Ship (Lady in the Dark)."

Ticket prices for Voce: Rising Opera Stars in Recital at Schimmel Center at Pace University cost $39. The performance will take place on Sunday, May 17th at 3pm. Tickets can be purchased online at schimmel.pace.edu, by calling (866) 811-4111 or (212) 346-1715, or in person at Schimmel Center Box Office, open Monday-Friday from 1pm-6pm. Schimmel Center is located at 3 Spruce Street in downtown Manhattan.

The young American dramatic soprano Heidi Melton has been called "the Wagnerian voice we have been waiting for since Flagstad and Nilsson" (La Presse), a voice that is "big, gleaming and tonally resplendent" (San Francisco Chronicle). Highlights of recent notable engagements include her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as the "Second Maid" in Elektra under Fabio Luisi and her role debut as "Sieglinde" in Der Ring des Nibelungen at San Francisco Opera in a production by Francesca Zambello and conducted by Donald Runnicles. At Opéra National de Bordeaux, she has been seen as "Ariadne" in Ariadne auf Naxos, "Elisabeth" in her first performances of Tannhäuser, and "Amelia" in Un ballo in maschera. A former Adler Fellow at San Francisco Opera, Ms. Melton has performed a variety of roles including "Mary Todd Lincoln" in the world premiere of Phillip Glass's Appomattox, "Marianne Leitmetzerin" in Der Rosenkavalier, and "Dianne" in Iphigénie en Tauride. In recital, she has made her Schwabacher Debut Recital through the San Francisco Opera and a recital for the Jussi Björling Society in Voxna, Sweden.

Ms. Melton is the recipient of many prestigious awards and prizes: She was the 2009 winner of the George London Foundation's George London / Kirsten Flagstad Memorial Award; second place in the José Iturbi Compeition, a Sarah Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation; and third place in the 27th Annual Belevedere Competition. In 2006 she was a national semi-finalist at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions as well as the winner of the Mario Lanza Competition. She received her Master of Music degree at the Curtis Institute of Music.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit schimmel.pace.edu or call toll-free (866) 811-4111. All performance take place at Schimmel Center at Pace University located at 3 Spruce Street between Park Row and Gold Street in downtown Manhattan. Wine is served in Schimmel Center lobby from our cash bar starting one hour prior to show.

Subscription series tickets are now available by visiting schimmel.pace.edu.

Tickets to all events are available for purchase now:

• Online at schimmel.pace.edu
• By phone via the OvationTix Call Center at (866) 811-4111 or by calling the box office at (212) 346-1715
• In person in advance at Schimmel Center Box Office, open Monday-Friday from 1pm-6pm
• Day of show at Schimmel Center starting two hours before curtain

A visit to Schimmel Center offers an opportunity to come marvel at the new Fulton Center's impressive, "sky-reflector-net dome," and catch a glimpse at the new bright future of downtown Manhattan's financial district. A visit to Fulton Center and Schimmel center is as easy as 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, J, Z and R.

Schimmel Center at Pace University is located within the University's downtown campus, has been an active part of Manhattan's artistic community for 35 years. Located one block east of City Hall and immediately adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge, Schimmel Center's 672-seat theatre regularly hosts academic and community events in addition to its yearly schedule of the world's finest music, theatre, and dance. Over the past twelve years, Schimmel Center has served as a founding venue for The River-to-River Festival (2002), hosted both The Tribeca Film Festival and The Tribeca Theatre Festival (2001), provided a headquarters for The National Actors Theatre (2002 to 2004), presented the only Democratic Presidential Debate to present all ten candidates for the 2004 election, and actively hosts James Lipton's award-winning Bravo series Inside the Actors Studio, taped on Schimmel Center's stage since 2005. The Schimmel Center is located just blocks away from the latest, majestic city landmark, Fulton Center.

For more than 100 years, Pace University has helped prepare students to become leaders in their fields by providing an education that combines exceptional academics with professional experience. Pace has three campuses in New York City, Westchester, and White Plains. A private metropolitan university, Pace enrolls approximately 13,500 students in bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, via its rapidly growing Performing Arts Department, Lienhard School of Nursing, Lubin School of Business, School of Education, Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems and School of Law.