Photo Flash: PREFORMANCES WITH ALLISON CHARNEY Launches Eighth Season

For the better part of a decade founder, curator and host soprano Allison Charney has presented one of NYC's most compelling concert series in collaboration with the JCC Manhattan's Lambert Center for Arts + Ideas in New York's Upper West Side. Billed as "presenting celebrated classical musicians just before they take on the worlds' most prestigious stages" "PREformances with Allison Charney" does just that, in an intimate concert experience where the relationship between artist and audience is heightened and reimagined. Scroll down for photos from the eighth season kick-off concert!

Season Eight of "PREformances with Allison Charney" began Monday, September 26th, with featured guests Metropolitan Opera tenor Adam Klein, mezzo soprano Karolina Pilou and piano virtuoso Joel Fan, in works they anticipate performing in the months ahead. Monday's audience will be treated to 'preformances' by mezzo-soprano Karolina Pilou, in anticipation of her Metropolitan Opera debut as Berta in Rossini's Barber of Seville, January 2017, leading Metropolitan Opera tenor and composer Adam Klein, presenting some of his newest repertoire and concert pianist Joel Fan in selections from his upcoming Chopin recording. Host Allison Charney will sing pieces from her 2017 recital tour accompanied by PREformances official collaborative pianist, Craig Ketter.

Within the 220 seat Goldman Sonnenfeldt Auditorium, home to PREformances, the series season opening audience will meet three celebrated artists, each of whom, eager to experience audience response to their work in an intimate performance space.

Tenor and composer Adam Klein's career began at The Metropolitan Opera in 1972 with his debut as Yniold in Massenet's PELLÉAS ET MÉLISANDE. Recent Met performances include Loge in DAS RHEINGOLD, the Witch in HANSEL AND GRETEL, Yaryshkin in THE NOSE, Števa in JEN?FA, Chekalinsky in PIQUE DAME, Chevalier Delaforce in DIALOGUES DES CARMÉLITES and Elemer in ARABELLA and whose regional credits have included the roles of Florestan (Beethoven), Don José (Bizet), Peter Quint(Britten), Sly (Dusapin's FAUSTUS, THE LAST NIGHT), Sam (SUSANNAH), Faust (Gounod), Roméo (Gounod), Canio ( Leoncavallo), Werther (Massenet),Belmonte, Tamino (Mozart) Hoffmann(Offenbach), Des Grieux Rodolfo, Pinkerton, Cavaradossi (Puccini), Bacchus, Narraboth, Herod (Strauss), Polo (Tan Dun's MARCO POLO), Vaudémont (Tchaikovsky's IOLANTA), Radamès, Otello, il Duca, Manrico (Verdi),Erik (DER FLIEGENDE HOLLÄNDER), and Judge Danforth (Ward's THE CRUCIBLE).

In addition to Mr. Klein's performances as both a recitalist, his recording engagements include Mime in SIEGFRIED (forging scene) with the State Symphony of Russia (Naxos), the Doctor in IMPROVEMENT: DON LEAVES LINDA (Ashley) (Elektra/Nonesuch), and a solo part on If, Bwana's I, ANGELICA on the Pogus label. Mr. Klein is a composer whose works include two operas LEITHIAN, based on a J. R. R. Tolkien story, premiered in concert in 2006 and 2007 in New York City; and GOLDIE LOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS, a children's opera about tolerance based on the classic fairy tale. Mr. Klein's composition, 'De philosophia de Scientia', a choral symphony, is presently in its final stages of formatting and recording.

Concert pianist Joel Fan has enjoyed an enthusiastic following on numerous stages ranging from the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, Jordan Hall in Boston, Calgary Celebrity Series, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, to the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. Internationally, Fan has performed recitals on four continents - most recently in tours of China, Cuba and South America. A "champion of new music" Mr. Fan is also recognized for his work with cellist Yo-Yo Ma as a member of the Silk Road Ensemble, appearing at Carnegie Hall and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C., and on the television programs Good Morning America and Late Night with David Letterman. Fan has also collaborated with numerous leading ensembles, including the Shanghai Quartet, Orion Quartet, Imani Winds, and A Far Cry chamber orchestra. Joel Fan's latest album, Dances for Piano and Orchestra (Reference Recordings), presents a wide-ranging journey focusing on the intersection of music and dance, with rarely heard compositions by Chopin, Saint-Saëns, Pierné, Weber-Liszt, Castro, Gottschalk, and culminating in a world premiere recording of Charles Cadman's Dark Dancers of the Mardi Gras. The disc was released in October 2014 in conjunction with the Northwest Sinfonietta chamber orchestra and music director Christophe Chagnard.

A native New Yorker Mr. Fan began early musical studies at the Juilliard School, earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, and a Master of Music degree in piano performance from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. He attended the Tanglewood Music Center and the Steans Institute at the Ravinia Festival. Mr. Fan is a prize winner of several international competitions, including the Busoni International Piano Competition in Italy. He was also the winner of the Kosciuzko Foundation's Chopin Prize, and named a Presidential Scholar by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. Mr. Fan studied with the composer Leon Kirchner and the pianist Leon Fleisher. Joel Fan has recorded for Reference Recordings, Sony Classical, Verdant World Records, and Albany Records and is a Steinway Artist.

Mezzo-soprano Karolina Pilou, who makes her Metropolitan Opera debut January 2017 as Berta in Rossini's IL BarbierE DI SIVIGLIA is quickly gaining a reputation for her powerful and charismatic portrayals of many of opera's best-known leading roles including Amneris in AIDA, Mistress Quickly in FALSTAFF and Azucena in IL TROVATORE. Her repertoire also extends to most of the leading Wagnerian mezzo soprano roles including Brangäne in TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, Fricka in both DIE WALKURE and DAS RHEINGOLD, Waltraute and First Norn in GOTTERDAMERUNG and Erda in both DAS RHEINGOLD and SIEGFRIED. Ms. Pilou has sung the roles of Azucena in Verdi's IL TROVATORE in London, Zita in Puccini's GIANNI SCHICCHI in Tel Aviv, Older Woman in J. Dove's FLIGHT with the British Youth Opera and Mistress Quickly in Verdi's FALSTAFF with Mannes Opera and Aspen Music Festival.

Ms. Pilou's recent performance as the Marquise de Berkenfield in LA FILLE DU REGIMENT with the Martina Arroyo Foundation, garnered The Observer's comments that she is "Eminently ready for prime time ... A booming contralto ... a major personality who will go far." As a soloist in symphonic and oratorio works Ms. Pilou has performed Beethoven's SYMPHONY NO. 9 with the Empire State Sinfonia, Bach's WIENACHTS-ORATORIUM, Handel's MESSIAH, Verdi's REQUIEM for The Hellenic Music Foundation's Annual Gala and Villa-Lobos' MAGNIFICAT-ALLELUIA FOR MEZZO-SOPRANO with the Little Orchestra Society of NY. A relative new-comer to New York, the Greek born mezzo soprano has received recognition through Encouragement Prizes and Grant Awards in competitions including the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition, the Licia Abanese-Puccini Foundation Vocal Competition and the Career Bridges Foundation and New York Lyric Opera Competition. Ms. Pilou has participated in Dolora Zajick's Institute for Young Dramatic Voices DMMO, and most recently Martina Arroyo's Prelude to Performance in New York.

Photo Credit: Koon, JCC Manhattan