Joyce DiDonato Leads Young Musicians In Weill Music Institute Master Classes

By: Molly Tracy Sep. 29, 2016

Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato returns to Carnegie Hall's Resnick Education Wing for a third straight season of master classes onOctober 29-31, 2016, working with four young professional singers in public sessions that will reach viewers around the globe via medici.tv. Soprano Suzannah Waddington, mezzo-sopranos Sophia Hunt and Raphaella Medina, and tenor Haô Ting have been selected to participate, along with pianists Justina Lee andDjordje Nesic. In addition to being open to the public (see ticket information below), the master classes will be streamed live for free onmedici.tv and remain available on replay for one year following the classes. Additional private sessions on breathing, career development, and other topics complete the program, which is presented by Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute (WMI) as part of its series of artist training programs for young musicians.

Last season's master classes from January 8, 9, and 10 are still available for free viewing on medici.tv, and video reflections from 2015 master class participants are available here.

"I hope the classes work to serve the art form on a few different levels, but admittedly, it is incredibly challenging to achieve," said Ms. DiDonato. "Obviously, there is a student on hand who is looking for specific guidance, and he or she is my starting point. But it's not a private coaching session-there are numerous people observing to learn more about singing, about performing. So my approach, while stemming entirely from the individual at hand, is to give concrete information that can help the student advance and grow as an individual, but to do it in a universal way so that other singers watching can also incorporate various techniques into their own preparation and performance."

In addition to the master classes, Ms. DiDonato will work with middle school singers in October through Count Me In, WMI's afterschool program that prepares New York City students for auditions to performing arts high schools. Ms. DiDonato will also travel to Sing Sing Correctional Facility for the second year in a row to workshop and perform original music composed by incarcerated men participating in WMI's Musical Connections program. Her working session and performance at the maximum security prison connect with Ms. DiDonato's In War & Peace: Harmony Through Musicrecording and concert project. The incarcerated workshop participants have written music responding to the theme, and several of their answers to the question 'In the midst of chaos, how do you find peace?' are included in the publicity materials associated with the album, which will be released in November 2016.

Following these education projects, Ms. DiDonato returns to Carnegie Hall on Thursday, December 15 at 8:00 p.m., singing arias from the Baroque era with Il Pomo d'Oro and conductor and harpsichordist Maxim Emelyanychev in a concert entitled In War and Peace: Harmony Through MusiC. Later in the season, on Sunday, April 30, 2017 at 2:00 p.m., she sings the title role of Ariodante in this season's installment of Carnegie Hall's acclaimed series of Handel operas and oratorios performed by The English Concert and Harry Bicket.

About the Artist
Multiple Grammy Award winner, Kansas-born Joyce DiDonato entrances audiences and critics alike across the globe, soaring to international prominence in operas by Rossini, Handel, and Mozart and as a fierce arts advocate. Much in demand on the concert and recital circuit, she has recently held residencies at Carnegie Hall and at London's Barbican Centre, toured extensively in South America, Europe, and Asia, and appeared as guest soloist at the BBC's Last Night of the Proms.

DiDonato's acclaimed discography includes the Grammy Award-winning Diva Divo, Drama Queens,ReJoyce!, Stella di Napoli, and most recently Joyce and Tony: Live at Wigmore Hall (Erato/Warner Classics). Other honors include the Gramophone Artist of the Year and Recital of the Year awards, two German Echo Klassik Awards as Female Singer of the Year, and an induction into the Gramophone Hall of Fame.

DiDonato opens her 2016-2017 season in a gala concert with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra under Ludovic Morlot. She will also give concerts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Riccardo Muti and the Berliner Philharmoniker under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, as well as a recital with Philippe Jordan in Paris. On the opera stage, she makes her much anticipated debut in the title role of Semiramide in a new production at the Bavarian State Opera under Michele Mariotti; the title role in Ariodante on tour with The English Concert and Harry Bicket; Dido (Les Troyens) under John Nelsons in Strasbourg; and Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito) under Nézet-Séguin in Baden-Baden. DiDonato's next major recording release is In War & Peace: Harmony Through Music. The November 2016 release is accompanied by a 20-city international tour that poses the question: 'In the midst of chaos, how do youfind peace?'

About Workshops and Master Classes
Artists on the rise are given valuable access to world-class performers and composers who have established themselves on the Carnegie Hall stages. Participants are selected after responding to an open call for auditions. These up-and coming musicians (ages 18-35) receive coaching and mentoring that assists them in reaching their artistic and professional goals. In addition to the Joyce DiDonato master classes, other upcoming master classes and workshops include The Song Continues, an annual celebration of art song founded by mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, from January 16-21; a workshop led by Peter Phillips and The Tallis Scholars from February 3-8 as part of Carnegie Hall's La Serenissima: Music and Arts from the Venetian Republic festival; and a workshop from February 18-22 delving into the late solo works of Beethoven, Brahms, and Schubert led by pianist Jonathan Biss. The workshops are tuition-free for participants.

Additional information and online applications are available at carnegiehall.org/workshops.

Program Information
Saturday, October 29 at 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 30 at 4:00 p.m.
Monday, October 31 at 4:00 p.m.
Resnick Education Wing
Joyce DiDonato MASTER CLASS
Suzannah Waddington, Soprano
Sophia Hunt, Mezzo-Soprano
Raphaella Medina, Mezzo-Soprano
Haô Ting, Tenor
Justina Lee, Piano
Djordje Nesic, Piano

Tickets: $15
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Thursday, December 15 at 8:00 p.m.
Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage
Joyce DiDonato
Il Pomo d'Oro
Maxim Emelyanychev, Conductor and Harpsichord

IN WAR AND PEACE: HARMONY THROUGH MUSIC

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