Opera Grand Rapids Presents An Evening with Sean Panikkar, A Recital, With Pianist Rohan De Silva

In the first major installment of the 2018-19 Opera Unlimited Series, Opera Grand Rapids is bringing an exclusive recital to West Michigan on Thursday, February 7th, with contemporary opera star, Sean Panikkar, along with award winning pianist, Rohan De Silva to perform a collection of opera, art songs, lieder, and song cycles in the intimate setting of the Betty Van Andel Opera Center.

Hailed by Opera News as a performer who "employs [his voice] with maximum dramatic versatility," American tenor of Sri Lankan Heritage, Sean Panikkar, has graced stages in both the United States and Europe. His most notable appearances at the Metropolitan Opera include performances under legendary conductors James Levine and Placido Domingo.

Panikkar, is fast becoming "one of the stars of his generation" on both the opera and popular culture circuits. Highly prized as an interpreter of contemporary music on leading international opera stages, Sean has garnered acclaim for fashioning several premiere roles in CO2 and The Summer King and boasts numerous engagements with the Metropolitan Opera including the premiere of The Death of Klinghoffer, and appearances in opera standards including Roméo et Juliette, La Bohème, Carmen, Salome, and many more.

Panikkar, shares his time as a member of the classical crossover-operatic pop trio, Forte, who introduced opera to main-stream audiences with their advancement on Season 8 of America's Got Talent. Forte's commercial success has afforded them numerous recording contracts and as a group they tour the world performing their hits.

Switching roles is not a problem for Panikkar. "I genuinely love everything I am performing in the moment and I approach every rehearsal and performance with an attitude of gratitude for the opportunity to sing," Panikkar says. "I view music like a spectrum of colors. I have favorite colors, but I enjoy all of them, even in the subset of opera you can view every different style as a different hue."

Accompanying Panikkar in Opera Grand Rapids' February 7th recital performance is Sri Lankan native, Rohan De Silva, professional pianist and teacher, who shares his expert skills in highly acclaimed performances at recital venues all over the world through partnerships with violin virtuosos such as Itzhak Perlman, Cho-Liang Lin, Joshua Bell, Benny Kim, to name a few. De Silva has performed multiple times at the White House for state dinners and award ceremonies and his teaching accomplishments include tenures at the Juilliard School, the Perlman Music Program, Ishikawa Music Academy in Japan, and an awarded Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Music in 2015.

Panikkar's collaboration with celebrated accompanist De Silva began through family ties. "The fact that we both have roots in Sri Lanka and are both performing classical music around the world is what brought us together," says Panikkar. "Shortly after this recital we are doing a similar program in Sri Lanka."

Thursday, February 7, 2019

An Evening with Sean Panikkar
Betty Van Andel Opera Center
1320 Fulton St E
Grand Rapids, MI 49503
7:30 PM

Tickets $25
Student Tickets $5
Group Ticket discounts available

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