STAGE TUBE: Leah Crocetto Performs Kander & Ebb's 'A Quiet Thing' at the Curran

Kevin Sessums, the Curran's Editor-at-Large sat down with award-winning opera star Leah Crocetto for a special evening titled "Leah Crocetto Talks Opera and Sings Jazz" on Thursday, February 4. Sessums discussed Crocetto's early years in the New York cabaret scene, her rise to fame in the opera world, and her deep connection to the San Francisco Opera. Crocetto, who recently opened the SFO's 2015 season with her electrifying performance in the title role of Luisa Miller and made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Liu in TURANDOT, performed three numbers throughout the evening. Click below to watch her sing Kander & Ebb's "A Quiet Thing"!

Recognized as a rising star in the next generation of singers, Leah Crocetto represented the United States at the 2011 Cardiff BBC Singer of the World Competition where she was a finalist in the Song Competition. She is a 2010 Grand Finals Winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was the First Place Winner, People's Choice and the Spanish Prize Winner of the 2009 José Iturbi International Music Competition, and winner of the Bel Canto Foundation competition.

A former Adler fellow at San Francisco Opera, Ms. Crocetto has appeared frequently with the company, most recently in the role of Mimi in La bohème. In her stellar 2015-16 season, Leah Crocetto makes two major debuts: her long-awaited Metropolitan Opera debut as Liu in Turandot, and her role debut as Semiramide in Rossini's seldom-heard opera of the same name, with Opera National de Bordeaux. Additional highlights of the season include Anna in Maometto II with the Canadian Opera Company, the title role of Luisa Miller with the San Francisco Opera, and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Santa Fe Opera. She also sings a solo recital at Washington National Opera with pianist Mark Markham. Last season, Ms. Crocetto performed Desdemona in Otello with English National Opera, followed by performances of Mimi in La bohème with San Francisco Opera, and Madame Lidoine in Poulenc's powerful Dialogues of the Carmelites with Washington National Opera. Her season closed at Opera Philadelphia singing Elisabetta di Valois in a new production of Don Carlo.

Groundbreakers with Kevin Sessums is Curran: Under Construction's recently announced occasional on-stage series of conversation and performance featuring today's most compelling thought leaders and artists.