Westporter Jennifer Foster, an accomplished singer, will sing and speak at the Thursday, April 12th meeting of the Y's Men of Westport/Weston. Her program, titled “Y's Men Choice”, will consist of her singing a variety of familiar operatic and other musical numbers along with her commentary. A proficient composer and pianist, Dr. Allen Brings, will accompany her. Jennifer, a soprano, has sung opera, oratorio, recitals and chamber music with world-class artists and conductors throughout the United States and Europe. She consistently earns critical praise for her warmth, expressive ability and security in performance of demanding scores. She made her operatic debut as Fiordiligi in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte with the Los Angeles Music Center Opera, and later toured nationally with San Francisco Opera's Western Opera Theater as Adele in Die Fledermaus. She has appeared with major international festivals including Tanglewood, Santa Fe, Aspen, Cabrillo, Aldeburgh (England), and Verbier (Switzerland) where she appeared in an impromptu performance with Bobby McFerrin. She made her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl as the soprano soloist in Mahler's Symphony No. 4 under the baton of Esa-Pekka Salonen, and she has also appeared with orchestras and choral groups in Boston, San Francisco, Florida and San Diego, among others. Jennifer recently premiered a new work written for her and the Miami String Quartet: “Sonnets and Soliloquies”, Shakespearean texts set by the renowned American composer Lee Hoiby. Her recordings include Jubal-ation , a collection of non-denominational inspirational songs produced by the Christian Science Publishing Society, “Jennifer Foster: The Debut”, live performances of lesser known chamber works (visit www.arizonachambermusic.org ), as well as a collection of Creole Romantic compositions on the Naxos label. Jennifer just returned from her sixth appearance with the Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival, where she performed music of Schubert, Mozart, Gershwin, Loeffler, and Shepherd. In June, she will perform the music of Bach in the annual Corona del Mar Baroque Music Festival in Southern California, and in July, Carl Orff's popular Carmina Burana with the Finger Lakes Choral Festival in Rochester, NY. Jennifer, her husband William and their four children live in Westport. Allen Brings has recently retired from Queens College (CUNY), where
he was Professor of Music and coordinator of the music theory and
ear training program. A distinguished composer as well as a pianist,
Dr. Brings holds a Master of Arts degree from Columbia University
and a Doctorate in theory and composition from Boston University. He
was a Naumburg Fellow at Princeton University. In addition to receiving
annual ASCAP Awards, Dr. Brings is the recipient of an Individual
Artist Grant from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and is currently
vice-president of Connecticut Composers, Inc. His published compositions
have been recorded by Capstone, Centaur, Grenadilla, Contemporary
Recording Studios, North/South Recordings, Arizona University Recordings,
and Vienna Modern Masters. |
REKNOWNED
OPERA SINGER, JENNIFER FOSTER, WILL PERFORM AT THE APRIL 12TH Y's
MEN MEETING