Ithaca College School of Music is proud to collaborate with the Voices Multicultural Chorus under the direction of Dr. Baruch J. Whitehead for the Ithaca Premier of scenes from George Gershwin’s opera “Porgy and Bess”. Friday May 13, 2011 at 8:15 p.m. in Ford Hall
The concert will feature local children from the Beverly J. Martin Elementary School, a number of Ithaca College School of Music students, featuring Ana Strachen, as Clara and Kathryn Allison as Mariah. The Essence of Joy Alumni Singers, under the direction of Dr. Tony Leach of Penn State University and a full symphony orchestra.
George Gershwin, a Jewish-American composed Porgy and Bess to showcase the magnificent African-American operatic voice which until that time had been barred from the opera houses and theatres in America because of the segregationist customs and laws of the day.
For these reasons, Voices’ scheduled performance of this truly historic and beautiful music in a choral concert format with a multicultural choir is indeed a rare event and one that is not to be missed.
Porgy –Professional soloist Robert Sims (Porgy) has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and has been the focus of the PBS special. Robert Sims has sung at Lincoln Center, the Smithsonian Institution, Chautauqua, Grant Park, and Big Arts summer music festivals, the Latour de France International Music Festival, and the American Church in Paris. He toured Japan where he was featured in a nationally televised performance of Bernstein’s Opening Prayer. In 2005, Sims made his recital debut at Carnegie Hall and has performed on the Hour of Power, which is broadcast internationally. He was the focus of a Public Broadcasting Service special Artbeat Chicago and recently made his debut as soloist with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra for a live telecast.
Bess – Orieyama V. Linebarger has performed in such intermezzo roles as Fiordiligi in Mozart’s “Cosi fan Tutte” and the First Lady in Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” She has been featured on NPR’s “Performance Today” and has been a concert soloist throughout the U.S. and abroad, including with the Capital Area Music Association of Harrisburg, on tour of Belgium and at the St. Paul AME Church of Bermuda. She has sung the Bess role with the Czech Symphony Orchestra in Prague and the Rutter Requiem with the National Chamber Orchestra of Washington, DC. She teaches at the Urban Nation Academy of the Arts in Washington, DC.
Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodation should contact the School of Music at 607-274-3717.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20110503172138401