Artist Recital Series
Kindra Scharich
mezzo-soprano
Jeffrey LaDeur
pianist
Lucky in Love
Kindra Scharich, mezzo-soprano
Jeffrey LaDeur, pianist
Sunday, September 22, 2024 - 4:00 PM
Piedmont Center for the Arts
Mezzo-soprano Kindra Scharich has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for her “fearless technical precision,” “deep-rooted pathos” and “irrepressible musical splendor.” As a dedicated recitalist, she has performed more than 250 art songs in 15 languages, and enjoys the full complement of recital, concert and opera engagements alike. Ms. Scharich has sung more than 40 roles from Monteverdi to Philip Glass, and been engaged in a number of premières and new works, including: John Adam’s Antony & Cleopatra (San Francisco Opera), Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber (San Francisco Opera) Laura Kaminsky’s Today it Rains (Opera Parallèle) and Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves (West Edge Opera, west coast première) Scharich’s recordings include: In meinem Himmel: The Mahler Song Cycles, with the Alexander String Quartet (2018), To my Distant Beloved, with pianist Jeffrey LaDeur (2020) and Chosen Eyes, with pianist Ricardo Ballestero (2021)
Jeffrey LaDeur is known for his rare blend of insight, spontaneity, and approachable, communicative stage presence. Clic Musique Magazine (France) lauded “…an irreproachable legato, a beautiful palette of nuances, and an always well-balanced sound.” Having inherited a rich tradition of pianism and interpretation from Annie Sherter, student of Vlado Perlemuter and Alfred Cortot, LaDeur has established himself as a compelling exponent of classic and new repertoire. In March of 2018, LaDeur made his solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall on the centennial of Claude Debussy’s death. He appears regularly with orchestra and maintains a repertoire of over 40 concerti. LaDeur is the founder and artistic director of the San Francisco International Piano Festival and president of the American Liszt Society, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter.
- All are invited to a complimentary wine reception with the artists immediately following the performance.
Nothing to Fear
Sara Couden, contralto
Derek Tam, pianist
Sunday, October 27, 2024 - 4:00 PM
Piedmont Center for the Arts
Sara Couden
contralto
Derek Tam
pianist
Praised for her "unusually rich and resonant voice" (Opera News), contralto Sara Couden is a premiere interpreter of operatic, concert, and song repertoire. Opera engagements for 2024 include Baba the Turk with Lakes Area Music Festival, as well as her San Francisco Opera debut as Rita in The Handmaid’s Tale (and Serena Joy cover). Concerts include Beethoven 9 with Seattle Symphony, Mass in B Minor with Santa Cruz Symphony, Duruflé Requiem with the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra, and a concert of art songs and piano chamber music with Jenny Lin and Philip Setzer at the Manchester Music Festival.
In previous seasons, Ms. Couden made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Albine in Thais, herPhilharmonia Baroque Orchestra debut as Israelitish Man in Judas Maccabaeus, her San Francisco Symphony debut in Beethoven 9, and her Cincinnati May Festival debut as alto soloist in Julia Perry’s Stabat Mater. She toured Japan with Maestro Masaaki Suzuki in Bach's B Minor Mass, and performed Third Lady in Die Zauberflote with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and sang "Urlicht" as the alto soloist in Mahler's Second Symphony with the Santa Cruz Symphony. She has performed numerous Handel roles, including Bradamante, Cornelia, Ino, Juno, Dejainira, Irene, and Narciso. She completed the Lindemann Young Artist Program at the Metropolitan Opera in 2017, and has been a fellow at the Marlboro Music Festival, Music@Menlo, Music Academy of the West, and the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices.
Praised not only for his "deft" conducting (San Francisco Chronicle) but also as a "a master of [the harpsichord]" (San Francisco Classical Voice) and "the fortepianist of the beguiling fingers" (Bloomington Herald-Times), Derek Tam appears regularly throughout the Bay Area and beyond as a conductor and historical keyboardist. He is the executive director of the San Francisco Early Music Society, a major advocate for early music in the United States, and serves as the artistic director of the biennial Berkeley Festival & Exhibition, an internationally-renowned celebration of early music. Tam is the president of the board of Early Music America, a national organization dedicated to strengthening historical performance.
- All are invited to meet the artists at a complimentary wine reception immediately following the performance.
Muses and Musings of an Impresario
- a Birthday Celebration!
Zachary Gordin, baritone
Daniel Lockert, pianist
with Special Guest Artists
Sunday, November 17, 2024 - 4:00 PM
Piedmont Center for the Arts
Zachary Gordin is a critically acclaimed artist, praised for his “arresting musical insights” and a voice that is “commanding and intense.” As one of opera’s new cadre of visionary leaders who got his start on the stage, Gordin is a fierce arts advocate and entrepreneur. He brings a proven track record of outstanding casting, highlighting current social issues with operatic storytelling while staying deeply rooted in community and audience building. On the operatic stage Gordin is well known for his performances of Joseph De Rocher in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, a role that won him critical acclaim when he premiered it at Dayton Opera in 2015. Other role highlights include Manfred in For a Look or a Touch, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Escamillo in Carmen, Silvio in Pagliacci, Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Germont in La Traviata. A veteran of the concert and recital stage, recent engagements include performances with San Francisco Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Sacramento Philharmonic, YOSA Philharmonic, Bay Area Rainbow Symphony, and many others. His debut disc: Amour sans ailes - Songs of Reynaldo Hahn was named "Best Lieder Recording of 2017" by Voix des Arts.
As a soloist or collaborator, Daniel Lockert is equally versatile on the piano, organ and harpsichord. A native of San Diego, CA, he began formal piano studies at the age of five. Throughout high school, he exclusively studied the organ. After getting his Bachelor’s in Piano Performance and a minor in organ from Loma Linda University, he attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and obtained an advanced degree in the specialized field of Accompanying, studying with the originator of the field, the renowned Gwendolyn Koldolfsky. While at USC, he also studied instrumental accompanying with Brooks Smith, accompanist to Jascha Heifeitz and Jenny Tourel. Daniel has been on the staffs and faculties of the Juilliard School, the San Francisco Opera, Opera San Jose, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Chapman College, Oakland University, Cal State East Bay and the Aspen Music Festival.
- All are invited to meet the artists at a complimentary wine reception immediately following the performance.