Local Soprano to Present Vissi d'arte - Vissi d'amore . . . Cosi e la vita! (I live for art - I live for love . . . Such is life!)

Soprano Karen Amlaw, accompanied by pianist Yukiko Oba, will present Vissi d’arte - Vissi d’amore . . . Così è la vita! (I live for art - I live for love . . . Such is life!) on Sunday, October 5th, 2014 at 3:30 PM at First Unitarian Church, 90 Main Street, Worcester, MA. Admission to this performance is free and open to the public (donations to defray the costs of preparing and presenting this program will be accepted at the door).

The program, selections of women’s musing moments in songs & arias, is planned to open with Amy Beach’s Three Browning Songs followed by Richard Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder. The second half of the program includes arias from Puccini’s Tosca, Verdi’s Ernani, Cilèa’s Adriana Lecouvreur, and Ponchielli’s La Gioconda.

Ms. Amlaw, first alternate in Connecticut Concert Opera’s 2013 American Opera Idol Competition, recently has been proclaimed as “magnificent,” “absolutely gorgeous,” and “destined to sing.” In 2003 she returned to singing after a 15 year leave and since then has sung several partial roles including Verdi heroines Aida (Aida), Elvira (Ernani), Desdemona (Otello), Leonora (La forza del Destino), Elisabetta (Don Carlo) and both Amelias (Un ballo in maschera & Simon Boccanegra). Other partial roles have included Nedda (Pagliacci), Santuzza (Cavalleria rusticana), Maddalena (Andrea Chénier), and the title roles in Tosca, La Gioconda, Madama Butterfly, and Adriana Lecouvreur, among others. She sang Mother Gerald in Boston Opera Collaborative’s production of Dialogues of the Carmelites under the direction on Marc Astafan and Michael Strauss and has been featured in programs with Longwood Opera, Opera Worcester, Mass Theatrica, Greater Worcester Opera (formerly known as Worcester Opera Works) and Lowell Opera Company. Ms. Amlaw is currently under the tutelage of world renowned dramatic mezzo Sondra Kelly and acclaimed New York based coach/conductor Douglas Martin.

Pianist Yukiko Oba, a graduate of Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo, has performed extensively as an accompanist for recitals, choruses, master classes and composers’ projects. She has been a member of the accompanying staff at Boston Conservatory since 1996 and has performed with many acclaimed Boston area singers including soprano Elisabeth Phinney and baritones Victor Iannett and Robert Honeysucker. This past season Ms. Oba was privileged to accompany master classes by Christine Brewer, Dawn Upshaw, Thomas Hampson and Kirstin Chávez among others.

To find out more about Ms. Amlaw or this upcoming performance visit www.karenamlaw.com or this event’s Facebook page or

contact:

Karen Amlaw

508-366-8263

karen.amlaw.soprano@aol.com