Acclaimed Soprano Ashley Bell & Concert Pianist Chao Liao in Concert: Music at the Basilica Series Continues

The  Music at the Basilica Series launched by newly installed pastor Father Michael Vetranowill next  present internationally acclaimed soprano Ashley Bell in concert with renowned  young pianist Chao Liao on Saturday,  April 13, 3013 at 7 pm at the Basilica Church of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus & Mary, 168 Hill Street, Southampton, New York 11968. There is a suggested  donation of $10.

Ashley  Bell has been performing from an early  age, starting at age 9 as a member of the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus  and making her Off-Broadway debut at 16 in the world premiere of the musical The Golden Touch. Ms. Bell has since performed as a soloist in the United  States, Italy, Spain and France. Recent performances include Adina in L’Elisir D’Amorein New York and Tuxedo Park, Serpina in La Serva  Padrona Off-Broadway and on tour in Arizona, Violetta and Donna  Elvira with the Hawthorne Symphony, and Molpe in Choreo Theatro’s world premiere  of theOdyssey at the 92^nd Street Y. Ms. Bell is a Phi  Beta Kappa graduate of Yale University and speaks five languages  fluently.

She is a recipient of Yale’s Browne  Irish Performing Arts Award and of a Scholarship Award at the Crested Butte  Music Festival. Ms. Bell was a participant in Renata Scotto’s Opera Studio at  the Accademia Santa Cecilia in Rome. Last summer she performed selections from Luisa Fernanda, El Cabo Primero and other zarzuela in Spain under the  direction of Pablo Zinger and she perfomed La Serva Padrona with the  Salome Chamber Orchestra.Upcoming performances are to include Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro  with Teatro Lirico D’Europa, Musetta in  La Boheme with Long Island Opera, Dorothee in the America premiere of  Offenbach’s La Bonne D’Enfantwith Salome Chamber Orchestra and recitals  throughout the United States and Europe.

Chao Liao has  served as the Church Organist at St John’s Episcopal Church in East Hartford and  was the Senior Assistant Organist and John Rose Organ Scholar at Trinity  College. Born in Beijing China, Chao Liao started his musical career at the age  of 4, when he began intensive piano instruction under the tutelage of well  renowned instructor Han, Jianming, professor of the piano department in Central  Conservatory in China. His piano pursuit culminated in a second place finish in  all of China in the Rising Stars of Tomorrow competition in 2001 and again a  second place finish in 2003. Chao graduated from Trinity College Phi Beta Kappa  as a math major after spending his junior year at Oxford University studying  pure mathematics. He currently works at BuzzFeed.