Acclaimed soprano and recording artist Kallen Esperian, artist-in-residence at the University of Mississippi, is set to perform Monday (Jan. 30) at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts in a benefit for the UM Patrons of Music Scholarship Fund.
“An Evening with Kallen Esperian” begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 general admission, $20 for senior citizens and $10 for Ole Miss students. They are available at the UM Box Office in the Ole Miss Student Union, online at https://olemiss.primetix.com/Tickets/?perfid=157 or by calling 662-915-7411.
Pianist Stacy Rodgers, UM professor of music, will accompany Esperian on selections from her “Art Song” repertoire, plus aria “chestnuts” from Verdi and Puccini operas. UM voice faculty Bradley Robinson, Julia Aubrey, Nancy Balach, Cynthia Linton, Jos Milton, Jennifer Robinson and Amanda Johnston will join Esperian on two opera ensemble selections.
“The university is most fortunate to have Kallen Esperian as an artist-in-residence,” said Norm Easterbrook, director of the Ford Center. “She is engaging and captivating, and her performances have delighted audience on regional, national and international levels.”
Lauded by reviewer Christopher Blank for the “melting purity of her timbre and smoothness of her legato,” Esperian catapulted onto the world stage as winner of the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition in her early 20s. Since then, she has landed leading roles in all the world’s major opera houses and has paired many times with opera greats such as Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras, both in opera performances and in concerts.
Several of Esperian’s performances have been televised internationally. She was featured in the documentary “Distant Harmony,” which highlighted her groundbreaking performances in China with Pavarotti. Additionally, she was one of “The Three Sopranos” recorded on Atlantic records and broadcast live on PBS. Other recordings include, “Pavarotti: Live from Royal Albert Hall” on the Decca label and Donizetti’s “Maria Stuarda” on Serenissima label.
Esperian has also produced and recorded three CDs on her own label, Goose Hollow. Upcoming performances include the title role in Bizet’s “Carmen” with the Opera Birmingham in March.
A graduate of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Esperian was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music from Rhodes College in Memphis. She was named a one-year UM artist-in-residence in fall 2011. She is teaching private voice classes, master classes for voice students and special topics courses for all students covering audition repertoire, developing a career as a stage artist and the music business.
For a complete list of events, visit the Ford Center.