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Feb. 19, 2004 - Vocal Duo |
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Anne Elgar Kopta,
soprano and Associate Professor of Music in Voice at Arizona State
University, has enjoyed a distinguished record of performing and teaching
that spans the world of Broadway and opera, and that of teaching at major
universities and at summer music schools both here and abroad. As a
principal artist singing under the stage name of Anne Elgar, she regularly
appeared in leading roles with the New York City Opera and the opera
companies of San Francisco, San Diego, Houston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati,
Cleveland and Wichita. Her credits include Violetta in La Traviata,
Gilda in Rigoletto, Mimi in La Boheme, Sophie in Der
Rosenkavalier, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Blonde in
The Abduction from the Seraglio, Pamina in The Magic Flute,
Rosina in Barber of Seville, Baby Doe in The Ballad of Baby Doe,
Abigail in The Crucible, and Sister Blanche in Dialogues of the
Carmelites, among many others. She created the role of Margaret in the
world premier of Lizzie Borden by Jack Beeson, a work commissioned
by the New York City Opera. The original cast album released on Desto
Records has recently been reissued on CDs by Composers Recordings, Inc./CRI.
Miss Anne Elgar has also recorded opera by Rossini and Meyerbeer on the
Vanguard (reissued on CDs) and the HRE labels. As a soloist, she appeared
frequently with orchestras such as the Boston Symphony conducted by Eric
Leinsdorf, with whom she sang Mahler's Symphony No. 4 and the world
premier of Roger Sessions' Psalm 140 in the orchestral setting
commissioned by Maestro Leinsdorf. Other major orchestras that engaged her
include the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, the Buffalo
Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony and the San Antonio Symphony. Miss
Kopta's international appearances include performing with the Montreal
Symphony, the Orchestra of Mexico City, the National Theater of Croatia
and the Orchestra of The Hague, Holland. Under the sponsorship of Columbia
Artists' Community Concerts Series, she was a popular recitalist. There
were also many guest appearances at Tanglewood, Chautauqua, Caramoor,
Newport, Saratoga and other summer music festivals. At the beginning of
her career, she won the Metropolitan Opera Guild Scholarship and sang with
the Metropolitan Opera Studio in New York and on national tours. Prior to
her operatic career, she was in the original Broadway cast of The Sound
of Music. Warren Hoffer, tenor, has performed internationally as a specialist in art song and oratorio, with music ranging from the sixteenth century to the present. In addition to many choral organizations he has sung with the Pittsburgh, Hartford, Portland, Lubbock, Las Vegas and Phoenix Symphony Orchestras, Buffalo Philharmonic, and the Orchestra of Santa Fe. During his military service Mr. Hoffer was a soloist with the United States Army Chorus, Washington, DC. He has premiered new vocal works as a member of the Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, Buffalo, NY, a group organized by the composer/conductor Lukas Foss to create and perform avant-garde music. He has appeared at the New Hampshire Music Festival, Santa Fe Bach Festival, Park City International Chamber Music Festival, Buffalo Bach Festival, and the Flagstaff Summer Festival. In Phoenix, he has been a frequent performer with ensembles Bach West, Musica Dolce, and the Phoenix Bach Choir. Conductors include Lukas Foss, Sir David Willcocks, Margaret Hillis, Richard Page, Sören Hansen, Vance George, Anders Öhrwall, Thomas Dunn, and Jon Washburn. Mr. Hoffer is an Emeritis Professor of Music at Arizona State University, and former Vice President of Discretionary Funds and Field Activities of the National Association of Teachers of Singing. He is also the creator of BRITISH SONG FA LA LA, an Internet Web site database of over 6000 British songs.Mary Pendleton has performed as soloist, chamber musician, orchestral keyboardist, and accompanist in the United States, Mexico, and England. She made her London solo debut at the prestigious Wigmore Hall in 1984, and she has appeared as a soloist with the Phoenix Symphony, and the Amarillo and Lubbock Symphonies. For nine years she served as keyboardist for the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, and since 1998, she has been the fulltime Keyboardist with the Florida Orchestra in Tampa Bay. She is a member of many chamber ensembles, including the Bel Canto Players, of which she is a founding member, and she frequently performs with singers. Her summer festival appearances include the Sedona Chamber Music Festival, the New Hampshire Music Festival, and the Park City International Chamber Music Festival. For the Arizona Arts Commission and the NEA, she toured Arizona and northern Mexico in solo and chamber music performances. At the age of five, she was the youngest performer ever to participate in the Berkeley (California) Bach Festival, and she later was a prize winner in the Chicago Young Artists Competition. Her academic credentials include the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees at Texas Tech University, and Doctor of Musical Arts from Arizona State University, with majors in both solo piano performance and accompanying. She also holds diplomas from both the Royal Academy and Royal College of Music in London. She has taught at Texas Tech University, Arizona State University, and in the Maricopa County (AZ) Community Colleges. She is also a frequent adjudicator and workshop presenter. |
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