SOUTH SHORE OPERA COMPANY OF CHICAGO PERFORMS INAUGURAL CONCERT AT SOUTH SHORE CULTURAL CENTER
PERFORMANCE FEATURES CELEBRATED SOPRANO ELIZABETH NORMAN SOJOURNER
Release Date: 02/02/09
The South Shore Opera Company of Chicago – featuring critically acclaimed soprano Elizabeth Norman Sojourner – performs its inaugural concert Saturday, Feb. 28 at the newly renovated South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. South Shore Dr., at 5:30 p.m. The concert is admission free and presented in partnership with the South Shore Cultural Center Advisory Council.
“The South Shore Cultural Center was recently refurbished with new carpet and furniture and will provide a beautiful venue for the debut of this new company,” said Chicago Park District General Superintendent and CEO Timothy J. Mitchell.
The program will include selections from Handel’s Giulio Cesare, Verdi’s Falstaff, Strauss’s Die Fledermaus and more. Other featured performers include baritone Martin Woods of the Chicago Opera Theater, the award-winning Kenwood Academy concert choir and baritones Brandon Brown and Antonio Watts.
The South Shore Opera Company was founded by local artist and University of Illinois at Chicago professor Marvin Lynn this winter. The company’s mission is to make opera and musical theater more accessible to diverse Chicago audiences on the southside and elsewhere. The company was formed in partnership with the South Shore Cultural Center and its advisory council. All concerts involve a diverse cross-section of youth performers and are free and open to the public.
Dr. Marvin Lynn is founder and executive director of the South Shore Opera of Chicago. A native Chicagoan and a South Shore community resident, he has performed with the Grant Park Symphony Chorus, Dreamstreet Theater, the Municipal Opera Company of Baltimore, the Annapolis Opera Company and the Maryland Arts Festival. He holds a bachelor of arts in elementary education with a concentration in voice and opera from DePaul University; a master of arts in urban education from Columbia University in New York City; and a doctorate in education from the University of California in Los Angeles.
Elizabeth Norman Sojourner is a resident of the greater South Shore community and a celebrated artist and who has performed regularly with the Grant Park Symphony, the Chicago Sinfonietta and at Bach Week in Evanston. Nationally, she has appeared at the White House, the Kennedy Center, and with the symphonies of Richmond, Eugene, Duluth and Chicago, and abroad in Europe and Africa. Recent engagements include Mahler’s Second Symphony with the Oak Park/River Forest Symphony, Carmina Burana with the Eugene Symphony, and an appearance with Wynton Marsalis and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra premiering his new composition, All Rise. She holds a bachelor of arts in education with a concentration in voice from Morgan State University in Baltimore and a master of arts in vocal performance from DePaul University. She is currently on the voice faculty of Roosevelt University.
Native Chicagoan Martin Woods has lent background vocals to such artists as Michael McDonald and Beyonce Knowles. In 2007, he made his Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut as the baritone in All Rise with Wynton Marsalis. He recently performed in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Upcoming performances include Papageno in Mozart’s Magic Flute through the Lyric’s outreach program, Opera in the Neighborhood. Woods recently received a masters in music from Roosevelt University and is also a graduate of Morehouse College. He is currently participating in Chicago Opera Theater’s 2009 Young Artists program.
The award-winning Kenwood Academy Concert Choir recently performed for President Barack Obama and has shared the stage with Oscar winner Denzel Washington and Grammy winners The Winans. Kenwood Academy Concert Choir alumni include R. Kelly, Chaka Khan and Nicole Heaston, a regularly featured artist with the Metropolitan Opera. The choir is currently under the direction of Richard Nunley, the chorus master for the All-City High School Chorus of Chicago.
For more information on this concert, visit www.chicagoparkdistrict.com or call 312.742.PLAY, 312.747.2001 (TTY).
- Contact Phone: 312 742 7529