Name: WDAV's Small Batch Concert Series: Opera Carolina
Start: 2025-02-13T19:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-02-13T21:00:00-05:00
Location: Free Range Brewing

WDAV's Small Batch Concert Series: Opera Carolina

WDAV Classical Public Radio

Online ticket reservations are now "tapped out"! A limited number of tickets will be available at the door beginning at 6:45 PM.

Free Range Brewing

Online ticket reservations are now "tapped out"! A limited number of tickets will be available at the door beginning at 6:45 PM.Already got your tickets? Don't forget that this event is general admission with possible standing room, and reserving a ticket does not guarantee a seat. We strongly recommend arriving early to claim your spot. Please direct ticketing questions to <a href="mailto:malathem@wdav.org" title="mailto:malathem@wdav.org" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">malathem@wdav.org</a>, and <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wdavs-small-batch-concert-series-opera-carolina-tickets-1084878985249?aff=oddtdtcreator" title="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wdavs-small-batch-concert-series-opera-carolina-tickets-1084878985249?aff=oddtdtcreator" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">click here</a> for important event information and updates. Cheers! Doors open at 6:30 PM. Join us at Free Range Brewing for "Voices of Love," a swoon-worthy evening of vocal music presented by Opera Carolina. Soprano Corey Lovelace, mezzo-soprano Julia Fertel, and tenor Johnnie Felder will treat your ears to a wide-ranging program of romantic opera arias and duets, art songs, and musical theatre staples just in time for Valentine's Day.

ABOUT OPERA CAROLINACelebrating 75 years of musical impact across the Charlotte region and Carolinas, Opera Carolina is committed to to serving the community by enriching audiences of all ages and backgrounds, advancing artists' careers, and embracing and reflecting cultural diversity. From grand opera performances in Belk Theater to casual performances in non-traditional spaces across the region, to young and emerging professional artist training and live performances for students and families in schools, libraries, and more, Opera Carolina offers a way for all community members to engage in the wonder of opera. Learn more: <a href="https://operacarolina.org/" title="https://operacarolina.org/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">operacarolina.org</a> ABOUT THE ARTISTS VocalistsJohnnie J. Felder, tenor, is a native of Vance, South Carolina and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Benedict College, the Master of Music, and Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Performance from the University South Carolina. Felder has also undergone extensive vocal training in the opera studio of the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria and in the opera soloist program of the Varna International Music Academy Festival in Varna, Bulgaria.Dr. Felder has served on the music faculties of Benedict College (Columbia, SC), Paine College (Augusta, GA), Augusta University in (Augusta, GA) and Allen University (Columbia, SC). At present, Dr. Felder serves on the music faculties at the University of South Carolina where he teaches applied voice and diction and South Carolina State University where he conducts the university’s Concert Choir. Felder’s research interests include the performance, preservation, and continued scholarship of opera, art song, and choral literature by composers of the African Diaspora and beyond.While enjoying an active teaching career, Felder continues to perform regularly throughout the southeastern region, nationally, and abroad. Additionally, Felder is a principal artist in Opera Carolina’s resident artist program (Charlotte, NC). The 2022-23 season will feature Mr. Felder in a debut role as Peter/Honeyman in the Gershwins’ Porgy &amp; Bess (Opera Carolina), Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Augusta Choral Society), soloist in the UofSC Cornelia Freeman faculty concert series, the ensemble of the North Carolina premiere of Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’ new opera - Omar (UNC Opera), Peter/Honeyman (North Carolina Opera), and several solo recitals and concerts throughout the United States. Julia Fertel, an expressive and versatile artist based in Columbia, South Carolina, strives to tell captivating yet vulnerable stories in both the Opera and Musical Theatre repertoire. Ms. Fertel is a member of the 2024/25 Resident Artist Company at Opera Carolina. She is passionate about exploring the intersections between Opera and Social Justice, examining how storytelling can inspire empathy in an audience. Equally at home in the operatic canon and art song, Ms. Fertel is devoted to performing works by female composers and repertoire in Hebrew and Yiddish. As a performer, she feels it is crucial that all voices are heard, especially those that are consistently overlooked throughout history.Recent engagements include her chorus debut with Opera Carolina in Turandot, Golde in Fiddler on the Roof, Maria Luisa in With Blood, With Ink, and Suor Zelatrice in Suor Angelica at the Seagle Festival. Ms. Fertel received her M.M. in Opera Performance from the University of South Carolina where she performed as Der Trommler in Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Rebecca Nurse in The Crucible, and Mrs. Grose in The Turn of the Screw. Fertel earned her B.M. in Vocal Performance at the University of Michigan.Ms. Fertel is passionate about exposing the next generation of opera goers to this exciting art form. She participated in the Inaugural Children’s Opera Festival with FBN Productions in Columbia, South Carolina during which she toured productions of The Red Songbird (world premiere) and The Three Little Pigs to communities throughout the Midlands. She also performed The Three Bears and The Ugly Duckling to schools throughout the North Country while performing with the Seagle Festival in upstate New York. Corey Raquel Lovelace hails from Chicago, but has happily made her new home in the Carolinas. Most recently she stepped in for Italian soprano Barbara Fritolli to sing the role of Nedda in I Pagliacci with Opera Carolina. Last season she made her debut as Leonore in Fidelio with Mid-Ohio Civic Opera and had the pleasure of performing Shostakovich’s Seven Romances by Alexander Blok with Chamber Music for All. She received Second Place in the Heafner-Williams Opera Competition and First Place in the Opera Guild of Charlotte Competition. In the coming 2024/25 season she can be heard singing the roles of Frasquita in Carmen, First Lady in The Magic Flute, and Musetta in La Bohème.Internationally, she has performed in China with the iSING! Music Festival and made her European debut with the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. Her performing credits include; title role in Susannah and Adriana Lecouvreur, Mimì in La Bohème, Musetta in La Bohème, Cendrillon in Cendrillon, Kate in Lost Connection: The Tinder Opera, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, and Lady Billows in Albert Herring. AccompanistsDaria Ruzhynska is a highly experienced and dedicated Opera Coach and Pianist with more than 13 years of extensive experience as a Performer, Coach and Mentor to young professional Opera Singers.Daria holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Kharkiv National University of Arts (Ukraine). From 2011 to 2021, she held the position of Opera Coach/Repetiteur at the Kharkiv National Opera Theater. During this tenure, she served as Principal Coach and Pianist for more than 30 opera productions. She has been a collaborative pianist in recitals, concerts and as keyboard artist for symphonic concerts in her native Ukraine.Ms. Ruzhynska has conducted numerous masterclasses and workshops on vocal performance and opera interpretation and assisted the Artistic Directors at the Kharkiv National Opera Theater and her new home at Opera Carolina in casting decisions, providing feedback during auditions. She has prepared more than 300 principal and supporting roles for professional opera singers.Throughout her career in the opera house, Daria has mentored young talent and provided career guidance for emerging opera singers. She developed and led the coaching team in training emerging singers for Kharkiv National Opera Theater. In her role as Supervisor for the Young Artist Program at the Kharkiv National Opera Theater, Daria, along with the music staff team, facilitated the launch of numerous contemporary music pieces for The Skhid Opera Youth Music Hub. Notable productions included The Medium by Gian Carlo Menotti and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Michael Nyman. She is also the author of several articles on contemporary music.Upon relocating to Charlotte NC (United States), Daria continued her career as a Coach and Pianist for various Grand Opera Productions, including Tosca by Puccini (Opera Carolina, Charlotte, NC), Porgy and Bess by Gershwin (North Carolina Opera and Opera Carolina, NC), Aida by Verdi (Opera Grand Rapids, MI), L’elisir d’amore by Donizetti (Charleston Opera Theater, SC), Pagliacci by Leoncavallo and Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni (Opera Carolina), Service Provider by John de Los Santos and Christopher Weiss (Amelia Island Opera, FL), Bon Appetit by Lee Hoiby (Amelia Island Opera), and Carmen by Bizet (Central Piedmont Community College, Charlotte, NC), and Les Contes d'Hoffmann by J. Offenbach (International Lyric Academy).Daria is frequently sought after to work as a Pianist for opera auditions and vocal competitions, including the Heafner Williams Competition in March 2023 in Lincolnton, NC, and The Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition for the NC district in January 2024 and 2025. From 2023 to 2024, she served as a Principal Vocal Coach/Pianist for the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (The A.J. Fletcher Opera Institute). Together with the music staff and production team, they prepared and launched fully staged operas such as Maria di Rohan by Donizetti and Lo Frate 'Nnamorato by Pergolesi. Daria currently holds the position of Coach/Accompanist with Opera Carolina. Emily Jarrell Urbanek has been Opera Carolina’s Director of Music Preparation since 2007, serving as chief coach, pianist and chorus director, and she has performed with the company since 2003. During Opera Carolina’s 2019-2020 season, Emily conducted a joint production of Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg for Opera Carolina and Opera Grand Rapids, as well as Opera Carolina’s March 2022 performances of Zach Redler and Jerre Dye’s opera, The Falling and the Rising, and their 2023 performances of La Traviata. Emily is also an extra keyboardist with the Charlotte Symphony and frequently performs chamber music with area musicians. Recent performances include Shostakovich’s Seven Romances on Poems of Alexander Blok with Opera Carolina and Chamber Music 4 All, music for piano and strings by women composers with the Bechtler Ensemble, and Dvorak’s Piano Quintet in A Major, Op. 81, with the principal strings of the Charlotte Symphony in a collaboration with the Charlotte Ballet entitled Ibsen’s House. From 2007 to 2023 Emily was part of the musical staff of the Chautauqua Opera, and she has also served as repetiteur for a variety of companies, including New York City Opera, San Diego Opera, Austin Opera, Fort Worth Opera Festival, New Orleans Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Cincinnati Opera. This summer she will be joining the music staff of the Janiec Opera Company at Brevard Music Center.

WDAV's Small Batch Concert Series: Opera Carolina

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WDAV's Small Batch Concert Series: Opera Carolina

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