Soprano Cynthia Lawrence Opens Orchestra Series
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 17, 2009) - The University of Kentucky's new endowed professor of music, Cynthia Lawrence, will perform with the UK Symphony Orchestra in its opening concert. Lawrence, a celebrated opera vocalist who has performed on five continents, just joined the UK School of Music's award-winning faculty where she will work with UK Opera Theatre. The concert featuring Lawrence and the UK Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of John Nardolillo, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, at the Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall. The concert is free and open to the public.
It will include performances of the overture to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro" and the composer's Symphony 39, as well as Richard Strauss's "Four Last Songs" and "Death and Transfiguration."
Lawrence, hailed as one of America’s most exciting singing actresses, is a regular guest of leading opera companies around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera; The Royal Albert Hall, London; the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Deutsche Staatsoper, Berlin; New Israeli Opera; Opera Pacific; Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; Opera Ontario; New York City Opera; Opera Memphis; and many more.
Most recently, the lyric soprano sang "Lady Macbeth" at the Palacio Das Artes, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and was featured in the 75th Anniversary Gala of Florentine Opera in Milwaukee. Additionally, she is a selected soloist and speaker in the recent DVD "A Tribute to Pavarotti: One Amazing Weekend in Petra." Lawrence appeared more than 70 times in concert with Luciano Pavarotti, touring such countries as Qatar, Italy, Chile, Venezuela, Argentina, Germany, Norway, Japan, China, Malaysia, England, Canada, South Africa and the U.S.
Her roles include her acclaimed turn as Tosca in "Tosca"; Amelia in "Un Ballo in Maschera"; Roxanne in "Cyrano de Bergerac"; Dolly in "Sly"; Cio-Cio-San in "Madama Butterfly"; Rosalinda in "Die Fledermaus"; Lavinia in "Mourning Becomes Electra"; Elettra in "Idomeneo"; Vitellia in "La Clemenza di Tito"; Musetta and Mimi in "La Boheme"; Micaela in "Carmen"; The First Lady in "The Magic Flute"; Fiordiligi in "Cosi fan Tutte"; Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s "Macbeth"; Die Frau in Schoenberg’s "Von Heute auf Morgen"; Countess in "Le Nozze di Figaro"; Liu, Marguerite and Countess Olga in "Fedora"; and The Italian Singer in Strauss’s "Capriccio."
Lawrence, who also maintains a private studio, is a frequent judge for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and enjoys conducting Master Classes for singers, performers and colleges.
To hear Lawrence perform a selection of songs visit the artist's personal Web site online at www.cynthialawrence.com/audio/index.html.
Since Nardolillo took the conductor's podium of the UK Symphony Orchestra, it has enjoyed great success racking up recording credits, performing on prestigious stages at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall and sharing the stage with such acclaimed international artists as Arlo Guthrie, Lynn Harrell and Gil Shaham. Among its recording credits are: "In Times Like These," recorded live with Guthrie in March 2006 at the Singletary Center for the Arts; the premiere cast recording of Thomas Pasatieri's "The Hotel Casablanca" with UK Opera Theatre; "Music of the Horse," a collection of equestrian-inspired music sponsored by UK School of Music and the Keeneland Foundation; and most recently a critically acclaimed recording of composer George Frederick McKay's "Epoch: An American Dance Symphony" with UK Women's Choir.
Nardolillo has made conducting appearances throughout the U.S. and Europe, leading major American orchestras in concerts, tours and television and radio broadcasts. He has conducted major symphonies in such locales as San Francisco, Seattle, Atlanta, Detroit and Dallas. Nardolillo has also conducted at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall and Philadelphia‘s Kimmel Center and is the founder and music director of the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. He earned a bachelor’s degree in violin from the Cleveland Institute of Music and master’s degrees in both violin and conducting from the Peabody Conservatory.