A Night at the Opera:
Music You Know and Love
Saturday, March 2, 2019, 8 pm
Pre-Concert Talk at 7:15 pm with the Conductor
Memorial Hall, Melrose
The Melrose Symphony is excited to bring four spectacular vocalists to Memorial Hall for a very special evening of operatic blockbusters.
You’ll recognize many of these beloved, dynamic masterpieces including favorites from Carmen, La bohème, Madame Butterfly, The Magic Flute, La Traviata, and many more.
Featuring:
Mara Bonde, soprano; Krista River, mezzo-soprano
Ethan Bremner, tenor; Thomas Jones, baritone
Sponsored by Bell & Izzi Law
About the Soloists
Soprano Mara Bonde is equally at home in both classical and popular styles, and has performed as a guest artist with the Boston Pops, the Rochester Philharmonic, the Naples Philharmonic, and with the Baton Rouge, Lansing, New Haven, Syracuse, and Charlotte Symphony Orchestras. Other orchestral engagements have taken her to the South Florida, Utah, San Diego, Stamford, Ridgefield, Waterbury, Cape, Cape Ann, Quincy and Nashua Symphony Orchestras, the Handel & Haydn Society, and Boston Baroque. Her stage repertoire includes both opera and classic music theater including roles in "The Merry Widow" (Imperial Symphony Orchestra), "Magic Flute" (Boston Baroque), "Guys & Dolls" (Reagle Music Theatre & Greater Lowell Music Theater), and others. Mara also performs with Boston Musical Theater (specializing in the "Great American Songbook") and has toured with the ensemble to South Korea, Russia, and Belgium. She has appeared with Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Omaha, Glimmerglass Opera, Utah Opera, Light Opera Oklahoma, and the Opera Company of North Carolina. Mara is delighted to return to the Melrose Symphony!
Mezzo-soprano Krista River is a versatile performer who is at home in repertoire ranging from the Baroque period to the 21st century. She was a winner of the 2004 Concert Artists Guild International Competition and a 2007 grant recipient from the Sullivan Foundation. Recent notable performances include the International Water and Life Festival in Qinghai, China, and recitals at Jordan Hall in Boston and the Asociación Nacional de Conciertos in Panama City, Panama. Ms. River’s orchestral engagements have included appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Handel & Haydn Society, Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, Harrisburg Symphony, York Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Pittsburgh Bach and Baroque Ensemble, the Cape Cod Symphony, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.
Recent opera appearances include “Carmen” at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, “La clemenza di Tito” with Emmanuel Music and Opera Boston, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” with Boston Modern Orchestra Project, “Dido and Aeneas” with Mercury Baroque (Houston) and the Connecticut Early Music Festival, “Marriage of Figaro” with the North Carolina Symphony, “Agrippina” at the Crested Butte Music Festival, and the title role in Handel’s “Xerxes” with Arcadia Players. Ms. River made her Tanglewood debut in the role of Jordan Baker in John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby. Ms. River began her musical career as a cellist, earning her music degree at St. Olaf College. She resides in Boston and is a regular soloist with Emmanuel Music’s renowned Bach Cantata Series.
Tenor Ethan Bremner made his Boston debut with Boston Opera Collaborative in 2006 as Achilles in Gluck’s “Iphigenie en Aulide,” and then sang with the company as Rodolfo in Puccini’s “La Bohème.” He also performed as Cavaradossi in Puccini’s “Tosca,” Nemorino in Donizetti’s “L’elisir D’amore,” Don Jose in “Carmen” and Lt. Pinkerton in “Madame Butterfly” with Longwood Opera. He has performed with Boston’s Odyssey Opera in Wagner’s “Rienzi," Vaughan Williams’ “Sir John in Love” and Windham Orchestra's production of Verdi’s “Il Trovatore.” Mr. Bremner was a finalist in the 2010 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (New England Region) and earned his Master of Music in 2006 from the University of Wisconsin.
Baritone Thomas Jones has appeared with the Santa Fe Symphony, The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Boston's Handel & Haydn Society, and many other prominent ensembles. Opera companies include Boston Lyric Opera, The Harrisburg Opera Company of Pennsylvania and Opera New England. In the Boston area, appearances include The Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Boston Civic Orchestra, The Back Bay Chorale, Coro Allegro, The Worcester Symphony, The Nashua Symphony, The Masterworks Chorale, and Cape Cod Symphony. Thomas Jones was a semifinalist in the International Bel Canto Foundation Vocal Competition and a semifinalist in the New York Oratorio Competition.
