Homegrown Singing Talent Evan Hughes
to Make Santa Barbara Recital Appearance
For Immediate Release January 15, 2009
Contact:
Tim Dougherty
805.695.7908
Santa Barbara, CA – Fast-rising bass-baritone Evan Hughes will join pianist Jerome Tan for a recital featuring works by Vivaldi, Debussy, Eisler, and Barber at 7:30 pm Friday, February 13, in the Music Academy of the West's Hahn Hall. Tickets cost $28. An interview and a reception with the artists will follow the recital. Campus parking is free.
The event is being co-presented by the Music Academy and the Marilyn Horne Foundation as part of the foundation's "On Wings of Song" recital series. Mr. Hughes and Mr. Tan are both alumni of the Music Academy of the West.
A Santa Barbara native who literally grew up on the grounds of the Music Academy, Mr. Hughes has garnered attention for his work in recital and on the operatic stage. Following his New York City recital debut in 2006, The New York Times praised Mr. Hughes' "earthy and warm" voice, hailing him as a "gifted" and "naturally communicative" artist. In January 2008, he made his Carnegie Hall debut, returning last fall to collaborate with Dawn Upshaw and the ACJW Ensemble in a performance of David Bruce's Piosenki. He also performed the work alongside Ms. Upshaw with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. The Boston Globe lauded Mr. Hughes' performance of Elliott Carter's Syringa at the Tanglewood Music Festival last summer as "clear and warmly focused." He is scheduled to sing the work with the Metropolitan Opera Chamber Ensemble in January 2010. Mr. Hughes made his European recital debut in Denmark in collaboration with pianist Mikael Eliasen in 2007, followed by recitals with the William Walton Foundation in Ischia, Italy, and with the American Academy in Berlin the following year. Upcoming performances will include Puccini's Messa di Gloria with the Santa Barbara Symphony and the role of Leporello in a Tanglewood Music Festival production of Don Giovanni, under the baton of James Levine. Legendary mezzo-soprano and Music Academy Voice Program Director Marilyn Horne has called him "one of the bright lights of talented young singers today." Mr. Hughes, who received his bachelor's degree from UCLA, is currently working on a master's degree at the Curtis Institute of Music.
Mr. Tan, a native of Singapore who received master's degrees in both solo piano performance and ensemble arts at Peabody Conservatory of Music, has been described by The New York Times as a "confident and articulate" performer. He has served as a staff pianist for the Ravinia Festival's Steans Institute for Young Artists, the Southeastern Festival of Song, and the Music Academy in Villecroze, France. Upcoming engagements include a highly anticipated performance of Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire with the Gotham Chamber Opera.
For additional information, call 969-8787.
Founded in 1947, the Music Academy of the West is among the nation's preeminent summer schools and festivals for gifted young classical musicians. The Academy provides these promising musicians with the opportunity for advanced study and frequent performance under the guidance of internationally renowned faculty artists, as well as guest conductors and soloists. Admission to the Academy is strictly merit based, and Fellows receive full scholarships (tuition, room, and board). Academy alumni are members of major symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras, ensembles, opera companies, and university and conservatory faculties throughout the world. Many enjoy careers as prominent solo artists. Based in Santa Barbara, the Music Academy of the West presents more than 200 public events annually, including performances by faculty, visiting artists, and Fellows; masterclasses; orchestra and chamber music concerts; and fully staged opera. The Music Academy began broadcasting live performances by the world-renowned Metropolitan Opera at Hahn Hall in October 2008. For more information, visit www.musicacademy.org.
