Love Is In The Air

Starring soprano Michelle Johnson and baritone Brian Major

February 10, 2012

8pm

Diva party to precede concert in the Sun Valley Lodge Dining Room 6:30pm

Audiences will be entertained by the critically acclaimed rising opera star, Michelle Johnson, winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions, singing with fiancé Brian Major in the Sun Valley Opera’s winter concert. They will entertain the audience with a concert of love songs perfect for Valentine’s Day.  Inquirer music critic David Patrick Stearns has said of Johnson “ On a good night, Opera soprano Michelle Johnson is the bullfighter and the audience is the bull-there to be teased, attracted, provoked and (pleasurably) slain. Johnson could make you believe that opera singers are born rather than made, shepherded to fame by the forces of destiny, and with luck, kept from vocal harm by extra-militant guardian angels.”

General admission tickets are $40 and Diva tickets begin at $125. Tickets are available by calling 208.726.0991 or online at www.sunvalleyopera.com.

Tickets are $45 & $65 on sale Friday, February 25 at the Sun Valley Recreation Center (208) 622-2135.
Purchase tickets online at: seats.sunvalley.com

Diva Party tickets are $125 and up and include a cocktail party in the Sun Valley Inn Continental Room beginning at 6:30pm, March 19. Diva Party tickest are only available at the Sun Valley Opera. (208) 726-0991

Biography:
When Alfie began his studies at the Royal College of Music as an opera singer he was encouraged to explore this beautiful classical folk music. As he immersed himself in the history of these arias he was immediately hooked on the tradition it was steeped in & his love affair had begun! “When I’m performing these songs it’s the music and the words that are telling the story and that’s where the passion comes from. I really connect with the people and their love and emotion for their homeland,” explains Alfie.

Alfie’s trajectory was set when he left home to join the D’Oyly Carte Touring Opera Company. It was a fine experience but it wasn’t enough for the young Boe. He wanted to learn his art thoroughly and left for London enrolling at the Royal College of Music. After graduating he joined the The National Opera Studio and then went on to the Villar Young Artists Programme at The Royal Opera House.

It has been well documented that Alfie’s first break came when Baz Luhrmann, after spending two years looking for one of the main leads for his controversial production of Puccini’s ‘La Boheme’ approached Alfie for the role. His performance on Broadway led to him winning a Tony Award which sits comfortably next to his John McCormack Young Voice Award and Lyric Tenor of the World Audience Award.

There have been many highlights in his career but the last 12 months have been exceptional. Alfie has enjoyed two chart topping classical albums and now finds himself on the eve of releasing his third studio album; he was nominated for a Classical Brit Award for ‘Best Album’ sharing the category with Sir Paul McCartney and Sting; he’s toured the length and breadth of the country; performed at the Royal Albert Hall with Lesley Garratt and Sir Willard White; performed in a sell-out run of the English National Opera’s production of Kismet alongside Michael Ball and performed at Clarence House where he graciously accepted the role as Ambassador for HRH’s Arts & Kids Foundation.

Sun Valley Opera in conjunction with Sun Valley Resort Entertainment are pleased to present Miz Saigon on Sunday, July 11, 2010 at 8pm in the Sun Valley Pavilion. Gates open at 7pm
This concert is performed by 5 singers, a 25-piece orchestra and a finale sung by a 100 voice chorus. The Miz Saigon concert will feature songs from two of the world’s most beloved stories and Broadway musicals; Miss Saigon and Les Misérables, under the direction of music director Brett Strader.

Tickets are $28, $49 & $76 on sale April 15 online at: seats.sunvalley.com
or at the Sun Valley Recreation Center box office: (888) 622-2108 or (208) 622-2135
Hotel & Concert Ticket packages also available. Please call hotel reservations at (800)786-8259.

Tickets to the Friday, July 10 Miz Saigon Diva Party are only available through Sun Valley Opera.
For more information about the Miz Saigon artists and to purchase tickets to the July 10 Diva Party please visit www.sunvalleyopera.com
or call (208) 726-0991.

Opening Night Concert & Diva Party is Friday, January 29 at the Sun Valley Club at 6:30pm starting with a sumptuous pre-concert cocktail party. Tickets from $125 only available through the Sun Valley Opera (208)726-0991 or online: www.sunvalleyopera.com

The Metropolitan Opera soprano’s exclusive visit is presented by Sun Valley Opera and Sun Valley Resort Entertainment. The concert “Young Love” includes her signature songs, “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess by Gershwin and “Song to the Moon” from Rusalka Dvorak. Frank Meyer, President of Sun Valley Opera said, “In addition to the perfection of her singing, she draws in the audience with her professional acting skills”. The New York Times described her voice as “powerful and clear” and the Washington Post priased her for the principal role in La Boheme at the Kennedy Center, under the direction of Placido Domingo. She was seen on the Metropolitan HD live satellite transmission to select theaters around the world and is represented by one of the most prestigious artist management firms in the world. Miss Cambridge, who performs across America and abroad, sings for the first time in Idaho.

Sun Valley Opera and Sun Valley Resort Entertainment present Tenors and Strings Extravaganza featuring Dennis McNeil’s Three Tenors and The Hutchins Consort will perform at the Sun Valley Pavilion Sunday, June 28. For videos of both go to the Sun Valley Opera website.

*Children under 18 are Free, but still need a ticket to reserve a seat. Students 18 and over with valid student ID receive a $10 discount on all seats. Please call 888-622-2108 for Student or Child Tickets.

Artist Biography:
Three powerhouse tenors, Dennis McNeil, Jose Medina, and Eduardo Villa, have wowed audiences from Los Angeles to Rome and Mexico to Slovenia singing the world’s greatest hits. What makes these three men so special is the fact that they have so much fun on stage and it is contagious. The audience of all ages will leap to their feet at the Pavilion with standing ovations and bravos!.

They have performed lead roles in operas around the world including New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Berlin Opera, Munich Opera, Paris Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Vancouver Opera, Atlanta Opera. Mr Villa is currently a regular guest artist at the Metropolian Opera.

Along with the grand tenor arias from the world of opera, they sing international popular songs from Mexico and Naples such as O Sole Mio as well Broadway favorites. In this World Premier show, preceding a tour to other cities, the Hutchins Consort violins join the tenor voices creating music that speaks to the heart. The Hutchins Consort plays on the eight matched violins of the New Violin Family – from tiny treble tuned an octave higher than a normal violin to the 7 ft tall contrabass violin. These instruments are the first successful attempt in the 500 year history of the violin to make a complete homogenous set that span the entire range of written music.

In 1990 on the occasion of the World Cup in Rome, the original Three Tenors performed at the Baths of Caraculla. The concert was telecast to millions around the world. Fame of “The Three Tenors” was instant. The recordings and videos of subsequent concerts have outsold those of Elvis and the Rolling Stones. They brought the classical voice to the masses.

The famous composer Lalo Schifrin, a member of the Sun Valley Opera Honorary Pavilion Committee, was invited to write the Gran Finale of the first Three Tenors Concert as well as subsequent World Cup concerts. Dennis McNeil, Jose Median and Eduardo Villa, are the only other tenors to have performed Maestro Schifrin’s repertorie under his baton in the USA and abroad.