Immerse yourself in Ars Lyrica’s Esther & Jonah concert at Hobby Center

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Photo courtesy of Ars Lyrica

Muse on Artful Women in Ars Lyrica’s performance, Esther & Jonah, in Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center on Friday, February 16, 2018.

Just as the holidays come to a close, Ars Lyrica Houston presents the fourth entry in its season-long Artful Women series.

The work embodies the season’s motif with Handel’s first English-language oratorio celebrating an Old Testament heroine’s victory over the forces of evil while the latter is the first American oratorio.

Click here to purchase tickets to Esther & Jonah online or click here for more information on how to purchase a 3-concert ticket package for $99.

The Musical Program

Esther & Jonah pairs two concise music dramas from opposite ends of the eighteenth century, Handel’s Esther (1718) and Samuel Felsted’s Jonah (1775).

Such works provided valuable models for Samuel Felsted, who was born to an English family in Jamaica in the early 1740s.

And with gorgeous arias in abundance from vocalists Jennifer Bates, Eduardo Alberto Tercero, and Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, the evening is sure to be filled with stirring choruses.

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Photo courtesy of Ars Lyrica

About the Soloists

  • Jennifer Bates | Soprano – A native of Maine, Bates has enjoyed a multifaceted career in the opera, concert, and recital worlds. Recent engagements include the role Pepik in the NY Philharmonic production of The Cunning Little Vixen, multiple appearances with NY City Opera, Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg with the American Symphony Orchestra, and she was the featured soloist at the Bach Vespers Cantata Series –only steps from Lincoln Center for ten years.
  • Eduardo Alberto Tercero | Tenor – A native of Panama City, Tercero has been described as a “dashing” performer by the Houston Chronicle and was also listed in Symphony Magazine’s Guide to Emerging Artists. As a concert artist his credits include the World Premiere of Nicholas of Myra by Robert Nelson in the role of Marcus, Piacere in the Houston Premiere production of Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo e della Verita, Adamo in the Houston Premiere production of Il Primo Omicidioby Scarlatti, and Messiah by G. F. Handel with the Des Moines and La Cross Symphony Orchetras, amongst many others.
  • Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen | Countertenor – Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen has quickly been identified as one of opera and early music’s most promising rising stars. In 2017, he was named a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, First Prize Winner of the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition, a Sara Tucker Study Grand recipient from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, and numerous other prizes. This season, he is a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio –the first countertenor in the Studio’s history – and next season, he will continue his training by joining the San Francisco Opera as an Adler Fellow. This season at HGO, he performed in productions of Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Strauss’ Elektra. Additional performances of the season include engagements with American Bach Soloists, The Dallas Opera, Cincinnati Opera, and recitals around the United States. In summer 2018, his first commercial recording will be released- the world premiere recording of Kenneth Fuchs’ “Poems of Life” with the London Symphony Orchestra (Naxos).

About Ars Lyrica

Founded in 1998 by harpsichordist and conductor Matthew Dirst, Ars Lyrica Houston presents a diverse array of music from the 17th and 18th centuries on period instruments.

Its local subscription series, according to the Houston Chronicle, “sets the agenda” for early music in Houston and it also appears regularly at major festivals and conferences, including the 2014 Berkeley Early Music Festival & Exhibition.

Ars Lyrica’s distinctive programming favors Baroque dramatic and chamber works, and its pioneering efforts have won international acclaim: the ensemble’s world première recording of Johann Adolf Hasse’s Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Opera in 2011.

Ars Lyrica continues to honor local female philanthropists, spotlighting Robin Angly whose dedication and philanthropic efforts for the arts are inspirational.

Ars Lyrica presents Esther & Jonah at the Hobby Center

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