Vanessa: Delusion vs. Elusion

One World Symphony
Sung Jin Hong, Artistic Director and Conductor
One World Symphony Vocal Artists

Samuel Barber: Vanessa (1958)

Set to Menotti's Gothic libretto, Barber's haunting opera depicts the provocative struggle between Vanessa and her niece Erika for the love of Anatol, for whom Vanessa has waited twenty years -- only to learn their guest is Anatol's son! Be possessed by Barber's soaring orchestral interludes, deeply moving arias such as "Must the winter come so soon" and "Do not utter a word," and its unforgettable final scene -- who will claim Anatol for herself, and who will be left in dream-like suspension, clutching a ghost?

Sung Jin Hong is the artistic director, composer, and conductor of One World Symphony. Mr. Hong has guest conducted in Europe, such as Stadt Wien Konservatorium Orchester in Vienna, Austria, Lyrique-en-mer Festival in Brittany, France, and The Royal Northern Conservatory of Music in Manchester, UK. In the U.S, he has guest conducted the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Tulsa Ballet Company, Manhattan School of Music Symphony, Mannes Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Youth Symphony, Bard College Orchestra, Illinois Wesleyan New Music Players, Western Illinois University Cello Choir, Bradley University Wind Ensemble, Great Music For A Great City at CUNY, Wayne State University Symphony, the Prospect Chamber Players, Twin Cities Ballet Company, and Take Dance Company. Mr. Hong has held positions as Music Director and Conductor of Peoria Sinfonietta and Principal Conductor of IES Singerverein in Vienna. He has also collaborated with musicians from the MET Orchestra, New York Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic as a conductor. Highlights for the upcoming season include leading One World Symphony's new season as its artistic director and conductor and guest engagements conducting The Tulsa Ballet, Tulsa Symphony, Fiery World Music Orchestra in Los Angeles, The Gandharvas, and his debut in Dallas conducting musicians from Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He has also conducted and recorded world premieres for the world's leading classical record label Naxos. Mr. Hong had the great honor of being personal chosen by the New York Philharmonic Laureate Conductor Kurt Masur to conduct in masterclasses and a concert in New York.

Soprano Marjorie Leake is pleased to return to One World Symphony after having made her debut as Chrysothemis in Elektra. She has performed in a wide variety of musical mediums throughout the United States and abroad. Among the opera companies with which she has performed are the Central City Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, The New Orleans Opera Association, Ash Lawn-Highland Summer Festival, Cincinnati Opera and the Zürich Opera. While a member of the International Opera Center in Zürich, she appeared in concert throughout Switzerland and Germany and sang the roles of Fidalma in Il Matrimonio Segreto and The Owl in The Cunning Little Vixen. In addition to her duties with the Opera Center, she performed as a soloist with the Zürich Bach Chor. As a resident artist with the Cincinnati Opera, Ms. Leake sang the roles of The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors and Mercedes in Carmen. With New York's Henry Street Opera, Ms. Leake sang the role of Nedda in I Pagliacci. More recently, she performed the title role in Suor Angelica with New Jersey's Garden State Opera. As a concert soloist, Ms. Leake has appeared with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in performances of Mozart's Great Mass in C Minor as well as Bernstein's Songfest. She has been presented in recital in lower Manhattan at St. Paul's Chapel as part of the Trinity Noonday Concerts. Roles in the genre of musical theatre include Kate/Lilli Vanessi in Kiss Me Kate and Charlotte in A Little Night Music. A native of New Orleans, she is a graduate of Tulane University and received her Masters degree from The New England Conservatory of Music. Ms. Leake's current operatic repertoire includes Strauss: Ariadne and Kaiserin, Wagner: Sieglinde, Elisabeth, Elsa and Senta, and Puccini: Tosca and Minnie.

Elena McEntire has performed in several programs with One World Symphony and is delighted to be collaborating on Vanessa as Erika. Most recently, Ms. McEntire sang the role of the impassioned Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos. Previous One World Symphony performances include Carmen, Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito), Sesto (Giulio Cesare), Meg Page (Falstaff), David (Saul), and new works by resident composer Stanley Grill. Ms. McEntire has performed opera and concert repertoire with several New York area companies and joined the roster of the New York City Opera last season as Madame de la Haltiere (alt, Cendrillon). Additional roles include the title role of Xerxes, Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Adalgisa (Norma), and several appearances in the title role of Carmen in the U.S. and abroad. Performance highlights include featured appearances with the Aspen Music Festival, One World Symphony, Philharmonic Orchestra of Luxembourg, Vratza (Bulgaria) Opera and Philharmonic, and San Francisco Song Festival, an award-winning run in the Broadway production of Puccini’s La Bohème, and concert performances at San Francisco’s Herbst Theater and New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center. Additionally, Ms. McEntire is the founder and co-chair of One World Symphony’s unique Community Music Program.

Mezzo soprano Ainsley Ryan is thrilled to perform again with One World Symphony as Erika. Ms. Ryan most recently performed the role of 1st Maid in One World Symphony's production of Strauss' Elektra. Other recent appearances include Auntie in Britten's Peter Grimes, the Page in Strauss' Salomé, and Sextus in Handel's Giulio Cesare with One World Symphony; the world premiere of Stan Grill's In Flight; Prince Orlofsky in Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus with the Natchez Festival of Music; the Sandman in Liederkranz Opera Theater's production of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel and Orfeo in One World Symphony's production of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice. Recent solo oratorio engagements include two performances of Dvorak's Stabat Mater and the Duruflé Requiem. Ms. Ryan currently resides in Brooklyn with her husband, Chris, and their children, Tatum and Perkin.

Tenor Hansu Kim received his master's degree with scholarship from Indiana University where he studied with renowned heldentenor James King. He returns to One World Symphony as Anatol. With One World Symphony, he has performed as Radamès in Aïda, Manrico in Il Trovatore, the title role of Faust, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, Aegisth in Elektra, and most recently as Lensky in Eugene Onegin. Other roles include Werther in Werther, Andres in Wozzeck (with Franz Grundheber as Wozzeck), Count Elemer in Arabella and Moor in Man of La Mancha. He has worked with Utah Festival Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera, New Rochelle Opera, National Lyric Opera, Dicapo Opera, Indiana University Opera Theater, New England Symphonic Ensemble, Eugene Concert Choir, Oregon Mozart Players, One World Symphony, Washington Broadcasting System, etc. He has performed three times at Isaac Stern Auditorium in Carnegie Hall with MidAmerica Productions and the New Jersey Philharmonic Orchestra.

Adrienne Metzinger (The Baroness) returns as a vocal soloist with One World Symphony after having sung the roles of Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos in June of 2008, Cornelia in Giulio Cesare in June 2007, selections from Les nuits d'été in August of 2007, and most recently as Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana. She is is a founding member, Graphic Designer, and Managing Director of One World Symphony. Ms. Metzinger had the honor of singing our National Anthem to begin New York City's televised 2003 Veteran's Day Parade as well as at a ceremony honoring Senator Hillary Clinton held by the United Spinal Association. In June of 2003, she made her Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall debut singing the music of Kurt Weill. Some of her opera credits include Emilia (Otello), Mercedes (Carmen), Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Flora and Annina (La Traviata), Peep-Bo (The Mikado), Countess Ceprano (Rigoletto), Kate (Madama Butterfly), The Sandman/Dew Fairy (Hansel and Gretel), and Kate (Ballad of Baby Doe) as well as Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro). She has also made numerous appearances with One World Symphony as a featured soloist in Britten's Ceremony of Carols, Bach's Magnificat, Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel as well many chamber and opera concerts singing selections by Barber, Verdi, Offenbach, and Weill to name a few. Ms. Metzinger has also performed world premiere works by Kyle Gann (orchestrated by Sung Jin Hong), Joan Dawidziak and Stan Grill.

A native New Yorker from Harlem, Gene Howard (Major Domo) attended The Manhattan School of Music, The Hartt School of Music and Die Frankfurt Hochschule fur Musik, in Germany. He has performed with the Bronx Opera, Harlem Opera Theatre and the Utah Festival Opera. He has sung with The Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, The Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra and The Mormon Taberncle Choir Orchestra. He has been heard on WNYC FM Radio in New York City, WFMT FM Radio in Chicago and has performed on the "Good Morning Montreal" television show in Canada. Amoung Mr. Howard's roles are Amantio from Gianni Schicchi, Bob from The Old Maid and The Thief, Fleville from Andrea Chenier, The Imperial Commissioner from Madama Butterfly, Lawyer Fraizer from Porgy and Bess, and The Postman from The Scarf. His lied repertoire includes works by Rachmaninoff, Sibelius, Schubert, Strauss, Ives and Bonds. Recent One World Symphony performances include Orestes' Guardian in Elektra and Zaretsky in Eugene Onegin.

Allison Waggener (Clara/Erika Cover), mezzo soprano, has performed in opera, dance, theater, and musicals, and has also worked on the offstage creative team as director, choreographer, and writer. She attended Yale College, where she graduated Cum Laude with majors in American Studies and Theater Studies, and spent a semester abroad at the Moscow Art Theater School studying acting, movement, acrobatics, and voice. She has performed three recitals in the Boston area, several scenes concerts, and concerts with Longwood Opera and New England Light Opera. Recent performances include Opera Providence's Treemonisha, Cherubino with LeNozzeNY, and Dorabella (cover) in Cosi Fan Tutte for Osh Opera. From 2005-2006 she lived for a year in the woods of northern Wisconsin through the Wilderness Guide Program of Teaching Drum Outdoor School. Ms. Waggener recently sang the role of the the 3rd Maid in Elektra with One World Symphony.

Greg KassBaritone Greg Kass has sung many leading roles in companies in the greater New York City area as well as regional companies. He has performed the title roles in Rigoletto, Falstaff, and Don Giovanni, as well as Count Di Luna in Il Trovatore, Germont in La Traviata, Alfio/Tonio in Cavalleria Rusticana/I Pagliacci, Marcello in La Boheme, the Count in The Marriage of Figaro, Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus, and Melchior in Amahl and the Night Visitors. He has sung with the Metropolitan Lyric Opera, Regina Opera, One World Symphony, the Altamura Performing Arts Center, Sorg Opera, Whitewater Opera, the Seven Hills Sinfonietta, and the Amato Opera. Mr. Kass is a second place winner in the Liederkranz Vocal Competition, a Level V Award Winner in the Bellini International Vocal Competition, as well as a finalist in the Friedrich Schorr and Columbus Opera Vocal Competitions, and has sung at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. He has also performed in concerts across the U.S., Italy, and Germany, and is a native of Dubuque, Iowa. He has coached and studied with Licia Albanese, Sherrill Milnes, Giorgio Tozzi, and Jerome Hines and is currently studying with James Dietsch.


Friday, June 26, 2009
St. Ann and the Holy Trinity
Brooklyn premiere!

Previous concert

Sunday, June 28, 2009
Ansche Chesed Synagogue
Manhattan