Megan Moore, mezzo-soprano

 Mezzo Soprano singer Megan Moore image of her singing in front of a grand piano
 
 
Megan Moore, mezzo-soprano
with Francesco Barfoed, piano

Program

Schubert
Auf dem Wasser zu Singen (Stolberg)
Versunken (Goethe)
Im Frühling (Schultze)
Meeres Stille (Goethe)


In Spanish
Romance de la Luna, Luna by Miquel Ortega (F. García Lorca)
Carnavalito by Yvette Souviron (Yvette Souviron)
Al banco solitario by Yvette Souviron (Yvette Souviron)

From B.E. Boykin’s Moments in Sonder to texts by Maya Angelou
Tears
Greyday
Sounds Like Pearls
The Lesson


INTERMISSION


From LYNX’s Amplify Series**
I love giving hugs (Michael Zepf); Always I am wanting you; Sixth Extinction (Luke Burke) by Tariq Al-Sabir
Beautiful small things by Emily Cooley (Ryan Harris)
My neatest friend by Travis Reynolds (Rahul Sivaruban)
Lucky (Luke Burke); My Light (Rithik Sinhasan) by Joel David Balzun


Danish Songs by Rued Langgaard
Alle de voksende Skygger (Jens Peter Jacobsen)
Jeg beder ej om Guldets Glød (Christian K. F. Molbech)
Foraarssang (Aage Foss)


I wish it so by Marc Blitzstein


** LYNX is an art song organization co-founded in 2015 by Megan Moore. The Amplify Series, soon to enter its sixth commissioning cycle, features texts written by youth with non-speaking autism. These young people communicate by pointing to letters on a board through the burgeoning Rapid Prompting Method developed by Soma Mukhopadhyay out of her clinic in Austin, Texas. lynxproject.org/aas

Biographies

Megan Moore, mezzo-soprano

Lyric coloratura mezzo-soprano Megan Moore is quickly garnering attention as an artist of versatility and depth on the opera and concert stage, particularly in the repertoire of Rossini, Handel, and Mozart.

In the 2022-23 season, Ms. Moore will return to the role of Dorabella in Così fan tutte for her company debut at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; perform Tan Dun's Buddha Passion with the Seattle Symphony; sing the title role in Gluck's Orfeo with Orchestra of the Triangle; make her company debut at Opera Philadelphia covering both Desdemona and Emilia in Rossini's Otello with a cast that includes Lawrence Brownlee; participate in Plácido Domingo's world-famous singing competition Operalia in Riga, Latvia; join Berkshire Opera Festival to make her role debut as Ruggiero in Alcina led by Gary Wedow; and debut the role of Cherubino with Annapolis Opera. She makes recital appearances in conjunction with Carnegie Hall Citywide, the Danish America Museum, Miami University, and more. Concert engagements include appearances at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall for Bach's cantata Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind (BWV 153) with Anthony Newman, and at the Gaillard Center for the Charleston Symphony's annual Holiday Pops! concert, in addition to Seattle Symphony.

The previous season, Ms. Moore joined Harry Bicket to record Handel’s La Lucretia and Il delirio amoroso with The English Concert; made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Brett Dean’s Hamlet under the baton of Nicholas Carter and participated in the Guggenheim Museum's Works & Process with the creative team as well as cast members of the opera; made her role debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at the Berkshire Opera Festival; premiered a piece by Jessica Meyer at Shriver Hall with violist Jordan Bak; performed the role of Claire in Bernstein's On the Town with Opera Naples; covered the role of Dorabella in Così fan tutte with the San Diego Opera; and joined the Santa Fe Opera to workshop The Righteous, a new work composed by Gregory Spears with libretto by Tracy K. Smith which will debut in the company's 2024 season. In recital, she took the stage in New York, Washington, D.C, and Birmingham. Ms. Moore also made a special appearance with the Borromeo String Quartet to sing Handel arias from Hercules and Alcina in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall.

In July 2021, Ms. Moore made her Santa Fe Opera debut creating the role of Ino in the world premiere of The Lord of Cries composed by John Corigliano with libretto by Mark Adamo. Additional highlights of the 2020-21 season included singing the role of Medea in Handel’s Teseo conducted by Gary Wedow and directed by Stephen Wadsworth with Juilliard 415 as well as participating in Carnegie Hall’s SongStudio with Renée Fleming in partnership with her frequent collaborator, pianist Francesco Barfoed. Additional opera roles include Costanza in Haydn's L'isola disabitata with Opera Naples under the baton of Ramón Tebar; Doraballa in Così fan tutte at Juilliard conducted by Nimrod David Pfeffer and directed by David Paul; Nicklausse in a new Jennifer Williams production of Les Contes d'Hoffmann led by Caren Levine at the Miami Music Festival; and Arsamene in historically-staged production of Handel’s Serse with Haymarket Opera Company. Other favorite operatic roles of Ms. Moore include the title role in Massenet's Cendrillon, Angelina in La Cenerentola, Blanche de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, and Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Ms. Moore has also performed a concert of Purcell and Handel excerpts with the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra.

Francesco Barfoed, piano

Currently based in New York City, Francesco Barfoed (b. 1996) is a Danish pianist, born and raised in Copenhagen. A young collaborative and solo artist on the rise, he frequently collaborates with mezzo-soprano Megan Moore, and recently they won 1st prize in the Copenhagen Lied-Duo Competition, 1st prize in the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, 2nd prize at the Naumberg International Vocal Competition. In the 21-22 season they toured with their recital, I SEE LIGHT, and performed at the Alys Stephens Center in Birmingham, Alabama, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and Merkin Hall at Lincoln Center, among others.

In 2022, Francesco was an Opera Coaching Fellow at Aspen Music Festival, participated in Renée Fleming’s SongStudio at Carnegie Hall, co-arranged and performed a two-piano version of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress at Juilliard and performed alongside New York Festival of Song’s Steven Blier as a Schwab Rising Star at Caramoor.

An avid collaborator with both singers and instrumentalists alike, Francesco is a member of the Wundertrio, a prize-winning piano trio that met at the Manchester Music Festival in Vermont in 2017. Francesco was on the coaching faculty at Saluzzo Opera Academy in Italy in 2021 and has taught sight-reading for pianists at Juilliard.

In his already extensive career, Francesco has performed Rachmaninoff’s 1st Piano Concerto, as well as on the national Danish Radio (DR P2), in Italy and in Austria, and at various chamber music festivals across Denmark, including the Hindsgavl Festival.

Francesco is currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at The Juilliard School, where he also completed a master’s degree as a Kovner Fellow. He also holds degrees from The Royal Danish Academy of Music and Rutgers University, where he won the concerto competition in 2018.

Francesco is a passionate promoter of cultural exchange between Denmark and the United States. His studies in the U.S. have been supported by several prizes and scholarships from organizations like Denmark-America Foundation, Bikuben Foundation, and perhaps most notably the Victor Borge Scholarship, which is awarded to just one musician from Scandinavia each year.

Francesco holds Italian citizenship, and aside from being fluent in Danish, Italian, and English, he is conversant in German and French.

This show has been presented with support from the following people and organizations.

PAS Staff

Patti Liberatore, Director
Gwenmarie Ewing, Assistant Director
Jack Troiano, Program Coordinator

 

Student Assistants:
Jenna Burke
Valerie Do
Grace Mattina
Mireille Uwase Cyuzuzo
Caitlin Zook