We conclude our season with the music of light and serenity. Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps glimmers like a spring morning come to life—radiant and full of color. The "Haffner” Symphony follows with the elegance of a celebration among the nobility, infused with the wit and sparkle of Mozart. Fauré's Requiem, with gentle and luminous melodies, offers a profoundly peaceful and consoling vision of rest and release.
PRE-CONCERT TALK - 6:30PM
This concert includes a pre-concert talk in Presentation Hall.
D’un matin de printemps
Symphony No. 35, "Haffner”
Requiem
Praised as "vocally and dramatically powerful" by the Washington Post and “radiant” by the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, soprano Linh Kauffman enjoys an active career in opera, oratorio, new music and recital. Her recent performances include Orff’s Carmina Burana for the Prague Choral Festival, Carmina Burana and Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Minnesota Orchestra, Ariadne auf Naxos with Minnesota Opera, Handel’s Acis and Galatea for Antiqva Panamá, and appearances at Festival Musica Antica Urbino, Festival Musica Antigua Panamá, and Festival Musique en l’Île de Paris.
A prolific concert artist, Ms. Kauffman has appeared with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Akron Symphony, Richmond Symphony, Quad City Symphony, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. She has been a festival artist at the Oregon Bach Festival, soloing under Helmuth Rilling in Mendelssohn's Elijah, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Beethoven's Choral Fantasy, Haydn's Heiligmesse and throughout a tour of Germany with Festival Ensemble Stuttgart.
A native of Connecticut, Ms. Kauffman earned music degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, University of Maryland, and University of Minnesota where she completed her Doctorate and Certificate in Vocal Pedagogy. She also studied at the Weill Institute at Carnegie Hall and the Salzburg Mozarteum. She teaches at Macalester College, is Associate Artistic Director of Antiqva Panamá and serves on the Artistic Committee of the Minnesota Bach Ensemble.
Bass-baritone Alan Dunbar is a versatile performer, lauded for his beautiful tone and his nuanced musical and textual interpretation. Spanning music from the 17th to 21st centuries, his repertoire includes art song, opera, concert works, folk, jazz, and popular music. Performances include world premieres of solo vocal works by Libby Larsen, Elliot Carter, Nico Muhly, and Justin Merritt. He has been praised for his work as bass soloist in Bach’s passions and cantatas with Voices of Ascension, Bach Society of Minnesota, Bach Roots Festival, Madison Bach Musicians, and Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra.
Alan’s work on the opera stage includes numerous principal roles with Madison Opera (Magic Flute, Candide, Salome, Fellow Travelers, La Bohème, Barber of Seville, Dead Man Walking, She Loves Me); the title role of Britten’s Noye’s Fludde at Santa Fe Opera; Prophet/King in Dark Sisters (Nico Muhly) with Gotham Chamber Opera and Opera Philadelphia; Bluebeard’s Castle with Natchez Opera; and as Zaretsky in Eugene Onegin at the Tanglewood Music Festival with Renée Fleming and Peter Mattei. He has also collaborated with choreographer/director Mark Morris in performances with the Mark Morris Dance Group, as well as in the Stravinsky chamber opera Renard.
In addition to large-scale works with orchestra, Alan has performed countless solo recitals across the US, and he made his European recital debut at the Oslo Grieg Festival in Oslo, Norway. He was a founding member of the Minnesota-based internationally acclaimed chamber vocal ensemble Cantus, with whom he recorded ten albums and appeared as a soloist with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, at the Oregon Bach Festival, the World Choral Symposium, and the Polyphonia Festival in Normandy, France. Alan holds a BA in music theory and composition from St. Olaf College, and an MM and DM in vocal performance from Indiana University. He currently serves as Professor of Voice at Winona State University.