Jack M. Champaigne Masterworks Series
Jack M. Champaigne Masterworks III
Saturday, February 1, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. Morris Performing Arts Center
Wu Man, Pipa
Recognized as the world’s premier pipa virtuoso and leading ambassador of Chinese music, Wu Man is a soloist, educator and composer who gives her lute-like instrument a new role in both traditional and contemporary music. Wu Man has premiered hundreds of new works for the pipa, while spearheading multimedia projects to both preserve and create awareness of China’s ancient musical traditions. Projects she has initiated have resulted in the pipa finding a place in new solo and quartet works, concertos, opera, chamber, electronic, and jazz music as well as in theater productions, film, dance and collaborations with visual artists including calligraphers and painters. She has performed in recital and as soloist with major orchestras around the world, and is a frequent collaborator with the Kronos and Shanghai Quartets and The Knights. A founding member of the Silk Road Ensemble, she is featured as both a performer and composer in the group’s 2017 Grammy Award-winning recording, Sing Me Home (“Best World Music Album”), and has appeared in over 40 recordings throughout her career.
Born in Hangzhou, China, Wu Man studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she became the first recipient of a master's degree in pipa. She moved to the U.S. in 1990 and currently resides in California. Wu Man was awarded the Bunting Fellowship at Harvard University in 1998, was the first Chinese traditional musician to receive a United States Artist Fellowship in 2008, and the first artist from China to perform at the White House. In 2013, she was named Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year. For more information about Wu Man, visit wumanpipa.org.
Jack M. Champaigne Masterworks IV
Saturday, April 4, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. Morris Performing Arts Center
Caitlin Lynch, Soprano
Declared “luminous” by the New York Times and “eloquent” by the Wall Street Journal, soprano Caitlin Lynch is captivating audiences with her portrayals of iconic leading ladies. With a repertoire that encompasses Mozart to Verdi and Handel to Heggie, Ms. Lynch brings her dynamic portrayals of both classic and contemporary operas to stages around the world.
The soprano’s concert engagements this season include the soprano II soloist in Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with Handel and Haydn Society, the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Kansas City Symphony and Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony with the South Bend Symphony. Later in the season, she continues her interpretation of works by composer Jake Heggie, appearing with Portland Opera as Bea in Three Decembers. More on Ms. Lynch can be found on her website - http://www.caitlinlynchsoprano.com/
Renee Tatum, Mezzo-soprano
Noted for her “gleaming vocalism” (Opera News), mezzo-soprano Renée Tatum is an incredibly important artist of her generation. The 2019-20 begins as Flosshilde in Wagner’s Götterdammerung with The National Taichung Theater in Taiwan, followed by her role debut as Kundry in Parsifal, under the baton of Maestro Arthur Fagen. Ms. Tatum then returns to the Metropolitan Opera as Dritte Dame in The Magic Flute and sings Azucena in Il Trovatore with Pensacola Opera. She also joins the South Bend Symphony as the alto soloist in Mahler’s Second Symphony, sings Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with The Masterworks Chorale, and ends the season as Cornelia in Giulio Cesare with The Boston Lyric Opera.
Last season, Ms. Tatum sang in Nico Muhly’s Marnie at the Metropolitan Opera, followed by her debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra as the Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors. Ms. Tatum also returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Waltraute and Flosshilde in Der Ring des Nibelugen. She sang Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody with the Cecilia Chorus at Carnegie Hall, was the alto soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with The Philadelphia Orchestra, and closed the season as Waltraute in Die Walkürie with The Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Jack M. Champaigne Masterworks V
Saturday, May 2, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. Morris Performing Arts Center
Jon Kimura Parker, piano
Known for his passionate artistry and engaging stage presence, with multiple solo appearances at the Berlin Philharmonie, London’s South Bank, the Sydney Opera House, and the Beijing Concert Hall, Jon Kimura Parker continues to perform to great acclaim. In the past two seasons Mr. Parker appeared at Carnegie Hall in Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3, and was guest soloist at the Kennedy Center in Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue conducted by Gianandrea Noseda and streamed on medici.tv. He also performed Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 with Jeffrey Kahane and LACO, the Grieg Concerto with Bramwell Tovey and the New York Philharmonic, Gershwin’s Concerto in F with James Gaffigan and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony.
As a founding member of Off the Score, Jon Kimura Parker performs with legendary Police drummer Stewart Copeland, and he toured Italy and the USA as a founding member of the Montrose Trio, with violinist Martin Beaver and cellist Clive Greensmith.
Mr. Parker’s YouTube channel features the Concerto Chat videos, promoting the piano concerto repertoire. He is Professor of Piano at Rice University in Houston, and is the founding Artistic Advisor of the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival. He is the Artistic Director of the Honens Piano Competition and Festival, and is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Jon Kimura Parker has recorded for Telarc and CBC, and on his own label. His recent CD Fantasy features Fantasies of Schubert and Schumann, as well as the sensational Wizard of Oz Fantasy by William Hirtz, receiving this praise from Classical Candor: “The reading is riveting. Parker scores with another favorite recording of the year.”
“Jackie” Parker studied in Vancouver with Edward Parker and Keiko Parker, Lee Kum-Sing at the Vancouver Academy of Music and the University of British Columbia, Marek Jablonski at the Banff Centre, and Adele Marcus at The Juilliard School. He won the Gold Medal at the 1984 Leeds International Piano Competition. He lives in Houston with his wife, violinist Aloysia Friedmann and their daughter Sophie. For further information, please see www.jonkimuraparker.com.
Jack M. Champaigne Masterworks I
Saturday, September 26, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
Holly Mulcahy, violin
Applauded by audience, colleagues, and critics, Holly is a champion of new music and living composers. She has performed violin concertos by Jennifer Higdon and James Stephenson and regularly collaborates with living composers for solo, chamber, and full orchestra works.
Jack M. Champaigne Masterworks II
Saturday, November 14, 2020 at 7:30 p.m. Morris Performing Arts Center
Jack M. Champaigne Masterworks III
Saturday, February 27, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. Morris Performing Arts Center
Kinan Azmeh, clarinet
Hailed as “intensely soulful” and a “virtuoso” by The New York Times and “spellbinding” by The New Yorker, Winner of OpusKlassik award in 2019 clarinetist and composer Kinan Azmeh has gained international recognition for what the CBC has called his “incredibly rich sound” and his distinctive compositional voice across diverse musical genres.
Jack M. Champaigne Masterworks IV
Saturday, April 10, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. Morris Performing Arts Center
Brendan Shea, violin
Member of the critically acclaimed Euclid Quartet and new concertmaster of the South Bend Symphony Orchestra, Brendan Shea has established himself as an international presence. He performs regularly with Orchestras and in recitals nationally and internationally, and has competed in many major international competitions including Queen Elisabeth, Carl Nielsen, Sendai, Sibelius, Isang-Yun, and Seoul.
Jack M. Champaigne Masterworks V
Saturday, May 8, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. Morris Performing Arts Center
Choral ensemble