To celebrate our male white cheeked gibbon Kien’s 23rd birthday, I gave a talk on the similarities between gibbon vocal production and the techniques used by opera singers! Huge thanks to Stone Zoo for supporting me through this crazy idea- i had great fun!
The gibbon family making their gorgeous and impressive calls in the morning at Stone Zoo. #zoonewengland
How was my White Cheeked Gibbon impression??
In non-music related news: I spent two days in Sacramento with Save The Snakes, studying and learning in their Level 1 Venomous Handling Course. We learned about California’s native snake species, types of rattlesnakes, and safe handling and containment techniques. We practiced with nonvenomous gopher snakes and california king snakes, and then worked with an adult Northern Pacific Rattlesnake named Dorado (the only rattlesnake species native to the Sacramento area) and a feisty juvenile Western Diamondback named June.
For more information on the important education and conservation work that Save the Snakes is doing throughout the world, visit SAVE THE SNAKES.
June, Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
Practicing with Sunflower the (nonvenomous) gopher snake
My Dad joined me for the course!
my Dad with Dorado, the Northern Pacific Rattlesnake
Visiting with Bubba the boa constrictor
I’m in NYC this month working with pianist Joel Harder to record an album of songs by composer Tom Herman. We will work together and record the first half of the album in June and finish up the recording this fall. Stay tuned for clips and information on how to get the album when it is released!
It’s very cool to be back at my Alma Mater, preparing these songs!
Willkommen, bievenue, welcome to The Mirror Cabaret!
Opera vs. Musical. Have you ever wondered about the parallel of operas and musicals based on the same story? Join MassOpera for an intimate, fun, and soul-stirring night at The Mirror Cabaret. Your favorite operas and musicals will be presented back-to-back to showcase how different musical styles can tell the same story.
Repertoire:
“This is What it is to Love an Artist”, Eurydice, Matthew Aucoin
“Ah, Douce Enfant”, Cendrillon, Massenet
I was so honored to make my Canadian debut with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra singing in Haydn’s Creation with Maestro Otto Tausk. We met several years ago in Brussels, while performing L’Enfant et les Sortileges with the Belgian National Orchestra. Working with Maestro Tausk and this company was an absolute dream!
We rehearsed at the VSO’s home theater, the Orpheum, and performed at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
We even had some time for sight seeing and a birthday celebration :-)
Having a great time making my debut with New England Philharmonic and Cantata Singers singing singing as the soprano soloist in Sven-David Sandström’s Messiah.
In a fitting conclusion for a city that hosted the American premiere of Handel’s Messiah in 1818, NEP joins forces with Cantata Singers and vocal soloists on Sunday, April 28, at 3 pm in Jordan Hall to present A Messiah for Our Time. Sven-David Sandström’s dramatic 2009 setting of the Messiah’s well-known text will be performed for the first time on the East Coast. Co-conducted by Tianhui Ng and Cantata Singers Music Director Noah Horn, the season finale marks the first collaboration between the two organizations.
Cantata Singers, Noah Horn, Music Director (Co-conductor)
New England Philharmonic, Tianhui Ng Music Director (Co-conductor)
Maggie Finnegan, soprano
Maria Dominique Lopez, mezzo-soprano
Dylan Morrongiello, tenor
Leroy Davis, bass-baritone
Virginia Poe in Dominick Argento + Charles Nolte’s opera The Voyage of Edgar Allan Poe with Odyssey Opera and the subsequent recording with Boston Modern Opera Project.
“Soprano Maggie Finnegan, as Virgina Poe, had the prettiest voice,
and her rendition of Argento’s lyrical setting of Poe’s “Annabel Lee”
was one of the production’s loveliest moments.”
“Maggie Finnegan’s finely tuned high soprano brought vocal balm to evoking Virginia”
““Maggie Finnegan’s pure-toned Virginia was likewise agreeable, soaring in her haunting Act 2 scenes.””
““Maggie Finnegan sang with vigor and passion”
”The most poignant moment occurred in Act II, scene VII, when Finnegan sang a touching snippet of Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee,” accompanied only by a lone, droning bell. She delivered Poe’s wonderfully tone-pained lyrics... with crystalline precision and emotional depth. In the same scene, Tantsits and Meglioranza joined Finnegan. A ravishing trio ensued with a wellspring of emotion and fascinating dynamic contrast.””
Production photos by Kathy Wittman / Ball Square Films
“Maggie Finnegan, Alexis Peart, and Neal Ferreira made for a gut-busting trio in the roles of stones in Hell.”
