Music Napa Valley kicks off the 2011-2012 music season with two vocal concerts in the Performing Arts Center at Napa Valley College, the first in the 475-seat Main Theater and the second in the intimate, 75-seat Silvagni Recital Hall.
Love Songs from Nat, Frank, and Billie, presented on Sept. 18 at 7:30 p.m., carries the audience back to the 1950’s when crooners sang about found love, lost love, drinking, joy, and daily life. Roberto-Juan González joins the Michael Parsons Jazz Trio in a solo concert of what he calls “saloon songs,” including “Angel Eyes,” “One for My Baby” and “Witchcraft.”
On Sept. 25 at 3 p.m., theatrical soprano Eve-Anne Wilkes joins with Art Historian Amanda Badgett and pianist Mark Osten in a multi-layered theatrical experience. Try Me, Good King, by American composer Libby Larsen, draws on the final letters and gallows speeches of five queens of Henry VIII. Ms Badgett places the music into historical context with portraits of the women and commentary on their fascinating lives. “It has been a dream of mine,” says Wilkes, “to create a project coupling the visual and performing arts, and that dream has finally become reality. It’s been tremendous fun working with my colleagues, art historian Amanda Badgett and pianist Mark Osten.”
Both concerts are part of the Masters Series program at Music Napa Valley. The Masters Series was conceived as a “Faculty and Friends” program, featuring working professional artists in intimate concerts designed to entertain and enlighten. Other Masters Series programs planned for the season include: the Oh, So French Salon featuring violinist Claire Martin, pianist Mark Osten and soprano Lisa van Stuijvenberg performing music from Ravel and Debussy (Jan. 22), Roberto-Juan González’s companion concert to Nat, Frank and Billie, Mona Lisa: More Love Songs from Nat King Cole (Feb. 5), and piano virtuoso and composer Mazdak Khamda playing his own compositions. (Feb. 26)
All performances are at the Napa Valley College Performing Arts Center, located at 2277 Napa-Vallejo Hwy, Napa. Tickets are $15 general admission and $10 for students, seniors and military personnel. To buy tickets, please call the NVC Box Office at 707-256-7500 and leave a message. (Calls will be returned in a timely manner.) Tickets may also be purchased online at www.musicnapavalley.org.
Posted 9/15/2011