The fourth ‘Music for a Sunday Afternoon’ concert of the National Arts Centre’s 2011-2012 season features rising star soprano Joyce El-Khoury, pianist Jean Desmarais, as well as Jessica Linnebach (Associate Concertmaster of the NAC Orchestra), Noémie Racine-Gaudreault and Jeremy Mastrangelo (violin), Jethro Marks (viola), Leah Wyber (cello), and Emily Marks (flute).

The concert includes the following repertoire:
TURINA  Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 1
RAVEL  Shéhérazade
CHAUSSON  « Chanson perpetuelle », Op. 37 for Soprano and Piano Quintet
SARASATE  Caprice basque, Op. 27
RESPIGHI  “Il Tramonto”, Lyric Poem for Voice and String Quartet

Ms. El-Khoury is a graduate of the University of Ottawa and Opera Lyra Ottawa’s Opera Studio program. She was the recipient of the 2005 Brian Law Opera Scholarship, the Galaxy Rising Star of the CBC Award, and the Vivian Asfar Memorial Award for Vocal Excellence from Opera Lyra Ottawa (OLO). In this concert, Ms. El-Khoury performs in the songs by Ravel, Chausson, and Respighi. She will sing the lead role of Mimi in OLO’s production of La Bohème in September 2012.

Canadian Soprano Joyce El-Khoury has been hailed by critics as “excellent, completely convincing, floating out gorgeous tone with aplomb” (The Washington Post). Her attention to musical style, combined with a striking stage presence and warm, rich voice have taken her to debuts as Mimi in La Bohème with Lorin Maazel at the Castleton Festival, Beijing Opera as Rosina in I Barbiere di Siviglia and the Tanglewood Music Festival for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Engagements this season include her debut with the Welsh National Opera as Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata, Magda in Puccini’s La Rondine with Des Moines Metro Opera, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Bruckner’s Te Deum with the Baltimore Symphony. Future engagements will include Mimi with the Munchner Philharmoniker and Maestro Maazel, Violetta with De Nederlandse Opera and L’Opéra Théâtre de Saint-Étienne, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Munchner Philharmoniker, a recital for the El Bustan Festival, and her recording debut as Antonina in Donizetti’s Belisario with OPERA RARA with Sir Mark Elder.

A graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, Ms. El-Khoury has appeared in their productions of Carmen as Frasquita and in The Bartered Bride as Esmeralda with Maestro James Levine. She appeared in the Met’s HD broadcast of Simon Boccanegra, and the 2009 “Met in the Parks” Recital series. Other recent engagements have included Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi and the title role of Suor Angelica with Maestro Lorin Maazel at the Castleton Festival, Violetta in
La Traviata with Knoxville Opera, Nedda in I Pagliacci at the Crested Butte Music Festival, and Marguerite in Faust with Opera Camerata of Washington DC. Concert engagements have included Mozart’s Requiem with the New York Choral Society at Carnegie Hall, Mozart’s Requiem and Vesperae de Dominica with Coro Vivo Ottawa, and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Riverside Symphonia.

A graduate of the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia, Ms. El-Khoury performed the roles of Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, the title role in Massenet’s Manon, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, the title role in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut (Act II), and Violetta in La Traviata. She has performed as the soloist for AVA concerts, including in Rossini’s Stabat Mater, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.

Joyce El-Khoury is a First Prize winner in many competitions, including the Loren L. Zachary Competition, the Opera Index Competition, the George London Foundation, and the Mario Lanza Vocal Competition. She received the second prize in the Gerda Lissner International Voice Competition, and the Palm Beach Atlantic Vocal Competition, was an International Semi-Finalist in Plácido Domingo's Operalia Competition and won third prize from the Orchèstre Symphonique de Montréal National Competition.

The concert takes place in the Auditorium of the National Gallery of Canada at 2 p.m. on Sunday April 29. Tickets are $31.21 for adults and $15.60 for students with Student ID; they can be purchased at the National Arts Centre Box Office in advance or, if available, at the door on the day of the concert.

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Information:  
Gerald Morris
Communications Officer, NAC Music
613-947-7000, ext. 335  
[e-mail]  gerald.morris@nac-cna.ca