ALEXANDER THE GREAT IN NEW YORK

Music Festival 2009 at the Stathakion Center

SUNDAY, JUNE 28th 2009
THE EPIC OPERA “ALEXANDER THE GREAT” OF PANAYOTI KAROUSOS

Astoria Symphony Orchestra conducted by Grant Gilman
Elspeth Davis mezzo soprano: OlympiasNathan Baer bass: King Philip, AristotleMary Mackenzie soprano: Cleopatra, Roxana

The long anticipated epic of Greek-Canadian neo-classical composer Panayoti Karousos opens with the famous enthronement scene of Alexander the Great and introduces his famous parents, King Phillip II of Macedonia and Queen Olympias of Epirus. Under the baton of conductor Grant Gilman, all the famous events of this Greek era will come alive with the larger than life personalities of Aristotle, Isokrates and Demosthenes. During the production, events and battles of Alexander’s extraordinary battle against the Persians will unfold. There are the grand scenes of the crowning of Alexander as Pharaoh in Egypt, the battles of Gaugamela, the Indian campaigns, the royal weddings at Susa and finally the death of the Great Macedonian general.

This presentation of visionary composer Panayoti Karousos is destined to be a new opera classic. Parts and highlights of the opera will be presented at the Stathakion Center in Astoria, Queens as a preview, for the full opera is anticipated to debut next year in Carnegie Hall. (http://www.karousosonline.com/ )

The opera will be performed by the Astoria Symphony Orchestra and soloists conducted by Grant Gilman: It will also feature special guests, Phoenix Reign, who will perform their two epics, The Odyssey and The Legend of Alexander with the symphony. Stage costumes and re-enactors will be provided courtesy of Peter Giakoumis and The Alexander The Great Living History Society.

Event will be co-hosted by Byzantine Crown Productions with a special multimedia presentation featuring Greek artist, Iannis Nikou. Mr. Nikou’s Alexander the Great paintings will be gracing the concert program. (http://www.iannisnikou.gr/ )

Music Festival 2009 live at the Stathakion Center is brought to you by
The Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York Inc
22-51 29th St
Astoria, NY 11105
http://www.hellenicsocieties.org/

STATHAKION CENTER 22-51 29th Street Astoria, NY 11105 Tel: (718) 204-6500 E-mail: hellenicfedny@yahoo.com Web: http://www.hellenicsocieties.org/

NEW YORK CAST - Alexander the Great

Tytus Abrahamson, tenor (Alexander the Great)
Tenor Tytus Abrahamson has performed with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and Palm Beach Opera where he was a member of the Resident Artist Program. Most recently his credits include The Father in Encompass Opera’s World Premier of I Tre Compagni. His performance credits also include the role of Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus with the Liederkranz Opera Theatre, Von Asterberg in The Student Prince with Gold Coast opera, Vašek in The Bartered Bride with the University of Kansas Opera, Oliver Hix (Barbershop Quartet member) in The Music Man! with the New Theatre (Overland Park, KS) and Will Parker in the Central Missouri Repertory Theatre’s (Warrensburg, MO) production of Oklahoma!
A graduate in voice from the University of Kansas, Mr. Abrahamson is also a trained ballet dancer with eight years of training at the American School of Dance and the University of Kansas. While at the University, he danced the role of Dream Curly in their production of Oklahoma!
Mr. Abrahamson has worked with artists such as Joyce Castle, Kamal Khan and Ward Holmquist.
Elspeth Davis, mezzo (High Priestess Queen Olympias)Mezzo-soprano Elspeth Davis was born in the town of Seneca, South Carolina. She graduated with a Masters of Music degree in the studio of Stanley Cornett at the Peabody Institute, where she was a Peabody Merit Scholarship recipient. At Peabody, Ms. Davis has performed the role of Mme. de la Haltiere in Massenet's Cendrillon, of which Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun wrote " [she is] a deliciously wicked stepmother…her singing was as colorful as her acting." With the Baltimore Theatre Project she performed the role of the Second Nurse in Henry Mollicone's Hotel Eden. She also starred in Peabody Opera's premiere production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music as Desiree Armfeldt. In March of 2007, she returned to the school as a guest artist in the role of Nicklausse/La Muse in Les Contes d'Hoffmann.
She is a founding member of the Harbor Opera Company, for which she has sung the roles of The Announcer in Gallantry, Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti, and The Faithful Seductress in the new chamber opera Ophelia Forever. Recent engagements include the role of Béatrice in Béatrice et Bénédict by Hector Berlioz, an artist-in-residency with The Canton Symphony in Ohio, Praskowia/Clo-Clo in The Merry Widow for The Liederkranz Foundation, and Le Prince Charmant in Cendrillon. Upcoming engagements include Nancy (cover) at The Liederkranz as well as Britten's Phaedra with The Astoria Symphony. No stranger to the stage, Ms. Davis has also performed the roles of Papagena, Suor Genovieffa, Cookie (in Milton Granger's Talk Opera), Percy Talbot (in The Spitfire Grill, for which she received an Irene Ryan nomination), and Gianetta in the Operafestival di Roma's production of L'Elisir d'Amore. In 2002, Ms. Davis was a member of the Janiec Opera Company at the Brevard Music Center. In 2004 she was a member of College Light Opera Company in Cape Cod, where she performed the roles of The Fairy Queen (Iolanthe), Virginella (La Perichole), Dame Carruthers (Yeomen of the Guard), Nettie Fowler (Carousel), Mme. Matroppo (Very Good Eddie), and The Witch (Into the Woods). As an actor Ms. Davis has appeared as Mariane (Tartuffe), Dunyasha (The Cherry Orchard), Olivia (Twelfth Night), Billie (Haiku), and The Girl in Veronica's Room, as well as readings of new works for the New Play Festival in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Mary Mackenzie, soprano (Roxana – Cleopatra)Equally comfortable with classical and contemporary repertoire, soprano Mary Elizabeth Mackenzie has captured the attention of audiences in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Wisconsin. She has won praise for her clear and flexible voice, as well as her extraordinary musicianship and fearless interpretation of contemporary music.Mary attended the Cleveland Institute of Music where she appeared as Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro), Laetitia (The Old Maid and the Thief), and Beth (Little Women). She was the first singer in 14 years to win the school's concerto competition, which resulted in a performance of Mozart's Exultate Jubilate with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra. In 2005, Mary moved to New York City to pursue a Master of Music degree at the Manhattan School of Music. While in New York, she appeared as Lucia (The Rape of Lucretia), and concert appearances included Mahler's Symphony No. 4 and Faure's Requiem. She also appeared as The Youth in Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra in Chicago, and as soprano soloist in Handel's Messiah with the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra.Recent awards include second place in Manhattan School of Music's Eisenberg-Fried Vocal Concerto Competition with Britten's Les Illuminations and co-winner of Wisconsin Public Radio's Neale-Silva Young Artists' Competition.A passionate performer of contemporary music, Ms. Mackenzie has worked closely with composers Richard Danielpour and John Harbison. In 2007, she was invited by John Harbison to perform at his Token Creek Music Festival, and performed Three Sacred Songs by James Primosch, and premiered selections from Harbison's new anthology of pop songs, Songs after Hours. She was also the featured performer in a special concert at Manhattan School of Music, Compositional Mentors, Students, and Performers: Exploring the Legacy of Music, which showcased Richard Danielpour's Sonnets to Orpheus, Book I, as well as two new song cycles written by his students for Ms. Mackenzie. Mary also enjoys collaborating with young, up-and-coming composers, and has premiered works by Christopher Cerrone (Averno, Drei Rilke Lieder), Michael DiGiacinto (Songs on Living), Nathan Hetherington (Insensibility), John Frantzen (Four Frost Songs), and Wang Jie (Nannan, Swamp's Shore, The Animal Carnival). She recently appeared in A Day of South African Music performing the U.S. premiere of works by Robert Fokkens and Hendrik Hofmeyr, and also made her Carnegie Hall debut in New Music, New Ireland, New York: A Showcase of Contemporary Irish Composers.In 2008, Mary will appear with the Red Light New Music Ensemble, performing Luciano Berio's O King, and the U.S. premiere of Tiziano Manca's Deux epigrammes amoureuse et une intimation. She will also appear at The Kimmel Center, in Philadelphia, PA, performing a program of songs by James Primosch. This summer, Mary will attend the Ravinia Steans Institute for Young Artists in Chicago, Il.
Eric Keller, bass-baritone (King Philip - Ptolemy - High Priest)
A native of Florida, Bass-baritone Eric Keller attended Florida Southern College for his undergraduate degree in Music Education, and the St. Petersburg State Conservatory of Music in St. Petersburg, Russia for his graduate degree in Vocal Performance. Mr. Keller then became a member of the Internationales Opernstudio at Opernhaus Zürich where he sang the roles of Mr. Budd in Albert Herring, Masetto in Don Giovanni and Angelotti in Tosca. Other roles include Luther in Les contes d'Hoffmann, Count Ceprano in Rigoletto and Hans Foltz in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at Staatstheater Nürnberg, and Zuniga in Carmen at the Bad Hersfeld Open Air Opera Festival in Bad Hersfeld, Germany. He has also performed concerts in Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Holland, Ireland and the UK.

Grant Gilman, conductor
Grant Gilman is enjoying a successful beginning to a very promising career as a conductor. In addition to his positions as Music Director with the Harbor Opera Company and Resident Conductor with the Astoria Symphony in New York City, Mr. Gilman was recently appointed Director of Orchestral studies at Christopher Newport University in Virginia. These positions have and will continue to give Mr. Gilman an outlet to share his highly moving and inspiring performances with audiences all along the east coast.
Mr. Gilman began his conducting studies while growing up in San Antonio, and continued when he gained acceptance into the studio of Gustav Meier and Markand Thakar at the prestigious Peabody Institute of Music at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
In addition to his conducting, Mr. Gilman is a highly regarded educator. Mr. Gilman has not only spent time teaching with the Virginia Youth Symphony Orchestra, Hampton Roads Chamber Players (VA), and the Garden State Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (NJ) , but his summers allow him to work with the Youth Orchestras of San Antonio Summer String Camp, where he continues to receive high acclaim for his unique and in-depth teaching style that produces exceptional concerts from young musicians.
Living in Norfolk, VA, with his wife, Kim, who is currently 4th horn with the Virginia Symphony, Mr. Gilman enjoys his non-musical free-time jogging, reading philosophy, and developing web design.