Vancouver Early Music Festival 2012

Amanda Forsythe soprano
[Dorinda]
Amanda Forsythe has been a winner
of the George London Foundation
Awards and was sponsored by them
in her New York recital début. She
has also received prizes from the
Liederkranz Foundation and the
Walter W. Naumburg Foundation.
Amanda Forsythe made her
European operatic début in the role
of Corinna in Il viaggio a Reims at
the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro which led to an immediate
invitation to make her début at the Grand Théâtre de Genève as
Dalinda in Ariodante. She returned to the Rossini Opera Festival to
perform the role of Rosalia in Equivoco stravagante and Bellini duets
in the ‘Malibran’ recital with Joyce di Donato. She made her débuts
at the Bavarian State Opera, Munich as Dalinda in Ariodante and as
Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro at the Theâtre des Champs-Elysées,
Paris and at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She returned
to Covent Garden to perform the role of Manto in Niobe, regina di
Tebe under Thomas Hengelbrock with subsequent performances at
the Grand Theatre de Luxembourg.
Amanda Forsythe made her USA stage début at the Boston Early Music
Festival (BEMF), with whom she is now a regular soloist. Her roles
for BEMF have included Aglaure in Lully’s Psyché, Venus in Venus and
Adonis (John Blow), Drusilla in L’incoronazione di Poppea, and Pallas
in Eccles’ The Judgment of Paris. With Boston Baroque she has sung
PACIFIC MUSICWORKS 2012/13 SEASON
Stephen Stubbs, Artistic Director
MONTEVERDI VESPERS OF 1610
Oct. 20, 2012 8:00pm
St. James Cathedral
804 9th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104
Oct 21, 2012 2:00pm
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Portland
147 Northwest 19th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209
ANGELS AND SHEPHERDS – BACH
Cantatas for the Holiday Season
Dec. 1, 2012 8:00pm
St. James Cathedral
804 9th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104
WAYWARD SISTERS
a special collaboration with Seattle Dance Project
February 22, 23, 2013 8:00pm
Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center
104 17th Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98144
G.F. HANDEL’S APOLLO E DAFNE AND GLORIA
April 5, 2013 8:00pm
Nordstrom Recital Hall, Benaroya Hall
200 University Street, Seattle, WA 98101
pacificmusicworks.org Seattle, WA
Bastienne in Mozart’s Bastien und Bastienne, Serpina in Pergolesi’s
La Serva Padrona, Ninfa/Proserpina in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, Amore
in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Oberto in Handel’s Alcina, Lieschen in
Bach’s Coffee Cantata and Wedding Cantata, Purcell’s The Fairy Queen,
Vivaldi’s Juditha triumphans and Handel’s Messiah.
Recent operatic engagements include the title role in Niobe, regina
di Tebe (Steffani) for the Boston Early Music Festival. She will sing
Pamina in Die Zauberflöte in her debut at Vlaamse Opera in 2012/13.
On the concert platform Amanda Forsythe’s major engagements
have included Alexander’s Feast with the Ulster Orchestra and
L’allegro, il perseroso, ed il moderato with the Netherlands Radio
Chamber Philharmonic, both under Kenneth Montgomery. She
has also sung Rossini Arias at Teatro la Fenice in Venice, Cendrillon in
Viardot’s Cendrillon with the Caramoor Festival, Mozart’s Exsultate
Jubilate and Vivaldi’s Nulla in Mundo pax sincera with the Omaha
Symphony, Carmina Burana with the Rhode Island Philharmonic,
Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Handel and Haydn Society,
Handel’s Israel in Egypt with Emmanuel Music, and Haydn’s
Creation with the Charlotte Symphony. Her other appearances
include concerts with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra,
Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Boston Chamber Music
Society, and Apollo’s Fire
Amanda Forsythe’s recordings with BEMF on the German CPO label
include Aglaure in Lully’s Psyché and Venus in Venus and Adonis, as
well as Minerve and La Grande Pretresse in Lully’s Thésée which was
nominated for the 2008 Grammy Awards. Her recordings include
Handel’s Messiah with Apollo’s Fire on the Avie label.
Allyson McHardy alto
[Medoro]
d www.amandaforsythe.com
Toronto-based mezzo-soprano
Allyson McHardy’s voice has
been described as radiant, dusky,
incandescent, and sumptuous;
her presence on stages in Canada,
the United States and France
have drawn comments such as
noble, spellbinding, charming
and seductive. Allyson’s varied
repertoire encompasses roles from
Rossini’s l’Italiana in Algeri, Cenerentola and Il Barbiere di Siviglia,
to Handel’s Alcina, Ariodante and Semele, Caldara’s La Converzione
di Clodoveo Rè di Francia, to Verdi’s Nabucco and Falstaff, Mozart’s
La Clemenza di Tito, to Bizet’s Carmen. Her orchestral repertoire
includes Das Lied von der Erde, Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s Magnificat,
Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, and Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, among
many other works.
Following a busy summer of recitals in 2011, including a national
tribute to Maureen Forrester at Stratford Summer Music, Allyson
opened her current season with two role and house debuts: in
September she took on the role of Annio in the Opéra national
de Paris production of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito followed by
the role of Arcabonne in J.C. Bach’s Amadis de Gaule at the Opéra
Comique in Paris and at the Château de Versailles. In January
she performed Dijanira in Handel’s Hercules with Tafelmusik
in Toronto and in February she made her debut in the title role
of Carmen with Pacific Opera Victoria. She also appeared in
Québec City for Mozart’s Requiem with l’Orchestre symphonique
www.earlymusic.bc.ca — Handel’s “Orlando” - page 9 — Vancouver Early Music Festival 2012