An evening of songs by Poulenc, Debussy, Honegger, Milhaud, Gershwin, Copland, Thompson, and Bowles performed by Opera Singers Initiative winners debut recital with soprano Catherine Meyers and countertenor Tyler Wayne Smith in their debut recital.

Details: Thursday, April 19, 2012

Location: Symphony Space, Thalia Theatre

Tickets: $30 General Admission, $15 Under 30 

About Catherine Meyers, soprano

Catherine Meyers is a young lyric soprano at the beginning of an exciting career. In the
past year she has sung the roles of Clarissa in Weber/Mahler’s Die drei Pintos with
Bronx Opera, Célie in Pasatieri’s Signor Deluso with EnCanta Collective, and Regina in
excerpts from Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler with Garden State Opera. She recently
sang for President Obama, Vice-President Biden, Former President Clinton and other
dignitaries at a private event and has been asked back to sing a holiday party at the VP
Residence this winter. Ms. Meyers’ training also includes the Young Artist programs at
both The Atlantic Coast Opera Festival and Eastern Festival Opera where she covered the
roles of Mimì in La Bohème and Nedda in Pagliacci, respectively. Additional roles
include: La Suora Infermiera in Suor Angelica (Eastern Festival Opera), La Ciesca in
Gianni Schicchi (The Amalfi Coast Music Festival), Scruff in Lukas Foss’s Griffelkin
(Manhattan School of Music), as well as scene work from Le Nozze di Figaro (Susanna),
Don Giovanni (Zerlina), L’Incoronazione di Poppea (Poppea), Hansel and Gretel
(Gretel), and Il Matrimonio Segreto (Elisetta). She was chosen as a 2010 member of
Opera Singers Initiative and in 2008 she was a finalist in the Lotte Lehman Foundation
CyberSing Competition. Ms. Meyers graduated with her Master’s degree from
Manhattan School of Music where she studied under Joan Patenaude-Yarnell.

About Tyler Wayne Smith, countertenor 

Recently reviewed as 'amazing' and 'pitched-perfect' as Mary Sunshine in the Broadway National Tour of Chicago, the Musical, countertenor Tyler Wayne Smith is proving to be a vocalist of considerable promise.  Mr. Smith was educated at one of the premiere drama schools in the U.S., New York University, and has studied voice with several disciples of revolutionary vocal pedagogue Cornelius Reid, including his current teacher, Lenora Eve. 

Most recently on the operatic stage, Mr. Smith sang the role of the Witch in Humperdinck's Hansel & Gretel with Opera Manhattan Repertory Theatre and Opera Breve New York. Blogger David Browning (Taminophile.com) said of his performance with OMRT, "The true star of any Hansel and Gretel is, of course, the witch, and in this case that was true in spade. . .countertenor Tyler Wayne Smith. . .was the witch of any reviewer's dream." In the fall, Mr. Smith essayed the role of Goffredo in Handel's Rinaldo with NY Opera Forum. Of his performance, Louise T. Guinther, Senior Editor of Opera News, writes, ". . .Tyler Wayne Smith, a countertenor I'd never heard of, sailed through Handel's formidable hurdles unscathed, in a voice of rich resonance and expressive warmth. . ."

Mr. Smith sang the role of Tolomeo in Opera Manhattan's Giulio Cesare as well as La tasse chinoise and La libellule in Pocket Opera New York's production of L'enfant et les sortileges. In addition he was featured in a leading role in the North American Premiere of the German Opera 3x3=Infinity in Boston, MA, with Juventas New Music Ensemble. He was "utterly fantastic" (ReviewFix.com) as the Sorceress in Purcell's Dido & Aeneas with Opera Manhattan, and essayed the role of Ruggiero in Handel's Alcina with NY Opera Forum at Lincoln Center's Bruno Walter Auditorium. In 2009 Mr. Smith performed the title role in Opera Breve New York's production of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, under the direction of renowned Mezzo-Soprano Eugenie Grunewald, and performed the role of Sesto in Camerata Baroque's premiere production of Handel's Giulio Cesare.

Mr. Smith was the third prize winner of the Rochester Oratorio Society's Classical Idol competition and is the first Countertenor to be a member of Opera Singers Initiative, an organization from which he won the 2010 Young Opera Debut Recital Award. As a recipient of this inaugural award, Mr. Smith will be making his New York recital debut at the prestigious Symphony Space in April of 2012.

On the concert stage, Mr. Smith premiered Adam Reifsteck's chamber piece Three Sunsets with the renowned Attacca Quartet and appeared as a guest artist at Midwestern State University's Akin Auditorium, giving a solo recital of Baroque opera and oratorio arias. Mr. Smith has also performed a duo concert of Baroque arias and duets at the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge in New York City.

Mr. Smith will join the Broadway company of Chicago, the Musical as Mary Sunshine in August of 2011.