#artsongsforeveryone No. 3- Kristen Smith

Just in time for her recital this afternoon, Denver Art Song Project presents our next singer in our #artsongsforeveryone series!  Meet soprano, Kristen Smith, who joined us for our Women's Voices concert this season.

Bio:

Coloratura soprano, Kristen Smith, earned her MM in Voice from Colorado State University, where she received the Charles and Reta Ralph Opera Scholarship and served as an apprentice artist with Opera Fort Collins.  She has performed with regional companies, including Colorado Opera, Denver Art Song Project, Loveland Opera Theatre, Boulder Opera, Opera on Tap Colorado, and Empire Lyric Players.  An avid lover of art song, she also hosts public recitals throughout the year in her hometown of Fort Collins. 

Links:
"Early Snow" by Lori Laitman
Kristen's Facebook Fan Page

#artsongsforeveryone No.2 Rachael Hutchings

Rachael Hutchings

Continuing our series of how art songs can touch many lives, meet pianist and composer, Rachael Hutchings!

Bio: Pianist and composer Rachael Hutchings’s recent performances have included solo piano recitals and collaborations with artists from around the country, featuring both standard classical repertoire and her own compositions. She appears regularly as a guest artist, visiting lecturer, and collaborative pianist.

Rachael's compositional style is at once expressive, approachable, and innovative. Recently, Rachael and her husband, tenor Daniel Hutchings, premiered two of her works on Colorado Public Radio. Her settings of poetry by Rilke for voice and piano were featured on CPR’s “Colorado Spotlight.” Other recent compositions include a setting of the Salve Regina text for SATB choir, the neo-Baroque Willow Suite for solo piano, and Diaphanous Tether for flute quartet. Her scores are available through Veritas Musica Publishing, www.veritasmusicapublishing.com.

Before arriving in Colorado in 2010, Ms. Hutchings was an active performer and music teacher in San Francisco. Ms. Hutchings served as an instructor at the San Francisco Community Music Center and adjunct professor of piano at the University of San Francisco. She has served as an adjudicator and administrator for various student music programs, as adjunct faculty at the University of Denver Lamont School of Music, and is on the faculty of the Lamont Summer Music Academy. Composition students from her private studio have gone on to top college composition programs.

Ms. Hutchings began studying piano in her hometown of Iowa City, Iowa. She earned her B.M.A. in piano performance at the University of Michigan School of Music, and completed a master of music degree in composition and piano performance at the University of Denver's Lamont School of Music.
Links:
Website

Performance Link:
http://www.rachaelhutchingsmusic.com/rilke-songs/

Take a listen to this interview on Colorado Spotlight!  This includes a performance of Rachael's "Rilke Songs" with her husband, Daniel Hutchins.

As always, send your website and info to us at denverartsongproject@gmail.com!
Happy listening,
Eapen

#artsongsforeveryone No. 1- Jen Davis

Welcome to a new feature here on Tenor Eleven Miles Away!  Art Songs for Everyone is my way to introduce you to people from all walks of life that have discovered art songs and found fulfillment.  It is my hope that you will enjoy their work as I do.

A few weeks ago, I posted a request for people to share their YouTube and SoundCloud recordings.  I've received some submissions already from students.  I'd love to get some from amateurs and professionals as well, so please pass them along along with your a photo, a brief bio, your website and Facebook links and perhaps a bit about why the song is so special to you!  You can send them to Denverartsongproject@gmail.com

Meet our first Art Song Singer!

Name: Jen Davis

Bio: Jennifer is completing her studies as a doctoral student in the voice department at the University of Northern Colorado. She is a frequent recitalist and concert soloist. In August 2016 Jennifer returned from two months in the Czech Republic where she studied and gave performances at the Janáček Academy of Music (JAMU) in Brno, and has been invited by Zdeněk Šmukař to return for the 2017-2018 academic year. Jennifer’s research includes Czech vocal music and she has been invited to give a concert in Prague of the music of Zdeněk Trnka in November 2017. Recent performances have featured a concert as part of a series at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Denver, and New Year’s Eve appearance with the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra (GPO) with Maestro Glen Cortese as conductor, as well as her final Doctoral Recital. Her roles have included Micaela, Pamina, Susanna, Despina with Rome Festival in Rome, Italy, Marie in La Fille du regiment with Opera Theatre of the Rockies, and Alice in Verdi’s Falstaff with the GPO.  Jennifer is the proud sole recipient of the 2015 Dante Alighieri Music Scholarship, which has been "established to enable students to advance their studies in operatic and classical music."  

Links:
Facebook