Vinson Cole
Tenor

Natalia Rivera
Piano

Wednesday, December 12, 2012  at 7:30 pm
Terrace Theater

Season after season, Kansas-City-born tenor Vinson Cole remains among the most versatile and accomplished performers, singing an astonishing range of literature with musical and artistic assurance. An acknowledged "conductor's singer," he has collaborated with the most respected maestros: Christoph Eschenbach, Claudio Abbado, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, James Conlon, Kurt Masur, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Gerard Schwarz, Sir Georg Solti and Giuseppe Sinopoli. From his invitation as a young artist to sing the Italian Singer in Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier in Salzburg, he was a steady favorite of Herbert von Karajan, who reinvited him for the Bruckner Te Deum, Verdi and Mozart Requiems, and Beethoven Missa solemnis, most of which were recorded by Deutsche Grammophon, and all of which remain in his active repertoire. Mr. Cole's other frequent assignments include Mahler's Eighth Symphony (including recent reprisals with James Conlon and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia, the Philadelphia Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach, and James Levine and the Boston Symphony in Carnegie Hall) and Das Lied von der Erde; the Verdi Requiem, and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (most recently with the Seattle and Milwaukee Symphonies). Especially celebrated for French literature, he has sung Berlioz's L'Enfance du Christ with Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the same composer's Roméo et Juliette with Christoph Eschenbach and the Orchestre de Paris.

Equally accomplished in opera, he appeared in a new production of Berlioz's La Damnation de Faust at Dresden's Semperoper, sang Gluck's Alceste with New York's Collegiate Chorale; Rodolfo in Puccini's La Bohème at San Francisco Opera, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at Houston Grand Opera, Les Contes d'Hoffmann at Seattle Opera, and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly with the New Japan Philharmonic under Seiji Ozawa. His career has literally taken him to all of the world's major opera houses including New York's Metropolitan (Die Fledermaus, Manon, La Traviata, La Bohème, L'Elisir d'Amore, Gianni Schicchi and Carmen), Milan's La Scala (Hoffmann under Riccardo Muti), Paris' Bastille Opera, Brussels' La Monnaie, the Munich and Hamburg State Operas and Royal Opera, Covent Garden. He has sung the title role of Mozart's Idomeneo at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Alfredo in Verdi's La Traviata at the Vienna State Opera, Don José in Bizet's Carmen at the Hamburg State Opera, and the title role of Verdi's Don Carlos at Brussels' Théâtre de la Monnaie. He has also sung principal roles at New York City, Santa Fe, Berlin and Bavarian State Operas, and Naples' Teatro San Carlo. He has been a favorite at the Seattle Opera, singing in productions of Orphée et Eurydice, Così fan tutte, Roméo et Juliette, Werther, Carmen, Faust, Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Lakmé, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Don Carlos, Anna Bolena, La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, L'Elisir d'Amore, Un Ballo in Maschera, Tosca and Der Rosenkavalier. Equally popular at the Australian Opera, he appeared in productions of Faust, Werther, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Carmen and Don Carlos.

Vinson Cole completed his vocal studies at the Curtis Institute of Music under the tutelage of legendary singer and teacher Margaret Harshaw.

(Photo credit: Robert Schraeder)

Pursuing a career that embraces song recitals, chamber music, and opera, pianist Natalia Rivera achieved early success at the age of fourteen when she won the Jesus Maria San Roma Concerto Competition in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and performed as soloist with the Puerto Rico Symphony. Prior to this, she had spent five years studying in Naples, Italy with the Director of the Piano Department of the Conservatory of Naples, Nunzio Zappulla.

Dr. Rivera earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from the New England Conservatory where she studied with Jeffrey Kahane, Randall Hodgkinson, and Veronica Jochum and the Master of Collaborative Arts degree from the University of Minnesota where she studied with Margo Garrett. She continued her studies in the Professional Studies program at the Juilliard School of Music under the tutelage of Samuel Sanders and Brian Zeger, where she also accompanied in the studios of Marlena Malas, Edward Zambara and Dorothy Delay. Graduating with honors, she recently completed a DMA in Piano Performance/Chamber Music Emphasis at the University of Kansas where she studied with Richard Reber. She has also served as an accompanist in the master classes of John Wustman, Graham Johnson, Martin Katz, Yo-Yo Ma, Régine Crespin, Craig Rutenberg, Michael Eliasen, Robert Merrill, Thomas Hampson, Simon Estes, Denyce Graves, Phyllis Curtin, Anna Moffo, Sherrill Milnes, and Pamela Frank.

Dr. Rivera participated in the Music Academy of the West summer festival and the Merola Opera Program of San Francisco Opera. During her two summers as an apprentice opera coach she was awarded the Jan Popper Memorial Award and the Otto Guth Memorial Vocal Coach Award. She was also hired as a vocal coach/assistant conductor for Merola's Western Opera Tour of Don Giovanni, which included performances in thirty cities across the United States.

As a vocal coach and pianist, Dr. Rivera has collaborated at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, with the Orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome, and members of the Vienna Philharmonic; with the San Francisco Opera; the Santiago Opera in Chile; the Bellas Artes Opera of San Juan, Puerto Rico; the Lyric Opera of Kansas City; and the Opera Lírica Nacional of Costa Rica. She has performed recitals throughout the United States including performances with her sister, María de los Angeles, as the Rivera Piano Duo. She has also performed recitals in Italy, Austria, Holland, Japan, and in such venues as the prestigious Alice Tully Hall as part of the Julliard Chamber Music Series. Most recently, Dr. Rivera has served on the faculty of the Bay View Music Festival and at Orvieto Musica in Orvieto, Italy.

Dr. Rivera was Instructor of Piano and Music Director of the Opera Workshop at Vassar College; Assistant Opera Coach at the Mannes College of Music; Assistant Professor of Vocal Coaching and Accompanying at Florida State University; Assistant Professor of Vocal Coaching at the Ohio University School of Music and also served on the faculty of the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.

She is currently an Assistant Teaching Professor of Vocal Coaching at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music.

(Photo credit: Florida State University)