Tuesday 17 May 2011

ROBERTO ALAGNA MAKES HIS CANADIAN DEBUT AT THE BLACKCREEK SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31

Toronto, ON (May 4, 2011) —The BlackCreek Summer Music Festival proudly presents the Canadian debut of one of the world’s most thrilling tenors, the renowned ROBERTO ALAGNA, bringing to a close the inaugural season of the festival on Wednesday, August 31, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets will go on public sale on Saturday, May 7 at 10:00 a.m. and may be purchased online at www.blackcreekfestival.com or by calling 1-888-860-7888. Tickets are priced at $169.50, $141.25, $102.00, $96.50, $68.00, $51.00 (including HST; additional service charges will apply). The box office at the Rexall Centre, York University, 1 Shoreham Dr., opens for ticket sales on May 14.

Joining Mr. Alagna in a program of arias and duets from the Italian and French repertoire will be acclaimed soprano SVETLA VASSILEVA, also making her Canadian debut.  The two artists will perform with the BlackCreek Festival Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Leonardo Vordoni.

Born in France of Italian heritage, ROBERTO ALAGNA’s career was launched when he won the top prize in the Pavarotti Competition in Philadelphia at the age of 24.  His Italian lyric tenor voice opened doors to the top international stages, from New York’s Metropolitan Opera to Vienna’s and London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.  Today he is hailed as one of the foremost living tenors, celebrated in both the Italian and French repertoire.  A frequent headliner at the Metropolitan Opera, he has been seen by millions around the globe in HD transmissions to movie theaters, as Don Jose in Carmen and in the title role of Verdi’s Don Carlo.  Audiences love his passion, dashing good looks and ardently lyrical tenor voice.

Mr. Alagna’s program at BlackCreek will salute the 150th anniversary of Italy’s unification as a nation-state in 1861 by including a many selections by Puccini – both solo arias and duets with Ms. Vassileva.

SVETLA VASSILEVA, a native of Bulgaria, has enjoyed great success on many of the world’s leading operatic stages, from La Scala to Vienna, and from London’s Covent Garden to San Francisco.  She has sung a wide range of leading roles encompassing Puccini, Verdi, Mozart, and many other composers, collaborating with some of the major conductors of our time, including Chailly, Dudamel, Maazel and Mehta.  

Mr. Alagna’s and Ms. Vassileva’s BlackCreek program includes beloved arias and duets by Puccini and Verdi, including some of the most popular selections from Puccini’s La boheme, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Turandot, La Rondine and Gianni Schicchi; Verdi’s Otello; and operas by Halevy and Zandonai.  There will also be orchestral and choral selections by Bizet and Mascagni.

 
ABOUT THE BLACKCREEK SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL
 
Plácido Domingo kicks off the inaugural season of the new BlackCreek Summer Music Festival at the Rexall Centre on the campus of York University on June 4. The 2011 season spans 14 weeks, from June to September, and also includes such renowned artists as singer-songwriters James Taylor and Lionel Richie; jazz legends Tony Bennett and Diana Krall; country superstars Alan Jackson and Brad Paisley; pops conductor Marvin Hamlisch leading an evening of "The Very, Very Best of Broadway" starring Raul Esparza, Jane Krakowski, Audra McDonald, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Martin Short; world-renowned classical conductor, Lorin Maazel, and his Castleton Festival Orchestra and Chorus in a program of "Music Inspired by Shakespeare" starring Academy Award-winners,  Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons, as well as a three-night residency with the great Maestro conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, including an "All-American Program" featuring James Earl Jones; plus other artists and concerts still to be announced...all performing "under the stars."
 
Tickets for all BlackCreek Summer Music Festival events may be purchased online at www.blackcreekfestival.com or by calling 1-888-860-7888.
 
For general information, or to sign up for the BlackCreek Summer Music Festival alerts, please visit our website at www.blackcreekfestival.com.
 
For full bios of the artists named herein, please visit www.blackcreekfestival.com/events.
 
For high-resolution photos of the artists named herein, please visit www.blackcreekfestival.com/photos.

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Media contacts:

Norman Zagier
Managing Director, Marketing and Communications
416-323-2333
nzagier@blackcreekfestival.com

Media interviews and event information:
Deborah Knight
dkpr public relations inc.
416-200-3577
dknight@dkpr.ca

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