A classic fairy tale brought to life and a visit by an award-winning and Grammy-nominated mezzo-soprano highlight the winter voice and opera season at the Bienen School of Music.
Northwestern University Opera Theater's production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Hänsel und Gretel” will delight audiences of all ages for four performances at Cahn Auditorium beginning on Thursday, Feb. 22. In April, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton will lead a master class as part of the Tichio-Finnie Vocal Master Class Series.
Tickets are available online at concertsatbienen.org, by phone at 847-467-4000 or by visiting the Bienen School Ticket Office at 50 Arts Circle Drive.
Program details follow:
Humperdinck’s “Hänsel und Gretel”
Thursday-Saturday, Feb. 22-24, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 25, 3 p.m.
Cahn Auditorium, 600 Emerson Street
Joachim Schamberger, director
Patrick Furrer, conductor
Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra
Premiered in 1893, Engelbert Humperdinck’s “Hänsel und Gretel” is based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Sent into the forest in search of strawberries to feed their hungry family, Hänsel and Gretel discover a gingerbread house inhabited by a wicked witch with an appetite for children. The siblings must rely on their wits, each other and the benevolent beings watching over the forest in order to escape her clutches. With its charming folk music-inspired melodies and colorful storytelling, Humperdinck’s adaptation of the classic tale is sure to delight all ages. (Performed in German with English supertitles.)
Tickets are $18 for the general public and $8 for full-time students with valid ID.
Jamie Barton Vocal Master Class
Part of the Tichio-Finnie Vocal Master Class Series
Wednesday, April 3, 7 p.m.
Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive
The 2023-24 Tichio-Finnie Vocal Master Class Series continues with a vocal coaching by mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton. A recipient of the Beverly Sills Artist Award and Richard Tucker Award, Barton was named 2020 Personality of the Year at the BBC Music Magazine Awards. During the 2023-24 season, she appears in the world premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s “Intelligence” at Houston Grand Opera, brings her acclaimed interpretation of Amneris to Lyric Opera of Chicago’s “Aida” and performs Arnold Schönberg’s “Gurre-Lieder” in a gala concert for the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra’s 75th anniversary. Offstage, Barton is recognized for using her powerful voice to spark conversations about body positivity, social justice and LGBTQ+ rights, and she is a proud volunteer for Turn the Spotlight — an organization working to identify, nurture and empower leaders among women and people of color.
Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for full-time students with valid ID.