Kristin Lewis Opera Gala
Sunday, November 22 4:00 p.m.
Wildwood Park for the Arts
$50 general admission
$100 VIP tickets and parking
$15 student admission
Call 501.821.7275 or visit www.wildwoodpark.org to reserve tickets
International opera sensation Kristin Lewis returns to Little Rock this November to present a program of world-class opera favorites celebrating the first anniversary of her Kristin Lewis Foundation Vocal Scholarship Fund. Sharing the stage with Metropolitan Opera bass-baritone Kevin Short, Ms. Lewis will perform arias by Verdi, a suite from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, and an excerpt from Puccini’s La Bohème.
Acclaimed Manhattan-born collaborative pianist Louis Menendez will also perform, along with last year’s scholarship grand prize winner, soprano Anna Berry, and a quartet of emerging professional singers from the Little Rock performing arts organization, Praeclara. Bevan Keating, artistic director for Praeclara, will conduct. The Second Presbyterian Church choir is joined by the UALR Concert Choir as the featured chorus for this event.
The Kristin Lewis Foundation Vocal Scholarship Fund supports emerging Arkansas vocalists in their professional development, providing funds for tuition costs, attendance at master classes, and national or international travel. Applications for the 2016 awards are due March 16, 2016; visit www.kristinlewisfoundation.com for more information. Finalists from among the applicants will be invited to compete in vocal auditions on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas this coming May. Up to five award recipients will be names, with the grand prize winner receiving a full tuition and housing scholarship to attend the Harrower Summer Opera Workshop.
Formerly a section leader in the choir at Second Presbyterian Church of Little Rock, Kristin Lewis began her vocal studies at the University of Central Arkansas under the guidance of Dr. Martha Antolik. After receiving her bachelor’s degree, she continued with her Master of Music studies at the University of Tennessee. She now resides in Vienna, Austria, where she appears on the world’s greatest opera stages in performances of Aida, Il Trovatore, I due Foscari, Turandot, Don Giovanni, and more. She is a winner of multiple international opera awards, and this month she made her debut at Carnegie Hall as the soprano soloist in Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in C Minor under the direction of renowned conductor Zubin Mehta.