Vocal Recital: Daniela Mack & Alek Shrader
Mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack has been acclaimed for her “caramel timbre, flickering vibrato, and crisp articulation” (Opernwelt) as she “hurls fast notes like a Teresa Berganza or a Frederica von Stade” (San Francisco Chronicle).
In the 2016/17 season, Daniela Mack made her Royal Opera House-Covent Garden debut as Rosina in The Barber of Seville with Javier Camerena and will make her Metropolitan Opera debut in Mary Zimmerman’s new production of Rusalka as the Kitchen Boy. She debuts with the New York Philharmonic in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under Alan Gilbert and the Florida Grand Opera as the title role in Carmen. Ms. Mack also returns to Arizona Opera as Angelina in Cinderella and Santa Fe Opera as Bradamante in David Alden’s production Alcina conducted by Harry Bicket.
Daniela Mack returned to the San Francisco Opera to reprise her performances as Rosina in The Barber of Seville and created the role of Jacqueline Kennedy in the world premiere of David T. Little and Royce Vavrek’s JFK at the Fort Worth Opera in the 2015/16 season. She also made her Arizona Opera debut in the title role of Carmen and was seen in recital with tenor Alek Shrader at the Tucson Desert Song Festival. On the concert stage, Ms. Mack debuted with three orchestras under Charles Dutoit: Orchestra de la Suisse Romande in Ravel’s L’heure espagnole and L’enfant et les sortilèges, Boston Symphony Orchestra in L’heure espagnole, and Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Falla’s Three-Cornered Hat. She also debuted with the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk in Rossini’s Giovanna d’Arco under James Gaffigan and performed Vivaldi’s Judith triumphans with Boston Baroque.
Recently, Daniela Mack has been seen at San Francisco Opera as Rosmira in Handel’s Partenope in a production by Christopher Alden, as well as Rosina. In the summer of 2014, she made important role and company debut: the title role in Carmen at Santa Fe Opera in a new production by Stephen Lawless. She also debuted at the Lyric Opera of Chicago as the Kitchen Boy in David McVicar’s production of Rusalka conducted by Andrew Davis and returned to Madison Opera as Sister Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking. She has been seen at the English National Opera in a new production of Julius Caesar as Sesto under Christian Curnyn, the first time the opera was produced at the ENO since the legendary 1979 production. She also debuted at Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse and Los Angeles Opera as Nancy in Albert Herring, Washington National Opera as the Madrigal Singer in Manon Lescaut, Deutsche Oper Berlin and Verbier Festival as Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, Opéra National de Bordeaux as Angelina in L’italiana in Algeri, and Opera Colorado in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's famous production of Cinderella directed by Grischa Asagaroff.
In concert, Ms. Mack has been heard with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Manuel de Falla’s La vida breve under the baton of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Washington Chorus in Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, Hong Kong Philharmonic in Ravel’s Shéhérazade, and with the Sydney Symphony in Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne and Falla’s Siete canciones populares españolas. She also made her Cincinnati May Festival debut in Mozart’s Requiem under James Conlon and in an all-star gala at the Opera Theater of San Antonio.
Daniela Mack is an alumna of the Adler Fellowship Program at San Francisco Opera where she has appeared as Idamante in Idomeneo Siebel in Faust and Lucienne in Die tote Stadt for her house debut. She performed the title role of Cinderella as a member of the Merola Opera Program and made her West Coast recital debut as part of San Francisco Opera’s Schwabacher Debut Recital Series. Ms. Mack was recently a finalist in the 2013 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.
The brilliant lyric tenor Alek Shrader continues to impress audiences with the “luxury of his phrasing, the clarity of his diction and the sensitivity and expressiveness of his characterizations”.
Mr. Shrader’s 2015-2016 season begins with performances of Alfredo in La Traviata with Opera Philadelphia, followed by a return to the San Francisco Opera to sing David in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Later in the season he will sing Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Baltimore Lyric Opera and Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress with the Pittsburgh Opera.
In the 2014/15 season, Mr. Shrader returned to the San Francisco Opera to sing the role of Emilio in Handel’s Partenope¸ followed by a return to the Metropolitan Opera for Camille in a new production of Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow. Other engagements include Jupiter & Apollo in Handel’s Semele with the Seattle Opera, singing one of his signature roles, Count Almaviva , in Rossini’s The Barber of Seville at the Canadian Opera Company, and a return to Santa Fe Opera for Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment. In concert, Mr Shrader will sing the title role in Candide with the Vancouver Symphony. Future engagements include leading roles with San Francisco Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Theater an der Wien, and Welsh National Opera.
Alek Shrader began the 2013/14 season singing Almaviva with the San Francisco Opera, followed by reprises of the role at the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Dallas Opera. The season also included engagements as Tamino in The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera, and Ernesto in Don Pasquale at the Santa Fe Opera. Mr. Shrader was also heard as Ferdinand in Thomas Ades’ The Tempest for his San Francisco Symphony debut in the fall and as Ferrando in the Christopher Alden/Gustavo Dudamel Così Fan Tutte with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Disney Hall.
In 2012/13, Mr. Shrader made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Ades’ ‘modern masterpiece’, The Tempest, conducted by the composer himself, and returned to sing Almaviva in the English version of The Barber of Seville. He sang Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola at the Hamburgische Staatsoper and then returned to the U.S. for a North American recital tour, including San Francisco Performances, Oberlin University and his Carnegie Weill Hall debut. Baltimore audiences had the opportunity to hear Mr. Shrader in a gala performance of Belcanto arias and ensembles in the spring. Later in the season, he was featured in an opera gala, sponsored by the San Antonio Opera. Mr. Shrader closed the season with the tenor solo in the Mozart Requiem at the Cincinnati May Festival with James Conlon conducting, followed by his role debut as Ernesto in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale at the Glyndebourne Festival.
Mr. Shrader opened the 2011/12 season as Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress with Opera de Lille, followed by Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola at the Hamburg Opera. He sang Tamino in Lyric Opera Chicago’s production of The Magic Flute, and the title role in Britten’s Albert Herring with the Los Angeles Opera. Mr. Shrader appeared as Oronte in David Alden’s highly-acclaimed new production of Handel’s Alcina at the Opera National de Bordeaux and returned to San Francisco Opera for Tamino in The Magic Flute. He closed the season as Gonzalve in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole at the Glyndebourne Festival.
Highlights of the 2010/11 season include the title role in Berstein’s Candide in concert performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Egeo in Medea in Corinto, Belmonte in The Abduction from the Seraglio and Tamino in The Magic Flute at the Bavarian State Opera. On the concert stage, he gave a recital in Santiago, Spain and made his Wigmore Hall Recital debut with pianist Roger Vignoles. Mr. Shrader also appeared as Lindoro in The Italian Girl in Algers with Opera National de Bordeaux and as Almaviva in The Barber of Seville with Theatre du Capitole de Toulouse. He closed the season at the Salzburg Festival, where he debuted as Ferrando in Così fan tutte.
Highly acclaimed by the San Francisco press as a recitalist who is “natural and effortless, so different from just about everybody else”, Alek Shrader was featured in two On Wings of Song recitals in the spring of the 2009/10 season; at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara and also at Santa Monica College for the Performing Arts (Broad Stage), both sponsored by The Marilyn Horne Foundation. Concert appearances this season included Messiah with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Mozart Requiem with the Pittsburgh Symphony and St. Louis Symphony.
Mr. Shrader, a former Adler Fellow with the San Francisco Opera, made a spectacular mainstage debut in the San Francisco 2008/09 season, replacing an indisposed Ramon Vargas as Nemorino in two performances of The Elixer of Love. Additional performances with the San Francisco Opera have included Korngold’s, Die Tote Stadt, the role of Arbace in Mozart’s Idomeneo, and Nemorino in student performances of The Elixer of Love. Other opera highlights have included Almaviva in Opera Cleveland’s production of The Barber of Seville and Il Re Pastore with Opera Theatre of St. Louis. He was also a featured soloist in the 2009 Metropolitan Opera Concert in the Park series.
Alek Shrader made his professional debut as Almaviva in Rossini's The Barber of Seville at the Opera Theater of St. Louis, where he had spent the previous two summers as a young artist. He has appeared in Rossini’s Il Signor Bruschino with the Gotham Chamber Opera, in William Bolcom’s A Wedding at the Music Academy of the West, and participated in Renata Scotto's Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Opera Studio. Shrader’s roles in previous seasons have included the title role in Le Comte Ory, Fenton in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Tony in Bernstein’s West Side Story, and Ramiro in Rossini's La Cenerentola.
Alek Shrader is the recipient of a Sara Tucker grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation and a winner of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Allen Perriello is entering his fifth season at Arizona Opera as Head of Music and Director of the Marion Roose Pullin Opera Studio. He oversees the musical preparation of all mainstage productions, as well as the selection and training of the Studio Artists.Allen recently completed his sixth season with Des Moines Metro Opera as a pianist/coach for mainstage productions and the Apprentice Artist Program, and has recently been appointed Director of their Young Artists Program at Glimmerglass Festival starting in the summer of 2017. A graduate of the 2008 Merola Opera Program and 2009-10 Adler Fellowship at San Francisco Opera, Allen worked on six productions over two seasons. He has been a member of the music staff at Pittsburgh Opera, Seattle Opera and Boston Lyric Opera. Other previous engagements include the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program faculty, Opera Santa Barbara, Opera Cleveland, and Ash Lawn Opera. Allen recently appeared in recital with Daniela Mack and Alek Shrader as part of the Tucson Desert Song Festival. With San Francisco Opera's Schwabacher Debut Recital series, Allen has collaborated with Susannah Biller, Daveda Karanas, Austin Kness, Talya Lieberman, and Edward Nelson. He has also appeared in recital with Zach Borichevsky, David Portillo, and Corinne Winters. Allen has led master classes at Arizona State University, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and University of Arizona, and has been a guest coach at Baylor University and Ithaca College. The Gibsonia, PA native holds a master's degree in collaborative piano from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and a bachelor's degree in piano performance and music education from Ithaca College.