No, not THAT Engelbert Humperdincks

Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel
Saturday, October 2 at 8pm
Recital Hall - $10 / $5 students, faculty-staff & seniors
Hubbard Hall Opera Theater presents Englebert Humperdinck's classic dark opera in a concert version accompanied by pianist Michael Clement.

The University at Albany Department of Music is pleased to present Hubbard Hall Opera Theatre in a concert version of Engelbert Humperdincks Hansel and Gretel on Saturday, October 2, 2010 at 8pm in the Recital Hall of the UAlbany Performing Arts Center on the uptown campus. The opera will feature Alexina Jones, Kara Cornell, Irina Petrik, Julian Whitley, Victoria Tralongo, Hillary Esqueda and Olivia Mogul accompanied by pianist Michael Clement.

The operatic telling of Hansel and Gretel began as a simple request from Adelheid Wette to her older brother, Engelbert Humperdinck, to set four songs she had written based on the Brothers Grimm story of the same name. After many revisions and a year later, the fully realized opera received its premier on Christmas day in 1892 under the baton of Richard Strauss who called it ...a masterpiece of highest quality Humperdincks unique synthesis of traditional German folk songs with Wagnerian influences and techniques resulted in an instant and overwhelming success. In fact, it remains to this day one of the most popular operas in standard repertoire.

Building off of the rich tradition of arts in the Cambridge Valley, Hubbard Hall Opera Theater (HHOT) seeks to bring another element of culture to Hubbard Hall, an already bustling arts center. The mission of HHOT is to provide classically trained singers and instrumentalists in New England and upstate New York greater opportunities to create something beautiful close to home, while also giving rural audiences the chance to enjoy an opera without having to spend the night in a city to do so.

Mezzo-soprano Kara Cornell has performed leading roles with Stony Brook Opera, Union Avenue Opera, Center City Opera, St. Petersburg Opera, Musaic Concert Series and locally with Capital Opera and Hubbard Hall Opera Theatre. She will return to the UAlbany Performing Arts Center stage on March 20, 2011 for a duet performance with soprano Lisa Eden entitled Sisters in Song.

A lyric coloratura soprano, Alexina Jones is a graduate of NYU's Steinhardt School who, since moving to upstate New York, has performed with Lake George Opera, Capital Opera and Hubbard Hall Opera Theatre.

Originally from the city of Kiev, Irina Petrik found her love of singing as a soprano soloist with Kiev Youth Symphony. She has performed with The State Philharmonic of Ukraine, Kiev Operetta House, Bay Area Russian Festival, Atlanta Folk Orchestra, Washington Balalaika Society Orchestra, C-R Productions at Cohoes Music Hall, Lake George Opera and Balalaika & Domra Association of America.

A talented singer and actress in both dramatic and comic roles, soprano Victoria Tralongo has appeared with opera companies and orchestras throughout the U.S. and Italy. Recently she has been seen in performances with New Jersey State Opera, Center Stage Opera, Riverside Opera, Opera in the Heights, New York Opera Productions, Chelsea Opera and Regina Opera.

Baritone Julian Whitleys performances have most recently been with Tri-Cities Opera. He has also performed with Opera of the Hamptons and Eastman Opera Theatre as well as the renowned Berkshire Theatre Festival, where he sang over fifty performances of the title role in Bernsteins Candide last summer.

Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for students, seniors & UAlbany faculty/staff and may be purchased through the UAlbany Performing Arts Center Box Office. For further information, contact the Box Office at (518) 442-3997.