Lyrical Blue

Lyrical Blue, a unique concert bringing together opera and the blues, will take place at the Williams College ‘62 Center for Theater and Dance on Friday, February 1, at 7:30 PM. Distinguished artists from the concert stages of North and South America, the Metropolitan and Glimmerglass Operas, and performance halls across the countrywill perform a variety of musical selections that have in common the evocation of love, pain, and longing.

The concert is presented as a benefit for Greylock ABC in honor of the late Dana Danforth, former longtime resident director of the ABC (A Better Chance) program in Williamstown. The Lehman Community Service Council is the on-campus sponsor of the concert.

Carl Westerdahl, a Board member of ABC and one of the organizers of the concert said, “This concert will be like no other we’ve seen in Williamstown. There will be some real surprises as these great artists blend performances from different musical traditions. It will be creative, innovative, fun, and a great way to get rid of the winter blues.”

Albert Cummings, Williamstown native son and nationally known blues singer and guitarist, will join opera singers Craig Phillips, Alan Schneider, and Beverley O’Regan Thiele; conductor and pianist Lanfranco Marcelletti, Jr.; violinist Ann Marie Schwartz; and Cellist Petia Kassarova on the ’62 Center stage for the two-hour program. All of the artists are donating their performances.

Williamstown’s Own

Albert Cummings, who grew up in Williamstown and represents the 4th generation of his family to work in the building trade, has developed a nationwide reputation in a relatively new career as a blues musician. He tours extensively and has created three well-received CDs since 2003: From the Heat, True to Yourself, and Working Man. He will perform on acoustic guitar in the February 1 concert.

Stars of Metropolitan Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, and Other Major Companies and Orchestras

Beverly O’Regan Thiele made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Sylviane in The Merry Widow and has appeared in War and Peace, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Die Frau Ohne Schatten, and Sly. She is an alumna of the Lyric Opera Center of American Artists where she performed numerous roles including Musetta in La Boheme, a role she has also sung with New York City Opera and Orlando Opera. Other roles include Magda in Menotti’s Consul with Washington Opera and Berkshire Opera, where she recorded the role on Newport Classics. She has sung Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with Glimmerglass Opera and Mississippi Opera; Cosi fan Tutte’s Fiordiligi with the Lyric Opera Center, Fort Worth Opera, Orlando Opera and Lake George Opera; First Lady in The Magic Flute with New York City Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago; and Miss Jessel in Turn of the Screw with England’s Broomhill Festival. She recently was signed by the Washington National Opera Director Placido Domingo to play Blanche in their production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

Tenor Alan Schneider, who took part last summer in the Glimmerglass Opera Young America Program, has performed opera, operetta, and musical theater throughout his native New England. Last season he made his Boston Lyric Opera debut as the Second Jew in Salome and returned in September to sing the Comte de Lerme in Don Carlos. He has performed roles in La Rondine, Ariadne auf Naxos , and Street Scene with the Chautauqua Opera, and was chosen by that company to receive a Shoshana Foundation Richard F. Gold Career Grant.

Baritone Craig Phillips has appeared with Glimmerglass Opera for six consecutive seasons in a wide range of roles, including Count Oscar in Offenbach’s Bluebeard, Raymond in Lucia de Lammermoor, The English Clerk in Britten’s Death in Venice, and, most recently, the Police Sergeant in The Pirates of Penzance. As a concert soloist, Mr. Phillips has appeared with prominent orchestras, chamber ensembles, and choirs around the country. The New York Times, reviewing his portrayal of Argenio in Handel’s Imeneo, described him as an “appealing, sturdy, bass-baritone among a cast of fresh voiced and impressive artists.”

Lanfranco Marcelletti currently is the Conductor and Director of Instrumental Music at Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts, and the principal conductor of the Cumberland Valley Chamber Players, Pennsylvania. First Prize Winner of the 1998 Selection of Latin-American Conductors in Santiago, Chile, Mr. Marcelletti made his debut with the Chilean National Orchestra last November. In 1996, the São Paulo Association of Critics of Art named him Debut Artist Conductor of the Year, after his debut with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra in the fall that year.

Violinist Ann Marie Schwartz currently performs with the Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra and is director and violinist of Musicians of Ma’alwyck, a chamber ensemble in residence at the Schuyler Mansion New York State historic site and at the University at Albany. Co-founder and director of the St. Cecilia Chamber Orchestra from 1987 to1998, Schwartz now runs the Siena College Music Series, where she founded the Franciscan Chamber Orchestra. She teaches violin and viola at the University at Albany and Schenectady County Community College.

Cellist Petia Kassarova, a native of Bulgaria, has been a member of the Albany Symphony Orchestra and Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra since 1998. Prior to joining these orchestras, she was principal cellist of Orquestra Sinfonica de Ribeirao Preto, Brazil and was also professor of cello at the Music Academy of Ribeirao Preto. She has been a member of Musicians of Ma’alwyck since its founding.

Greylock ABC

Greylock ABC, a chapter of the national A Better Chance, Inc., is a not-for-profit organization that enables students from inner cities to attend Mt. Greylock Regional High School and live in a group house in Williamstown, under the guidance of resident directors, tutors, high school teachers, counselors, local host families, and the ABC Board of Directors. All proceeds will be used to support the ABC program.

Dana Danforth, Concert Honoree

Dana Danforth died at the age of 63 on December 21 in Belfast, Maine. In 1966, he and his family moved to Williamstown, where he began a long career as teacher of French at Mount Greylock Regional High School. He and his wife Judith served as resident directors for the Williamstown chapter of A Better Chance from 1981 to 2004 and in this capacity helped steer dozens of young adults into maturity. He retired from teaching in 2002, and his family returned to Maine in 2004.