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Handel’s Theodora

Sunday July 31, 2022 at 4:00pm

Adults / $40, $65, $75, $85, $105
Children / 50% Off Select Tickets
Garden Listening / $20, Free for Members & Children

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Overview

Sunday July 31, 2022 at 4:00pm

3:00pm / Join us for a lecture with MIT professor emeritus and Handel scholar Ellen T. Harris.

Theodora stands out as one of Handel’s finest creations. Composed in 1749 at the twilight of his career, this penultimate major work was undervalued at the time but recognized now as the masterpiece it is. An oratorio brimming with dramatic intensity (and often staged as an opera), Theodora traces the tragic tale of the eponymous Christian martyr facing persecution at the hands of the Romans. This concert performance — with Trinity Wall Street’s magnificent period-instrument Orchestra and Choir — features a stellar roster of celebrated soloists including Anthony Roth Costanzo and Marie-Eve Munger.  

For those who prefer a more casual concert environment, Garden Listening tickets are $20, and are free for Members and children under 18 years old. Listen to the concert broadcast onto Friends Field (audio only) while enjoying a picnic, admiring a starry sky, or relaxing with the family. We recommend you bring your own seating for Garden Listening.


“Marie-Eve Munger transports you with strength and softness, with intensity and emotion … the performance was extraordinary, the emotion palpable.”
Le Quotidien


Artists

Marie-Eve Munger, soprano (Theodora)  
Anthony Roth Costanzo, countertenor (Didymus)  
Daniela Mack, mezzo-soprano (Irene)  
Alek Shrader, tenor (Septimius) 
Tyler Duncan, baritone (Valens) 
Trinity Baroque Orchestra  
The Choir of Trinity Wall Street 
Avi Stein, conductor

Approx. Timing

Part 1 / 71 minutes
Intermission (15-20 mins)
Part 2 / 68 minutes

About the Artists

Marie-Eve Munger, soprano (Theodora) 

Canadian coloratura soprano Marie-Eve Munger has been hailed for her crystalline timbre, soaring range, and moving performances. Her current and upcoming engagements include Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at Opera Toulon, Vogel in Die Vogel with Strasbourg Opera, and recitals at Les Boreades in Montreal and St. Cyriac Church. The 2019 – 20 season saw her as Ophélie in Hamlet with Angers-Nantes Opera and Opera de Rennes, Countess Adele in Le comte Ory with Opera de Toulon, and Fire/Nightingale in L’enfant et les sortilèges with the Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec. Engagements in 2018 – 19 included La fée in Cendrillon with Lyric Opera of Chicago and Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos with Opéra de Lausanne.

Munger’s first solo recording was released in 2015 to great acclaim. On the concert stage, Munger made her debut at the Kennedy Center in Mozart’s Great Mass in C Minor, was the featured soloist in The Essential Bernstein concert at the Kennedy Center with The Washington Chorus, sang Carmina Burana with the Choeur de Laval, and presented a solo recital at Trinity Wall Street’s Concerts at One. Also at home with new music, she performed a world premiere by Mauro Lanza at the Festival Musica in Strasbourg and was widely acclaimed for her role in the award-winning contemporary opera The Second Woman at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris and on tour in Europe.

Anthony Roth Costanzo, countertenor (Didymus) 

Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo began performing professionally at the age of 11 and has since appeared in opera, concert, recital, film, and on Broadway.  He is a 2022 Grammy Award winner in the Best Opera Recording category for Philip Glass’s Akhnaten.

Costanzo has been named The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence for the New York Philharmonic’s 2021 – 22 season with the centerpieces of his activities being Authentic Selves: The Beauty Within, two consecutive weeks of programming he co-curated and performed in. This season, he also returned to the Metropolitan Opera as the title role in Akhnaten and as Unulfo in Rodelina, to the Teatro Real in Madrid in Partenope, and to Boston Baroque with performances of Amadigi di Gaula. He also appeared in recital in Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Estonia. 

Costanzo has appeared with many of the world’s leading opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, English National Opera, and the Teatro Real. In concert, he has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, and the Berlin Philharmonic, and in both Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. During the 2020 — 21 season, he also worked with the New York Philharmonic to create and produce its Bandwagon initiativethe orchestra’s innovative response to the ongoing pandemic.     

Costanzo is an exclusive recording artist with Decca Gold. His most recent album, Anthony Roth Costanzo & Justin Vivian Bond: Only an Octave Apart, was released in January 2022. His first solo album, ARC, was released in September 2018 and nominated for the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. 

To learn more about Anthony Roth Costanzo, please visit his website.  

Daniela Mack, mezzo-soprano (Irene)

Mezzo-soprano Daniela Mack leads the vanguard of a new generation of opera singers, infusing her artistry with a mix of intensity, adventurousness, and effortless charisma. Her 2021 – 22 season began with her house debut at the Teatro Real in the role of Rosmira in Handel’s Partenope. Other roles include Romeo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Dardano in Handel’s Amadigi di Gaula, and Amastre in Handel’s Serse, and Fenena in Nabucco

In recent seasons, Mack made debuts at Royal Opera House-Covent Garden as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Javier Camarena, at The Metropolitan Opera as the Kitchen Boy in Mary Zimmerman’s new production of Rusalka, at Ópera de Oviedo as Sesto in La clemenza di Tito, with the BBC Philharmonic as Béatrice in Béatrice et Bénédict, and at Boston Lyric Opera and Michigan Opera Theatre as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia.  

She has performed world premieres of Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s Elizabeth Cree (title role) at Opera Philadelphia, and in David T. Little and Royce Vavrek’s JFK (Jacqueline Kennedy) at Fort Worth Opera. She debuted at 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.  

On the concert stage, Mack debuted with three orchestras under Charles Dutoit: Orchestre 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 de Falla’s The Three-Cornered Hat. She also debuted with the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk in Rossini’s Giovanna d’Arco under James Gaffigan and performed Vivaldi’s Juditha triumphans with Boston Baroque. She has appeared with the New York Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, among many others. 

To learn more about Daniel Mack, please visit her website

Alek Shrader, tenor (Septimius)  

American tenor Alek Shrader has developed an outstanding reputation both for his beautiful lyric vocalism and his expressive characterizations.

He has appeared with many of the world’s most prestigious opera companies including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Seattle Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Dallas Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opera National de Bordeaux, Theatre du Capitole de Toulouse, and in the Salzburg and Glyndebourne festivals. His many roles include Alfredo in La Traviata, Count Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Lindoro inL’Italiana in Algeri, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore,the title roles in Candide and Albert Herring, Tony in West Side Story, and Ferdinand in Ades’s The Tempest. 

As a concert singer, Shrader has appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. An avid recitalist, Shrader has been presented by Carnegie Hall, San Francisco Performances, and at the Wigmore Hall in London. This season, Shrader appears on tour in the U.S. with The English Concert and returns to the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for Harvey Milk.  

Tyler Duncan, baritone (Valens) 

With a voice described as “honey-coloured and warm, yet robust and commanding” (The Globe and Mail), baritone Tyler Duncan has performed worldwide to great acclaim in both opera and concert repertoire. Recent and upcoming engagements include Handel’s Messiah with TENET Vocal Artists, Schubert’s Winterreise with the Aspect Chamber Music Series, and selections from J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Early Music Vancouver. In 2022, Duncan appears with Arizona Early Music in Handel’s Apollo e Dafne and Bach’s Ich habe genug, joins Vancouver Symphony in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, returns to the Handel and Haydn Society in C.P.E. Bach’s Magnificat, returns to Music of the Baroque as the bass soloist in Haydn’s Creation, and reprises Bach’s Ich habe genug with Mercury Chamber Orchestra.  

Duncan has performed at The Metropolitan Opera as Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly, Huntsman in Rusalka, Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Moralès and Le Dancaïre in Carmen, Herald in Verdi’s Otello, Millhand in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, and the Journalist in Lulu. At the Spoleto Festival USA, he debuted as Mr. Friendly in the 18th-century ballad opera Flora, returning the next season as Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte. 

To learn more about Tyler Duncan, please visit his website

Trinity Baroque Orchestra

Praised by The New York Times for its “dramatic vigor” and “elegantly shaped orchestral sound,” Trinity Church Wall Street’s superb period-instrument ensemble, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, has been heard in venues from New York’s Alice Tully Hall to Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall, performing many of the greatest masterpieces of the Baroque repertoire. 

After presenting Bach’s entire monumental output of sacred vocal music during Trinity’s popular Bach at One series, the Trinity Baroque Orchestra and The Choir of Trinity Church Wall Street embarked on the Bach + One series, pairing a Bach cantata with a complementary work by a different composer, as well as The Handel Project, a multi-season initiative presenting Handel’s oratorios. The orchestra is featured annually in Trinity’s critically acclaimed performances of Handel’s Messiah, which The New York Times declares to be “the best Messiah in New York.” The Trinity Baroque Orchestra can be heard alongside The Choir of Trinity Wall Street on their Grammy Award-nominated recording of Handel’s Israel in Egypt, as well as on J.S. Bach: Complete Motets

Trinity Baroque Orchestra boasts a varied roster of North America’s finest period instrument players. Principal concertmaster Robert Mealy is a versatile performer who teaches at both Yale and Juilliard and has been described by The New Yorker as “New York’s world-class early music violinist,” and many of the orchestra’s other members also hold faculty or adjunct faculty positions at distinguished institutions, including Yale, Harvard, Indiana University, and The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance Program. 

To learn more about Trinity Baroque Orchestra, please visit their website

The Choir of Trinity Wall Street

Peerless interpreters of both early and new music, The Choir of Trinity Wall Street has redefined the realm of 21st-century vocal music, breaking new ground with artistry described as “blazing with vigour … a choir from heaven” (The Times). In addition to providing music for all liturgies at Trinity Church and St. Paul’s Chapel, the choir can be heard in many other concerts and festivals throughout the year, often with NOVUS NY, the Trinity Baroque Orchestra, and the Trinity Youth Chorus.  

The choir has toured extensively throughout the United States, making appearances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Shed at Hudson Yards, the Kennedy Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and the PROTOTYPE Festival, with partners such as Bang on a Can All-Stars, the New York Philharmonic, and The Rolling Stones. Increasingly in-demand internationally, the choir has also performed at Montreal’s Salle Bourgie, Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Norway’s Stavanger Cathedral, and London’s Barbican Theatre.  

In addition to the Grammy Award-nominated recordings Luna Pearl Woolf: Fire and Flood and Handel’s Israel in Egypt, The Choir of Trinity Wall Street has released recordings on Naxos, Musica Omnia, Pentatone, VIA Recordings, ARSIS, Avie Records, Acis, Cantaloupe Music, Decca Gold, and Philip Glass’s Orange Mountain Music. Trinity’s long-term commitment to new music has led to many collaborations with living composers including Ellen Reid, Du Yun, Trevor Weston, Paola Prestini, Luna Pearl Woolf, Ralf Yusuf Gawlick, Elena Ruehr, and Julia Wolfe, whose 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning and Grammy Award-nominated work Anthracite Fields was recorded with the choir. Along with NOVUS NY, the choir also collaborated on and recorded two Pulitzer Prize-winning operas: Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone and Ellen Reid’s prism

To learn more about The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, please visit their website

Avi Stein, conductor

Avi Stein is the associate organist and chorusmaster at Trinity Church Wall Street. He is on faculty at the Juilliard School where he teaches continuo accompaniment, vocal repertoire and chamber music. At Juilliard, Steinconducted Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in a production that toured in London’s Holland Park and at the Royal Opera House at the Palace of Versailles, and most recently he directed a production of Luigi Rossi’s Orfeo, which was named one of the best performances of 2021 by The New York Times.

Stein is the Artistic Director of The Helicon Foundation and has directed the International Baroque Academy of Musiktheater Bavaria, the young artists’ program at the Carmel Bach Festival, and has conducted a variety of ensembles including the Portland Baroque Orchestra; Bang on a Can All-Stars; Opera Français de New York; OperaOmnia; the Amherst Festival opera; and a critically acclaimed annual series called the 4×4 Festival. He performed on the 2015 Grammy Award-winning recording for best opera by the Boston Early Music Festival. The New York Times described Avi as “a brilliant organ soloist” in his Carnegie Hall debut and he was featured in Early Music America magazine in an article on the new generation of leaders in the field. 

Duncan has performed at The Metropolitan Opera as Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly, Huntsman in Rusalka, Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Moralès and Le Dancaïre in Carmen, Herald in Verdi’s Otello, Millhand in Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, and the Journalist in Lulu. At the Spoleto Festival USA, he debuted as Mr. Friendly in the 18th-century ballad opera Flora, returning the next season as Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte. 

Stein studied at Indiana University, the Eastman School of Music, the University of Southern California and was a Fulbright scholar in Toulouse, France.

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