Past Events: Music at the Trout
A Valentine’s Recital
with Caitlin Cisler & James Kryshak
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 7:30 p.m.
(Doors open at 6:30 p.m.)
Join Caitlin Cisler and James Kryshak as they perform great soprano-tenor love duets in honor of Cupid featuring selections from West Side Story, La Fille du Régiment, Don Pasquale, The Merry Widow and more!
Accompanied by Claire Mallory.
A native of Wisconsin, soprano Caitlin Cisler made her professional debut in 2009, headlining as Cunegonde in Candide with Four Seasons Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin. Other major roles include Gretel (Hansel and Gretel, 2011-2012), Lola Markham (Gallantry, 2011), Norina (Don Pasquale, 2011 & 2008), Morgana (Alcina, 2009), Valencienne (Die lustige Witwe, 2008), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro, 2008), Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande, 2007), and Lucy in The Telephone (2006). Ms. Cisler currently works with Fresco Opera Theatre, Opera for the Young, and Candid Concert Opera.
In 2011, Ms. Cisler was the audience favorite, and second place winner of the Harold Haugh Light Opera Competition. She also was crowned the Diva Champion in Fresco Opera’s “Dueling Divas.” Ms. Cisler represented the Midwest as a semi-finalist for the 2010 NATS Artist Awards competition in Salt Lake City, and as a finalist in the 2010 National Opera Association Competition. Ms. Cisler has also presented Richard Strauss’ Brentano Lieder with the UW Symphony Orchestra as a winner of the university’s 2008 concerto competition. In that same year, Ms. Cisler also won the Schubert Club Competition in St. Paul.
In concert, Ms. Cisler has most recently been seen in the 9/11 Memoriam Concert at the Overture Center for the Arts, where she performed the soprano solo from Deutsche Requiem by Brahms. She has also been a featured soloist in the Faure Requiem, the Mozart’s Requiem and Vespers solennes de confessore, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Magnificat, and Liebeslieder op. 52 by Brahms.
Ms. Cisler holds a Masters in Opera Performance from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, and Bachelor degrees in vocal performance and biology from Lawrence University. She is a published researcher in vocal health and the effects of singing on the immune system. Currently, Ms. Cisler studies with Julia Faulkner and teaches private voice lessons at the Madison Music Foundry.
James Kryshak (tenor), a native of Baldwinsville, NY made his professional opera debut in 2008 as Don Ottavio in Raylynmor Opera’s production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Other leading opera roles include; Ernesto in Don Pasquale, Nanki-Poo in The Mikado, Camille in The Merry Widow, Frederik in Pirates of Penzance, and Pelléas in Pelléas et Mélisande.
A winner in both District (Wisconsin 2008, Minnesota 2009) and Regional (Upper Midwest 2009) levels of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, James sang on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera as a National Semi-Finalist in February 2009. Mr. Kryshak was most recently awarded the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation Prize in Male Voice as well as the Lola Fletcher Prize of the American Opera Society of Chicago in 2011. James has also been a Finalist in the Ferruccio Tagliavini International Vocal Competition in Deutschlandsberg, Austria (April 2005) as well as a Semi-Finalist in the Klassik Mania Competition in Vienna (July 2005).
Currently, James is a member of the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago. For the 2010-11 Lyric Opera Season, he performed as; Snout in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Joe in La fanciulla del West, Amelia’s Servant in Un ballo in maschera, and the Second Nobleman in Lohengrin. During the 2011-12 Lyric Opera Season, James will be seen as Scaramuccio in Ariadne auf Naxos, the 2nd Priest in Die Zauberflöte, and the Herald in Rinaldo, as well as Monostatos in the Student Matinee performances of Die Zauberflöte. He will make his Carnegie Hall Debut in May 2012 with The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Franz Welser-Möst, singing the 4th Jew in Strauss’ Salome. During the Summer Season Mr. Kryshak will be singing the role of Sellem, the Auctioneer, in The Rake’s Progress with the Wolf Trap Opera as a Filene Young Artist.
James holds a Master’s of Music Degree in Opera Performance from the University of Wisconsin Madison where he was the recipient of the Wisconsin Distinguished Voice Excellence Fellowship (2008-09) and studied with Julia Faulkner and William Farlow. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Music (Voice) and German from Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL). Further studies include two years of vocal study in Vienna, Austria with Michele Friedman (IES Vienna/Vienna Conservatory), an apprenticeship with Des Moines Metro Opera in 2009 and a vocalist in the Tyrolean Opera Program in 2006 under the direction of Elizabeth Bachman.
Konevets Quartet
Friday October 21, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.
in partnership with the Fox Cities-Kurgan Sister Cities program
(Doors open at 6:30 p.m.)
The Konevets Quartet was founded in 1992 by four young musicians from the St Petersburg Conservatoire who were singing in the choir of the Konevets Monastery of the Holy Nativity on the island of Konevets in Lake Ladoga. Their first audiences were the people working on the restoration of the monastery, and the pilgrims and tourists who came to the island.
All the members of the ensemble studied at the St Petersburg Glinka Choir College. Trained in the tradition of Russian song, the Konevets Quartet is not just a group of individual soloists, but is in essence a chamber choir dedicated to creating a perfect harmonious ensemble sound.
At the heart of their repertoire is Russian church music, from ancient material written for the monasteries to works by 20th century composers. The earliest church music is sung in unison or in arrangement for two or three voices, and in contemporary four-voice arrangements, many of them written by members of the Konevets Quartet.
Apart from church music, their concert programmes often include a variety of Russian folk songs and military songs and marches from the days of the Imperial army — songs which were all but lost during Soviet times. The repertoire also draws on settings of Russian poems arranged for male voice choirs by Russian classical composers.
The Konevets Quartet has participated in leading international festivals in Russia, Great Britain, the US, France, Italy, Ireland and Scandinavia. Their recordings are on sale in many countries, and have received high acclaim from critics and the music press. A concert or a recording by the Konevets Quartet always offers a fascinating program, and the chance to learn more of the rich tradition of Russian choral music and the music of the male voice chamber choir.
Madison Fresco Opera Theatre presents
Dueling Divas
Saturday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m.
(Doors Open at 6:30 p.m.)
The opera gloves are coming off! Watch opera singers battling against each other for the title of Diva Champion voted upon by audience members. This is your opportunity to experience opera in a way you’ve never seen before. Battles will be divided into Biggest Pipes, Most Heart Wrenching, Best High Note and Best Coloratura. The audience will be able to witness these singers perform at the highest level in a condensed, thrilling format.
Lawrence University Conchordance
a capella ensemble
Tuesday, March 1 at 8:00 p.m.
(Doors open at 7:00 p.m.)
An all-female a capella group, Conchordance strives to perform all genres including pop, barbershop, world music, R&B, early/renaissance music, gospel, choral, jazz, rock, and everything outside and in between those genres — using only our voices.
A Night in Vienna
Caitlin Cisler, soprano with Claire Mallory, piano
Friday, January 21 at 7:30 p.m.
(Doors Open at 6:30 p.m.)
A recital of music by Brahms, Berg, Wolf and other composers who were influenced and inspired by the city of Vienna.
Celebrate the Season with the White Heron Chorale
Friday, December 10 at 7:30 p.m.
(doors open at 6:00 p.m.)
The region’s most prestigious adult vocal ensemble presents Christmas carols and songs of the holiday. From solos to full choral works, this will be a great way to celebrate the season and sing-along with the choir in cherished Christmas Carols.
Ding Dong the Diva's Dead
Presented by: Fresco Opera Theatre
Friday, October 29 at 7:30 p.m.
(doors open at 6:00 p.m.)
Featuring performances of opera death scenes staged to horror movies like Frankenstein and Psycho and select arias.
Leo Van Asten | Harpsichord
Thursday, September 30 at 7:00 p.m.
(doors open at 6:00 p.m.)
Featuring music by Giovanni Pichi, Peter Philips, J.C. Bach, Mozart, and Van Asten
Todd Clouser | Jazz Guitar
With Adam Meckler, trumpet
Friday, September 17 at 7:00 p.m.
(doors open at 6:00 p.m.)
This performance is free as a part of Appleton Downtown Inc.’s Art on the Town