The 2018 Schwabacher Recital Series is readying to end with a bang; following the last three performances from the opera world’s next generation of stars, the series will conclude on April 4 with a recital featuring soprano Natalie Image, mezzo-soprano Ashley Dixon, tenor Amitai Pati, and bass-baritone Christian Pursell, led by pianist Kevin Murphy.

San Francisco Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald says: ““We are thrilled to have Kevin Murphy, the esteemed collaborative pianist and director of Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute Program for Singers, bringing the 35th anniversary season of the Schwabacher Recitals to a rousing close. What I love about Kevin’s work is his spontaneity with the music. He really lets the singers sing. The details are there, no stone unturned in delving into the depths of meaning, but Kevin understands that the vocalism must always be free.”

This final recital will draw upon the works of Leonard Bernstein, featuring selections from “Songfest,” “Mass,” West Side Story,” “Candide,” and more.  There will also be songs from Aaron Copland’s “Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson” and Gustav Mahler’s “Des Knaben Wunderhorn.”

Of this program, San Francisco Opera Center’s Director of Musical Studies Mark Morash says: “One of the most exciting things that Leonard Bernstein’s centennial offers us is the chance to hear the breadth of his work as a composer in so many genres. It has been a banner year not only for his theater pieces but also for orchestral songs and some of his more intimate and personal pieces for voice and piano. This program also reminds us of the music that inspired him and surrounded him as he himself was creating.”