Milton Community Concerts
at First Parish
The Heart of a Woman
Saturday, March 19, 2022 at 7:00pm
On Saturday, March 19 at 7pm Milton Community Concerts and Opera On Tap Boston present a benefit concert called “The Heart of a Woman”. This program will feature music from a variety of genres which tell stories of women, exploring musical-cultural heritage, gender, and ethnicity. This program will feature professional singers from Opera on Tap, a local performing organization established in 2012 and dedicated to singing opera “outside the box”, in non-traditional venues. Past performances have taken place in an Irish pub, outside a shoe store in Coolidge Corner, in a parking lot, and at an outdoor amphitheater. Opera on Tap (OOT) was born in 2005 at Freddy’s Bar and Backroom in Brooklyn and incorporated in 2007. The Boston chapter was established in 2012 by Kathryn McKellar and Kristina Riegle with the goal of creating new performance opportunities for the city’s vibrant classical singer community. With live shows in unconventional venues ranging from public parks to bars to farmer’s markets across greater Boston, OOT has introduced audiences of all ages and cultural backgrounds to opera in performance formats that are fun, inclusive and accessible. www.operaontapboston.com
A portion of the ticket sales will be used to support Renewal House, a domestic violence shelter for local individuals and families who are fleeing violence or abuse, a program of the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry.
Featured singers for this concert include sopranos Melynda Davis, Luisamaria Hernanadez, and Kathryn McKellar, as well as tenor David Rivera Bozon and baritone Keith Eric Brinkley. The pianist will be Timothy Steele. Songs will be presented from musical theater (WAITRESS, INTO THE WOODS), opera (PORGY AND BESS, FLORECIA EN EL AMAZONAS), and the concert stage, including works by living composers Leslie Adams, Carol Koffinke, Lauren Spaveldo, and Ricky Ian Gordon.
This concert will take place in the Meetinghouse at the historic First Parish Church of Milton-UU at 535 Canton Avenue. Admission is $20 general, $10 for seniors 65 and over, and free for 18 and younger. Tickets will be available at the door only, and plenty of free parking is available. All audience members will be required to wear masks throughout the concert, and fully-vaccinated singers will be singing from distanced locations behind plexiglass barriers in a large ventilated space.
This concert is made possible with the help of a grant from the Milton Cultural Council, a part of the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
Program
Texts and Translations
Artist Headshots and Bios
Baritone, Keith Eric Brinkley, is a multi-faceted performer with style credits in opera, classical, musical theater, gospel and religious music. He began his formative musical training in church and while singing male soprano with the world-renowned Indianapolis Children’s Choir.
Locally he has performed with companies such as Boston Opera Collaborative (Idomeneo), The Paul Madore Chorale (Faure’s Requiem), Chorus Pro Musica (The Creation), and The Boston Classical Orchestra(Prima la Musica poi le Parole). Keith has sung the baritone solos in Faure’s Requiem as well as in Haydn’s Die Schopfung. He has performed Bob (The Old Maid and the Thief), Don Basilio (Il Barbieri di Siviliglia) and Balthazar (Amahl and the Night Visitors).
Keith holds a Master of Music degree from Boston University, and a Graduate Performance Diploma from Longy School of Music at Bard College. A native of Indianapolis, IN, Keith calls Boston home. He has spent several years working in non-profit healthcare management. He has served on the boards of both Boston Singers Resource and Milton Community Concerts. He currently serves on the board of Opera On Tap Boston and is an artist on their roster. Keith is passionate about creating performance opportunities and funding initiatives that promote social change through the arts.
Soprano, Melynda Davis, is a Boston based singer who specializes in opera, oratorio, and art song.
Ms. Davis has performed with companies such as Opera Boston, Opera Providence, Boston Lyric Opera, Empire Opera, NY Lyric Opera, and the Boston Pops. She has also been a finalist in Connecticut Opera Guild’s Competition, placed First in the Rhode Island NATS Competition and placed Second in Boston's Leontyne Price Vocal Arts Competition.
Ms. Davis joined Mount Holyoke Symphony in their East Coast Premiere of Dark River. Ms. Davis performed with New York Lyric Opera to sing the title role in Suor Angelica. Ms. Davis joined The Opera Company of Brooklyn as a Resident Artist where she debuted as Mimi in their production of La Bohème and performed the role of Nedda in their production of Pagliacci. Melynda serves as a Board member for Opera on Tap Boston and is a member on their roster.
Ms. Davis made her debut with MassOpera in their workshop premiere of Freedom Ride. This fall Ms. Davis will return to MassOpera to sing Flora in their production of La Traviata. In 2022, Ms. Davis will make her debut with Greater Worcester Opera in the title role of Suor Angelica.
Luisamaria Hernandez is a Dominican American soprano based in Boston. Recently, she presented the recital Una Notte in Maschera in Boston’s historic North End. Her recent company debut with Boston Opera Collaborative was the role of The Daughter in The Course We Set by Puerto Rican composer Johanny Navarro and as a soloist in The Lives They Lived. As an active recitalist and concert curator, Luisamaria has made Latin American, Caribbean, and Spanish art music the center of her storytelling and performance practice. She will sing the title role in Carla Lucero’s East Coast premiere of Juana with dell’Arte Opera Ensemble in New York City. Upcoming engagements include recitals in Boston, Florida, and Dominican Republic.
Luisamaria was a guest artist at Polk State College for the Voices of the People Chamber Music Series. She joined Opera Del West as Un Esprit in Massenet’s Cendrillon, which she also choreographed. She also performed in historic Faneuil Hall in NEMPAC Opera Project’s production of The Little Prince, as Common Rose 2. She sang Infantin in Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg and Louise in Von Suppe’s The Finishing School. She has performed with Opera Tampa in productions of La Traviata, Madame Butterfly, and Rigoletto. Her Boston choreographer debut was Longy Opera Theatre’s production of Kalman’s Countess Maritza.
Luisamaria believes representation on and off the stage are key to developing community and well-rounded artistry. Her experiences as a Sphinx Connect Fellow and Sistema Side-by-Side Instructor have been integral to her work as she strives to tell stories that will reach those who need it most.
Commended by The Boston Globe for her "elegant singing" and "polish," Soprano Kathryn McKellar has distinguished herself as a "visually and vocally stunning performer" (Classical Music Intelligencer) who "brings palpable emotional power to her performances" (Boston Arts Review) in Opera, Musical Theater, and Concert alike.
Kathryn performs regularly with Boston Lyric Opera, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, and is founder/co-director of Opera on Tap Boston. Kathryn recently made her Opera Theater Cape Cod debut as Micaela in Tragedie de Carmen and received special praise from The Boston Globe for her creation of the role of Lina Cavalieri in Divas, a new theater work by Laura Neil produced by OperaHub. In 2019 Kathryn joined Boston Modern Orchestra Project in their production of Charles’ Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Bird) and Boston Youth Orchestra in La Boheme. In January of 2020 Kathryn was featured in Arnold Rosner's The Chronicles of Nine (charms seller) with Boston Modern Orchestra Project and in Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra's production of Aida. During the global pandemic Kathryn works to provide virtual performance platforms for Boston based artists and innovative, immersive and safe performances for patrons. From private virtual concerts, programs featuring marginalized composers, to a socially-distant "drive-in" version of Handel's Messiah Kathryn feels grateful to have the opportunity to keep music alive and accessible during this difficult time.
Kathryn lends her voice equally to operatic, recital, and concert repertoire, and has performed in numerous recitals and performing arts projects across the United States and in Europe. She received her Masters of Music from The Boston Conservatory where she was a member of the Opera Studio and received 1st place in the Conservatory's Chamber Music Competition.
Originally from Texas, Kathryn currently resides in Boston with her husband and two baby boys.
David Rivera Bozon is an international tenor with more than seventeen years of performing experience. The core of his career is to share with love the joy of singing.
Recent highlights includes Boston Singer ́s Resource Composer ́s Lab, Opera Talk Italy Virtual Serenade, Opera on Tap OperaGrams, NEMPAC Balcony Series at Tresca, Opera Evening with Veronica Robles Cultural Center. The title role in Mozart ́s Idomeneo with the New England Conservatory Opera, Dallas from Service Provider by Christopher Weiss with Helios Opera and Alfredo from Traviata with MassOpera.
David proudly holds degrees from New England Conservatory and National University of Colombia Conservatory.
Timothy Steele is an active vocal coach, collaborative pianist, and conductor, and has taught for twenty-nine years on the opera faculty at New England Conservatory. He has conducted for outreach tours with the Boston Lyric Opera and is a former music director for Opera Providence. He has served as assistant conductor/pianist for over 190 productions with twenty-five opera companies, including Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Wolf Trap Opera, Central City Opera, and Opera Maine. He assisted with the Pulitzer Prize winning opera MADAME WHITE SNAKE for productions in Boston and Taiwan and the OUROBOROS TRILOGY in 2016, and for three years collaborated with WaterFire-Providence on a unique and popular series of opera evenings. For the last eight years he has been music director at First Parish of Milton-UU and producer of Milton Community Concerts. In Boston he has performed with Emmanuel Music, the Handel and Haydn Society, and the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, among others.