Inspirational Mozart Mass In C Minor With Paavo Järvi

Paavo Järvi, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and four outstanding vocal soloists will perform Mozart's Mass in C Minor, K. 427, The Great, on January 26 and 27 at 8 p.m. at Music Hall.

The soloists are Christine Brewer and Mary Wilson, sopranos, Stanford Olsen, tenor and Eric Owens, bass; also performing is the May Festival Chorus, Robert Porco, director. Juxtaposing the Mozart Mass are works by two 20th century master composers: Anton Webern's Im Sommerwind ("In the Summer Wind") and Alban Berg's Sieben frühe Lieder ("Seven Early Songs") with Christine Brewer as soloist.

"The Mozart Mass in C Minor is perhaps Mozart's greatest and most mysterious choral work," said Paavo Järvi. "I'm looking forward to working with the May Festival Chorus and soloists to bring this inspirational music to the audience. I've also included music by Webern and Berg because, like Mozart, they are composers who changed the musical landscape."

The CSO thanks Johnson Investment Counsel for its generous support of these concerts. Additional support comes from The Nancy & Steve Donovan Fund for Chorus and Orchestra. The Fine Arts Fund Partner for these concerts is Fifth Third Bank.

These concerts are part of the CSO's Multicultural Awareness Council's Open Door Series. The
CSO thanks its Inclusion Partners, Duke Energy and KPMG, for their generous support.

Audiences are invited to learn more about the music at Classical Conversations with May Festival Chorus Director Robert Porco one hour before the performances. Classical Conversations is presented by Joseph-Beth Booksellers.

Christine Brewer

The American soprano Christine Brewer's 2005-06 season included her first complete Isolde at the Edinburgh International Festival in concert performances with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Brewer also performed one of her signature roles, Leonore (Fidelio) at the San Francisco Opera with Sir Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra. She made her Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debut in October 2000. Her most recent CSO appearances were as Leonore in a concert performance of Fidelio led by Paavo Järvi in January 2003.

Ms. Brewer's recent concert highlights include Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the National Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with James Levine and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Verdi's Requiem with the symphony orchestras of San Francisco and Chicago (Ravinia Festival) with James Conlon conducting.

On the opera stage Ms. Brewer has been seen in numerous roles including the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos- another signature role for her-at the Metropolitan Opera, Opera de Lyon, Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, Santa Fe Opera and English National Opera. Her professional career began with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis and her affiliation with that company includes leading roles in Peter Grimes, Ariadne auf Naxos, Haydn's Armida and Don Giovanni.

Ms. Brewer's numerous recordings include Dvořák's Te Deum with Robert Shaw and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra on the Telarc label.

Mary Wilson

Named by Symphony Magazine as an "Emerging Artist" in 2004, Mary Wilson is making her Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debut at these concerts. The young soprano's 2006-07 season also includes debuts with the symphony orchestras of Omaha and Tucson and her European debut with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic.

In recent seasons Ms. Wilson has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony and Kansas City Symphony, among others. Her operatic appearances included debuts with Tulsa Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Dayton Opera and Opera Threatre of St. Louis. Her orchestral repertoire includes Mozart's Mass in C Minor, Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Handel's Messiah and Fauré's Requiem.

Ms. Wilson was a national finalist in the 1999 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and received the Adams Fellowship at the Carmel Bach Festival in California. She also received a career grant from the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. She holds performance degrees from St. Olaf College and Washington University in St. Louis and currently resides near Savannah, Georgia.

Stanford Olsen

Since winning the 1989 Walter W. Naumburg Award, Stanford Olsen has established himself as one of today's leading tenors. A frequent performer at the Metropolitan Opera, Mr. Olsen's first Met
performance came on one hour's notice as Arturo in I Puritani opposite Dame Joan Sutherland.

A frequent soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati May Festival, Stanford Olsen made his CSO subscription debut in 1996. His most recent CSO appearance took place in September 2005.

Mr. Olsen has performed in many of the world's major opera houses. In the U.S. he has appeared with San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera and Opera Company of Philadelphia, among many others. His concert repertoire with leading orchestras both here and abroad comprises works by Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Rossini, Stravinsky and others. In recent seasons he performed and recorded a Grammy-nominated Carmina Burana with Donald Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for Telarc.
Mr. Olsen performed as Idreno in Rossini's Semiramide with the Metropolitan Opera under James Conlon, which was telecast and released on home video.

Eric Owens

The American bass, Eric Owens, made his Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra subscription debut in January 2003 as Rocco in a concert performance of Fidelio led by Paavo Järvi. A native of Philadelphia, Mr. Owens studied voice at Temple University and the Curtis Institute of Music. He is the winner of the 2003 Marian Anderson Award, the recipient of a 1999 ARIA award and winner of the Placido Domingo Operalia Competition, the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Other awards include first prizes in the MacAllister Awards Voice Competition, Opera Index Career Grant Auditions, Palm Beach Opera National Voice Competition and Mario Lanza Voice Competition. He is a former member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio.

Eric Owens' concert appearances include performances with the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, Minnesota, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Toronto. His recent opera appearances included Royal Opera, Covent Garden Boston Lyric Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Los Angeles Opera and Paris Opera (Bastille). -- www.cincinnatisymphony.org