John Brancy takes WWI tribute to Carnegie Hall

John Brancy & Wallis Giunta (left): Brancy as Papageno (right)

On January 13th, John Brancy will be at Carnegie Hall to perform his recital honoring the centenary of World War I that he performed last month with Vocal Arts DC. The concert is titled "Silent Night: A World War I Centenary Tribute in Song" and features songs from England, Germany, Austria, France & America. He'll be joined by Ken Noda at the piano in Weill Recital hall. The program includes music by Butterworth, Gurney, Orff, Alma Mahler, Ravel, Poulenc, Debussy, Ives and renditions of "My Buddy" and "Danny Boy"

The gifted young singer, was the winner of both the Sullivan Foundation and Marilyn Horne Song Competitions before graduating from Juilliard. Brancy has also already made solo recital debuts at both Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall, and has appeared in opera in Paris, Dresden, and Frankfurt.

Tickets are available online.

If you want to see him in opera, you'll have to head to Canada where he takes on Papageno in Mozart's Magic Flute with the Edmonton Opera opening on January 31 and then Figaro in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro with Lyra Opera Ottawa opening March 21.  The latter production includes his girlfriend Wallis Giunta as Cherubino.

Chris Carr to perform concert in honor of WWI centenary

Chris Carr

After a successful run as Billy Bigelow in Carousel at the Glimmerglass Festival, Iowa native Chris Carr returns to his home state for a recital called "Remembering WWI and its Meaning in Music." 2014 marks the centenary of the outbreak of WWI, where over 16 million people across the globe lost their lives.  It was the first real instance of total war, where entire nations were pitted against each other; millions of men fought on land, at sea and in the air; modern weaponry caused mass casualties and civilian populations suffered hardships and came under threat of enemy attack.

The recital will be held on September 14th at the University Center in Quasqueton, Iowa.

In the first half he will be performing George Butterworth's A Shropshire Lad, Alban Berg's 4 Gesänge, Op.2, Britten's War Requiem arias, 3 French poplar songs, Korngold's Pierrots Tanzlied and the Soliloquy. After intermission, he will perform Léo Chauliac & Charles Trenet Que reste-t-il de nos amours, Les Feuilles mortes (Autumn Leaves) and Sous le ciel de Paris, made famous by Edith Piaf and Yves Montand.

Upcoming performances include The Polar Express with the Phoenix Symphony on November 30th, The Pilot in The Little Prince at the Washington National Opera in December, and Eugene Onegin with the Arizona Opera in February 2015.