Secret Series: opera diva Graves to perform from 'Carmen,' 'Samson'
By Lia Glavia
Old Gold and Black Reviewer

> February 1, 2001

Ever seen a diva close up? Mark your calendars, cause a world class one is about to grace campus.
As part of the Secrest Artist Series, mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves will perform with the Winston-Salem Symphony 8 p.m. at Feb. 10 in Wait Chapel. Graves performs with the Metropolitan Opera regularly and first made her debut with the group during the 1995-96 season as the title role in Bizet’s Carmen.

She will perform excerpts from Carmen and Samson et Dalila, which she also sang at the Metropolitan Opera opposite Placido Domingo. With this opera repertoire, Graves will sing blues and jazz tunes such as “My Funny Valentine.”

A December Los Angeles Times review described Graves as “a singer whose recital company is consistently enjoyable and who brings a full measure of sympathy and temperament to everything she sings.”

Graves will be giving two other performances with the symphony on Feb. 11 and 13 at the Stevens Center. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster for those events and for the concert in Wait, though the Wait performance is free for students.

“I think that this is a rare opportunity for students to have the symphony and an excellent soloist right here in Wait Chapel,” Louis Goldstein, a professor of music said. “The soloists that have been brought here in the past have been excellent and I expect the same from her.”

She has performed her signature role as Carmen at opera houses all over the world including venues in Vienna, London, Paris and San Francisco. She has also sung at the White House, the Supreme Court and the dedication of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C.

“We always enjoy having national level musicians here, especially singers,” Brian Gorelick, an associate professor of music, said. “(Graves) is one of the leading singers at the Met right now and she is a wonderful example of a vocal performer in classical music with an amazing work ethic as well.”

Graves got her start in classical music after attending the Duke Ellington High School for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. She then attended Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music. She received an honorary doctorate from Oberlin in 1998.

“Considering the music schools that she has attended, her musical training is probably beyond many other opera vocalists,” said freshman Avery Holden, who is in Collegium, one of the music department’s three ensembles. “I have heard some of the recordings from her performances and it should be an amazing concert.”

Graves’ recordings include five full-length operas, a solo album of Christmas music and in November she released a solo recording of Spanish and Portuguese songs in connection with her North American recital tour. She will be performing in Orlando as Carmen in March as one of the next parts of her tour.

There will be a pre-concert lecture by Mary Robert, the general director of the Piedmont Opera Theatre, at 7:10 p.m. Feb. 10 in the balcony room of the chapel.