Latonia Moore And Ryan Speedo Green To Open George London Foundation Season

The George London Foundation for Singers 2019-20 season marks the centennial of the birth of its namesake, the legendary Canadian-American bass-baritone who was one of the greatest opera singers of the 20th century. The season opens at The Morgan Library and Museum on Sunday, October 20, 2019, at 4:00 pm, with a recital by two young American rising stars and George London Award winners: Latonia Moore, soprano, and Ryan Speedo Green, bass-baritone, with Ken Noda, piano.

Both singers are featured in the cast of the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess that opens the season on September 23: Moore as Serena, and Green as Jake.

Latonia Moore, a 2002 George London Award winner and Houston native, last season won acclaim in an English National Opera production of Porgy and Bess, Anthony Tommasini saying in The New York Times, "Perhaps best of all is the impassioned, radiant soprano Latonia Moore as Serena"; this past June, she made her Washington National Opera debut in the title role of Tosca, about which Washington City Paper said, "this Tosca boasts a dynamite titular heroine, Latonia Moore.... The American soprano emotes with her powerful voice and whole body."

Ryan Speedo Green, a native of Suffolk, Virginia, who won his George London Award in 2014, has been called a "real showstopper" by The New York Times. He won the Marian Anderson Vocal Prize in 2018, was the subject of the book Sing for Your Life, by New York Times journalist Daniel Bergner, and a recent profile on 60 Minutes. About his performance in La Bohème at the Vienna State Opera in April of this year, The Opera Critic said, "Ryan Speedo Green scored a hit with an outstanding Colline - full of character, wit, and dexterity, and delivering a 'Vecchia zimmara, senti' with faultless line and equanimity."

At the George London Foundation event, Latonia Moore will sing "L'altra notte in fondo al mare" from Boito's Mefistofele, and songs by Duparc, Hahn, Liszt, Quilter, and Katherine Kennicott Davis. Ryan Speedo Green sings "Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge" from Wagner's Das Rheingold, "Abbieta zingara fosca vegliarda" from Verdi's Il Trovatore, and songs by Beethoven, Liszt, Mahler, and Wolf. They will join to conclude the program with the duet "Or siam soli" from Verdi's La Forza del Destino. (Complete program details follow below.)

The recital is followed by a reception with the artists. In a happy coincidence, as Verdi is on the program, The Morgan's current exhibition Verdi: Creating Otello and Falstaff-Highlights from the Ricordi Archive will be open for concert attendees.

The George London Foundation for Singers has been honoring, supporting, and presenting the finest young opera singers in the U.S. and Canada with activities including an annual competition and recital series, that Opera News has called "a living testament to the peerless bass-baritone's talent and generosity." The 2019-20 season continues with three more events:

• The 49th annual George London Foundation Competition begins with three days of preliminary auditions and culminates with the final round and announcement of George London Award winners. The 2020 competition takes place February 17-19, and the public is invited to attend the competition finals and awards announcement on Friday, February 21, 2020, at 4:00 pm. The 2019 George London Award winners were soprano Rebecca Pedersen, mezzo-sopranos Samantha Gossard and Carolyn Sproule, and tenors Charles Sy and Kyle van Schoonhoven.

• "Celebrating George London's 100th Birthday," a gala benefit reception at New York's famed Metropolitan Club, will gather former colleagues of London's and past winners of the competition to celebrate the singer's centennial and honor the work that the foundation continues in his name. Thursday, March 19, 2020, at the Metropolitan Club

• Rihab Chaieb, mezzo-soprano, and Lawson Anderson, bass-baritone, perform a duo-recital with Ken Noda, piano. Both singers are 2018 George London Award winners; in its coverage of the competition, New York Classical Review described Anderson's voice in his award-winning performance as "like granite, perfectly firm, but with a richly veined tone," and Chaieb's performance as "captivating." Sunday, April 19, 2020, at 4:00 pm.

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Sunday, October 20, 2019, at 4:00 pm

Gilder Lehrman Hall at The Morgan Library & Museum

225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York City

The George London Foundation Recital Series presents

LATONIA MOORE, Soprano

RYAN SPEEDO GREEN, Bass-baritone

Ken Noda, Piano

Program order to be announced

BOITO "L'altra notte in fondo al mare" from Mefistofele

DUPARC "L'invitation au voyage"

"Le manoir de Rosamonde"

HAHN "L'énamoureé"

LISZT "Enfant, si j'étais roi"

QUILTER "Dream Valley"

"Love's Philosophy"

K. KENNICOTT DAVIS "Nancy Hanks"

Latonia Moore and Ken Noda

WAGNER "Abendlich strahlt der Sonne Auge" from Das Rheingold

VERDI "Abbieta zingara fosca vegliarda" from Il Trovatore

BEETHOVEN "In questa tomba oscura"

LISZT "Die Vätergruft"

MAHLER "Urlicht"

WOLF Michelangelo Lieder

"Wohl denk ich oft an mein vergangnes Leben"

"Alles endet, was entstehet"

"Fühlt meine Seele das ersehnte Licht"

Ryan Speedo Green and Ken Noda

VERDI "Or siam soli" from La Forza del Destino

Latonia Moore, Ryan Speedo Green, and Ken Noda

Tickets: $55

Call (646) 461-3578, e-mail info@georgelondon.org

www.georgelondon.org

www.themorgan.org