SUZANNE FATTA
June 2009
In solo songs news... the Kent-based composer FL Dunkin Wedd and Suzanne are working together. Laurie iscomposing a song for Sue, based on a text written by her great-grandfather, Paolo Oglioloro, in Italian; it will evoke the Sicilian emigrant experience. Please click here for more information about Laurie.
June 2009
Sue has recently been appointed to a number of positions: the US Representative on the Board of SPAV; the Publicity and Marketing Director of Viriditas Opera; and one of the Programme Co-ordinators for the Student RMA Conference in January 2010, which will be hosted by the Post Graduate students at the University of York.
June 2009
Sue will be featured in BAROCCA, which will premiere in the UK in the 2010 season. After fantastic reviews with a previous cast in Italy, we plan on performing this exciting and beautiful production in York, Oxford, France and Norway. BAROCCA, a multimedia Baroque dramatic extravaganza, is conceived of and directed by Gianmaria Romagnoli. Sue will sing the Alto solos in Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, and the role of Testo in Monteverdi's Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (Ottavo libro, Madrigali dei guerrieri ed amorosi). This all-female production will also include a Vivaldi cantata, complete with stunning visuals and gorgeous costumes.
May 2009
Sue will play the lead role of the Emperor, which is a Tenor part, in Hilary Nicholls' new satirical children's opera The Emperor's New Clothes. This Viriditas Opera production is part of the York Spring Festival of New Music, and is the first installment of The York Playbook, an ongoing collection of new music-dramas by York composers. The piece is based on the Hans Christian Andersen story, in which two fraudsters, posing as tailors, promise to make the King a suit of beautiful clothes that fools cannot see. Please consult the Calendar for more information.
May 2009
Sailing through The Cambridge Companion to Monteverdi by John Whenham and Richard Wistreich (2008, page 11), I read a paragraph which jumped off the page at me and made me whoop with job. It directly pertains to and necessitates the topic of my dissertation, and I think this is the most beautiful set of sentences I've read in a long time: "Again, Monteverdi is one of the earliest composers for whom we are tempted to associate the steps in his musical development with three rather neat geographical locations -- Cremona (1567 - 90), Mantua (1590 - 1612), and Venice (1613 - 43) -- and link them to his early, middle and late styles on the nineteenth-century 'progressive trajectory' model established for Bach (Weimar, Cothen, Leipzig), Mozart (Salzburg, Italy, Vienna) and other composers. Those who do not quite fit the style-place development model seem to have a harder time fixing themselves in our historical consciousness, no matter how talented. Among Monteverdi's contemporaries, Luca Marenzio and Sigismondo d'India may particularly have fallen into this historiographical trap, as is evidenced by their rather poor showing in the present performing and recording arenas."
May 2009
Schola Pietatis Antonio Vivaldi ("Vivaldi's Women") announces their Summer Baroque Vocal Course 2009: Discover Your Voice, Monday 24 to Wednesday 26 August, at The Friends Meeting House in Oxford. Are you an undiscovered female tenor or bass? Or a soprano or contralto who would like to develop your technique? Would you like to sing baroque music with more style and flare? This three day course is open to amateur female singers of all ages and will culminate in a performance of Vivaldi's spectacular Dixit Dominus, Gloria, and other works. The course will offer participants the opportunity to: learn more about the history of Vivaldi's all-female choir (which included female tenors and basses) and orchestra at Venice's Ospedale della Pietà; explore the vocal techniques and training methods which give Vivaldi's Women their distinctive sound; explore your voice and vocal range, particularly the lower range; enjoy one-to-one tuition on Baroque vocal technique and style; and sing alongside mentors from the Vivaldi's Women. Men are welcome to attend as observers at the concessionary rate. To find out more about the course, and to Register, please go to the SPAV website.
March 2009
Sue has formed a new female trio, Juniper, with sopranos Laura Kishimoto and Isabella von Holstein. We are working on repertoire as diverse as Viadana, Monteverdi, d'India, Luzzaschi, Poulenc, Bryars, Georgian hymns, and Roger Marsh. We will make our debut during the Harrogate International Festival, July 21 - 23. Please access the Calendar for more information about exact times and locations. See our beautiful website here.
January 2009
Sue has joined the famous "Vivaldi's Women" (SPAV) choir, as Bass I, at the invitation of the Director. Schola Pietatis Antonio Vivaldi is an all-female ensemble of singers and players which aims to recreate the sound of Vivaldi's Figlie di Coro, those foundlings at Venice's Ospedale della Pietà, where the composer spent much of his career. It reflects both the age and vocal ranges of Vivaldi's musicians, with women aged 14 to 60+, some singing tenor and bass at pitch! You may have seen the award-winning BBC4 Documentary about them. Sue, with the choir and orchestra, filmed a documentary for Sky TV based on Peter Ackroyd's forthcoming book Venice, and recorded a DVD and CD in February, both of which will be available by the fall. For more information, see our website and Vivaldi's Women on YouTube.
