Opera Theater Presents "COLE! A Celebration of the Life, Words, and Music of Cole Porter" March 31, April 1 in Jordan Hall
NEC's 2006 Revue (Andrew Hurlbut photo)
For Immediate Release:
March 13, 2008
“You're the top! You're the Coliseum.
You're the top! You're the Louvre Museum.
You're a melody from a symphony by Strauss.
You're a Bendel bonnet, a Shakespeare sonnet,
You're Mickey Mouse.” —Cole Porter
New England Conservatory Opera Theater will celebrate the deliciously clever, wryly romantic music and lyrics of Cole Porter in a semi-staged revue, March 31 and April 1 in NEC’s Jordan Hall. The all-student production will feature a cast of 10 singers and a six-piece instrumental combo. Conductor, composer, arranger John Greer, Director and Chair of Opera Studies at the Conservatory, will be the Music Director. Patricia Weinmann, of the NEC Opera department, will direct.
“Some Argentines, without means, do it.
People say, in Boston, even beans do it.
Let's do it, let's fall in love.”—Cole Porter
COLE follows the success of recent Jordan Hall revues A Talent to Amuse, an Evening with Noel Coward and There Once Was a Girl Named Jenny, The Music of Kurt Weill that Greer has presented in the last three years. The evening promises such Broadway classics as What Is This Thing Called Love?, Begin the Beguine, Anything Goes, and In the Still of the Night, as well as many less familiar but equally delightful gems.
The performances, at 8 p.m., are free and open to the public.
The Cole Porter performances have received generous support from the Mattina R. Proctor Foundation.
For further information, check the NEC Website or call the NEC Concert Line at 617-585-1122. NEC’s Jordan Hall, Brown Hall, Williams Hall and the Keller Room are located at 30 Gainsborough St., corner of Huntington Ave. St. Botolph Hall is located at 241 St. Botolph St. between Gainsborough and Mass Ave.
ABOUT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY
Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader among music schools, New England Conservatory offers rigorous training in an intimate, nurturing community to 750 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral music students from around the world. Its faculty of 225 boasts internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. Its alumni go on to fill orchestra chairs, concert hall stages, jazz clubs, recording studios, and arts management positions worldwide. Nearly half of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is composed of NEC trained musicians and faculty.
The oldest independent school of music in the United States, NEC was founded in 1867 by Eben Tourjee. Its curriculum is remarkable for its wide range of styles and traditions. On the college level, it features training in classical, jazz, Contemporary Improvisation, world and early music. Through its Preparatory School, School of Continuing Education, and Community Collaboration Programs, it provides training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, adults, and seniors. Through its outreach projects, it allows young musicians to engage with non-traditional audiences in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes—thereby bringing pleasure to new listeners and enlarging the universe for classical music and jazz.
NEC presents more than 600 free concerts each year, many of them in Jordan Hall, its world- renowned, 100-year old, beautifully restored concert hall. These programs range from solo recitals to chamber music to orchestral programs to jazz and opera scenes. Every year, NEC’s opera studies department also presents two fully staged opera productions at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston.
NEC is co-founder and educational partner of From the Top, a weekly radio program that celebrates outstanding young classical musicians from the entire country. With its broadcast home in Jordan Hall, the show is now carried by National Public Radio and is heard on 250 stations throughout the United States.
Contact: Ellen Pfeifer
Public Relations Manager
New England Conservatory
617-585-1143
epfeifer@newenglandconservatory.edu