Brenau University will host a joint recital, Monday, Feb. 4, at 8 p.m., by mezzo-soprano Kitt Reuter-Foss and baritone Jeffrey Morrissey at the university’s historic Pearce Auditorium...
Brenau University will host a joint recital, Monday, Feb. 4, at 8 p.m., by mezzo-soprano Kitt Reuter-Foss and baritone Jeffrey Morrissey at the university’s historic Pearce Auditorium. Tickets are $5 for the public, with free admission for faculty and students of Brenau University.
Wisconsin native Reuter-Foss appeared at Brenau in 2006 and, according to William Fred Scott, director of the International Opera Center at Brenau, “returns quite literally by popular demand.” The Feb. 4 recital marks Virginia native Morrissey’s first appearance at Brenau, although he appeared frequently with the mezzo-soprano at The Atlanta Opera.
The joint recital will include solos and duets in Italian, German and Polish by Mozart, Mahler, Rossini, Verdi, Paderewski and others. It also includes scenes from such American theater classics as “Annie Get Your Gun,” “Oklahoma!” and “Carousel.”
The pianist for the evening’s performance will be Craig Kier, music administrator and principal coach of The Atlanta Opera who has also served for many years on the musical staff of Seattle Opera. Kier has been featured as pianist in numerous recitals and opera performances at Brenau.
Following the recital, there will be a dessert and coffee reception in the Simmons Art Gallery adjacent to Pearce Auditorium. In addition to having an opportunity to meet the artists, Scott said those who attend will also get a “sneak peek” at a new exhibit of works by American artist Alexander Calder that is scheduled to open Tuesday, Feb. 5.
Reuter-Foss made her Metropolitan Opera debut under the baton of James Levine, and she has since returned to that company for performances in “La Traviata,” “The Ghosts of Versailles,” “Falstaff,” “The Marriage of Figaro,” “Rusalka” and “Death in Venice.” She has also performed with opera companies around the United States, including more than a dozen productions with The Atlanta Opera. She is in demand as an orchestral soloist, and has appeared with Scott conducting in performances of Handel’s “Messiah” and Mozart’s “Requiem.” Recently she performed with the New Japan Philharmonic conducted by Seiji Ozawa and appeared in the New York City Opera’s Japanese tour of Mark Adamo’s contemporary setting of “Little Women.”
Morrissey, who performs throughout the United States and in Europe, also is no stranger to north Georgia audiences; he’s appeared in 14 different Atlanta productions. He studied at Shenandoah Conservatory of Music, Converse College, The Juilliard School and Indiana University, where his teachers included the noted Wagnerian soprano Margaret Harshaw. Morrissey’s operatic repertoire includes such varied roles as Don Giovanni and Masetto in Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” Ford in Verdi’s “Falstaff,” Figaro in Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” and a number of roles in contemporary opera. His New York City Opera debut season included performances of “Don Giovanni,” “Madame Butterfly” and von Einem’s “Visit of the Old Lady.”
When he performed as Papageno in “The Magic Flute,” in Madison, Wisc., the local newspaper, The Capital Times, wrote that “It was difficult to tell which delighted the audience more, his playful characterization or his excellent singing.”