MetroWest Choral Artists presents L’Amico Fritz, an opera by Pietro Mascagni, February 17 at St Andrew’s Church, 79 Denton Rd, Wellesley, MA. Performance begins at 7:30. Leonardo Ciampa directs. Performed in concert version with piano accompaniment. Sung in Italian. Tickets are $15 for general admission. Tickets are available at www.metrowestchoralartists.com, or at the door.
Just as a wealthy landowner makes a wager that he will never marry, he meets a peasant girl he can’t resist. Will he make good on his bet, or give in to the longings of his heart? Mascagni’s lyric masterpiece tells this pastoral love story with unforgettable music, including the renowned Cherry Duet. MetroWest Choral Artist’s one-night-only production features Salvatore Atti as Fritz and Katherin Kneisley as Suzel.
Born in 1971, composer/pianist/organist Leonardo Ciampa is acknowledged as a musician of supreme gifts and extraordinary versatility. Ciampa is artistic director of organ concerts at MIT. He is also founding director of MetroWest Choral Artists (metrowestchoralartists.org), an all-professional choir. In 2015 he was named Honorary Music Director (Maestro di Cappella Onorario) of the Basilica di Sant’Ubaldo in Gubbio (Umbria) by the Bishop of Gubbio, Mario Ceccobelli.
As an organ recitalist, Ciampa has made ten European tours encompassing Italy, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. He is particularly admired in Italy, where he has played in numerous international festivals (Festival Perosiano, Festival Biellese, Organi Storici della Valsesia, Le Voci della Città, etc.).
Ciampa’s compositions (which are considered “Neoromantic”) include Suite Siciliana, Op. 145 (for two violins, piano and orchestra), commissioned by the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston to open their 25th anniversary season; The Annunciation, Op. 203 (cantata for chorus, soloists, and strings); the Kresge Organ Symphony, commissioned by MIT and premiered in Kresge Auditorium; a piano quintet (premiered by the Lavazza Chamber Ensemble); and Missa Pamphyliana, premiered at the Basilica di Sant’Ubaldo in Gubbio by the Cantores Beati Ubaldi (Renzo Menichetti, conductor).
As a pianist, Ciampa is particularly admired for his interpretations of Chopin, whose 200th birthday he commemorated in 2010 with six recitals at First Church in Boston. An avid writer, Ciampa has written several books, including The Twilight of Belcanto, Don Lorenzo Perosi (the first English-language biography of that composer), and, most recently, Gigli (the first book on the great tenor in English in 56 years).
MetroWest Choral Artists (MWCA) is an all-professional choral ensemble, based in the Natick/Wellesley area. MWCA presents the very best in music, from the Renaissance to the present day.
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