SongFest is delighted to welcome back a former Mark & Eva Stern Fellow (2008), Southern California-native soprano Devon Guthrie for the 2015 Distinguished Alumna Recital.

Guthrie will be performing alongside another former Stern Fellow (2010), pianist Kathleen Tagg, who is now in her second year as SongFest faculty.

PROGRAM: works by Richard Strauss, Lili Boulanger, Kurt Weill, Samuel Barber, Ricky Ian Gordon, and SongFest composer-in-residence Libby Larsen.

TICKETS: $20 General Admission (follow link above or click here)

NOTE BY DEVON GUTHRIE:

SongFest is a forum for the pioneers of art song-a gathering place for nurturing the interpreters of song and chamber music  a coming together of master craftsmen and apprentices  each Summer, a return to the conversation of music. My first Summer at SongFest was 2000. I was 13 years old. I sat in classes, wide-eyed and curious, scribbling down notes on things the subtleties of which I didn't fully understand, but by which I was fascinated and transported. I went on to attend the summers of 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007. Each year was another intensive in the honing of skills, knowledge, context and style for repertoire both classic and contemporary. Exposure to the words, guidance, and performances of the esteemed faculty was priceless and I still treasure my notes from those classes. I will always be grateful to Rosemary Ritter for giving young singers exposure to such quality art and a nurturing place to perform it. It is an honor to return to SongFest and take the stage as an alumna of the program that was such a prominent pillar in the foundation of my training.

Devon Guthrie, soprano

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

American soprano DEVON GUTHRIE made her debut at the English National Opera while still a student at the Juilliard School. She has performed with Tanglewood, the Santa Fe Opera, and covered at the Metropolitan Opera. She has won several awards in competitions such as the Gerda Lissner Competition, Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, Licia Albanese Competition and Liederkranz. Engagements last season include Pamina in a new production of The Magic Flute by renowned British actor and director Simon McBurney at ENO; an acclaimed Santa Fe debut as Marzelline in Fidelio as well as Susanna in a production of Le nozze di Figaro at the Saito Kinen Festival. On the concert platform she has performed a Huang Ruo Chamber Concert with Mimesis Ensemble at the Carnegie Hall and in Santa Fe and was heard in Handel's Messiah with Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra. Highlights in the 2014/15 include her debut with St Louis Opera Company as Pulcheria in a new production of Riccardo Primo and her French debut as Despina in a new production of Così Fan Tutte at Opéra de Limoges. On the concert platform she returns to Santa Fe for performances of Messiah.

Kathleen Tagg, piano

KATHLEEN TAGG is a South African pianist, composer and producer who has lived in New York since 2001. She has performed on four continents in leading venues such as Carnegie Hall, performed her original music at venues such as New York's Lincoln Center and had her work released on record labels NAXOS, Universal, Table Pounding Records and Gallo Africa. A 2014 South African Music Awards nominee for best classical album, she has performed on four continents with a host of leading musicians. Her NAXOS recording of the songs of Jake Heggie with American soprano Regina Zona was released in 2014, and she is currently working on recording a new electro-acoustic project, Breath and Hammer, with duo partner, Grammy-nominated clarinetist David Krakauer. Kathleen has premiered countless works and holds the Helen Cohn Award as outstanding doctoral graduate of the Manhattan School of Music where she also taught for four years, as well as degrees from Mannes College and the University of Cape Town. Her recordings and arrangements have been featured in film and television, and she has performed live recitals on WGBH and WQXR. She was a fellow of the Dramatist Guild of America and her musical, Erika's Wall, co-written with Sophie Jaff, was produced by The Music Theater Company of Chicago.