2010 Gala
2010 Gala Bios
Ricky Ian Gordon
Celebrated composer, pianist, singer and performer Ricky Ian Gordon is a leading writer of vocal music that spans art song, opera, and musical theater. Mr. Gordon's songs have been performed and/or recorded by such internationally renowned singers as Renee Fleming, Dawn Upshaw, Audra MacDonald, Kristin Chenoweth, the late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Frederica Von Stade, among many others. Major works include: Orpheus and Euridice (premiered at Lincoln Center, won an OBIE Award, recorded on Ghostlight Records); My Life with Albertine (based on Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past, premiered at New York’s Playwrights Horizons); and The Grapes of Wrath, a full-scale opera with libretto by Michael Korie, premiered at the Minnesota Opera with Grant Gershon conducting. A Suite from the opera was premiered by the Chorale at Disney Hall in May 2008. Ricky is currently working on commissions for New York's Metropolitan Opera with librettist Michael Korie; a co-commission for a new work about the Civil War with librettist Mark Campbell, for Virginia Opera and The Virginia Arts Festival, and a new opera for the 50th anniversary of the Minnesota Opera (Garden of the Finzi Continis) with librettist Michael Korie. Prayer by Ricky Ian Gordon, commissioned by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, was premiered at the 20th Anniversary High School Choir Festival.
Suzanna Guzmán
Mezzo-soprano Suzanna Guzmán, a native Californian born in East Los Angeles, is a Principal Artist of the Los Angeles Music Center Opera and a favorite with Los Angeles audiences, having performed in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Mozart’s Magic Flute, and Rossini’s Tancredi. She also appeared in the world premieres of Daniel Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas and Tobias Picker’s Fantastic Mr. Fox here in Los Angeles, as well as performances of Penella’s El gato montés, which were nationally televised on PBS. She has also appeared as soloist with many other American and international opera companies including the Metropolitan Opera, the Kennedy Center, Dresden Opera, Opera de Nice, Grand Theatre de Geneve. Ms. Guzmán was a featured soloist on the Grammy-nominated album for best classical album: Carlos Chavez Volume 3 with Southwest Chamber Music. Guzmán has also performed nationally in a production of The King and I opposite Yul Bryner, as well as Show Boat, Carousel, and West Side Story. In concert, she has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the American Composer’s Orchestra, and the Roger Wagner Chorale. Her one-act solo show Don't Be Afraid! It's Just Opera! is currently on tour in local schools through the Music Center.
Elissa Johnston
Hailed by Musical America for "her voice pure and ethereal,” Elissa Johnston has appeared in a wide range of repertory including appearances with the Atlanta Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Oregon Bach Festival, and the Pasadena Symphony. Elissa has made numerous chamber music appearances with Southwest Chamber Music, Xtet and Jacaranda Music. She also sang in the acclaimed world premiere of SPIRAL XII by Chinary Ung with LA Master Chorale at Disney Hall. She sang the world premiere of Aura by Mr. Ung with Grammy Award-winning Southwest Chamber Music and subsequently recorded Aura with SWCM and toured with the ensemble in Vietnam and Cambodia. Elissa has performed numerous times with the L.A. Philharmonic's New Music Group, both in Los Angeles and at the Ojai Festival, with conductors Tan Dun, David Zinman, Daniel Harding and Steven Stucky. She made her Lincoln Center debut singing Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes with the New York City Ballet and was subsequently invited back to premiere Morgen!, a set of 10 orchestral songs by Richard Strauss choreographed by Peter Martins. Elissa also appeared in the New York Philharmonic's Copland Festival and Lincoln Center's Stravinsky Festival. Recital appearances include the Aldeburgh Festival in England and the Aspen Festival's Winter Music Series with composer Ricky Ian Gordon. Elissa can also be heard on dozens of film soundtracks and is the featured vocal soloist in Serenata Schizophrana by Danny Elfman.