On June 7, 2015:
Nakia Verner, Soprano and Yeji Yoon, Soprano
Program:
Nakia Verner, Soprano
Joaquin Turina (1882-1949)
Tres Arias
- Romance
- El Pescador
- Rima
Yeji Yoon, Soprano
Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873- 1943)
Не пой, красавица (Do not sing, My Beauty)
Вокализ (Vocalise)
Здесь хорошо (How Fair this Spot)
Nakia Verner
Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Den första kyssen, Op. 37, No. 1
Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings mote, Op. 37, No. 5
Demanten på marssnön, Op. 36, No. 6Svarta Rosor, Op. 36, No. 1
Yeji Yoon
Quel quardo il cavaliere from Don pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti
Duet with Yeji Yoon (Zdenka) and Nakia Verner (Arabella)
Aber der Richtige from Arabella by Richard Strauss
South Carolina native Nakia Verner is praised for her sumptuous sound and spontaneous passion in recital performances and operatic portrayals which have delighted listeners from San Francisco to Rome. Here notable roles include Madama Butterfly for the Municipal Opera Company of Baltimore and First Lady in Die Zaüberflote, with the Rome Festival Opera, Magda in La Rondine; and the title role of Puccini’s Suor Angelica with the Peabody Opera. Verner has also sung the role of Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte, with the Bay Area Opera Institute and the title role in Ariadne Auf Naxos.
Nakia has degrees from Winthrop University and The University of Tennessee-Knoxville. She also received a Graduate Performance Degree in Voice from the Peabody Conservatory of Music where she received the George Woodhead prize for voice. Nakia graduated from The Catholic University of American with a D.M.A. in voice in October 2014.
Nakia has been soprano soloist in the Verdi Requiem with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, Brahms Requiem, and the Bach Magnificat. Ms. Verner was one of fourteen singers that were chosen to attend the 2006 Renata Scotto Opera Academy. She performed the role of the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Brooklyn Conservatory Community orchestra and has been presented in recital at the Brooklyn Conservatory and Music Conservatory of Westchester. She has most recently the title role in La Voix Humaine with the CUA Opera Theatre and Dottie in CUA’s production of Finian’s Rainbow, and Mother in Hansel and Gretel. She is the 1st place winner of the 2010 Washington Summer Opera Theatre Scholarship Competition and the winner of the 2012 CUA Concerto Competition . Ms. Verner made her debut with Maryland Lyric Opera as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana in July 2014.
Yeji Yoon, Lyric Coloratura Soprano, is just completed her Doctoral of Musical Arts at The Catholic University of America’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music. Enjoying a career that embraces opera, chamber music, arts song, Ms. Yoon has performed the roles of Countessa in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with Bel cantanti opera summer festival, Juliette in Gounod’s Romeo et Juliette with CUA, Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with CUA, and Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto with CUA.
Ms. Yoon has performed as a soloist at many local venues including the Friday Morning Music Club,Wiscasset series, Italian Embassy, Bulgarian Embassy and Argentine Embassy. She also appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras including the Vladivostok Symphony Orchestra and KeyefNational Chamber Orchestra. She performed as soloist with numerous choirs as well. She sang Mozart’s Coronation Mass K.317, Gounod’s MesseSolenne, and Mozart’s Missa brevis.
Ms. Yoon graduated from SunhwaArt Middle School, SunhwaArt High School. And she received BA and MM degrees from Seoul National University. Furthermore, she studied at A.I.D.M. Academy in Rome, Italy and also attended master classes by the renowned Maestra Maria Chiara in Oderzo, Italy.
This summer, she will make her debut with Maryland Lyric Opera Company as the role of Juliette in Romeo et Juliette.