Grace’s St. Paul Episcopal Church in TUCSON, ARIZONA

Handel’s “Aminta e Fillide,” featuring soprano Nola Richardson and mezzo-soprano Xenia Puskarz Thomas

Rachell Ellen Wong and David Belkovski return to Tucson, this time with the full band of Twelfth Night and singers Nola Richardson and Xenia Puskarz Thomas, to perform Handel’s 1708 secular cantata Aminta e Fillide. Set in the hills and flower-spotted fields of mythical Arcadia, the cantata tells the story of Aminta, a brash, young shepherd, who is hopelessly in love with the nymph Fillide, whose extraordinary beauty is matched by the hardness of her heart.

“Thomas’s uncommonly dark, creamy mezzo was able to give her opulent voice free rein… projecting a thought behind each ornament…”—Opera News

“Nola Richardson was totally delightful, displaying nimble coloratura and a light voice of penetrating beauty.”—South Florida Classical Review

Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya in SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

TWELFTH NIGHT ENSEMBLE†

Handel’s Aminta e Fillide
Nola Richardson, soprano and Xenia Puskarz Thomas, mezzo-soprano
7:30pm / Mar 21

Twelfth Night, the refreshingly new ensemble of young stars directed by violinist Rachell Ellen Wong and keyboardist David Belkovski, offers a scintillating program featuring Handel’s Aminta e Fillide, a pastoral cantata. Aminta and Fillide, the cantata’s shepherd and nymph, pursue each other through a mythological Greek landscape in arias both virtuosic and poignant. To round out a captivating program, the group performs Vivaldi’s electric sinfonia from his opera, Il Giustino.

† Twelfth Night Ensemble is the EMS 24-25 Ensemble-in-Residence

RUCKUS EARLY MUSIC

Emi Ferguson, baroque flute

Clay Zeller-Townson, bassoon

Caitlyn Koester, keyboards

Doug Balliett, baroque bass

Coleman Itzkoff, baroque cello

Paul Holmes Morton, baroque guitars

Adam Cockerham, baroque guitars

Tessa Lark, violin

Works by:

Johann Sebastian Bach, from the Goldberg Variations, BWV 1033, 1034, 1035, and others

G.P. Telemann, from Fantasias

Gyorgy Ligeti, from Musica Ricercata

Realized and reimagined by Emi Ferguson, Ruckus, and Tessa Lark.

RUCKUS EARLY MUSIC

Emi Ferguson, baroque flute

Clay Zeller-Townson, bassoon

Caitlyn Koester, keyboards

Doug Balliett, baroque bass

Coleman Itzkoff, baroque cello

Paul Holmes Morton, baroque guitars

Adam Cockerham, baroque guitars

Tessa Lark, violin

Works by:

Johann Sebastian Bach, from the Goldberg Variations, BWV 1033, 1034, 1035, and others

G.P. Telemann, from Fantasias

Gyorgy Ligeti, from Musica Ricercata

Realized and reimagined by Emi Ferguson, Ruckus, and Tessa Lark.

and we, each

a new opera in two acts

presented by Mind on Fire

composed by Michael Hersch
after texts by Shane McCrae

directed by James Matthew Daniel
conducted by Tito Muñoz

featuring Ah Young Hong and Jesse Blumberg
with musicians Emi Ferguson, Gleb Kanasevich, Adda Kridler, Leah Asher, and Coleman Itzkoff

February 6

Mind on Fire is proud to present the upcoming world premiere of Michael Hersch’s new opera, and we, each. The opera, built around the poetry of Shane McCrae, is an exploration of the treacherous territories of relationships – between individuals, within societies and, ultimately, the collapse of both.