EngSci 75th Anniversary Celebration - ISABEL BAYRAKDARIAN, JULIAN KUERTI, & the Skule Orchestra

SALES CUTOFF FOR DINNER - Dec17 Thurs 11am

"A soprano voice that combines lyricism with remarkable dramatic instincts" - Time

The Division of Engineering Science
presents

Engineering Science
75th Anniversary
Celebration
Isabel Bayrakdarian
Julian Kuerti
& the Skule Orchestra

A one-hour program featuring arias & overtures
by Verdi, Rossini, Dvorak, & Mozart

December 17
THURSDAY

6:30pm Concert
in Hart House Theatre

7:45pm EngSci Alumni Dinner
in Hart House Great Hall
with special guests Isabel Bayrakdarian & Julian Kuerti

Hart House Theatre website
Hart House website
Map to Hart House

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Tickets

$50 Concert only
$50 EngSci Alumni Dinner only
$75 Concert & Alumni Dinner

general admission

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Concert Repertoire

Verdi: Overture to Forza del Destino

Rossini: Aria from Donna del Lago tanti affetti

Rossini: Aria from Barber of Seville una voce poco fa

Mascagni: Intermezzo from Cavaleria Rusticana

Mozart: Aria from The Marriage of Figaro Sull'aria – featuring soprano Anne Bornath

Verdi: Aria from La Traviata Brindisi – featuring tenor Joseph Likuski

Dvorak: Slavonic Dance Op.46 No.1

Dvorak: "Song to the Moon" from Rusalka

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Menu

Appetizer
Roasted Pumpkin and Apple Soup with Truffle Scented Sage Crème

Main Course
Supreme of Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Sun choke Gratin, Grilled Asparagus, and Roasted Cipollini Onions

Dessert
Chocolate Ganache Cake with Apricot Coulis and Brandied Lingonberries

Wine for the tables
white - Chardonnay Heritage Series Peller Estates Niagara Ont
red - Shiraz / Cabernet Sauvignon, J.J. Williams, Australia

If you or your guests wish to indicate a dietary restriction, please eMail Sarah Steed at engsci@ecf.utotoronto.ca prior to December 8.

Vegetarian Option available
Grilled Vegetables with Chevre Wrapped in Phyllo, Drizzled with a Balsamic Glaze served on Saffron Scented Fregola (includes dairy products)

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Isabel Bayrakdarian
Soprano

"A soprano voice that combines lyricism
with remarkable dramatic instincts"
- Time

Isabel Bayrakdarian burst onto the international opera scene after winning first prize in the 2000 Operalia competition founded by Plácido Domingo. Since then she has performed in many of the world's major opera houses and concert halls. She is admired as much for her stunning stage presence as for her exceptional musicality, and she has followed a unique career path completely her own.

In the 2008-2009 season Ms. Bayrakdarian tours with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra conducted by Anne Manson performing the works of Armenian composer Gomidas Vartabed. The “Remembrance Concert Tour” , dedicated to victims of all genocide, will be performed with San Francisco Performances, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, the Vancouver Symphony, at Roy Thomson Hall, with the Boston Celebrity Series, and in a return to Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall. Operatic engagements include debuts at the Teatro del Liceu in the title role of L’incoronazione di Poppea and with Opéra Français de New York performing the title role of Kurt Weill’s Marie Galante, as well as a return to the Metropolitan Opera as Zerlina in Don Giovanni. Ms. Bayrakdarian also appears in recital with her husband, pianist Serouj Kradjian, in Duluth, Minnesota, Charlottesville, Virginia, and Calgary, Alberta.

Highlights of Ms. Bayrakdarian’s recent seasons have included performances as Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) at the Metropolitan Opera, Zerlina at the Salzburg Festival’s celebration of Mozart’s birthday, debuting the role of Mélisande in Pélleas et Mélisande at the Canadian Opera Company, singing title role in The Cunning Little Vixen at the Saito Kinen Festival under the baton of Seiji Ozawa, Le nozze di Figaro at Covent Garden and the Houston Grand Opera and her role debut as Blanche in Robert Carsen’s production of Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She also participated in the world-premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Sheer’s one-act opera To Hell and Back with Broadway legend Patti LuPone and San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra.

Isabel Bayrakdarian sings on the Grammy® award-winning soundtrack of the blockbuster film The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers, and her voice can also be heard in the multiple award-winning Canadian film Ararat. Ms. Bayrakdarian has been honored with four Juno awards, Canada’s highest recording prize, most recently for her CD Mozart arie & duetti with fellow Canadians Russell Braun and Michael Schade. She is the subject of a CBC-TV film entitled A Long Journey Home that documents her first trip to Armenia; on another trip there recently she recorded a disc of songs by the country’s national composer, Gomidas Vartabed (1869-1935), with her husband and the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra which is available on the Nonesuch label. Expanding her vast discography, Ms. Bayrkdarian was a guest soloist with the Canadian band Delerium on their 2007 Grammy® nominated dance remix “Angelicus.”

Ms. Bayrakdarian has received many grants and other awards in addition to the First Prize in the Operalia: four Juno awards, the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, the 2005 Virginia Parker Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Leonie Rysanek Award from the George London Foundation, and a Metropolitan Opera National Council Award in 1997.

Born in Lebanon of proud Armenian heritage and now a citizen of Canada, Ms. Bayrakdarian moved with her family to Toronto as a teenager. Her earliest singing experience was at church, which remains – along with her family – the central focus of her life. She holds an honors degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto.

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Julian Kuerti
Conductor

link to full biography

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Article in The Bulletin
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
By Sarah Cowan Steed

Two alumni chosen in Skule Idol competition will sing with soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian Dec.17

Not one, but two winners have emerged from the engineering science Skule Idol competition.

By unanimous vote of the judging panel, two winners have been selected: Anne Bornath, a 1991 engineering science graduate from King City, Ontario, and Joseph Likuski, a 1982 Engineering Science graduate from Aurora, Ontario, have both won the coveted role of Skule Idol. They will each perform a duet with world-renowned soprano and engineering science graduate Isabel Bayrakdarian on Dec.17 as part of the program's 75th anniversary celebration.

Bornath was the very first contestant to audition Oct.9, capturing the hearts of the judging panel with an emotional performance of Sull'aria... Che soave zeffiretto from The Marriage of Figaro. "Anne had a polished performance with a natural sense of Mozart elegance," said the judges.

Likuski won over the panel with his lively and powerful performance of Nessun Dorma by Giacomo Puccini. "Joseph is an exciting performer with a strong voice and lots of panache," said the Skule Idol panel

This is the first Skule Idol competition at the University of Toronto. The competition was open to all students, faculty, staff and alumni of the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering.

Skule Idol auditions were not open to the public and contestants were asked to sing a piece of their choice -- preferably a duet -- for four stellar judges:

Bayrakdarian, pianist Serouj Kradjian, U of T professor, vocal coach and accompanist Stuart Hamilton, and Toronto Star entertainment columnist Martin Knelman.

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Skule Idol

More information on Skule Idol

Skule Idol Winner videos
Anne Bornath
Joseph Likuski

MetroNews article

UofT eBulletin article

Story in the The Bulletin September 29

http://www.news.utoronto.ca/arts/two-alumni-chosen-in-skule-idol-competition.html

The Varsity article

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photo credit - Isabel Bayrakdarian Photo by Dario Acosta

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EngSci 75th Anniversary Celebration - ISABEL BAYRAKDARIAN, JULIAN KUERTI, & the Skule Orchestra

Hart House Theatre
Thu Dec 17 2009, 6:30pm

Hart House Great Hall
Thu Dec 17 2009, 7:45pm (LIMITED SEATING)


Ticket Sales Begin:
Tue Aug 11 2009, 11:00am

Ticket Prices:
Concert only - $50.00
EngSci Alumni Dinner only - $50.00
Concert & Alumni Dinner - $75.00

For More Information:
Visit Event Website
E-mail: N/A
Phone: (416) 978-8849
Fax: N/A

Venue information, including seating plans & maps.