Music Program
# 1 Art Song Recital – Songs of Love and Suffering
French Songs by Faure and Debussy for mezzo soprano & guitar
Ladino Songs of Love and Suffering by Bruce Adolphe for soprano, guitar, and French horn
Noches, noches
Avrix mi galanica
El mi querido
Camini por altas torres
La rosa enflorece
Alta, alta, va la luna
Noches, noches
Avrix mi galanica
El mi querido
Camini por altas torres
La rosa enflorece
Alta, alta, va la luna
Music Program
# 2 Art Song Recital – Britten Folk Songs
2 Sonnets by A. Caplet
Quand reverrai-je, hélas
Doux fut le trait
Quand reverrai-je, hélas
Doux fut le trait
Paraphrase on the theme from the Opera Rigoletto by Ekaterina Walter-Kühne for solo harp
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Mélodies populaires grecques by M. Ravel
Chanson de la mariée. Modéré Là-bas, vers l'église. Andante Quel galant m'est comparable. Allegro Chanson des cueilleuses de lentisques. Lento Tout gai!. Allegro |
8 Folksong by Benjamin Britten
arrangements for High Voice and Harp Lord! I married Me a Wife She's Like the Swallow Lemady Bonny at Morn I was Lonely and Forlorn (Bugeilio'r Gwenith Gwyn) David of the White Rock (Dafydd y Garreg Wen) The False Knight upon the Road Bird Scarer's Song |
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Opera Days in the Hamptons
# 3 Caffe Avram Opera & Song Recital
Famous Opera Aria & Duets Selections Venue: The Avram Theatre in Southampton 70 Tuckahoe Rd, Southampton, NY 11968 Date: Sunday May 3rd, 2026 at 1:30 PM with Shuqi Yang, soprano Yiran Xing, tenor Wanmei Zhang, mezzo soprano Ava Kimmel, soprano Stony Brook Chamber Ensemble |
Music Program
# 3 Caffe Avram Opera & Song Recital
Famous Opera Arias & Art Songs
Nell, op.18 n.1 by Gabriel Fauré
L'heure exquise by Reynaldo Hahn
Ici-Bas! by Gabriel Fauré
Si mes vers avaient des ailes by Reynaldo Hahn
Mandoline by Gabriel Fauré
Ava Kimmel, soprano & Kesnia Kurenysheva, piano
Four Lieder by Franz Schubert:
Nacht und Träume D. 827
An Sylvia D. 891
m Feierabend D. 795
Herbst D. 945
Yiran Xing, tenor & Kesnia Kurenysheva, piano
4 Lieder, Op. 27 by Richard Strauss
Ruhe, meine Seele!
Cäcilie
Heimliche Aufforderung
Morgen!
Shuqi Yang, soprano & Kesnia Kurenysheva, piano
Russian Songs
Zabït tak skoro (So Soon Forgotten) by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Don't Sing, my Beauty by Sergei Rachmaninov
Spring Water by Sergei Rachmaninov
Wanmei Zhang, mezzo-soprano & Kesnia Kurenysheva, piano
Core ’ngrato by Salvatore Cardillo
Non ti scordar di me by Ernesto De Curtis
Chinese art songs:
Chun Si Qu (Springtime Reverie）by Huang Zi
Si Xiang（Nostalgia for Home) by Huang Zi
Haojie Jiang, baritone & Kesnia Kurenysheva, piano
Nell, op.18 n.1 by Gabriel Fauré
L'heure exquise by Reynaldo Hahn
Ici-Bas! by Gabriel Fauré
Si mes vers avaient des ailes by Reynaldo Hahn
Mandoline by Gabriel Fauré
Ava Kimmel, soprano & Kesnia Kurenysheva, piano
Four Lieder by Franz Schubert:
Nacht und Träume D. 827
An Sylvia D. 891
m Feierabend D. 795
Herbst D. 945
Yiran Xing, tenor & Kesnia Kurenysheva, piano
4 Lieder, Op. 27 by Richard Strauss
Ruhe, meine Seele!
Cäcilie
Heimliche Aufforderung
Morgen!
Shuqi Yang, soprano & Kesnia Kurenysheva, piano
Russian Songs
Zabït tak skoro (So Soon Forgotten) by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Don't Sing, my Beauty by Sergei Rachmaninov
Spring Water by Sergei Rachmaninov
Wanmei Zhang, mezzo-soprano & Kesnia Kurenysheva, piano
Core ’ngrato by Salvatore Cardillo
Non ti scordar di me by Ernesto De Curtis
Chinese art songs:
Chun Si Qu (Springtime Reverie）by Huang Zi
Si Xiang（Nostalgia for Home) by Huang Zi
Haojie Jiang, baritone & Kesnia Kurenysheva, piano
Music Program
# 4 Caffe Avram Opera & Song Recital
TBD
Music Program
# 5 OPERA
The Diva (La Canterina) by Joseph Haydn
The Diva (La Canterina) by Joseph Haydn
La Cantarina (The Diva), a two-act comic opera buffa by Joseph Haydn that premiered in 1766.
Cast:
Gasparina – Shuqi Yang
Don Pelagio - Yiran Xing
Apollonia - Wanmei Zhang
Don Ettore - Ava Kimmel
Brenda Harris, stage director
Daniel Beckwith, musical direction
Stony Brook Chamber Ensemble
Nicole Peters, flute
Emily Mendez, oboe
Djakhangir Khaydarov, clarinet
Yanfeng Wu, horn
Chieh-An Yu, violin 1
Hanbo Wang, violin 2
Zitian Lyu, viola
William Taylor, cello
Alexander Burns, double bass
Kesnia Kurenysheva, piano
Nicholas Suminski, conductor
The Musicians
Michaela Larsen, mezzo soprano
Heralded by the Brooklyn Discovery, as “visually and vocally another bright ray,” Michaela Larsen’s voice is “plangent [and] coupled with excellent stagecraft”. Originally from Michigan, she completed her undergraduate degree in Music Education at Michigan State University–all while learning the operatic craft through roles such as: Adele, Strauss’s Die Fledermaus; Eurydice, Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld; Vitellia, Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito. In 2021, Mrs. Larsen relocated to New York to pursue a Master’s in Vocal Performance, and is currently completing her Doctorate–both degrees from Stony Brook University. Recent credits include: Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) Sunnyside Opera in Tampa, FL, Stony Brook Opera Theatre, and Vienna Summer Music Festival; Hermia (Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Chicago Summer Opera; Sāvitri (Gustav Holst’s Sāvitri); Venus (John Blow’s Venus and Adonis) and Nancy (Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring) with Stony Brook Opera Theatre. Mrs. Larsen appears frequently with the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera–Recent performances include: Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, United States premiere of Aaron Zigman’s Èmigré, and Mahler’s 2nd Symphony. Her Metropolitan Opera debut was in Verdi Requiem in September 2023, and she will return in the 2024-25 season in Beethoven’s Fidelio.
Ashley Galvani Bell, soprano
Hailed by OPERA NEWS as “delightful”, Ashley Galvani Bell performed as a soloist in the United States, Italy, Spain, France, Denmark and Russia. This season included her debut in DENMARK with Operaen i Midten as the title role in KLARA, her debut as Leonora in Il Trovatore with Boheme Opera New Jersey, her debut as Micaela in Carmen with Bay Street Theatre & reprising her signature role of Cio Cio San in Madama Butterfly, which she has performed throughout the US, in both New Jersey and California. 2024 included singing with New York City Opera in both a 100 year Puccini Anniversary concert and a dance production of Klara directed by acclaimed Broadway choreographer Richard Stafford, returning to ABAO Bilbao covering both Mimi and Musetta in La Bohème, singing the title role in Pedro Halffter's Penelope's Dream at the Ateneo de Madrid & in Logroño, singing Cio Cio San at Bay Street Theatre and Mimi at McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert, California, and joining Teatro de la Maestranza for La Bella Susona. Highlights of 2o22- 2023 included her debut with ABAO Bilbao Opera as Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte where ProOpera highlighted her "superabundance of talent", her debut with Teatro Perez Galdos in Gran Canaria, Spain as the title role of Klara, singing Cio Cio San in Madama Butterfly with both Bohème Opera New Jersey and Daytona Beach Symphony Society, her debut in Milan, Italy as soprano soloist in Exultate Jubilate with Orchestra UNIMI, Violetta in La Traviata, the title role in the world premiere of Penelope's Dream as well as Soprano soloist in Zemlinsky's Lyrische Symphonie all with Spain's festival Musica en Villafranca, and her successful debut with Seville's Teatro de la Maestranza as Violetta in La Traviata. Other notable performances have included her Carnegie Hall debut as soprano soloist in Hadyn’s “Nelson” Mass and Schubert’s Mass in C with MidAmerica Productions. Ashley is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Yale University, a winner of Yale’s Browne Irish Performing Arts Award and speaks five languages fluently.
Ruth Bennett, harp
Hailed as “a very solid musician with a beautiful tone and impressively refined playing” (Bart van Oort), she is highly regarded as a versatile and engaging artist and has performed throughout the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Japan.
Recently relocated back to New York after fifteen years playing in the Yucatán Symphony Orchestra in Mexico, she maintains an active schedule between the U.S. and Latin America, appearing frequently as soloist, chamber musician, and educator. She has performed with American Ballet Theater and the Metropolitan Opera, as guest principal harpist with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (U.K.) and played in several on- and off-Broadway shows.
Bennett recently collaborated with Björk as a member of her ensemble during her Cornucopia album tour throughout Europe, England, and Mexico City.
A consistent prize winner in the competition circuit, Bennett won Third Prize at the second Dutch International Harp Competition (2012), where she performed Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez” in the final stage with the Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht conducted by Johannes Leertouwer.
She also received First Prize in the 2009 edition of the National Harp Competition in Mexico City and awards at the American Harp Society National Contest.
Born in England to a musical family, Bennett began her studies at the piano but was eventually persuaded to learn the harp with her grandmother, a former student of Carlos Salzedo. She holds a bachelor’s degree in performance from Crane School of Music at S.U.N.Y. Potsdam, a master’s degree in performance and performer’s certificate from Eastman School of Music, where she was awarded the Eileen Malone Scholarship, and a Professional Studies Certificate in Orchestral Performance from Manhattan School of Music, under the tutelage of Deborah Hoffman. Ruth Bennett joined the Conservatory in 2022 and is assistant professor of harp.
Recently relocated back to New York after fifteen years playing in the Yucatán Symphony Orchestra in Mexico, she maintains an active schedule between the U.S. and Latin America, appearing frequently as soloist, chamber musician, and educator. She has performed with American Ballet Theater and the Metropolitan Opera, as guest principal harpist with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (U.K.) and played in several on- and off-Broadway shows.
Bennett recently collaborated with Björk as a member of her ensemble during her Cornucopia album tour throughout Europe, England, and Mexico City.
A consistent prize winner in the competition circuit, Bennett won Third Prize at the second Dutch International Harp Competition (2012), where she performed Joaquin Rodrigo’s “Concierto de Aranjuez” in the final stage with the Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht conducted by Johannes Leertouwer.
She also received First Prize in the 2009 edition of the National Harp Competition in Mexico City and awards at the American Harp Society National Contest.
Born in England to a musical family, Bennett began her studies at the piano but was eventually persuaded to learn the harp with her grandmother, a former student of Carlos Salzedo. She holds a bachelor’s degree in performance from Crane School of Music at S.U.N.Y. Potsdam, a master’s degree in performance and performer’s certificate from Eastman School of Music, where she was awarded the Eileen Malone Scholarship, and a Professional Studies Certificate in Orchestral Performance from Manhattan School of Music, under the tutelage of Deborah Hoffman. Ruth Bennett joined the Conservatory in 2022 and is assistant professor of harp.
