Mezzo-Soprano Hyona Kim of Seoul Performs at 2014 Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar

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Hyona Kim, a mezzo-soprano from Seoul, South Korea, will be featured in the 2014 Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music.

POTSDAM, NY (05/15/2014)(readMedia)-- Hyona Kim, a mezzo-soprano from Seoul, South Korea, is among only nine rising musicians chosen from a national search to take part in the 2014 Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar.

Now in its third season, the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar will feature the local artist in masterclasses and concerts from May 19 to May 24 at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music. Audiences will be able to take in world-class recital performances throughout the week.

Metropolitan Opera star Stephanie Blythe '92 co-founded the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar, along with Executive Director Dr. Carleen Graham, a professor of opera at The Crane School of Music. The unique program, which is in residence at the College, is a venue for emerging singers and pianists to cultivate their artistry through contemporary American art song.

Six singers and three pianists between the ages of 23 and 35 were selected from a competitive national audition to work with Blythe and Music Director Dr. Alan Smith, a noted pianist, vocal coach and composer.

The 2014 Fall Island participants include:

• Jordan Davidson, tenor, from Philadelphia, N.Y.
• Adam Ewing, baritone, from Hiawatha, Kan.
• Kate Jackman, mezzo-soprano, from Tyler, Texas
• Hyona Kim, mezzo-soprano, from Seoul, South Korea
• Sara LeMesh, mezzo-soprano, from San Rafael, Calif.
• Ryan McCullough, pianist, from Eureka, Calif.
• Ronny Michael Greenberg, pianist, from Montreal, Quebec
• Peter Walsh, pianist, from San Diego, Calif.
• Nathan Wyatt, baritone, from Carrboro, N.C.

The nine emerging artists will take part in an immersive series of coaching sessions, masterclasses, lectures and recitals. The Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar is aimed at reinvigorating individual artistry through American art song, by hand-picking emerging artists of unique and promising ability.

Along with Crane alumna Margaret Lattimore '91, Blythe and Smith will present "America Sings!," a program that celebrates American art and folk song, including the works of Dr. Smith, on Tuesday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the Proscenium Theater in the College's new Performing Arts Center. Tickets for the benefit recital are $25 for the general public and $20 for SUNY Potsdam faculty, staff and students. All proceeds will benefit the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar. To purchase tickets, contact the Community Performance Series Box Office at (315) 267-2277 or visit www.cpspotsdam.org.

This year's Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar will feature three public masterclasses, where Blythe and Smith will work with the Fall Island participants. The masterclasses will be offered on Thursday, May 22 at 10 a.m. and 7:30 p.m., and on Friday, May 23 at 10 a.m. in the Sara M. Snell Music Theater at The Crane School of Music.

A culminating recital featuring the seminar Fellows will be held on Saturday, May 24 at 7:30 p.m. in Snell Theater. These educational events are free and open to the public. Seating is available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

About the musician:

Lauded by the New York Times as "a dark-toned, agile mezzo-soprano," Hyona Kim was a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2010. In 2013, she was the winner of the Debut Award from the Joy in Singing Competition. She was also the first prize winner of the Gerda Lissner Competition, and won multiple grants at the Licia Albanese-Puccini and Giulio Gari competitions. She has won the Suri Competiton and the Schubert Lied Competition in her native country, South Korea, where she received her bachelor's degree at Ewha Womans University. Kim earned her master's degree and her professional studies diploma from the Mannes College of Music at The New School, New York City.

During her time as a member of the Mannes Opera, she performed many roles under Maestro Joseph Colaneri, including Dorabella in "Così fan Tutte," Marcellina in "Le Nozze di Figaro" and Annina in "La Traviata," to great critical acclaim by Opera News and the New York Times. Kim has performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and participated in "The Song Continues" series at Zankel Hall at Carnegie, in a masterclass with Jessye Norman. She has appeared in masterclasses before such esteemed artists as Dalton Baldwin, Evelyn Lear, Mignon Dunn and Marilyn Horne.

Her opera roles include Hermia in Britten's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Suzuki in Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" and Dame Quickly in Verdi's "Falstaff." Kim also played the role of Olga in the Opera Scenes performance of Tchaikovsky's "Eugene Onegin" at the Music Academy of the West, in Santa Barbara, Calif., studying with Marilyn Horne and Warren Jones, and recently made her Houston Grand Opera debut, to originate the role of Hal-Mo-Ni (Grandmother) in Jeeyoung Kim's "From My Mother's Mother."

About the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar:

Now in its third season, the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar provides a venue for emerging professional singers and collaborative pianists to hone their love of art song and the collaborative experience. Led by Metropolitan Opera star Stephanie Blythe as Artistic Director, and Music Director Alan Smith, along with Executive Director Carleen Graham and Associate Director Audrey Saccone, the seminar has invited six singers and three pianists to Potsdam, NY, for a week of intimate and intensive study. All music performed is by living American composers. To learn more about the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar at SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music, visit www.fallisland.org.

About The Crane School of Music:

Founded in 1886, SUNY Potsdam's Crane School of Music has a long legacy of excellence in music education and performance. Life at Crane includes an incredible array of more than 300 recitals, lectures and concerts presented by faculty, students and guests each year. The Crane School of Music is the State University of New York's only All-Steinway institution. For more information about The Crane School of Music, visit www.potsdam.edu/crane.

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