For Immediate Release

Contact: Loriana De Crescenzo

401.331.6060

Opera Providence performs in a downtown chapel to benefit community programs

CAST bios.

Ms. Shivick, as a National Winner in the renowned Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, was awarded a debut performance and NPR broadcast with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under the direction of Sir Charles Mackerras.

She also garnered second prize in both the Metropolitan Opera New England Regional National Council Auditions and the Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship Competition.  In addition, Ms. Shivick has been awarded Encouragement Grants by the Gerda Lissner Foundation and has furthered her vocal and operatic studies at the Aspen Music Festival where she covered the role of Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni under the direction of Maestro Julius Rudel.  She recently toured with Sherrill Milnes and Friends, as a member of the V.O.I.C.Experience Program in Orlando, FL, where she worked with Sherrill Milnes, Maria Spacagna, Fabrizio Melano, Fritz Weaver and Tony Randall.

Ms. Shivick, who has been featured on Classics in the Morning, 89.7FM, Live from Mechanics Hall, 90.5 FM, and WOMR’s Cape Cod and the Islands, 92.1FM, is a frequent recitalist and oratorio soloist in the New England area.  She has been a featured with the Boston Civic Symphony, Indian Hill Symphony, Symphony Pro Musica, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Boston College University Chorale, Heritage Chorale, Lawrence Choral Arts Society, Mastersingers of Worcester, Rhode Island Civic Choral, Opera Providence, Stow Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Assabet Valley Mastersingers, and Worcester Chorus and Symphony performing such works as Handel’s Messiah and Judas Maccabeus, Brahm’s Requiem, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Bruckner’s Te Deum, Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, Schubert’s Mass in Aflat, Dubois’ Seven Last Words of Christ, Mendelssohn’s Psalm 42, and Vaughn Williams’ Serenade to Music.  Ms. Shivick recently performed a WCRB Classical Concert on the Esplanade (Boston 102.5 FM) with the New Philharmonia Orchestra. 

Patrice Tiedemann, soprano, recently made her Boston Symphony Hall debut with the Boston Pops for their Holiday concerts, conducted by Keith Lockhart. She also made her debut in 2005 with Boston Lyric Opera as The Water in the East Coast premiere of The Little Prince, directed by Francesca Zambello and conducted by Stephen Lord, and as the Foreign Woman in The Consul with Opera Boston, Gil Rose, conductor. Upcoming  engagements include an opera highlights concert with Symphony by the Sea and Boston Ballet principal conductor Jonathan McPhee, and outreach performances of Thais excerpts for Boston Lyric Opera.  Among her most recent engagements are appearances as Belinda in Dido & Aeneas with the Nashoba Valley Chorale, Knoxville, Summer of 1915 with the Shenandoah Symphony Orchestra, the Widow in The Boor with Boston’s Intermezzo Chamber Opera, and as Hanna in The Merry Widow, and Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus for Cape Cod Opera. She has also appeared with the Rhode Island Philharmonic as Gertrude in Hansel & Gretel, and with the Claflin Hill Orchestra, Salem Philharmonic, and New Bedford Symphony in programs of opera and musical theatre.

**More**

Ms. Tiedemann is a graduate of the Indiana University Master’s Degree Program in Voice, where she sang several roles including the title role in Agrippina and the First Lady in The Magic Flute. She continued her education as an apprentice artist with the Indianapolis Opera, making her professional debut as Emilia in Otello,  and at Central City Opera, where she performed the role of Cio-Cio San in the apprentice performance of Madama Butterfly and Mrs. Gleaton in Susannah.

Ms. Tiedemann has also been a prize winner in several competitions, most notably as a Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions Indiana District Encouragement Award winner and New England Regional semifinalist. She also was awarded the second prize in the National Federation of Music Clubs 2003 Young Artist Competition, was a finalist in the 2003 Concert Artists Guild competition.

Dr. Fredric S. Scheff, tenor, is a familiar face to southeast New England’s music and theatre scene. He has appeared with many local organizations including the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra, Beavertail Productions, Ocean State Lyric Opera, and Theatre-by-the-Sea. Nationally, Fredric has appeared from coast to coast in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. Regionally, he has worked with such diverse companies as Trinity Repertory Company and Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Recently he has appeared with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra, South County Chamber Singers, University of Rhode Island, and Rhode Island College. Recent engagements include the role of the Witch in Hansel and Gretel as well as Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana with Opera Providence. Future concerts include Messiah, Beethoven’s Mass in C and Schubert’s Schwanengesang. His schedule also includes numerous recitals in RI eastern Massachusetts and Connecticut. In addition he continues his ongoing work in the field of Sacred Music as well as teaching at Rhode Island College.

Frank Ward Jr. (Bass-baritone) is a versatile performer in recitals, opera and oratorios.  He is a sought-after performer who has appeared in productions as diverse as La Boheme, The Marriage of Figaro, Showboat and Mikado.  Wrote one critic, "Bass-baritone Frank Ward was superb in the comic role of the drunken servant Gelone. His incisive phrasing, full tone and pointed diction made his scenes amusing."  Ward made his European debut singing the role of Don Bartolo in Rossini's The Barber of Seville in Rome, Italy with Opera Estate.  Recently, Ward has been singing multiple performances of the role Ned in Scott Joplin's opera Treemonisha with the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra.

Ward has performed Handel's Messiah, Faure's Requiem, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors and Gershwin's Porgy and Bess Suite with orchestras from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Connecticut and Massachusetts.  Ward is equally as comfortable in a variety of musical styles in his recital performances.  In addition to standard repertoire such as Purcell, Handel, Schubert, Copland and Barber, Ward enjoys singing art songs by African-American composers.  He has had much success singing the works of Howard Swanson, Margaret Bonds, Leslie Adams, H.T. Burleigh, Hall Johnson and Wendell Whalum.  Ward has been working closely with composer Adolphus Hailstork in preparation for the world premiere of a cantata, written especially for him, Crispus Attucks.  Ward's 2004-2005 engagements included recitals in Virginia, North Carolina and Rhode Island, featuring art songs and show tunes by black composers from the late 1800s to 1920, such as J. Rosamond Johnson, James Weldon Johnson, Bob Cole and Eubie Blake.

A native of Richmond, Virginia, and a resident of Providence, Ward holds degrees from Morehouse College and the University of Michigan. 

Critics have praised Ward's "careful attention to diction," and his "great vocal agility and treatment of ornamentation."  Critics have also reveled in how his stage presence ". . . married showmanship with vocal technique to a great advantage." 

Of one performance, Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.D. Snodgrass wrote, "Frank Ward truly knows how to present a song."

OP Music Director Timothy Steele is currently in his 14th year on the opera faculty at the New England Conservatory.  He has a varied and extensive background as a conductor, performing artist, vocal coach, audition pianist, and educator.  He recently conducted the world premiere of Roger Rudenstein's GRACE in Cambridge, MA, as well as touring productions of HANSEL AND GRETEL and THE MAGIC FLUTE with Boston Lyric Opera/Opera New England.  He has served as assistant conductor/pianist for over 80 productions with 20 different companies, including Boston Lyric Opera (for the past 12 seasons), Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Central City Opera, Opera Aperta, Portland Opera Repertory Theatre, Teatro Lirico Europa, Des Moines Metro Opera, and Long Beach Opera.  [Mr. Steele has performed in most major venues in Boston and has made concert appearances throughout the United States, Europe, Russia, and China.  He has served as official accompanist for the Mitropoulos International Vocal Competition as well as the MacAllister and Fuchs National Opera Competitions.  He has collaborated in recital with numerous singers and instrumentalists, including Deborah Voigt, Anthony Turner, Ruth Golden, violist Milton Thomas, and cellist Torlief Thedeen.  Others who have coached with him include Denyce Graves, James Maddelena, Vinson Cole, and Lisa Saffer.]  In Boston he performs regularly with Emmanuel Music (weekely Bach cantatas and recital series) and the Handel and Haydn Society.  A native of Des Moines, IA, he graduated with honors from Drake University as well as the University of Southern California, where he studied accompanying with Gwendolyn Koldofsky. 

###