Four soloists to shine at ‘Requiem’ performance
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Requiem” will be presented at 7 p.m. Sunday, April 13, in the sanctuary of historic Asbury United Methodist Church of Uniontown. The music of this classic choral masterpiece will be presented as a prelude to the events of Holy Week.
“Requiem” will be the fourth and final concert of the Asbury Festival Recital Series 2002-03 concert season. The Asbury Festival Choir and Greater Uniontown Chorale will combine vocal forces under the direction of William M. Dreucci, music director.
Four professional soloists will join the choirs and orchestra.
Soprano Amy Stabnau will return to Uniontown where she was last heard as the soprano soloist in the Greater Uniontown Chorale’s 1998 performance of the Mozart “Requiem.”
She was also the soprano soloist in the 1997 Asbury Theatre Guild presentation of “The Seven Last Words by Christ” by Theodore Dubois.
Stabnau can now be heard in the role of Cio-Cio San in the Pittsburgh Opera’s outreach productions of “Madama Butterfly.” She has appeared in many productions with the Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh and was soloist with the Heinz Chapel Choir European tour. In addition to opera, Stabnau is active in oratorio and as a recitalist. She has sung with the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Symphony and on the McKeesport Symphony Recital Series.
She was featured on WQEX-TV in “Instant Opera.” Stabnau is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, where she received the Vira Heinz Award. Continuing studies include the Academia Vocale di Lucca, the Goethe Institute in Germany and the MCA Center for Operatic Study where she worked with Metropolitan Opera’s Nico Castel and Joan Dornemann. Stabnau is on the faculty of the Rogers School for the Creative and Performing Arts.
Lisa Brovey Kovach, a mezzo soprano, has been a frequent performer with the Greater Uniontown Chorale. Her role as the mother in Gian Carlo Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors” for the chorale brought her critical acclaim.
She most recently performed the mezzo soprano role in Saint-Saens “Christmas Oratario” for the Asbury Festival Series. Kovach performs regularly with the Pittsburgh Opera Chorus, most recently in Verdi’s “The Masked Ball” and in Strauss’s “Elektra.”
She will also be remembered for her portrayal of Bloody Mary in the Asbury Theatre Guild’s production of “South Pacific” and as the Mother Abbess in “The Sound of Music” for Actors and Artists of Fayette County.
A Monessen native, Kovach earned bachelor and master’s degrees in voice performance from Duquesne University. She is on the voice faculties of Point Park College and California University of Pennsylvania.
Yugo Ikach, a tenor, is a frequent recitalist, as well as stage performer, in both opera and music theater. A native of Pittsburgh, Ikach received his master’s of music degree in voice performance from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. His oratorio credits include Handel’s “Messiah,” Saint-Saens “Christmas Oratorio,” Schubert’s “Mass in G,” Stainer’s “Crucifixion” and Caldara’s “Stabat Mater.”
While attending Carnegie-Mellon University, where he received his bachelor of fine arts degree in voice performance, Ikach performed the role of the Notary with the Pittsburgh Opera’s production of Donizetti’s “Daughter of the Regiment” with Joan Sutherland in the title role.
His operatic and operatta credits include performances with the Lake Chautauqua Institute, Pittsburgh Opera, Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Public Theatre and apprenticeships with the C.W. Post Opera Co. and the Natchez Opera Festival. Ikach is now a candidate for a doctorate of musical arts degree at West Virginia University. There, he performed the roles of Governor in Bernstein’s “Candide,” Valere in Mechem’s “Tartuffe” and Danillo in Lehar’s “The Merry Widow.” Most recently, Ikach sang the title song of Nietzsche in the premier of “The Good European” with the Wheeling Symphony.
Peter Lightfoot, a baritone, is a winner of the National Opera Institute’s Career Bronze Medal and Career Award Grant and a Sullivan Award Grant winner. Lightfoot has performed leading roles with opera companies in both the U.S. and Europe, including the New York City Opera, Houston Opera, Mexico City Opera, Washington Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Wexford Opera, Opera d’Nice and Piedmont Opera Theatre.
He has appeared in concert with the symphony orchestras of Pittsburgh, Detroit, Toronto, St. Paul, Dallas, Aspen, San Francisco, Caracas, Stockholm and Amstersdam. This season he appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York in the Mozart “Requiem” under the direction of John Rutter. He last appeared with the GUC in Handel’s “Messiah.”
A member of the voice faculty at West Virginia University in Morgantown since 1994, he continues to perform such roles as Scarpia, Iago and Rigoletto, among others. He holds degrees from Tufts University and the Juilliard School of Music with further study at Columbia University.
Tickets for Mozart’s “Requiem” can be purchased at Fayette Chamber offices, Ellis Music Store and Window Designs by Lydia, all in Uniontown; Judy’s Do Re Me Shop on South Beeson Boulevard, Uniontown; Amend’s Jewelry in the Uniontown Mall, Atkin’s Music Store in Connellsville; and at the White Picket Fence in Hopwood. Group discounts are available by calling 724-557-1119. Tickets will also be sold two hours before the performance at the Dunbar Street door of the church. The sanctuary doors will open to all ticket holders at 6:15 p.m. Asbury church is located at the corner of South Beeson Avenue and Dunbar Street in Uniontown.
and is handicapped accessible.