The BPO joins the international observance of the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s powerful masterwork that includes the “Ode to Joy.” Its message of unity and love continues to hearten millions around the world. Equally inspiring is the exhilarating performance of Nikki Chooi on Sibelius’ Violin Concerto.

Nikki Chooi’s performance is sponsored by Mark Chason and Mariana Botero Chason.
This concert is dedicated to the memory of Clement Arrison.

This concert is presented by Phillips Lytle

Program

JoAnn Falletta, conductor
Nikki Chooi, violin
Jaclyn Grossman, soprano
Hannah Shea, alto
John Tiranno, tenor
Lester Lynch, bass
Buffalo Philharmonic Chorus
SUNY Fredonia Beethoven 9 Chorus

SIBELIUS  Concerto in D minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 47
I. Allegro moderato
II. Adagio di molto
III. Allegro, ma non tanto

INTERMISSION

BEETHOVEN  Symphony No. 9
I. Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso
II. Molto vivace
III. Adagio molto e cantabile, andante moderato
IV. Presto – Allegro assai

About Jaclyn Grossman
Soprano

Hailed as an “exciting dramatic soprano” (Opera Canada) with a “command over a powerful range of expressive emotion” (The Whole Note), Jaclyn Grossman’s 2023-24 season features a series of exciting debut performances. In addition to performing as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the BPO, she is set to make her company and role debut as Freia in Das Rheingold with Edmonton Opera, and debut as Nedda in Pagliacci and Nella in Gianni Schicchi with Opera Kelowna. Last season saw her sing Gertrude in Hänsel und Gretel with Good Mess Opera Theatre and cover the role of Judith in Against the Grain Theatre’s production of Bluebeard’s Castle.

As a co-founder of the Likht Ensemble, she has performed recitals of Jewish Holocaust music at the Canadian Opera Company Free Concert Series, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Schulich School of Music, and with the Chattanooga Symphony and Chattanooga Public Libraries. In recent years, she has attended several prestigious young artist programs including the Banff Center’s Opera in the 21^st Century, the Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, and the Sewanee Summer Music Festival. Jaclyn was honored as a recipient of the Career Blueprint Award from Opera America and the Sylva Gelber Award in 2023, and the Ben Steinberg Musical Legacy Award from Temple Sinai in 2020. She graduated from McGill University’s Master of Music and Graduate Diploma programs in Opera and Voice, and the Rebanks Family Fellowship and International Residency Program at Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music.

About Hannah Shea
Alto

Hailing from Harrisburg, PA, Hannah Shea is an alumna of the Cafritz Young Artist Program at Washington National Opera. While a young artist, Ms. Shea performed Mercédès in Carmen, Dritte Magd in Elektra, covered Dorabella in Così fan tutte, and performed on the 2021 Kennedy Center Honors broadcast honoring Justino Díaz. An advocate for new music, Ms. Shea has workshopped and debuted various new works with Washington National Opera’s (WNO) American Opera Initiative. This season she returned to WNO to cover Jess in the world premiere of Jeanine Tesori’s Grounded. No stranger to the concert stage, Ms. Shea has performed as the alto soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra in Mozart’s Requiem, the Aspen Music Festival in Bach’s Magnificat, the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera in Handel’s Messiah, the Brevard Music Center in Bernstein’s Mass, and the Kennedy Center Opera House Chamber Orchestra singing Mahler’s Rückert Lieder. Other recent performances include Marcellina in Le Nozze di Figaro (Annapolis Opera) and Edith Thibault in Jimmy Lopez’s Bel Canto (Aspen Music Festival). Ms. Shea was a 2023 National Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and the first prize-winner of the 2022 Annapolis Opera Competition.

Ms. Shea holds her Master of Music from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, and her bachelor’s from Carnegie Mellon University. She is a proud member of Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternity and enjoys knitting, reading, and taking long walks with her puppy, Milton, in her free time.

About John Tiranno
Tenor

Originally from Buffalo, NY, tenor John Tiranno has been called “ardent and mellifluous” as well as a “clear-voiced tenor” by The New York Times. Upcoming and notable past performances include Handel’s Messiah and Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette (Santa Fe Symphony), Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra), Berlioz’s Requiem (La Jolla Symphony & Chorus), Mahler song cycles Das Lied von der Erde and Songs of a Wayfarer (ChatterABQ), Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Paul Moravec’s The Blizzard Voices(Oratorio Society of New York), Saint-Saëns’ Requiem (Festival Internazionale di Musica e Arte Sacra), creating the role of The Young Man in Gisle Kverndokk’s opera Upon this handful of earth (New York Opera Society & Sacred Music in a Sacred Space), Bach’s B minor Mass and the U.S. premiere of Juraj Filas’ Oratio Spei – Requiem (Sacred Music in a Sacred Space), and recitals at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology in Jedda, Saudi Arabia.

About Lester Lynch
Baritone

Lester Lynch has become recognized for his charismatic portrayals and commanding voice in some of Verdi’s most important characters with rave reviews, from Macbeth to Rigoletto to Simon Boccanegra. In contemporary repertoire, he is known for his portrayals in pieces such as Dallapiccola’s Il Prigioniero, Busoni’s Doktor Faust, and Nico Muhly’s The Glitch, garnering many accolades.

Lynch made his debut at the renowned Teatro alla Scala singing the role of Crown in Porgy and Bess, and at the Royal Opera House as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Other appearances on major stages include with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Semperoper Dresden, Seattle Opera, Vienna Volksoper, Los Angeles Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and San Francisco Opera.

Recent performances include Zemlinsky’s Symphonische Gesänge under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle in Munich, Frankfurt and at Carnegie Hall with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. He also appeared as Escamillo in Carmen with Edmonton Opera, and as Bluebeard in a new production of Bluebeard’s Castle with both the Edinburgh Festival and New Zealand Opera. He made his film debut in November 2021 as Merrivale in Gordon Getty’s new opera, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, based on the popular 1934 novella by James Hilton.

Lynch’s recording work is featured on Pentatone, including performances as Iago in Verdi’s Otello, Michele in Puccini’s Il Tabarro, Germont in La Traviata, and his 2017 debut solo album, “On My Journey Now.” His new recording, featuring Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death and Brahms’ Vier ernste Gesänge, will be released in October.