Overture Magazine - 2018-19 Season BSO_Overture_MAR_APR | Page 32

PORGY AND BESS
Hana S. Sharif
Director
Hana S. Sharif is a
director, playwright
and producer. She
has directed The
Christians, Les Liaisons Dangereuses
and Pride and Prejudice at Baltimore’s
Center Stage; The Whipping Man, Gem
of the Ocean and Gee’s Bend at Hartford
Stage; and Next Stop Africa, Cassie and
The Drum at Midtown Arts. Her own
plays include All the Women I Used to
Be, The Rise and Fall of Day and The
Sprott Cycle Trilogy. Other credits
include Associate Artistic Director at
Baltimore Center Stage and Upcoming
Artistic Director at the Repertory
Theatre of St. Louis. Previously, Sharif
was the Associate Artistic Director
of New Play Development and
Artistic Producer at Hartford Stage;
Program Manager of the ArtsEmerson
Ambassador Program; Developmental
Producer/Tour Manager of Progress
Theatre’s musical The Burnin’; and
Co-Founder and Artistic Director
of Nasir Productions. Her awards
include DCArts Best Director/Best
New Play and a Connecticut Critics
Circle Award for Best Ensemble. She
was recipient of the 2009 –10 Aetna
New Voices Fellowship and the
Theatre Communications Group New
Generations Fellowship and serves on
the Board of Directors for the Greater
Baltimore Cultural Alliance and
Sprott Foundation.
Hana Sharif makes her BSO debut.
Laquita Mitchell
Bess
Soprano Laquita
Mitchell consistently
earns acclaim on
eminent international
opera and concert stages, leading
performances with Los Angeles Opera,
San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand
Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York
City Opera, Washington National Opera,
Opéra Comique, New York Philharmonic
and Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
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OV E R T U R E / BSOmusic.org
This season, she performs Violetta in
La traviata with Edmonton Opera and
reprises the role of Bess in Porgy and
Bess with Detroit Symphony Orchestra,
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and
Grange Park Opera. She will also create
the role of Josephine Baker in Tom
Cipullo’s Josephine for Opera Colorado.
Recent highlights include selections of
Porgy and Bess with Allentown Symphony;
the role of Violetta in La traviata with
Opera Memphis; the world premiere of
Sanctuary Road at Carnegie Hall with
Oratorio Society of New York; and
Coretta Scott King in I Dream with
Opera Grand Rapids, Toledo Opera and
Opera Carolina.
Laquita Mitchell last appeared with
the BSO in April 2016, performing
as Bess in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess,
Marin Alsop, conductor.
Rodney Earl
Clarke
Porgy
Hailed by Gramophone
as a “singer to be
watched”, Rodney
Earl Clarke is recognized for his
versatility in performance. At home
with the music of 1930 – 60 Broadway,
Clarke has appeared in many shows
including Carmen Jones at the Royal
Festival Hall, Jude Kelly’s award-
winning production of Bernstein’s On
the Town, Kenneth Branagh’s epic film
version of Mozart’s The Magic Flute,
Sondheim’s 80 th Birthday Celebration
BBC Prom, The Broadway Sound BBC
Prom with the John Wilson Orchestra,
Jake in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess
under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle
and Crown in Porgy and Bess under the
direction of John Doyle with the Royal
Danish Opera in Copenhagen. He
starred in Raymond Gubbay’s popular
show Crazy for Gershwin, which
regularly toured the U.K. and also
performed many times on BBC Radio
2’s Friday Night is Music Night.
He also starred in Bernstein’s On
the Town at the Regents Park Open
Air Theatre directed by Drew
McOnie. Clarke remains grateful
for the guidance and support shown
from the Royal Academy of Music
where he was awarded the Richard
Lewis/Jean Shanks Award 2001
and generously supported by the Sir
Peter Moores Foundation. Clarke
was elected an Associate of the Royal
Academy of Music for his services and
contributions to the music industry.
Rodney Earl Clarke makes his BSO debut.
Lester Lynch
Crown
Recognized for his
charismatic portrayals
and commanding
voice, baritone Lester
Lynch is receiving rave reviews as he
tackles some of Verdi’s most important
baritone roles from Scarpia to Rigoletto
to Count di Luna. Opera Today recently
enthused, “It was booming baritone
Lester Lynch who served notice
that he is now in consideration for
admittance to the Scarpia Preferred
Pantheon — when he needed to pour
it on he had the Puccinian fire power
and the dramatic heat to raise the hair
on the back of your neck.” Highlights
of recent engagements include
the title role in Rigoletto with the
Canadian Opera Company, Gerald
in Andrea Chenier with the Bregenzer
Festspiele, Carbon in Cerano de
Bergerac with San Francisco Opera,
Herald in Lohengrin with Lyric Opera
of Chicago, Porgy in Porgy and Bess
with Washington National Opera and
Scarpia in Tosca with Glimmerglass
Opera. Additional engagements
include leading roles with Opera
Company of Philadelphia, Los
Angeles Opera, Cleveland Orchestra,
Washington Master Chorale,
Nashville Symphony, Cincinnati
Symphony and a performance at
Carnegie Hall.
Lester Lynch last appeared with
the BSO in April 2016, performing
as Crown in Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess,
Marin Alsop, conductor.