Spring Fundraiser / Spotlight Sunday - Elizabeth Hayes
Welcome back to Spotlight Sundays! Over the next few weeks, we will be featuring the cast and crew of Speaking Her Truth: an evening of music by composer Jessica Rudman! Do you believe that women composers, including projects like Speaking Her Truth should be performed by opera companies around the world? We would like to introduce our latest initiative:
Opera for the Twenty-Second Century. To us, this means producing works that are innovative, fresh and inclusive. Our spring production: Speaking Her Truth: an evening of music by Jessica Rudman; truly reflects our mission and our season initiative.
If producing opera in Hartford that reflects these principals is important to you, please consider donating to our spring campaign! We have already raised 13% of our goal! Will you be our next donor? Visit our campaign page to learn how you can help us keep innovative opera in our capital city!
If you haven't heard, tickets for Speaking Her Truth are now on sale and are available through our website at the link below! We hope to see you on Saturday, April 28 at Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford for an exciting evening of contemporary opera by Jessica Rudman!
For this week's Spotlight, we are happy to welcome back mezzo-soprano, Elizabeth Hayes! Elizabeth made her debut with HOTOpera at our New in November Festival in 2015 singing in a scene from Nkeiru Okoye's We've Got Our Eye on You! We are thrilled to welcome Elizabeth back to HOTOpera to perform the role of Younger Marie Curie in Marie Curie Learns to Swim. We hope you enjoy learning about Elizabeth and what Opera for the Twenty-Second Century means to her.
Elizabeth Hayes (mezzo-soprano) received her bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from UConn, where she performed the roles of L’enfant in L’enfant et les sortilèges and The Third Spirit in Die Zauberflöte. Elizabeth has performed the role of Hélène in La Belle Hélène with the Franco-American Vocal Academy in Périgueux, France, and has been a featured soloist in Hartford Opera Theater’s New in November festival, and with the Farmington Valley Symphony Orchestra’s Holiday Pops concerts.
Other roles performed include Susanna Walcott in Hartford Opera Theater’s production of The Crucible, and Cherubino in Greater Worcester Opera’s production of The Marriage of Figaro. This past year she was selected as a soloist for Greater Worcester Opera’s summer concert series, and was the first-place winner in the regional NATS Advanced Division vocal competition. Elizabeth is currently collaborating with pianist Sarah Puckett on a recital series addressing the nature of impermanence. She teaches voice privately in Stafford and Willimantic, Connecticut, and has studied with Meredith Ziegler for ten years.
Here is what Elizabeth had to say about Opera for the Twenty-Second Century:
For me, Opera for the Twenty-Second Century is all about accessibility. I think it is our job as performers to continue to explore new and creative takes on such a rich tradition and to use our medium to speak out about important issues. I am so excited that companies like HOTOpera are facilitating this conversation by putting on productions like “Speaking Her Truth.”
Thank you for reading our Opera for the Twenty-Second Century blog! Tune in next week for spotlights, interviews and much more! Want to learn more about composer Jessica Rudman? Visit her website at www.jessicarudman.com
