Acclaimed conductor and music director Brent McMunn teams up with Graycen Gardner to explore the complex expectations and experiences of women in an ever evolving world. The program features seminal works by Leonard Bernstein, Ricky Ian Gordon, Lee Hoiby, Gian Carlo Menotti, and Faure’s monumental “La chanson d’Eve”.
Boston Court’s Emerging Artists Series is made possible through generous support of the Lazy L Foundation.
Graycen Gardner, soprano, is originally from Mequon, WI. She graduated from Lawrence University with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and a Bachelor of Arts in English in 2015, and she graduated from the University of Southern California with a Master Degree in Vocal Arts this past May. She also attended the Taos Opera Institute this summer. Her former operatic roles include Rose Maurrant in Street Scene, Laurie Moss in The Tender Land, Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito, and Margarita Xirgu in Ainadamar. Graycen is currently pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Vocal Arts at the University of Southern California, and she will be performing the role of Alcina in USC’s production of Alcina this November.
Brent McMunn has been Music Director/Conductor of Opera at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music since 2004. His professional operatic experience includes five seasons as conductor at the New York City Opera, guest conducting at Arizona Opera, Calgary Opera, Lake George Opera, Kentucky Opera, and Opera New Jersey, plus a total of twenty seasons as Assistant Conductor at LA Opera, New York City Opera, and Santa Fe Opera. McMunn returned to Pittsburgh Festival Opera in 2017 to conduct Strauss’ Intermezzo, the fourth in a highly successful series of Strauss operas for that company. As a pianist, McMunn has collaborated with eminent musicians, including principal players of the New York Philharmonic, members of the Juilliard String Quartet, cellist Lynn Harrell and ECM recording artist Michelle Makarski. He has appeared in recital in Carnegie Hall, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival and the major venues in Southern California. He has frequently served as the official pianist for the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in Los Angeles, and currently has seven recordings available commercially as both pianist and conductor. He has also worked extensively with young singers in the young artist programs at the major companies he worked for, and as a faculty coach at the Juilliard School and the Aspen Music Festival.
