Mastersingers Celebrate Leonard Bernstein’s 100th Birthday

The Mid-Columbia Mastersingers will kick off their 2018-19 season by celebrating the centenary of the great Leonard Bernstein with a performance of his one-act opera “Trouble in Tahiti” and other solo vocal works. The concerts will take place October 19 and 20 at the Uptown Theatre in Richland.

Bernstein was on his honeymoon when he began his first one-act opera, a candid portrait of the troubled marriage of a young suburban couple. Written in 1951 between his biggest Broadway successes — On the Town in 1944 and Candide and West Side Story in 1956/1957 — Trouble in Tahiti draws upon popular songs styles to deliver an uncompromising critique of post-war American materialism. Beneath the couple's marital
discord is a longing for love and intimacy.

Their spiritual emptiness, in contrast to a veneer of happy consumerism, creates the heart of the drama and is emphasized by sudden stylistic shifts in the music. The opera will be performed with chamber orchestra comprised of members of the Mid-Columbia Symphony, with singers Erin Patterson, Jeremy Irland, Patrick Killoran, Karl Hedlund, and Karen Walley. The second half of the concert will also feature members of the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers - including Paige English, Mitzi Holmes, Kimber Keel, Kelli Kruse, Greg Levy, Paris Rodgers, Cynthia Vaughn and Weston Walker - performing some of Bernstein’s delightful lesser-known solo songs.

The three performances will take place at the Uptown Theatre in Richland on Friday, October 19 at 7:30pm; and Saturday, October 20 at 3:00pm and 7:30pm. A “Behind the Music” talk with the Artistic Director Justin Raffa will take place 30 minutes before each concert. Tickets are $25 for adults, free for K-12 students. Season passes are still available for a discount on each concert. Visit www.mcmastersingers.org for more information.

This production is part of the Mid-Columbia Mastersingers 2018-19 season, and tickets can be purchased online at www.mcmastersingers.org or by calling 509-460-1766. To receive free notifications about Mastersingers concerts and events, join our text club by texting the word “choir” to 78816.