Songs of the past, voices of the future:
A community project inspired by Akhnaten
Join us for performances on May 14 at 11AM at Hearst Plaza at Lincoln Center in conjunction with the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, May 14 at 2PM at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library, on May 15 at 3PM at the New York Hall of Science, and on May 15 at 5PM at the Mall at Bay Plaza.
Hearst Plaza at Lincoln Center
30 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023
Saturday, May 14 at 11 am
FREE
This is an outdoor event.
Description:
The Pharaoh Akhnaten ascended to the throne at 17 and forever changed the course of history with a bold new vision for Egypt. What change do young people want to see in our world?
On the occasion of it’s highly anticipated revival of the sold-out sensation Akhnaten, opening May 19, the Met Opera joins forces with the Bronx Arts Ensemble, director Miguel Alejandro Castillo, and artist Lexy Ho-Tai to present RA, Songs of the Past, Voices of the Future: A Community Project Inspired by Akhnaten. In collaboration with the Met Opera Education Department and PS 83, RA is an interdisciplinary performance featuring Anthony Roth Costanzo, Zachary James, Gandini Juggling, Sing Harlem with new music written by the students of PS 83 and Karsh Kale. Song, poetry, movement, and puppetry come together to create a joyful meditation on new horizons in RA.
Featuring:
Anthony Roth Costanzo
Zachary James
Sing Harlem
Bronx Arts Ensemble
Karsh Kale, DJ
Gandini Juggling
Lexy Ho-Tai (visual artist)
Miguel Castillo (Director)
Countertenor
Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo began performing professionally at the age of 11 and has since appeared in opera, concert, recital, film, and on Broadway. He is a 2022 GRAMMY winner, a recipient of the 2020 Beverly Sills Award from the Metropolitan Opera, a winner of the 2020 Opera News Award, and Musical America’s 2019 Vocalist of the Year.
This coming season, he returns to the Metropolitan Opera in his acclaimed performance of the title role in Akhnaten, as well as in Rodelinda. He reopens St. Ann’s Warehouse in a staged concert, will be the New York Philharmonic artist-in-residence, and will make his debut at the Santa Fe Opera in the title role of the world premiere of John Corigliano’s The Lord of Cries. He will also appear with Madrid’s Teatro Real, Philharmonia Baroque, Stanford Live, and Boston Baroque, among others. His second album, a collaboration with Justin Vivian Bond, will be released this winter on Decca Gold. Costanzo recently created and produced the New York Philharmonic’s Bandwagon initiative, the orchestra’s innovative and ongoing response to the pandemic.
Costanzo has appeared with many of the world’s leading opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, English National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Los Angeles Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Dallas Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, Spoleto Festival USA, Glimmerglass Festival, and Finnish National Opera. In concert he has sung with the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, NDR at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and the London Symphony Orchestra, among others.
He has performed at a wide-ranging variety of venues including Carnegie Hall, Versailles, The Kennedy Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Sawdust, Minamiza Kyoto, Joe’s Pub, The Guggenheim, The Park Avenue Armory, and Madison Square Garden.
Costanzo has begun working as a producer and curator in addition to his singing, creating shows for Opera Philadelphia, National Sawdust, Philharmonia Baroque, The Barnes Foundation, St. John The Divine, Princeton University, WQXR, The State Theater in Salzburg, Master Voices and Kabuki-Za Tokyo. In film, he played Francis in the Merchant Ivory film, A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries, for which he was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.
Mr. Costanzo’s many other awards include first place in the Operalia competition, a Grand Finals Winner of the 2009 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a George London Award, a career grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, and the first countertenor to win First Place in the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCullom competition, where he also won the audience choice prize. He has also received a Sullivan Foundation Award, and won First Place in the Opera Index Competition, the National Opera Association Vocal Competition, and the Jensen Foundation Competition.
He graduated from Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton University, where he has returned to teach, and received his Masters of Music from the Manhattan School of Music, where he now serves on the board of Trustees.
Students from PS. 83
Bronx Arts Ensemble String Quartet