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Spotlight - October 2007 |
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Il Modo
d"amore
Up Close and Personal
Spotlight invited the performers of Il Modo
d’Amore - Ronald Samm, Fritz Nothnagel-Gurley and Enrique Ali -
to tell something about themselves - Ronald Samm tenor,
says: Enrique Ali reveals
Fritz Nothnagel-Gurley says:
You and the Lights and the Music June Nathaniel, and the performers have put together an evening of music that will touch practitioners enthusiasts and the uninitiated . The music will be enchanting, sometimes familiar, sometimes new and always beautiful. The evening begins with Verdi’s famous opera - La Traviata - the rousing Drinking Song “Let Us Drink’ and introduces us to the full cast of Ronald Samm, Fritz Nothnagel-Gurley, Enrique Ali and the Key Academy chorus. Then Ronald Samm sings one of the most beautiful arias from La Traviata - Parigi O Cara (Paris My Dear One) Otello another famous opera by Verdi is featured in the evening’s programme. First the great love duet Gia nella notte (Already in the night every sound is stilled), then Fritz Nothnagel-Gurley sings the Ave Maria and Ronald offers the equally beautiful Ora e per sempre addio (Now and forever Goodbye). The familiar pieces are surely Love Unspoken from Franz Lehar’s Merry Widow and of course the duet C’est Toi in the last scene of Bizet’s Carmen when Don Jose kills Carmen which ends the evening’s programme All this and more including the songs of Brahms and Schubert make for a special evening of the best of classical music.
The setting Kathryn Chan, visual artist, painter , curator, theatre and graphic designer, Is responsible for the setting of Il Modo d’Amore using the many facilities of the refurbished Queen’s Hall effectively and economically. Although she has been working mainly out of the Uk and USA for the past few years she has made regular visits to Trinidad with her close association as associate designer to Peter Minshall’s Carnival and Olympic Games presentations and artistic director with the Callaloo Company. In 1999 she curated The Folklore to Festival, a celebration of our cosmos, exhibition at the Museum of the City of Port of Spain. Kathryn Chan has wide experience in theatre design, her experiences include Dance Badejo Arts, UK , Ti Jean and His Brother with Derek Walcott and the Trinidad Theatre Workshop, Dirty Reality 1&2 with the Black Mime Theatre Company in UK and Wole Solyinka’s The Lion and the Jewel with the African Players, UK. Knolly Whiskey is one of the most experienced lighting designers working in the theatre today combines with Ms. Chan in setting the scene for Il Modo d’Amore. Learning his trade mainly in the highly demanding environment of the Trinidad Theatre scene he is now able to maximize his creativity in the theatre’s many amenities.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS O C T O B E R 1,2,3 4,5,6 11,12 15 16,17 17,18 19 20,21 22,23 24 31
Welcome New Members Mr. George Fraser |
Ronald Samm, Tenor, is a
London based Trinidadian who studied voice and piano at
the Guildhall School of Music, London and completed his
postgraduate studies at the Royal Northern College of
Music in Manchester. He is now well recognized in
England as his impressive professional record shows. He
has performed substantial roles in the world’s best
known operas. Trinidad audiences will remember his
outstanding performance in the Trinidad production of
Carnival Messiah. 
Fritz Nothnagel-Gurley,
Soprano, was exposed to music
from childhood. Her grandfather Christian Nothnagel was
a graduate of music from Altona, Hamburg, and was a well
known music teacher in Trinidad in the early 1900s. He
orchestrated many musical events at the time. Fritz
Nothnagel developed a special interest in classical
music and found her métier in opera. She sang as a
principal performer in productions of The Magic Flute,
Die Fledermaus, Carmen, The Merry Widow. This was
complimented by recitals and concert performances both
in Trinidad and abroad with invitations to perform in
Ireland and the Caribbean.
Enrique Ali, pianist and accompanist,
also presently London based, has performed with Trinidad
and Tobago’s leading classical singers and
instrumentalists. He obtained his Bachelor of Music
Degree in Piano Performance at New York University and
completed his graduate studies at Duquesne University
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He participated in master
classes at the Academie d’Été in Nice, France. Enrique
Ali also directs the all-male Diamond Chorale, and the
Pro Musica Vocal Ensemble and is co-founder, with
soprano Fritz Nothnagel-Gurley, of the Classics at
Twilight series of open-air concerts in Trinidad.
June Nathaniel, Music Director is a classically trained pianist and singer, she studied at the
Royal College of Music, London and at the Staadtliche
Hochschule fur Musik, Munich, Germany. She returned to
England and gave recitals as a soloist and guested with
different orchestras. She also toured England with the
Phoenix Opera Company. On an extended visit back home
she was the Music Director of the premiere production of
Derek Walcott’s Joker of Seville. She returned home in
1996 and established the Key Academy. Producer, Music
Director and Tutor, her most recent undertaking was the
successful S’Fumature d’Amore presented at the Simon
Bolivar Auditorium to full and appreciative audiences in
March 2007.
