Distance Learning: Archive

Today’s videoconference featuring Thomas Hampson uses a cutting-edge high-speed technology called UltraGrid. Developed by the Laboratory of Advanced Networking Technologies (SITOLA) in the Czech Republic, coupled with Internet2—the nation’s research and education network—this technology provides musicians in different locations an optimal platform for performing and collaborating with the highest quality of audio and video. Through direct fiber optical connections, audio and video will take approximately 200 milliseconds (less than a third of a second) to travel from Miller Recital Hall at Manhattan School of Music to the Haydnsaal of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In addition to its incredible speed, UltraGrid also provides the most accurate sound and picture possible over a network connection—sending raw, uncompressed audio and video signals to each location. Total bandwidth utilized for a UltraGrid connection can range from 30 Mbps (megabits per second) to over 1 Gbps (gigabits per second). Today, we connect to Vienna at 75 Mbps—about 150 times faster than the average Skype call (512 kilobits per second). The use of UltraGrid is groundbreaking for MSM Distance Learning. We hope that this research and development exploration will contribute to pushing the frontier of what is possible for global music access and outreach in the twenty-first century.

2018 Thomas Hampson Master Class Program

 

Die junge Nonne by Franz Schubert
“Wie du Warst” from Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss

Polixeni Tziouvaras, mezzo-soprano
Student of Joan Patenaude-Yarnell
Juan Lazaro, piano
Student of Thomas Muraco
Manhattan School of Music

“Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergibt” from Harfenspieler I by Hugo Wolf
“Udite, udite” from L’elisir d’amore by Gaetano Donizetti

Alexander Grassauer, bass baritone
Student of Karlheinz Hanser
Zita Tschirk, piano
University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna

Cäcilie by Richard Strauss
“Das war sehr gut, Mandryka” from Arabella by Richard Strauss

Celeste Morales, soprano
Student of Shirley Close
Curtis Serafin, piano
Student of Warren Jones
Manhattan School of Music

Nun she’ ich wohl from Kindertotenlieder by Gustav Mahler
“Largo al factotum” from Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Gioachino Rossini

Dániel Foki, baritone
Student of Karheinz Hanser
Zita Tschirk, piano
University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna

Thomas Hampson, America’s foremost baritone, hails from Spokane, Washington. He has received many honors and awards for his probing artistry and cultural leadership. Comprising more than 150 albums, his discography includes winners of a Grammy Award, five Edison Awards, and the Grand Prix du Disque. He received the 2009 Distinguished Artistic Leadership Award from the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C., and was appointed the New York Philharmonic’s first Artist-in-Residence. In 2010 he was honored with a Living Legend Award by the Library of Congress, where he serves as Special Advisor to the Study and Performance of Music in America. Hampson was made honorary professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Heidelberg and holds honorary doctorates from Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, Whitworth College, and San Francisco Conservatory, as well as being an honorary member of London’s Royal Academy of Music. He carries the titles of Kammersänger of the Vienna State Opera and Commandeur dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of the Republic of France and was awarded the Austrian Medal of Honor in Arts and Sciences. Thomas Hampson enjoys a singular international career as an opera singer, recording artist, and “ambassador of song,” maintaining an active interest in research, education, musical outreach, and technology. Hampson, who was recently inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, has won worldwide recognition for thoughtfully researched and creatively constructed programs as well as recordings that explore the rich repertoire of song in a wide range of styles, languages, and periods. Through the Hampsong Foundation, which he founded in 2003, he employs the art of song to promote intercultural dialogue and understanding.

Polixeni Tziouvaras, mezzo-soprano
Greek-American mezzo-soprano Polixeni Tziouvaras is a first-year Master’s degree candidate studying with Joan Patenaude-Yarnell. Recent opera credits include L’incoronazione di Poppea (Nerone), Le Roi l’a dit (Marquis de LaBluette), and Adventures of Vixen Sharp-Ears (Lapák, the Dog), all at Manhattan School of Music. Previous opera scenes credits include Idomeneo (Idamante), Cosí fan tutte (Dorabella), La Cenerentola (Tisbe), Rodelinda (Bertarido), Le nozze di Figaro (Marcellina), and Béatrice et Bénédict (Ursule) with Classic Lyric Arts in Italy, Manhattan School of Music, and the summer studio program of Joan Patenaude-Yarnell. Ms. Tziouvaras portrayed the role of Emma in Ned Rorem’s A Childhood Miracle with Manhattan School of Music Opera Theatre in the fall and this spring will appear in Così fan tutte as Dorabella with Manhattan School of Music’s Opera Repertoire Ensemble.

Alexander Grassauer, bass baritone
The young Austrian bass baritone Alexander Grassauer had his first musical experiences at the piano and organ and in the church choir. He took his first singing lessons with Sigrid Rennert in his hometown. His first stage experiences and a first prize in the youth music competition Prima la musica followed. In October 2015 he began his studies with Prof. Karlheinz Hanser at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. In April 2016 he made his opera debut as Masetto in Don Giovanni at the Stadttheater Baden bei Wien. Grassauer has made his recital debut in Vienna with Schubert’s Schwanengesang and will sing as soloist in Bach’s Johannes-Passion in the Wiener Konzerthaus this March. He also sang the baritone solo in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra in Bangkok. Alexander Grassauer has won several prizes at international competitions, such as first prize in the 2017 Hariclea Darclée Singing Competition in Rumania and in the 2017 International Brahms Competition in the section Lied and the prize for the best young talent at the 4th international Otto Edelmann Singing Competition in Vienna.

Celeste Morales, soprano
Soprano Celeste Morales is a second-year Master’s degree candidate at Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Shirley Close. Previous credits include Dialogues of the Carmelites (Madame Lidoine), Don Giovanni (Donna Anna), Hansel and Gretel (Mother) and L’amico Fritz (Suzel) with Texas State University. Scene work includes Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Donna Elvira) and Le nozze di Figaro (Countess) at Manhattan School of Music. Upcoming engagements include Britten’s Turn of the Screw (Mrs. Grose) and Verdi’s Falstaff (Alice Ford) with Manhattan School of Music. She is a recipient of the Margaret Hoswell van Der Marck Scholarship and Alexandra Hunt Endowed Vocal Scholarship in Opera Studies.

Dániel Foki, baritone
The young Hungarian baritone Dániel Foki started his singing career as a child. Since 2011 he has been a student at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna in the class of Prof. Karlheinz Hanser. Since 2015 he has also studied stage directing while continuing his Master’s studies with Prof. Charles Spencer for lied and oratorio. In 2016 he won first prize at the 23rd Johannes Brahms Competition at Pörtschach and first prize and the audience prize at the 30th Nico Dostal Competition. His experience on stage includes performances in roles such as Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Guglielmo from Cosí fan tutte, Dandini from Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Monteverdi’s Orfeo, and the baritone version of the title role of Massenet’s Werther. Most recently he sang Moralés in Bizet’s Carmen under the wings of Jean-Christophe Spinosi. As a director he has staged Mozart’s Figaro, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and I Pagliacci by Leoncavallo.

Yonghyun Kim, baritone
Baritone Yong-Hyun Kim is a second-year Master’s degree candidate at Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of James Morris. In 2017 he won the special prize at the “Adriana Maliponte” International Competition in Milan and second prize at the East Coast International Competition in New York. Previous credits include La Bohème (Marcello) and Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni). Upcoming performances include Così fan tutte (Don Alfonso) with Manhattan School of Music’s Opera Repertoire Ensemble. He has given a Young Artist professional recital in Seoul, Korea with the Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation and an ECIC winner’s recital at Lincoln Center. He is a Manhattan School of Music scholarship recipient.

Juan Lazaro, piano
A first-year Master’s degree candidate at Manhattan School of Music, pianist Juan Lazaro began playing piano at the age of four. He began performing at the age of six, soon after his talents were discovered by the Bulgarian pedagogue Boriana Savova. At the age of twelve, Juan gave his orchestral debut in Latin America with the Long Island Youth Symphony. In 2006 Juan entered the Mannes College Preparatory Division and began extensive study with Irina Edelman. An active performer, Juan has given numerous solo and chamber recitals on New York concert stages such as Steinway Hall, Yamaha Hall, and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. He has attended master classes with notable teachers and performers, including Alexander Braginsky, Abbey Simon, Leslie Howard, and John Perry. In 2015, Juan received his Bachelor of Music degree at the Juilliard School, where he was under the tutelage of Jerome Lowenthal.

Zita Tschirk, piano
Zita Tschirk, born in Györ, Hungary, came to classical music at the age of five. After completing her studies in piano and harmony at the Conservatory in Györ, she earned a concert diploma for piano with the highest distinction at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Budapest, a student of Rita Wagner and Ferenc Rados. Following master classes with György Cziffra and Zoltan Kocsis, she studied lied accompaniment at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, where she has taught since 2001. There she worked with Rotraud Hansmann, Gabriele Lechner, Marjana Lipovsek, Robert Holl, and Charles Spencer and accompanied a workshop with Thomas Hampson. Since 2010 Zita Tschirk has accompanied the class of Karlheinz Hanser. At the age of nine Zita Tschirk won the competition for young musicians in Györ (for the first of six times). Also a soloist, she was a laureate of the Hungarian State Competition, the Franz Liszt Competition in Budapest, the Concertino in Prague, and the Hummel Competition in Bratislava. As accompanist, she has led young singers to first prize: Genia Kühmeier (Mozart Competition 2002), Martin Achrainer (Gradus ad Parnassum 2005), Dániel Foki (Johannes Brahms Competition 2016, Nico Dostal Competition 2016). Zita Tschirk performs as a soloist and accompanist on stage, radio, and television. On ORF-TV she has performed with Daniela Fally. She enjoys an outstanding reputation as a lied accompanist, with a focus on the music of Art Nouveau and the twentieth century—as represented by Debussy, Berg, Marx, and Richard Strauss—and the timeless art of Schubert, Dvorák, and Brahms. She loves to visit Bartók or Montsalvatge and successfully translates the nobility of song accompaniment to the performance of arias.

Curtis Serafin, piano
Curtis Serafin began piano lessons at age six in his hometown of New Windsor, Maryland. During high school, he studied under Marian Hahn through the Peabody Precollege Program in Baltimore, Maryland. He earned scholarships to study piano performance at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music and graduated with honors. Curtis is currently a student of Warren Jones.

Hohyeon Kyung (MM ’17), piano
Composer and collaborative pianist Hohyeon Kyung, born in Seoul, is currently pursuing his Professional Studies Certificate in collaborative piano at Manhattan School of Music, studying with Kenneth Merrill. He received his Bachelor of Music degree at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea and his Master of Music degree at Manhattan School of Music with Reiko Fueting.