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CONTACT: Judy Moore at 847-491-4819 or jkm229@northwestern.edu

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Richard Tucker Gala to be Simulcast at Northwestern University Nov. 4

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University will provide a rare opportunity to see and hear world-class opera performances on the Evanston campus via satellite during the 2007 Richard Tucker Gala concert taking place on the stage of Avery Fisher Hall in New York City’s Lincoln Center on Sunday, Nov. 4.

Northwestern has been selected as one of eight universities in the United States and Canada to present a 5 p.m. (CST) live simulcast of the 2007 Tucker gala. The simulcast will be held at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, 50 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston campus. Admission is free and open to the public.

The Richard Tucker Gala, a highlight of the New York performing arts season for more than 30 years, presents today’s greatest opera stars in a concert of arias and scenes from some of opera’s most popular works. The Nov. 4 gala will include selections from Bizet’s Carmen, Verdi’s Aida, Puccini’s Tosca and Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci.

Performing in the 2007 Richard Tucker Gala concert will be more than a dozen world-renowned stars including sopranos Renée Fleming, Maria Guleghina and Diana Damrau; mezzo-sopranos Susan Graham and Dolora Zajick; tenors Eric Cutler, Marcello Giordani and Matthew Polenzani; baritone Simon Keenlyside; and bass-baritone Bryn Terfel. The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and New York Choral Society conducted by Maestro Asher Fisch will join them during this two-hour concert. Also highlighted will be several rising young American vocalists who have won awards from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, including the 2007 Richard Tucker Award winner, tenor Brandon Jovanovich.

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation maintains the artistic legacy of Richard Tucker, the Brooklyn-born tenor who became one of the greatest stars of the Metropolitan Opera beginning with his debut in 1945 and continuing until his untimely death, at age 61, in 1975. Through awards to talented young American singers and by producing community concerts to showcase their talents, the Tucker Music Foundation has supported hundreds of young artists who have become the stars of today.

This year marks the beginning of the Tucker Foundation’s commitment to “making the best of opera accessible to new generations of potential devotees through the live simulcast of the concert to eight universities in the United States and Canada.” Thanks to the generous support of donors, the Tucker Foundation will simulcast one of the most exciting musical events to audiences outside of the New York metropolitan area.

Soprano Amanda Majeski, 22, a 2006 undergraduate of Northwestern University’s School of Music, is one of four recipients of a 2007 Sara Tucker Study Grant, an unrestricted grant of $5,000. Majeski is currently studying for her master’s degree at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She has been a Young Artist with Opera Theater of St. Louis as well as performed in vocal programs at the Ravinia Festival and the Chatauqua Institute’s Music Festival in New York.

For more information, contact the Pick-Staiger Business Office at 847-491-5441 or visit www.pickstaiger.org. For further information on the Richard Tucker Music Foundation and its programs, visit www.richardtucker.org or call 212-757-2218.

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