HAYDN IN PLAIN SIGHT: Acclaimed soprano and a DC favorite Michele Kennedy will appear in conversation with host Patrick D. McCoy on Across the Arts, live on both Facebook and YouTube on Wednesday, April 10, 2024 at 8 PM EST.
Ahead of her debut with the Washington Bach Consort performance of Haydn’s Creation on Sunday, April 21m 4 PM at the National Presbyterian Church, soprano Michele Kennedy will chaton Across the Arts with Patrick D. McCoy.
WATCH HERE:
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Praised by The Washington Post as “a fine young soprano with a lovely voice” possessing “a graceful tonal clarity that is a wonder to hear” (SF Chronicle), soprano Michele Kennedy is regarded as a versatile specialist in early and new music. Her recent concert venues include Carnegie Hall, Davies Symphony Hall, Getty Museum, Lincoln Center, and Washington National Cathedral. She has been a featured soloist in Bach’s St. John Passion with The San Francisco Symphony Chorus & Voices of Music, Handel’s Messiah with Trinity Wall Street Choir, Poulenc’s Gloria with The Bach Society of Saint Louis, Undine Smith Moore’s oratorio “Scenes From the Life of a Martyr” at U.C. Berkeley, in the ‘Summer Fireworks’ of Handel & Purcell with Portland Baroque Orchestra, and in her Carnegie Hall debut with The Hollywood Film Orchestra. This year, she’s sung Messiah (St. Louis Bach Society), Monteverdi with DC’s Folger Consort, and Bach’s B Minor Mass with SF Bach Choir. This season she has upcoming debuts with Washington Bach Consort and Seraphic Fire. Her singing is highlighted on two new albums: Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 with The Thirteen and Dark Horse Consort (listen here!), and In Her Hands with AGAVE, a bold new album of works by trailblazing female composers from over the ages.A lifelong advocate of new works, Michele has sung premieres with Experiments in Opera, Harlem Stage Opera, Mimesis Ensemble, Five Boroughs Music Festival, and The New York Philharmonic. This season, she is part of a world premiere tour of Julia Wolfe’s Her Story – a celebration of women’s civil rights – with Lorelei Ensembleand the Nashville, Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco Symphony Orchestras. She is also a member of Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble: a group that champions the voices of women and artists of color on the stage.A graduate of Yale University and NYU, Michele is committed to working toward greater equity and representation for BIPOC and female voices. Michele resides in Oakland with her husband, visual artist Benjamin Thorpe, and their daughter, Audra May.
Sunday, April 21, 2024 at 4 PM
National Presbyterian Church, 4101 Nebraska Ave, Washington, DC 20016
The Creation (sung in German) by Franz Joseph Haydn Purchase Tickets
Dana Marsh, Artistic Director
Michele Kennedy, soprano | Thomas Cooley, tenor | Edmund Milly, bass
A native of Petersburg, VA, Patrick holds a BM in Vocal Performance from Virginia State University and a MM in Church Music from Shenandoah Conservatory. Formerly the Performing Arts Columnist for Washington Life Magazine, he currently is a freelance writer, publishing articles for several noted publications and organizations, including The Washington Post, Early Music America, Classical Music Voice North America, The Afro-American Newspaper, Prince George’s Suite Magazine, CBS Washington, Examiner.com and Washington Classical Review. He holds membership in the Music Critics Association of North America, National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc., American Choral Directors’ Association, Association of Anglican Musicians, a former member of the Shenandoah University Alumni Board of Directors, a member of the Shenandoah University Black Alumni Network, a Life Member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and a member of the Sigma Zeta Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America. As an alumnus of Shenandoah, he was named to the Dean’s Circle of the Shenandoah Conservatory Advisory Board. He enters his 7th year as Organist/Choirmaster at Saint John’s Episcopal Church, Zion Parish in Beltsville, MD and is the newly hired Development and Communications Manager for Washington Conservatory of Music in Glen Echo, MD. Patrick is the host of “Across the Arts” both a live and virtual media platform covering the performing arts. Visit http://patrickdmccoy.com and follow him on Facebook and Twitter @PatrickDMcCoy, IG: PDM06. and subscribe to “Across the Arts” on YouTube.