BSO will perform Brahms choral concert

ORONO – The Bangor Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of music director and conductor Xiao-Lu Li, will present “Inspiration and Consolation” at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 23, at the Maine Center for the Arts.

Joined by the 150 voices of the University of Maine Singers and University of Maine Oratorio Society under directors Dr. Dennis Cox and Dr. Ludlow Hallman, the BSO will perform Johannes Brahms’ “Ein deutsches Requiem” with guest soloists soprano Kelly Nassief and baritone Zheng Zhou.

“If the angels in heaven really sing, please let them do it like Nassief. Her voice combines the best of two worlds – it has bel canto size, warmth and height, and yet is svelte with a youthful sparkle. She was a perfect choice for the part.” So wrote the Leipziger Volkszeitung when Kelly Nassief sang Elijah with the Gewandhausorchester and Kurt Masur on the occasion of the sesquicentennial of Mendelssohn’s death. Nassief’s operatic performances garner equal acclaim.

Of her performances of “La Boheme” with Glimmerglass Opera, Opera News proclaimed “The most finished vocal portrayal was Kelly Nassief’s Mimi, rich but not heavy in timbre, with knowing portamento and a lift in the long phrases.”

Baritone Zheng Zhou possesses a rich, “creamy baritone” voice, and has excelled with major opera companies and orchestras in a wide range of styles, from Mozart, Donizetti and Schubert to Verdi, Mendelssohn and Orff.

He has been hailed by the St. Louis Dispatch as a superior musician, while his performance of Enrico in “Lucia di Lammermoor” led the San Francisco Examiner to report, “Zheng Zhou shone. His fiercely concentrated, vocally and theatrically incisive Enrico would have been an asset in any ‘Lucia.'” This is Zhou’s second appearance with the BSO.

Tickets range from $13 to 38, with senior and youth discounts available, and may be reserved online at www.bangorsymphony.com or by calling the Bangor Symphony Orchestra box office at 942-5555 or (800) 639-3221.