Tosca in Concert
Saturday, November 16, 2024, 6 p.m.
5 p.m. Pre-Concert Talk
Roberto Minczuk Music Director
Carmen Giannattasio Tosca
Matthew White Cavaradossi
Reginald Smith, Jr. Scarpia
Michael Colman Angelotti, Jalier, Sciarrone, and Sacristan
John Tiranno Spoletta
Amanda Porter Shepherd
Quintessence: A Community of Singers chorus
Matthew Greer Quintessence director NOV 16
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
This performance is made possible by: Optum New Mexico
PRE-CONCERT TALK Sponsored by: Menicucci Insurance Agency
Hosted by KHFM’s Alexis Corbin
Subtitles provided by: Allison Voth
Popejoy Hall
Tosca
Giacomo Puccini (1858–1924)
Reginald Smith, Jr. baritone GRAMMY® and Emmy® Award-winning baritone Reginald Smith, Jr., the 2021 U.S. representative at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, has been lauded as a “passionate performer” (The New York Times) with a voice that is “electric, hall-filling” (The Baltimore Sun), “thrillingly dramatic” (Opera News) and “one of the most exciting baritone sounds to come along in years” (Opera News).
In the 2024/25 season, Smith takes on the roles of Scarpia in Tosca at the New Orleans Opera, Alfio in Cavalleria Rusticana with the Sacramento Philharmonic, and returns to Washington National Opera as the title character Porgy in Porgy and Bess. He performs as a featured soloist in concerts with the New Jersey Symphony led by Xian Zhang, the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Memphis Symphony, and in a solo recital at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, South Carolina. In Spring 2025, Smith makes his Baltimore Symphony Orchestra debut as Amonasro in a staged version of Aida.
Last season, Smith made his Santa Fe Opera debut as Scarpia in Tosca and returned to the Houston Grand Opera to take on the title role in Falstaff. He sang the role of Amonasro in the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of Aida immediately after jumping in as for the company’s production of Terence Blanchard’s Champion, inspiring New City Stage to write, “Baritone Reginald Smith Jr., who
was so magnificent as the older Emile in Champion, made a chilling Amonasro in what is often a throwaway role.” During his operatic career, Smith has performed with leading companies worldwide. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 2019 as Jim in Porgy and Bess, winning a 2021 GRAMMY Award (Best Opera Recording) for the album made from that production. Born in Atlanta, Smith grew up a dedicated choral student from elementary school onward. His formative experiences as a music student inspired him to double major in Vocal Performance and Choral Music Education at the University of Kentucky, where he earned degrees in both. While he ultimately chose a performance career, he has channeled his love of teaching into numerous masterclasses, where he is known as a highly knowledgeable and engaging presenter. He returned to his alma mater during the 2017/18 season for a performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Lexington Singers and the University of Kentucky Chorale. He later returned to the University of Kentucky for a Master’s in Vocal Performance, completing the degree in the Spring of 2021. reginaldsmithjr.com ●
John Tiranno tenor
Hailed by The New York Times as “ardent and mellifluous” as well as a “clear-voiced tenor,” John Tiranno’s recent and upcoming engagements include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9
and the role of Tamino (The Magic Flute) with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Joann Falletta, Handel’s Messiah with the Nashville Symphony, Messiah and Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette with the Santa Fe Symphony, Goro (Madama Butterfly) with Opera Southwest, the role of Man 1 (Robert Xavier Rodriguez’s Frida) with Opera Southwest and El Paso Opera, and performances of Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer and Schumann’s Dichterliebe with ChatterABQ.
Notable past performances include Berlioz’s Requiem (La Jolla Symphony & Chorus), Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Paul Moravec’s The Blizzard Voices (Oratorio Society of New York), SaintSaëns Requiem (Festival Internazionale di Musica e Arte Sacra), Mahler’s song cycle Das Lied von der Erde with ChatterABQ, creating the role of The Young Man in Gisle Kverndokk’s opera Upon this handful of earth (New York Opera Society & Sacred Music in a Sacred Space), Bach’s B minor Mass, Mozart’s Requiem, and the U.S. premiere of Juraj Filas’ Oratio Spei—Requiem (Sacred Music in a Sacred Space), his South American debut in Sao Paulo, Brazil, singing Mozart’s Missa in C (Auditorio Ibirapuera), creating the role Trouble in Kverndokk’s Max and Moritz (New York Opera Society), Lord Tolloller in Iolanthe (Nashville Opera), Messiah (Dayton Philharmonic), and recitals at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology in Jedda, Saudi Arabia. In 2018, he formed the Young Tiranno Duo with his wife, violinist and pianist Elizabeth Young. johntiranno.com ●