Venerable music by young composers will fill The Victory on Saturday in a
Classics concert by the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, guest soloists and
chorus members from the Owensboro (Ky.) Symphony Orchestra and the University of
Southern Indiana Chamber Choir.
Georges Bizet was just 17 when he wrote his Symphony in C Major, the 1855
orchestral showpiece opening the concert.
And Giacomo Puccini was only a few years older - 22 - when he completed his
Gloria, an 1880 choral work that will feature two familiar young voices in solo
roles.
Nathan Payas, tenor soloist for Puccini's Gloria, made his professional debut
in 2003 in the Evansville Philharmonic's production of Bizet's best-known opera,
"Carmen."
Since then Payas, a Gibraltar native with a performer's diploma from Indiana
University in Bloomington, has performed across the country as well as in Europe
and Turkey.
Jon Truitt, baritone soloist for the Gloria, is head of choral music at the
University of Evansville.
Truitt is a native of Houston who has performed across the nation with
professional opera companies and orchestras.
Both singers will join Alfred Savia, the orchestra's music director and
conductor, to discuss the program and meet with audience members in a preconcert
talk at 7 p.m. Saturday.
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2007/feb/22/orchestras-classics-concert-has-a-youthful/
