No Commute! SF Opera’s Adler Fellows are performing classical favorites this Friday, October 12, at SRJC’s Petaluma Campus

San Francisco Opera’s 2012 Adler Fellows. Select fellows from the 2012 and 2013 Adlers will perform a special concert at SRJC’s Petaluma Campus on Friday, October 10, 2012. Photo: courtesy SF Opera
When the Santa Rosa Junior College Chamber Series made the decision to add vocal repertoire to its performances, it went straight to the top, enlisting San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellows, literally the most talented young opera singers in the country. This Friday, October 12, 2012, 4 talented Adlers will perform opera, art songs and chansons in a rare and exclusive North Bay exclusive presentation at the Carole L. Ellis Auditorium at the Petaluma Campus of SRJC. Performing Adlers are soprano Nadine Sierra, mezzo-soprano Laura Krumm, mezzo-soprano Renee Rapier and baritone Ao Li. One of the most exciting experiences you can have is seeing these young artists perform early in their career—they are ALL stars through and through—and having the pleasure of watching their careers develop as they go on to perform at most of the world’s opera houses. Normally, seeing the Adlers perform entails a lot more work—crossing the bridge and parking—but SRJC has brought these young singers to our doorstep.
Program:
Miss Krumm: Gioacchino Rossini – La regata veneziana: Anzoleta avanti la regatta, Anzoleta co passa la regatta, Anzoleta dopo la regata
Ao Li: Franz Schubert -3 songs: Die Forelle, Ständchen, Der Erlkönig
Nadine Sierra: Sergei Rachmaninoff – Op. 38: Noch’ju v sadu u menja, K nej, Margaritki, Krysolov, Son, Au
Renée Rapier: Xavier Montsalvatge – Cinco canciónes negras: Cuba dentro de un piano, Punto da habanera, Chévere, Canción de cuna para dormir a un negrito, Canto negro
INTERMISSION
Laura Krumm: Rossini – The Barber of Seville: Una voce poco fa
Nadine Sierra: Verdi – Rigoletto: Caro nome
Renée Rapier: Offenbach – The Tales of Hoffmann: Vois sous l’archet frémissant
Ao Li: Wagner –Tannhäuser: O du mein holder Abendstern
Nadine Sierra, Renée Rapier: Bellini – I Capuleti e i Montecchi: Sì, fuggire!
Ao Li: Heggie – Moby Dick: Captain Ahab? I must speak with you
Nadine Sierra, Laura Krumm, Renée Rapier: Sondheim: You could drive a person crazy
Adler Fellows Performing Friday:
A native of Iowa City, Iowa, mezzo-soprano Laura Krumm is a first-year Adler Fellow. As a master’s student at the University of North Texas, she was awarded the Bill and Margo Winspear Award and was winner of the 2011 Concerto Competition She has performed in concerts and operas with La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy and OperaWorks in Los Angeles, and she was a finalist in the 2011 Dallas Opera Guild Competition.
Baritone Ao Li, a second-year Adler Fellow, is a native of Dezhou, China and studied at Shangdong Normal University A frequent recitalist in China, Li is a past recipient of the prestigious Youth of China award, third prize in both the Shandong Qilu Style Contest and the Taipei World Chinese Vocal Competition, the bronze award in The People’s Republic of China Ministry of Culture’s Eighth National Vocal Competition.
Second-year soprano Adler Fellow Nadine Sierra made her San Francisco Opera debut in 2011 creating the roles of Juliet and Barbara in the world premiere of Heart of a Soldier. Sierra’s recent awards include first prize of the George London Competition (2010), the Gerda Lissner International Competition (2010), the Loren Zachary Competition (2010) and the Stella Maris Competition (2011), as well as second prize in the Mirjam Helin International Vocal Competition (2009).
Making her San Francisco Opera debut this season, American mezzo-soprano Renée Rapier is a first-year Adler Fellow. Rapier holds a master’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa. She has been the recipient of the Chautauqua Studio Artist Award, a winner in the Schubert Club Scholarship Competition, a national finalist of the Bel Canto Vocal Scholarship Foundation Competition, and was a national semifinalist at the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions in 2011.
Mark Morash is a conductor and pianist originally from Halifax, Canada. He serves as the director of musical studies for San Francisco Opera Center where he has conducted for the Merola program, the Adler Fellow Showcase and Western Opera Theater. Morash is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he studied collaborative piano with Martin Katz. Morash has taught at the University of Toronto and has given master classes throughout the U.S. and Canada and most recently in New Zealand.
More About the Adler Fellow Program: Named for the late great San Francisco Opera General Director Kurt Herbert Adler, the Adler Fellowship Program is the Princeton of performance-oriented residencies, offering exceptional young artists intensive individual training, coaching, professional seminars and a wide range of performance opportunities throughout their fellowship. The Adler Fellows have all been selected from the Merola Opera Program, a prestigious resident artist training program sponsored by San Francisco Opera and San Francisco Opera Center that has nurtured the development of more than 150 young artists since its inception.
There are currently ten 2012 Adler Fellows and thirteen new 2013 Adler Fellows were announced on September 26, 2012. That list includes continuing Adlers from 2012: Marina Harris, soprano; Joo Won Kang, baritone; Laura Krumm, mezzo soprano; Ao Li, baritone; Robert Mollicone, coach and accompanist; and Renée Rapier, mezzo soprano. New 2013 participants include: Hadleigh Adams, bass-baritone, from New Zealand; Jennifer Cherest, soprano, from Maryland; AJ Glueckert, tenor, from Portland, OR; Chuanyue Wang, tenor, from China; Erin Johnson, mezzo-soprano, from New Jersey; and Sun Ha Yoon, apprentice coach, from South Korea. Phillipe Sly, bass-baritone, from the Merola class of 2011 is also included. Unusually, he skipped a year, during which he became a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and appeared in several Canadian Opera Company productions.
Fiday’s SRJC Concert Details: Friday, October 12, at 7:30 PM. Doors open at 7 PM, Carole L. Ellis Auditorium, Petaluma Campus, SRJC. Tickets are $25 adult/$15 youth. Parking is included for all performances. Tickets on sale now through City Box Office or (415) 392-4400, M-F 9:30 AM to 4 PM. All ticket orders placed less than 7 days prior to performance will be held at Will Call for pick up on the day of performance
Other Upcoming Adler Fellow Performances: The Adler Fellows’ season culminates with a special year-end concert featuring the singers in an evening of opera scenes and arias with the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. This year’s concert, The Future Is Now: Adler Fellows Gala Concert, showcasing the acclaimed 2012 Adler Fellows, takes place on Friday, November 30, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. at Herbst Theatre in San Francisco.
ARThound’s pervious coverage of Adler concerts: San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellows Perform Opera Favorites for last Sunday’s Marin Guild Gala (August 9, 2011)
Petaluma Cinema Series 15 fabulous films on Wednesday Nights through May

In Frederick Marx's Journey from Zanskar, screening at the Petaluma Film Series this Wednesday, a road threatens the indigenous Zanskar's culture and unbroken Budhist traitions children are sent to a special school to preserve the language and culture. Photo: Nick Sherman
The 4th season of the Petaluma Cinema Series is underway. Bay Area award-winning filmmaker Frederick Marx’s 2010 documentary, Journey from Zanskar, screens Wednesday, February 9, 2011 at 7 p.m. at the Carole L. Ellis Auditorium on Santa Rosa Junior College’s Petaluma campus. Frederick Marx will be in conversation with Mike Traina, series organizer and SRJC Film Instructor, at 6 p.m. and the community is encouraged to attend.
The Petaluma Cinema Series offers 15 films in 15 weeks every fall and spring in conjunction with the SJRC’s fall and spring semesters. The series mixes community and guests with film students in a cinemateque environment and is sponsored by the Petaluma Film Alliance, a strategic partnership between the SRJC, community businesses, and private individuals dedicated to film awareness within the community. The Ellis Auditorium is a spectacular film facility, offering HD, full surround sound and new seating.
Mike Traina has organized both the series and the alliance and is excited about its potential. “The overriding objective is to showcase a balanced blend of foreign, classic, and independent films and to create a progression that showcases film techniques for the students who are taking it as a class. The first third of the films are about the filmmaker’s journey and a broad introduction to film appreciation at a more advanced level. In the middle block, each film is selected to showcase a particular aspect of film aesthetics–production design, cinematography, sound, or acting. The last third is special topics– animation, film noir, surrealism. And because the college emphasizes special calendar events—black history month, so forth–I try to create some overlap within the cinema series. In March, all of the introductions will have some focus on women in the industry. I’ve got two directors–Jacqueline Zünd will be in conversation about Goodnight Nobody and I’ll screen Mira Nair’s film Monsoon Wedding which I’m also using to highlight its cinematography. I’ve got two icons too— Elizabeth Taylor and Marlena Dietrich. “
Fredrick Marx’s Journey from Zanskar, screening Wednesday with Marx in the pre-film discussion, was very popular with audiences at the Mill Valley Film Festival last October. The 90 minute documentary tells a moving and important story about the heroism of monks and children who are trying to preserve Tibetan culture. Like many documentaries in this genre, the film is also controversial and has been criticized (Zanskar Resource) for its role in creating a situation that will popularize Zanskar and thereby accelerate the destruction of its untainted culture and traditions.
For Mike Traina, including the film in the series was an easy choice “Marx is a long time Bay Area filmmaker and I like to showcase work that is produced in Bay Area and filmmakers who try to work outside the industry and he has done this quite successfully. His Hoop Dreams, about boys and basketball, was nominated for an Oscar in 1995. He’s also trying to raise awareness about Zanskar and has a nonprofit related to roads and schools in the region. Anytime we can bring a filmmaker of this caliber in and provide the community with direct access, we try to do it.”
Petaluma Cinema Series line-up:
February 9: Journey from Zanskar (Frederick Marx, 2010, USA)
February 16: Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembene, 2004, Senegal) Moolaadé tells the extraordinary tale of a brave West African woman who decides to shelter four little girls from the torturous (and sometimes fatal) procedure of female circumcision, a traditional rite of passage in her village. This sumptuously shot and thought-provoking film, directed by the African continent’s most internationally acclaimed filmmaker, elegantly addresses one of the most controversial issues of our age.
February 23: Y Tu Mamá También (Alfonso Cuaron, 2001, Mexico) Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna star in this sexy coming-of-age road movie. Acclaimed Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron explores the sensual and chaotic relationships between the three central characters as well as the socio-political changes taking place in Mexico itself, ultimately offering the viewer powerful lessons concerning life, love, and growing up.
March 2: The Blue Angel (Joseph von Sternberg, 1930, Germany) Joseph Von Sternberg’s 1930 expressionist classic uses memorable performances and extraordinary visual design to tell the story of a pretentious professor (Emil Jannings) and the seductive cabaret singer (Marlene Dietrich) who manipulates him into despair and shame. A relentless, twisted tragedy of repression and moral degradation, The Blue Angel is a milestone in the expressionist canon and a portrait of crumbling Weimar Germany.
March 9: Monsoon Wedding (Mira Nair, 2001, India) Cultures and families collide in Mira Nair’s exuberant Bollywood tale of five interweaving love stories set against the background of an arranged Indian marriage. Cathartic and colorful, this entertaining crowd pleaser has warmed the hearts of audiences around the world and become one of India’s biggest global box office sensations.
March 16: Goodnight Nobody (Jacqueline Zünd, 2010, Switzerland)
March 30: A Place in the Sun (George Stevens, 1951, USA)
April 6: Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980, USA)
April 13: The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974, USA)
April 20: The Big Animal (Jerzy Stuhr, 2000, Poland)
April 27: Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder, 1944, USA)
May 4: Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson, 2009, USA)
May 11: You, the Living (Roy Anderson, 2007, Sweden)
May 18: Annie Hall (Woody Allen, 1977, USA)
Details: Wednesday evenings from February 9 through May 18, 2011. Pre-film lectures at 6 p.m. Films at 7 p.m. Theatre seats 257 persons with handicap accessibility. General Admission $5, Seniors and PFA members $4, Individual Series Pass $40, Students with ASP card free. Box office is open from 5:30-7:15 p.m. on Wednesday nights.
Parking: On campus parking is $4 and visitors to the campus will need $4 in change or crisp bills to purchase a dashboard parking pass from the yellow machines in the parking lots. The machines do not give change. The pass is good until midnight.
Special Cinema Series Parking Passes: Those attending the series can purchase a $20 series parking pass at the box office at Carole L. Ellis Auditorium to display on their dashboards which will cover parking from 5 p.m. onward on evenings that films are screening thus avoiding SRJC’s yellow parking machine experience altogether.
For additional information email: info@petalumafilmfest.org or http://www.petalumafilmfest.org/home/Petaluma_Film_Alliance.html