For Immediate Release:
Contact: David Kuehn, Executive Director
Cotuit Center for the Arts
Phone: (508) 428-0669
Email: David@cotuitcenterforthearts.org
Website: ArtsOnTheCape.org
“An Evening of Song” at Cotuit Center for the Arts
Soprano Deborah Selig, tenor Gregory Zavracky, and pianist Patricia Au will present “An Evening of
Song” on Thursday, March 19, at 7:30 PM, at Cotuit Center for the Arts. The program features songs
about love, complicated relationships, and the promise of warmer weather.
Selig has earned critical acclaim for her rich shimmering voice, her excellent artistic instincts, and her
fine execution of the lyric soprano repertoire. Zavracky has been praised for his fine musicality,
“glowing intensity,” and “clarion tone.” The couple has performed together and individually operas,
concerts with orchestras, and song recitals throughout the country.
A highlight of the program will be the premiere of “Sulla terra tocco il cielo,” composed by Zavracky,
based on poems written by Adriana Feoli. “I met Adriana at Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute,
where Deborah and I are both on the faculty. She gave me a book of her recently published poems,
and I really fell in love with the poetry. It’s very vivid, and she uses the Italian language beautifully.”
The work includes a cycle of 13 songs, each “a short moment,” including solos by both soprano and
tenor, “bookended by duets,” said Selig.
Selig and Zavracky, who met while performing together at the Chautauqua Opera, enjoy singing in
many languages and the program reflects that. The first half of the program includes songs in
German, French, and Swedish, in addition to Italian.
“We start with “Er und Sie,” a duet in German by Robert Schumann,” said Selig. “It is a love duet. The
lovers are not together, but they see each other in the stars and everything around them, as if they
are looking at the same thing together.”
Zavracky will then sing a set of three songs in French, each by a different composer. “I’ve tried to
construct a set that tells a story,” he said. Two of them, one by Eric Satie and one by Gabriel Fauré,
are to a woman named Sylvie. In the other, the singer compares his love to a flower that he has just
picked. “He sings ‘enjoy your beauty while it lasts because, like the flower, your beauty will wither as
well,’” said Zavracky.
Selig sings a trio of songs in Swedish by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. “They are fantastic songs,
about the darker side of love,” said Selig. “They tell of the fleeting nature of love, lost love—
expressing the idea that it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have experienced love
deeply, and, finally, a secret affair that ends in betrayal and grief.”
The second half of the program is in English. Zavracky will sing a set of spring-themed songs by
American composers, both familiar and not so well-known. Selig follows with “Late Summer,” a set of
songs by New York composer Tom Cipullo. “I’m really drawn to it because of the last song in the
group, which is a setting of a Stanley Kunitz poem called ‘Touch Me.’” said Selig. “He reflects, late in
life, on a very long marriage, and reveals his desire to rekindle the romance in the relationship.”
Selig and Zavracky close the evening with a selection of songs from the American Songbook.
This performance marks Selig and Zavracky’s debut at Cotuit Center for the Arts, but they are no
strangers to Cape Cod. Both have performed several times with the Falmouth Chorale, and will be
performing Handel’s Messiah with the Chorale on March 21 and 22, following their appearance at
Cotuit. Selig has soloed with the Cape Symphony, most recently this past November in a concert
titled, “Greatest Moments in Opera.”
“We love the opportunity to sing together,” said Selig, “whether it is one of the world’s greatest
oratorios, or this romantic song recital in the intimate venue at Cotuit Center for the Arts.
“We are honored to be playing with Patricia Au,” said Selig. “She is a very fine collaborative pianist
from Canada who has performed all over the world. She is currently finishing up her doctorate at
New England Conservatory.”
Selig has performed leading operatic roles with Boston Lyric Opera, Central City Opera, Chautauqua
Opera, Dayton Opera, Kentucky Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, and others. In concert, she has soloed with
Albany Symphony, Asheville Symphony, Cincinnati Baroque, Cincinnati Symphony, Dayton
Philharmonic, Erie Philharmonic, Greater Bridgeport Symphony, Handel and Haydn Society, Kentucky
Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic and the Tanglewood Festival Orchestra.
Zavracky has performed with Boston Lyric Opera, Townsend Opera, Lake George Opera, Cape Cod
Opera, Boston University Opera Institute, Metrowest Opera, Charleston Chamber Opera, Capitol
Heights Lyric Opera, and Chautauqua Opera.
Tickets are $25, $22 for seniors, and $20 for members. Premium tables with wine are available.
Cotuit Center for the Arts is at 4404 Route 28 in Cotuit. For more information, and to purchase tickets
visit artsonthecape.org or call 508-428-0669.
# # #
What:
“An Evening of Song”
Where:
Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Route 28, Cotuit
When:
Friday, March 19, 7:30 PM
Admission:
$25, $22 for seniors, $20 for members
END