Once again, Canton’s International Festival returns to The Village Theater at Cherry Hill on Saturday, November 19, 2016, from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.One of the many featured performances slated to take place at 1 p.m. during the International Festival is a special appearance by Soprano Clodagh Earls and Tenor Tyler Bouque, presented by the Verdi Opera Theatre of Michigan. These talented performers will be accompanied by piano collaborator John Pavik.
Hailed as "spectacular" and the "epitome of vocal fireworks" Canadian soprano Clodagh Earls, presently residing in Birmingham, MI, is quickly gaining recognition for her soaring coloratura, and captivating stage presence on the North American operatic and concert scene. Ms. Earls has many opera roles credited to her name: Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Concert Opera Group and C.O.S.I.), Adina in L'Elisir d'Amore (CGO), Miss Silverpeal in Mozart's The Impresario (New York Lyric Opera), Olympia in Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann (Franco-American Vocal Academy, France), and Papagena in Mozart's The Magic Flute (Opera on the Avalon). Ms. Earls has performed in Italy, Germany, Austria and France, working with several noted directors and conductors. In 2015, Ms. Earls joined the Michigan Opera Theatre, in Detroit, as an apprentice artist, performing as Calaveras in the company premiere of Robert Xavier Rodriguez's Frida and, later, as Olga in Lehar's The Merry Widow alongside celebrated American soprano Deborah Voigt, and finishing the season performing in Gounod's Faust. This year Ms. Earls sang the role of Mrs. Jenks in MOT's production of Aaron Copland's The Tender Land, and in 2017 she will perform the role of Amy in MOT's production of Mark Adamo's Little Women.
A multi-faceted talent, tenor Tyler Bouque is an Honors and Advanced Placement student at Troy High School where he will be graduating after three years and where he excels as a singer, composer, symphonic and jazz band member, as well as Theatre Ensemble and Forensics club member. For the last two years, Tyler was selected as one of the ten finalists of the annual Italian Songs and Arias Vocal Competition for Michigan High School Students, sponsored by the Verdi Opera Theatre of Michigan and the Italian American Club of Livonia Charitable Foundation. This is considered the state's top singing competition for high school classical and opera vocalists. After beginning his training with the Michigan Opera Theatre Children's Chorus, Tyler now studies with Drake Dantzler at Oakland University. An avid composer in his free time, Tyler hopes to follow music as a career path and dreams of writing music for film someday.
The piano collaborator for Ms. Earls and Mr. Bouque will be John Pavik, an outstanding and rising young talent actively involved in the local music scene as a soloist and piano accompanist.
The Verdi Opera Theatre of Michigan, founded in 1988 and based in Canton, MI, is a non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging and supporting the development of young opera singers, and to fostering appreciation of the music of Giuseppe Verdi and other composers of opera and popular music for the theatre, for everyone's enjoyment and cultural enrichment.
Don’t miss these talented vocalists perform on Saturday, November 19, at 1:00 p.m., on The Village Theater at Cherry Hill’s main stage, located at 50400 Cherry Hill Road, Canton, MI, 49187. For additional information about this year’s International Festival, which is presented by the Canton Commission for Culture, Arts & Heritage’s Multicultural Committee, visit www.cantonvillagetheater.org or call 734/394-5300.