Composer/organist/pianist Leonardo Ciampa creates a lush landscape, pulling from treasured works including:
Puccini – La rondine and Mannon Lescaut
Verdi – La Traviata and Il trovatore
Donizetti – Maria di Rohan and Lucia di Lammermoor
Mascagni – Cavalleria rusticana and L’amico Fritz
Mechanics Hall presents Love and Romance: A Night of Italian Opera.
What better way to set the mood for Valentine’s Day, than an evening of luscious Italian opera in the Great Hall at Mechanics Hall? Maestro Leonardo Ciampa has assembled an impressive sextet of singers, prepared to share a distinctive program of arias and ensembles from the great Italian operas – providing something for everyone to savor. Enjoy charcuterie and items from our full bar at your choice of table or theatre seating.
Adult: $25 Senior: $20 VIP Package: $120 Includes: Reserved, romantic Table for 2 in premium seating section, charcuterie for 2 and a sweet treat!
Seating and bar service begin at 7:00 pm, with the first singers taking the stage at 7:30 pm. Reserve tickets now
15% off Mechanics Hall Member tickets
Maestro Ciampa will be joined by a selection of talented singers, including:
British soprano Letitia Stevens has been praised for her expressive performances, warm, rich tone and comic timing.
Ms. Stevens recently returned to singing soprano, after many years singing mezzo-soprano: her first soprano role was Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte with Connecticut Lyric Opera, November 2017, a role she recently reprised with Opera51, “a wonderful Queen of the Night!… high Fs are amazing!” In October 2021 she premiered a set of songs, Les quatre éléments written for her by composer Leonardo Ciampa; at Mechanics Hall. In April 2023 she was the soprano soloist in the world-premiere of Requiem for William, also by Ciampa. She has appeared as soloist with Boston Bel Canto Opera and Greater Worcester Opera, and has given recitals in Boston, at the Shaftesbury Fringe (Dorset, UK) and in France. Her first post-COVID production was with Cambridge Chamber Ensemble, covering Isabells in Wagner’s Forbidden Love. Immediately pre-COVID she was fortunate to sing Madame Herz/Goldentrill in Der Schauspieldirektor with Rhode Island Opera on Tap, as well as excerpts of Queen of the Night and Countess. In July 2019 she gave return recitals at Rozet and Marthon in south-west France, about which Charente Libre wrote, “…she ignited the room with a majestic interpretation…”. In early 2019 she appeared as Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus with Lyric Opera Studio, Weimar and before that she sang Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare with The Connecticut Virtuosi & Connecticut Lyric Opera. In 2018-2020 she was a semi-finalist in: The American Prize, in both Opera and Art Song divisions; Talents of the World Competition and Harold Haugh Light Opera Competition.
Montreal Family Photos
Baritone Michael Meraw has performed with companies across North America (including: Pacific Opera Victoria, the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, the Banff Centre, Edmonton Opera, the Richard Eaton Singers, Symphony Regina, the National Arts Centre, the Thirteen Strings, Opéra Atelier, Opera in Concert, Montreal Opera, Seattle Opera, Virginia Opera, and the Boston Symphony Orchestra), in repertoire ranging from Monteverdi and Handel, to Webern and Szymanowski.
Not only has Meraw garnered critical acclaim in the standard repertoire, winning praise for his Figaro in Rossini’s Barber of Seville and Orff’s Carmina Burana, but he has also brought lesser-known works to new audiences through his incisive portrayals of such roles as King Roger by Szymanowski (“Meraw did well as Roger, with nervy urgency and gripping delivery of his increasingly anguished lines…” — Geoff Chapman, The Toronto Star) and Sir John A. MacDonald in Somers’s Louis Riel (“Dealing with a vocal part that veers from sprechgesang to dramatic declamation, baritone Michael Meraw showed great vocal cut and thrust, in addition to contributing a striking stage presence.” — Richard Turp, Opera Canada). Mr. Meraw has performed many of the standard baritone parts in oratorio including Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah, Judas Maccabeas, Joshua and Israel in Egypt, and the Requiems of Brahms and Fauré. A regular recitalist, his repertoire spans the baritone repertoire in English, French, German, Italian and Russian. As well as his regular voice studio at New England Conservatory and his responsibilities as the Artistic Director of NEC’s Undergraduate Opera Studio, Mr. Meraw has become a regular Master clinician and adjudicator at several festivals in China, as well as at AIMS in Graz. Many of his students have gone onto success, winning positions in young artist programs and artist contracts in the United States, Canada and Europe. Michael’s students can include La Scala, the Chatelet, L’Opera Comique in Paris, Minnesota Opera, St. Louis Opera, Montreal Opera, BBC Proms, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra among their recent credits.
Native of Kyiv, Ukraine, Olga Lisovska holds degrees from Middlebury College, École Normale de Musique d’A. Cortot in Paris, France and L’Institut des Sciences Politiques in Paris, France. Hailed as “soprano extraordinaire” by WBUR, Olga is a critically acclaimed classical soprano, whose career involves both singing on prestigious concert stages, including Carnegie Hall, teaching & coaching, and producing performances/events/festivals.
Olga produced award-winning operas at Commonwealth Lyric Theater, a Boston-based opera company, and Talents of the World’s Annual Music Festival at Carnegie Hall. As a performer, Ms. Lisovska’s concerts have been featured on Ukrainian, Italian and American TV and radio, including on the Today Show and WBUR. Olga is also a founder of a nonprofit organization, Music, Arts and Fashion Productions, whose mission is to promote the arts and to educate. Ms. Lisovska is a sought-after voice teacher since 2001. As diction and public speaking coach she has been working with Tanglewood Festival Chorus at Boston Symphony, AstraZeneca pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, with Odyssey Opera, and New England Conservatory, among others. Being a passionate connector, Olga serves as Managing Partner at Sky International Center, the largest international social, cultural and business network of 25,000 members in New England. Since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, Olga co-founded Sky Philanthropy, a non-profit organization, which supports people in crisis. Sky Philanthropy produced two Boston Ukrainian Festivals, which were attended by over 3,000 people (in 2022) and 5,000 people (in 2023) and were featured in major news outlets. Ms. Lisovska has been giving performance lectures about Ukrainian music and song literature to audiences ranging from children, to students in universities, to adults and seniors.
Teddy Edgar is a Boston-based tenor and actor, hailed by a Boston critic to be “ready for prime-time”! He started his extensive training in Music Theatre and Vocal Performance at the elite Walnut Hill School for the Arts, located in Natick, MA.
Teddy won several awards in high school, including: First Place for Music Theatre (twice) and Second Place at NATS, First Place for the Opera Division at The Peter Elvins Competition, and Finalist for both The Hal Leonard Competition and The Classical Singer Competition. At Oklahoma City University, Teddy earned his Bachelor of Music as a double major in Music Theatre and Vocal Performance. Teddy recently received his Master of Music in Opera Performance from Boston Conservatory at Berklee in May 2023. Professional credits include Giuseppe Zangara in Assassins by Stephen Sondheim with Lyric Stage Boston, Chef Louis in Disney’s The Little Mermaid by Alan Menken with Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston, Farmer in Oklahoma by Rodgers and Hammerstein with Reagle Music Theatre of Greater Boston, and the Ensemble of Pippin by Stephen Schwartz.
Heather Gallagher’s work has been hailed as “standout” (Lawrence A. Johnson, The Miami Herald), “vivid and convincing” Angelo Mao, Boston Classical Review and “great fun”, Jim Lowe, The Barre Montpellier Times. Credits include, La Tragedie de Carmen (Carmen, Seaglass Opera), Whaling Women (Ruth Post, world premiere, Seaglass Opera), the grammy nominated recording of Haroun and the Sea of Stories (Soraya, BMOP), Patience (Lady Saphir, Odyssey Opera) and Ourland (The Policewoman, world premiere, San Jose Chamber Orchestra).
Ms. Gallagher is an Emerging Opera Alumnus with Boston Lyric Opera where she performed a number of comprimario roles, including Mercedes in director Calixto Bieitos staging of Carmen (San Francisco Opera). As a creator and producer she has mounted a number of successful pandemic era productions online and in person through Cultural Wasteland with the help of dramaturg, Peter Schiepers. CW productions include, The Heart Cannot Hold, Letters from New York: the Music of Chris DeBlasio, Britten + Auden, “Crazy B&%ch!”: Classical Music’s Difficult Women, Tom Lehrer for President: An Election Eve Cabaret and a chamber concert version of Das Lied von der Erde. Ms. Gallagher is a soloist in the all professional ensemble at First Church Boston under the direction of Gigi Mitchell Velasco. In her spare time she enjoys baking, biking and creating a fumetti photo style running comic called, Les Familles des Animaux.
Described as having “a comfortable mastery of vocal technique”, internationally accredited Lucas Hickman is a lyric tenor hailing originally from Carlisle, Massachusetts.
His performance credits include Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana with Opera51, Tito in La clemenza di Tito with Metrowest Opera, Cavaradossi in Tosca with Opera51, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore with the Monterrey Summer Opera Academy, and Bardolfo in Falstaff with the International Summer Opera Festival of Morelia. He also performed with companies such as Boston Lyric Opera, San Antonio Opera, Boston Symphony Orchestra and Opera Vermont. He received his Masters Degree in Voice from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and Bachelors of Music from Ithaca College. A first year Resident Artist with Austin Opera, he will be joining the chorus and covering the role of Pinkerton in their upcoming production of Madame Butterfly.
Leonardo Ciampa
Born in Boston in 1971, composer/organist/pianist LEONARDO CIAMPA is a musician of international acclaim. He is director of music at Our Lady of the Angels and Emanuel Lutheran Church in Worcester, MA, Founding Director of the Organ Festival of Worcester, and Maestro di Cappella Onorario of the Basilica in Gubbio, Italy.
Previously, he served as Artistic Director of “Music for a Great Hall” at Mechanics Hall, Composer-in-Residence at Mechanics Hall, founding director of Arts MetroWest, and artistic director of organ concerts at MIT.
As an organist, Ciampa has toured Europe extensively, performing in Italy, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland, and in major festivals such as Festival Perosiano, Festival Organistico Lauretano, and Pistoia Musica Antica. He has given recitals at cathedrals in Vienna, New York City, Boston, and Lucca; basilicas in Rome, Turin, Loreto, and Absam; and abbeys in Dürnstein and Camaiore.
His compositions include Suite Siciliana (commissioned for the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra’s 25th season), several cantatas, organ symphonies (including the Worcester Organ Symphony), and numerous organ works performed by organists across the U.S. Notable premieres include Missa Pamphyliana in Gubbio and Suite Divina at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC.
As a pianist, Ciampa has performed at Zankel Hall (Carnegie Hall) and Mechanics Hall and marked Chopin’s 200th birthday with a six-recital series in Boston. An avid writer, he is the author of books on bel canto, Don Lorenzo Perosi, and Beniamino Gigli.
Free tickets also available through Vettix.org, an organization that provides tickets to events which reduce stress, strengthen family bonds, build life-long memories and encourage service members and veterans to stay engaged with local communities and American life.
