We’re featuring an interview with soprano Nancy Pifer on this week’s episode of WMYA.  Nancy is one of the soloists for the upcoming Verdi Requiem performance from Midwest Young Artists at the Civic Opera House in downtown Chicago, and she graciously agreed to do an interview for the podcast.  Learn more about Nancy at her website nancypifer.com.
Midwest Young Artists’ Symphony Orchestra is celebrating the end of their 07-08 concert season with a collaborative performance of Verdi’s Requiem at Chicago’s Civic Opera House on Saturday, April 26, 2008 at 7:30 PM.  The concert features both MYA’s Chorale and Symphony Orchestra with Northwestern University Choruses and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Concert Choir. MYA welcomes guest artists Nancy Pifer, soprano; Stacy Eckert, mezzo-soprano; Noah Stewart, tenor; and Charles Robert Austin, bass, as soloists for this grand work. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at www.mya.org or by calling 847-926-9898.

About Nancy:

Equally at home in both concert and operatic repertoire, soprano Nancy Pifer has performed with many ensembles and Opera companies worldwide. With the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Miss Pifer recently sang the role of Ascagne in Les Troyens, by Hector Berlioz, with Zubin Mehta conducting. She has also appeared in the role of Schleppträgerin in Daniel Barenboim’s production of Richard Strauss’ Elektra both in Chicago, and in New York at Carnegie Hall. At the Ravinia Festival, she was heard in Schumann’s Scenes from Goethe’s Faust, under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach. With the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, she appeared in Beethoven’s Egmont, with Lawrence Foster, and to critical acclaim, in Act I of Wagner’s Die Walküre, with Jay Friedman conducting.

Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder marked Nancy’s debut with the Indianapolis Symphony, conducted by Raymond Leppard. Recent concerts include Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and Dvorák’s Te Deum. In January of 2001, she was featured in the world premiere of  “A Symphony of Place” by James Kimo Williams, commissioned by the Village of Oak Park.

At the Aldeburgh Festival in England, Miss Pifer was featured in Master Classes held at the Britten-Pears School, taught by Dame Joan Sutherland & Richard Bonynge. Shortly thereafter, she met the distinguished soprano and educator Margaret Harshaw who was to become Miss Pifer’s teacher and mentor. Miss Pifer is a winner of the Friedrich Schorr Memorial Prize in Voice, has participated in the “Art of Singing Wagner” program held at Bayreuth in Germany, and is a recipient of the prestigious Scholl Career Grant.

Miss Pifer’s most recent performances include Isoldes Liebestod from Wagner’s Tristan & Isolde, and the Immolation Scene from Wagner’s Götterdämmerung.

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