An Enchanted Evening of Broadway
October 24
Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall at FSW
2020-2021 Season Sponsor: Gunterberg Charitable Foundation – Culliton Family
Conductor
Dr. Andrew M. Kurtz
Vocalists
Sarah Nordin
Tyler Putnam
Welcome Back
Welcome to the first of our Socially Distanced Saturdays, presented in partnership with Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall at FSW. We are so excited to be back here performing live music for a live audience for the first time since March.
Tonight’s program features baritone Tyler Putnam and mezzo-soprano Sarah Nordin, performing memorable songs from the Great White Way. Broadway may still be closed, but tonight we will take you there!
Program
Broadway Tonight!
Various (Bruce Chase)
Shall We Dance, from the King & I
Rodgers
So in Love, from Kiss Me, Kate
Porter
The Sound of Music
Rodgers
If Ever I would Leave You, from Camelot
Loewe
Cain’t Say No!, from Oklahoma!
Rodgers
All ‘Er Nothing, from Oklahoma!
Rodgers
Music from Guys and Dolls
Loesser
Cock Eyed Optimist, from South Pacific
Rodgers
Some Enchanted Evening, from South Pacific
Rodgers
Ol’ Man River, from Show Boat
Kern
If I Loved You, from Carousel
Rodgers
You’ll Never Walk Alone, from Carousel
Rodgers
Vocalist
Sarah Nordin
Praised by Opera News for the “clear beauty” of her voice and her “spot-on comic timing,” mezzo-soprano Sarah Nordin brings an exquisite blend of vocal artistry and strong dramatic instincts to a variety of repertoire across opera and concert stages.
An accomplished Mozartean, Ms. Nordin has garnered critical acclaim for her interpretation of several of the composer’s most memorable roles. Recently, she made her debut as Zerlina in Don Giovanni at Opera Orlando and Geneva Light Opera. She has sung Dorabella in Così fan tutte a number of times, including at Opera Tampa, Winter Opera of St. Louis, and Opera Orlando. The St. Louis Post praised her “rich mezzo-soprano that fit Mozart’s music like a glove” and Ladue News called her singing “uniformly splendid.” She has also appeared as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro at Opera del West and Long Island Opera, as Marcellina at Hubbard Hall Opera Theatre, and as Third Lady in the The Magic Flute with Salt Marsh Opera.
On the concert stage, Ms. Nordin has appeared as alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Church of the Guardian Angel Manhattan, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Ocala Symphony Orchestra, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Orlando Philharmonic, among others. She has appeared in The Metropolitan Opera’s productions of Les Troyens, Parsifal, Otello, Boris Godunov, Nabucco, and Turandot as a member of their professional ensemble. She has been featured in three HD Live Broadcasts and toured with The Met to Japan in 2012. She has also toured internationally as a soloist with the American Spiritual Ensemble.
Ms. Nordin has participated in several prestigious Young Artist programs, among them Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Central City Opera, Caramoor, Opera North, and Opera Orlando. She is also an award-winning ballroom dancer, accomplished french horn player, and costume designer. She received her B.M. from Lee University and her M.M. from University of Tennessee.
Vocalist
Tyler Putnam
Possessing a voice described as “robust and resonant” by TheatreMania and deemed a “standout” by Opera Magazine, bass Tyler Putnam brings a combination of intelligent musicianship and spirited dramatic interpretation to a wide variety of repertoire across the United States.
In 2014, he made his Off-Broadway debut with The Little Opera Theatre of NY at 59E59 in the title role of Carlisle Floyd’s Markheim. Opera News wrote, “Tyler Putnam gave a superb performance in the title role, alternately self-serving, malevolent and tragic. Markheim is something of a tour de force for bass, and Putnam proved more than up to the task.” Mr. Putnam has also appeared as Babayan (Bartolo) in ¡FIGARO 90210!, Vid Guerrerio’s multicultural re-imagining of the Mozart/DaPonte classic presented by Ragman Ventures, LLC at the Hopkins Center for the Arts (Dartmouth College), which he later covered on Broadway at The Duke on 42nd Street.
Mr. Putnam’s strong dramatic instincts have made him memorable in a variety of musical theatre and operetta roles. Luther Billis in South Pacific has become one of the bass’s signature characters, which he debuted at Opera North (NH) and reprised at St. Petersburg Opera (FL), garnering praise from BroadwayWorld.com: “In the key, clownish role of Luther Billis, Tyler Putnam was a hoot!” He also appeared as Macheath in The Threepenny Opera with The Princeton Festival, The Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance and Pooh-Bah in The Mikado with Raylynmor Opera, Franz Liebkind in The Producers and Steven Kodaly in She Loves Me at New London Barn Playhouse.
Mr. Putnam has been awarded the Career Development Award from The Sullivan Foundation, the Top Prize from Career Bridges, the Randolph “Randy” Mickelson Memorial Fund Award for Excellence in Singing, and was District Winner (Boston) of the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions. Originally from Chebeague Island Maine, Mr. Putnam is a graduate of Dartmouth College.
Andrew M. Kurtz
Music & Executive Director
Gulf Coast Symphony founder Dr. Andrew M. Kurtz enters his twenty-sixth season as the Symphony’s Music & Executive Director, and conductor. His deep rooted commitment to new work, community and education, combined with a vibrant artistic vision has led to creating and nurturing one of the most dynamic arts organizations in the region. His conducting has been called “passionate, expansive, expert, and musical.” He was named the 2007 Performing Artist of the Year at Lee County’s Angel of the Arts Awards. Kurtz’s repertoire encompasses a wide range of music styles from baroque to contemporary, and multiple genres including symphonic, opera, ballet, musical theater, jazz, cantorial, and symphonic pops.
An avid arts educator, Maestro Kurtz was Resident Music Director at the Luzerne Music Center. Kurtz is a past-president of the board of the Lee County Alliance for the Arts. In 2001, he won First Prize in the Dell’Arte di Firenze International Conducting Competition, and made his European conducting debut in Florence. In 1995, Kurtz made his international operatic debut in Tel Aviv while working as a staff conductor at the Israel Vocal Arts Institute. In 1997, he conducted the Metropolitan Opera Guild’s educational tour production of The Best of Puccini. He was a scholarship conducting student at the prestigious Aspen Music Festival, and boasts numerous other conducting credits, including the Pennsylvania Opera Theater, the Pennsylvania Ballet, the Charlotte Symphony, Gonzaga Symphony, and the Ocean City Pops.
Kurtz completed his doctoral studies in conducting at the Peabody Conservatory and is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Virginia where he received his master’s degree in music history and a bachelor of arts in music and drama. A native of Philadelphia, Kurtz has called Southwest Florida home for more than 28 years, where he currently resides with his wife, Julie, and their son, Benjamin.
Gulf Coast Symphony Orchestra Members
Violin 1
Sean O’Neil~
Carlann Evans~
Charles Hardt~
Jonathan Lawrence
Ariel Eliot~
Violin 2
Galen Kaup~
Marcia Prezioso
Ron Erickson
John DiPuccio~
Sharyl Leifeld
Viola
Alfonso Giordano
Rachel Cox~
Greg Lane~
Cello
Antonio Innaimo~
Andreas Werle
Scott Crowley~
Timothy Torres~
Double Bass
Scott Davis~
John Wadsworth
Logan HedgePath
Flute
Deb Handley
Oboe
Beky Steinbrecher
Clarinet
John Giacco
Nicholas Contreras
Bassoon
Stacey Gossmann
Horn
Susan Oliver
Steve Kreuz
Trumpet
Alan Evans~
Alan Klispie~
Trombone
Kevin Devitt~
Drum Set
Paul Gavin~
Percussion
Scott Crawford~
Harp
Barbara Kraichy
~ Denotes Gulf Coast Chamber Orchestra Member
Upcoming Concerts
Starts 11/11