The DictionBuddy Concert Series is aimed at showcasing performers that have achieved the highest level of skill in vocal presentation and lyric diction in various languages.
Our Third Concert in the series focuses on ENGLISH diction and classical music heritage.
Through an unbiased audition process, a number of singers who possess the highest level of vocal and diction skills, were selected to appear in the DictionBuddy Concert Series. Industry recognized diction experts help select the winners for the concert.
Concert Date & Time: October 2, 2021 at 8pm EST
LIVESTREAM:
https://dictionbuddy.com/english-concert

In this episode we will be interviewing a Kathleen Roland-Silverstein, a highly regarded concert soloist, well known for her interpretation of the music of the 20th and 21st centuries. Kathleen is the author of a new anthology of Swedish art song, Romanser: 25 Swedish Art Songs with Guide to Lyric Diction.
Kathleen has been a featured singer with many music festivals, including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Britten-Pears Institute, and the Tanglewood Music Festival and has performed with many prominent conductors, including James Conlon, Kent Nagano, Reinbert de Leeuw, and Oliver Knussen. Kathleen has been a frequent soloist with the Grammy Award-winning Southwest Chamber Music Society of Los Angeles, with whom she has garnered critical acclaim for her performances. Kathleen is a Fulbright senior scholar and an American Scandinavian Foundation grantee. She is a frequent master clinician for some of the country’s premiere young artist programs and universities, including Songfest, Tanglewood, University of Southern California, and Manhattan School of Music. She has written a number of articles for the Journal of Singing and Classical Singer magazine and is the editor of the National Opera Association’s newsletter, Notes. Upcoming performances include concerts in Indiana, California, New York, Cambodia, and Sweden.

In this episode we will be interviewing a rising soprano Zhanna Alkhazova will speak of her balancing a new family with her operatic career. Zhanna performed TURANDOT with NJ Verismo
Opera, the title role of MANON LESCAUT with Sarasota Opera,
Commonwealth Lyric Opera, New Rochelle Opera among others. Internationally, she has performed in Canada, Italy, Ireland and Russia, where she headlined a critically acclaimed recital tour. She is a frequent featured soloist with the Refugee Orchestra Project and has been featured on the cover of a Russian-American magazine. Ms. Alkhazova was most recently awarded top prizes in the NJ Verismo Opera Competition. Other awards include top prizes in the Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition, the Arkadi Foundation Competition and the Rhode Island NATS Competition. She was named finalist in the Career Bridges Competition, Kaliningrad International “Nightingale” Competition and a semi-finalist in The Montserrat Caballé International Singing Competition and the Elizabeth Connell International Competition for Dramatic Sopranos. Originally from Moscow, Russia, Ms. Alkhazova grew up in the New England area where she completed her studies, graduating with a Master of Music Degree from Boston University.

In this episode we will be interviewing, Patrick D. McCoy, who distinguished himself as a choral conductor, singer and music journalist residing in the Washington, D. C. area. A native of Petersburg, VA, he earned the BM in vocal performance from Virginia State University where he studied voice with the late Martin A. Strother, sang in the University Concert Choir under the direction Johnnella L. Edmonds and Opera Workshop with Lisa Edwards-Burrs. In 2005, he earned the Master of Music in Church music from Shenandoah University where he studied with Metropolitan Opera tenor Michael O. Forest and organ/sacred music with Dr. Steven Cooksey. Juxtaposing a busy schedule between writing and public appearances, he has covered the arts for several outlets, including The Washington Post, Prince George’s Suite Magazine, The Afro American Newspaper, CBS Washington, Early Music America, Examiner.com and ArtSong Update, among others.
Formerly the performing arts columnist for Washington Life Magazine, he currently serves as Organist/Choirmaster at Saint John’s Episcopal Church in Beltsville, MD. Notable appearances include presenting at the 2012 African American Artsong Alliance Conference at the University of California at Irvine, Moderator: Mendelssohn Elijah Panel at The Kennedy Center, Moderator: Symposium Series at the 2014 Colour of Music Festival and Moderator: Blacks in Classical Music Panel hosted by the Coalition of African Americans in the Performing Arts He is a member of the Music Critics Association of North America, Shenandoah University Alumni Board of Directors and is a life member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.

In this episode we will be interviewing star baritone, Kenneth Overton who has sung with major opera houses in the US and internationally. He is set to make his Metropolitan Opera debut this coming season in the return of the critically acclaimed and wildly successful Porgy Bess production as Lawyer Frazier. Stepping into the shoes of his late mentor Arthur Woodley.

Mr. Overton’s recent appearances as the title role of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess have included Opéra de Montréal, Palacio Bellas Artes in Mexico City, and the Royal Danish Opera. It was in this role that he made his international debut at Deutsche Oper Berlin in Cape Town Opera’s critically acclaimed production, and appeared in concert with both Cologne’s WDR Symphony Orchestra at the Klangvokal Music Festival in Dortmund, and the Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra, Richmond Symphony, and Paducha Symphony, as well as on tour throughout the British Isles. Kenneth Overton’s other concert performances include Handel’s Messiah with the Phoenix Symphony and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the New Jersey Symphony. This season he returns to David Geffen Hall in Mozart’s Requiem with the National Chorale and makes his Hungarian State Opera debut as Porgy.

In this episode we will be interviewing a mastermind behind a number of tech breakthrough projects in the arts such as Resonance and Accompanist. Raymon brings more than 15 years of experience in the creative industry as a professional voice teacher, opera singer, and entrepreneur.
A proud member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, he has directed numerous music programs and many of his students have won awards from prestigious competitions including the MONC and NATS Auditions, and performed at Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, multiple Broadway tours, and concert venues.
​He maintains a professional operatic career for over a decade, singing at some of the top regional festivals and companies in the United States and Canada, including the Spoleto Festival, Sarasota Opera, Virginia Opera, Caramoor Music Festival, and Opera on the Avalon.

In this episode we will be interviewing the wonderful and dynamic entrepreneur and influencer of the opera world, Eugenia Forteza. Eugenia has created a very active and engaged audience across social media channels and has helped various brands and individuals get the word out about their service to the classical / opera world very effectively. In addition to being a powerhouse business-wise, she also sings with a beautiful mezzo-soprano voice and has garnered praise, won prizes and acclaim throughout her career. We're very excited to interview Eugenia! Don't miss it! We have a lot to learn from her about this new digital world we live in. Why not learn from someone who's figured it out?