MANILA, Philippines - Soprano Elaine Lim Lee takes center stage and teams up with special guest Jose Mari Chan in “Bella Notte” (Beautiful Night), a two-part classical concert on April 4, 8 p.m. at the Philam Life Theatre, UN Avenue, Manila.
The show, which is also Lee’s maiden musical production, will also feature classical musicians artists John Ocampos and Miguel Castro.
Lee will interpret the one-act opera comedy The Telephone by Menotti. She will also render excerpts from operas such as Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro and Magic Flute, and Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.
The University of British Columbia-trained Lee envisions to pioneer in “opera buffa” or comic opera in the country.
She attended the master classes of Joan Patenaude-Yarnell, Manhattan Conservatory of Music; Stuart Hamilton, University of Toronto ; and Nico Castel, Metropolitan Opera, while Tracy Dahl, Heidi Klassen, and Theodore Baerg also coached her.
She appeared in Philippine Opera Company’s 2008 production of La Boheme by Puccini, where she performed with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under Helen Quach and more recently, in Strauss Music in Vienna, Kabuki at RCBC Theater where she did Fruhlingstimmen (Voice of Spring) by J. Strauss’ also with the PPO under Ruggero Barbieri.
She has received awards and scholarships from the Vancouver Women’s Musical Club and the Kiwanis Music Festival, and has recorded Paglisan, a cut from the soundtrack of top-rating Korean telenovela Endless Love.
For tickets, call Christine at 724-8242 or SMS 0922-9941196. Sponsorship slots and donations for the benefit of Bantay Kalikasan are welcome.