JONAH HOSKINS, tenor
WILLIAM WOODARD, pianist
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2023
7:30 p.m. at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
JONAH HOSKINS, tenor
WILLIAM WOODARD, pianist
THE GERALD PERMAN FUND FOR EMERGING ARTISTS DEBUT RECITAL
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2023
7:30 p.m. at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater
This young tenor with a sunny, boyishly extroverted personality and a voice to match joined the Metropolitan Opera’s prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in 2020 immediately after winning the company’s National Council Auditions as a college senior that same year. Having already appeared with the Met in the iconic leading role of Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore this season, he reprises it for his San Francisco Opera debut this coming fall, and makes his European debut in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims at Dresden’s Semper Oper.
Program included Jake Heggie’s Friendly Persuasions, Erik Satie’s Les Trois Mélodies, and selections by Lee Hoiby, Robert Schumann, and Franz Schubert. Download the program.
Artist Bios
Rising lyrical tenor JONAH HOSKINS is one of the most promising young voices of the opera world today. After winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2020, Jonah became a member of the prestigious Lindemann Young Artist Development Program and has been celebrated in acclaimed international competitions: In autumn 2021 he was awarded with the second prize at Placido Domingo’s Operalia Competition at the Bolshoi Theatre and received the Extraordinary Artistic Promise Award at the Lotte Lenya Competition. He placed first in the National Opera Association in 2019.
Jonah Hoskins kicked off the 2022–23 season with his European and role debut as Chevalier Belfiore in Il viaggio a Reims at Semperoper Dresden. The tenor returned to the Lindemann Young Artists Development Program at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City for the 2022–23 season where – among others – he made a major role debut as Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. On the concert stage Jonah Hoskins sang Missa solemnis alongside the Bard Orchestra at Fisher Centre.
Born in 1996 in Saratoga Springs in Utah, Hoskins made his operatic debut as the First Spirit in The Magic Flute and continued performing the roles of Tamino (The Magic Flute), Fenton (Falstaff), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi) and Septimius (Theodora). The role of Don Curzio (Le nozze di Figaro) took him to the Santa Fe Opera where he also sang Flute (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) in 2020. Highlights of his past seasons include his role debut in Massenet’s Cendrillon as the Dean of Faculty at the Metropolitan Opera in 2021, his debut as Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia) at Pensacola Opera and performances of the Sailor in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at Santa Fe Opera in 2022.
Jonah Hoskins has participated in various well known young artist programs such as Des Moines Metro Opera, Ohio Light Opera, and HGO’s Young Artist Vocal Academy. jonahhoskins.com
WILLIAM WOODARD is a pianist, vocal coach and conductor based in Houston, Texas. He joins the music staff of Houston Grand Opera this season where he will be assisting on Falstaff, Parsifal, Big Swim, and The Sound of Music. William has previously served on music staff at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Washington National Opera and New Orleans Opera. Last season he joined the Met Music Staff under the baton of Daniele Callegari for La traviata and covered the on-stage role of Boleslao Lazinski in their new production of Fedora.
William is an alumnus of many prestigious festivals including Wolf Trap Opera, the Merola Opera Program, the Aspen Music Festival, SongFest and AIMS in Graz where he was awarded the Outstanding Lieder Pianist Prize. This past summer, William joined the music staff at Wolf Trap as Chorus Master for their productions of Faust and Don Giovanni.
William Woodard appears by kind permission of The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. williamwoodardpiano.com
These performances are external rentals presented in coordination with the Kennedy Center
Campus Rentals Office and are not produced by the Kennedy Center.
“Hoskins conjured an impressive vocal display in his ‘Pour mon âme’ [from La fille du regiment], his sweet, clear lyric tenor making light work of the aria’s nine high Cs. Hoskins displayed a flair for showmanship, brimming with charm and charisma as he ornamented his final C with a stratospheric upper neighbor note…Hoskins was the youngest singer on the program and is already in possession of a remarkable vocal talent.”
Callum John Blackmore, Parterre.com