Revered soprano Dawn Upshaw and the unparalleled Brentano String Quartet come together for a new performance project: Dido Reimagined, by composer Melinda Wagner and librettist Stephanie Fleischmann, sparked by the famous “Dido’s Lament” from Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.
A five-time Grammy® Award winner, Dawn Upshaw has achieved worldwide renown as a singer of opera and concert repertoire ranging from the sacred works of Bach to the freshest sounds of today. Her ability to reach to the heart of music and text has earned her both the devotion of an exceptionally diverse audience, and the awards and distinctions accorded to only the most distinguished of artists. In 2007, she was named a Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation, the first vocal artist to be awarded the five-year “genius” prize, and in 2008 she was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Her acclaimed performances on the opera stage comprise the great Mozart roles (Susanna, Ilia, Pamina, Despina, and Zerlina) as well as modern works by Stravinsky, Poulenc, and Messiaen..
Since its inception in 1992, the Brentano String Quartet has appeared throughout the world to popular and critical acclaim.The Quartet has performed across five continents in the world’s most prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall in New York; the Library of Congress in Washington; and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. The Quartet has launched numerous projects that reimagine the standard concert program, including their commissioning of ten composers to write companion pieces for selections from Bach’s Art of Fugue