FLOWERS AND OPERA WILL BE POPPING UP AT CREATIVE CONCORD
Solo Opera is proud to be a part of Creative Concord weekend this year. On Oct. 6, 2024 at 2:15-2:45pm we will be producing an operatic pop-up event in Concord’s Salvio Pacheco Square across from Todos Santos Plaza. The 30-minute concert will feature soprano Diane Squires, mezzo-soprano Leandra Ramm, and pianist Chun Mei Wilson performing some of operas greatest hits. With flowers being a popular trend this year in fashion and marketing, our theme will include lots of music about flowers and nature including the famous Lakmé Flower Duet and a piece from our 2025 Lucinda opera- based on the Mexican folktale about the first poinsettia. (Pop-up sponsored in part by Creative Concord).
BIOS
Leandra Ramm-
Leandra Ramm (mezzo-soprano) has appeared with San Francisco Symphony in Ecstacy at SoundBox, and soloist in both Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Bach’s Magnificat. Other recent performances include L’enfant et les Sortileges (Pacific Symphony), Anybodys in West Side Story (Opera San Jose) and Cunning Little Vixen (West Edge Opera). Ms. Ramm is often found on Bay Area stages including San Francisco Opera, Cal Performances, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and American Bach Soloists. International appearances include Buxton Opera House (UK) and London Philharmonic Orchestra. Appearing regularly with Solo Opera, she has performed in their Opera in the Park concerts and Concord’s Fourth of July Parade entries, and was a lead in their 2022 show, The Four Note Opera. She is featured on San Francisco Opera Guild’s cast album of Lucinda y las Flores de la Nochebuena under Albany Records. https://leandraramm.com/
Diane Squires-
Diane Squires (soprano) made her Solo Opera debut as Monica in The Medium. Since then, she has returned to the company as Madame Goldentrill (The Impresario), Laetitia (The Old Maid and the Thief), Lucy (The Telephone) and as Gretel (Hansel and Gretel) and Melodica (The Computer Kid’s Magic Night). Some of her favorite opera experiences include a featured role in an internationally telecast production of La Rosa del Azafran, appearing as Soprano Soloist in Carmina Burana with the Jin Xing Dance Theatre and being the soloist in the Bay Area premiere of John Corigliano’s Mr. Tambourine Man with Redwood Symphony. Shortly before lockdown, she played the title role in Lucia di Lammmoor at Verismo Opera and made her role debut as Aline in The Sorcerer with Lyric Theatre of San Jose and rejoined Lyric Theatre in their first fully staged production post-pandemic as Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore. In February 2022, she returned to Verismo Opera as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and is thrilled to be performing again.
Chun Mei Wilson
Chun Mei Wilson (pianist) has appeared in numerous performances for Festival Opera, Livermore Valley Opera, Solo Opera, and the Bracebridge Dinners at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. Ms. Wilson apprenticed as a prompter at San Francisco Opera. She had the privilege of coaching the world-renowned Frederica Von Stade from 1997 until the mezzo’s Carnegie Hall farewell recital. Ms. Wilson continues to prepare singers for roles and auditions, assisting in their Italian, French, and German diction, and musicality. Her music directing experience includes productions of The Fantasticks and Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte. In her dreams, Chun Mei takes center stage as a tap-dancer. http://ivorynquill.com/