Bernstein Meets Gershwin
Broadway soloists in classical musicals
Although born in different centuries, the legendary American composers, who boldly fused genres and spiced up classical music with elements of jazz and blues, were only born ten years apart. On stage, we will commemorate the 135th anniversary of the birth of George Gershwin. In the same year, it is also the 125th anniversary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein. As both composers had high demands on their performers, we are honored to welcome two exceptional Broadway singers, Nikki Renée Daniels and Jeff Kready, and the South Bohemian Philharmonic, led by conductor, Jan Kučera.
Artists
Nikki Renée Daniels – soprano
Jeff Kready – tenor
North Czech Philharmonic
Jan Kučera – conductor
Program
G. Gershwin: Ouverture to the musical Girl Crazy
G. Gershwin: Strike Up The Band (from a musical of the same name)
G. Gershwin: Oh, Kay! – Someone to Watch Over Me
G. Gershwin: A Foggy Day
G. Gershwin: Lady Be Good – Fascinating Rhythm
G. Gershwin: Let´s Call the Whole Thing Off (from the film Shall We Dance 1937)
L. Bernstein: Candide – Ouverture
L. Bernstein: Wonderful Town – A Little Bit in Love
L. Bernstein: On the Town – Lonely Town
L. Bernstein: Wonderful Town – It’s Love
L. Bernstein: Dance Episodes from On the Town – Times Square
intermission
G. Gershwin: Ouverture to American in Paris
G. Gershwin: By Strauss (lyrics by Ira Gershwin)
G. Gershwin: Funny Face – S’ Wonderful
G. Gershwin: Porgy and Bess – Summertime
L. Bernstein: Ouverture to the West Side Story
L. Bernstein: On the Town – I Can Cook Too
L. Bernstein: West Side Story – Maria; One Hand, One Heart; Balcony Scene (“Tonight”)
Nikki Renée Daniels
Nikki Renée Daniels has done eleven Broadway shows including Company (Jenny), The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (Clara), The Book of Mormon (Nabulungi), and Les Misérables (Fantine.) She played Angelica Schuyler in the Chicago company of Hamilton. Other New York credits include Martha Jefferson in 1776 at City Center Encores and Rose Lennox in The Secret Garden at David Geffen Hall. She has performed as a soloist with numerous symphony orchestras across the United States and in Canada, and at Carnegie Hall. She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. She has recently released her debut solo CD Home.
Jeff Kready
Jeff Kready starred on Broadway as Monty Navarro in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. Other Broadway credits: Company (David), Tootsie (Dorothy standby), Billy Elliot (Tony Elliot), Sunday in the Park with George, and Les Misérables. He was featured as Bert Healy, the radio announcer, in “Annie Live!” on NBC, starring Harry Connick Jr. He has sung with numerous symphonies across America and can be heard on the album, “The Broadway Tenors” with the UK’s National Symphony Orchestra, released by Jay Records. He and his wife, Nikki, live in New York City with their daughters, Lena and Louise.
Jan Kučera – conductor
Conductor, composer and pianist Jan Kučera is one of the most versatile Czech artists. At the Prague Conservatory, they studied composition with Bohuslav Řehoř and conducting with Miriam Němcová and Miroslav Košler, where they subsequently studied at HAMU alongside Vladimír Válek. As a composer, he intervenes in many areas, composing symphonic, chamber and song compositions, and at the end has over thirty stage music for productions of Prague and regional theater stages. As a conductor, he has long collaborated with leading Czech orchestras, especially with the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Prague Symphony Orchestra. m Prague FOK. He also works on the opera stage, and on the New Stage of the National Theater in Prague he performed his comic opera Red Mary, composed on the theme of the cult radio series Tlučhoř by Oldřich Kaiser and Jiří Lábus. In January 2016, he staged Gioacchino Rossini’s opera La Cenerentola at the National Theater. He is the author of the ballets The Three Musketeers and The Taming of the Shrew. He also conducted the project Wanted with Dagmar Pecková or a new production of the narrative stage version of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass.
North Czech Philharmonic Teplice
The North Czech Philharmonic Teplice is the only professional symphony orchestra in the Ústí Region. The history of the orchestra dates back to the early 19th century and the founding charter and official approval of the orchestra bears the year 1838. Since the end of the 19th century, the orchestra has performed regular symphonic music cycles performed by the most sought-after conductors and soloists of the time , Siegfried Wagner, Alexander Zemlinsky. Since 2001, the North Bohemian Philharmonic in Teplice has significantly expanded its foreign and domestic activities. During 2004, the Teplice Philharmonic Orchestra performed 140 concerts, 52 of them abroad. More than 400,000 listeners in Germany, Italy, Austria, Spain, Switzerland and other countries had the opportunity to learn about the growing artistic quality of the orchestra. Foreign critics praised the young cast of the orchestra, the interplay and the overall artistic impression. He also regularly performs on important concert stages of music festivals, such as the Prague Spring, Janáček’s May, Český Krumlov Festival, Janáček’s Hukvaldy, Mahler Jihlava Music of Thousands, Mitte Europa Festival, Czech Touches of Music, etc.
