Internationally acclaimed songstress Christianne Stotijn and pianist Joseph Breinl have selected three American venues for their upcoming recital tour – and Union is one of them. On Saturday, Nov. 27 at 8 p.m., Stotijn will appear in her second Chamber Concert Series show.
Together, in a program entitled “Dream Works,” she and Breinl will present songs by Grieg, Brahms, R. Strauss, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Rachmaninov.
A Dutch mezzo-soprano, Stotijn pursued her vocal studies in Metz, London and Amsterdam, where she graduated in 2003 with highest distinction. Her teachers have included Udo Reinemann, Jard van Nes and Dame Janet Baker.
Earlier this year, Stotijn won the BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award for her Tchaikovsky Romances CD. She was a BBC New Generation Artist until 2007, and additional accolades include the 2008 Dutch Music Prize and the 2005 Borletti Buitoni Award. Performing oratorios, lieder and operatic roles, Stotijn has appeared in many renowned halls including the Grote Zaal Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall, Musikverein Vienna and Mozarteum Salzburg.
A frequent partner with Stotijn, Breinl has been described as a “full partner in the…success” of their performance by the Washington Post. His training in solo piano and song accompaniment began in Munich with Karl-Hermann Mrongovius and Gitti Pirner. After graduating from the Amsterdam Conservatoire in 2003 with highest distinction, Breinl continued his studies in London with Graham Johnson.
Breinl won the Wigmore Hall International Song Competition in 2003 and, with Stotijn, the 2005 ECHO Rising Star Prize. He has also worked with Mattijs van de Woerd, Michelle Breedt and German mezzo-soprano Kammersöngerin Waltraud Meier. Currently Breinl is accompanist and vocal coach at the Musikhochschule München and professor of song interpretation at the Kunstuniversität Graz.
The show is open to the public and free to members of the Union community. General admission tickets are $20, though area students may attend for $8. For a complete list of this season’s concerts, click here.