A Zoom Presentation for JBS-USA on Tuesday, June 6 at 7:30 pm ET
Repeated on Saturday, June 10 at 12 noon ET
JBS-USA members in good standing will receive a free link to the presentations by registering on our website, and will also have the opportunity to send in questions for the concluding Q & A segment. Members of the Swedish Jussi Björling Sällskapet and the Jussi Björling Appreciation Society UK will also receive a free link to the June 6 presentation by registering here.
Your link to attend this Zoom presentation will be sent to you by email in June. All questions will be considered by the panel of moderators, and selections will be made according to time constraints. The panel will present the questions to Mr. Plotkin during the Question and Answer segment following the presentation.
Non-members may receive the link by signing up now through the website, where they will be required to pay a $35. access/member fee.
ARE YOU A VOCAL ARTS MEMBER? MEMBERS OF VOCAL ARTS DC WILL RECEIVE A $5 DISCOUNT BY REGISTERING HERE.
Fred Plotkin to speak on “Learning to Listen from Exemplary Singers: Victoria de los Angeles, Marilyn Horne, Jussi Björling, and Ezio Pinza”
credit: Jiyang Chen
JBS-USA is privileged to present acclaimed opera expert Fred Plotkin in a special Zoom presentation for the Society on Tuesday, June 6, 2023, at 7:30 pm ET., which will be repeated on Saturday, June 10 at 12 noon ET.
Mr. Plotkin will explore the legendary singing of these four great artists, and the specific skills and vocal qualities which placed them at the peak of their profession, and set a standard of singing which is still applicable today. His presentation will be amply accompanied by audio clips of performances to which audiences flocked, and lesser singers aspired.
Fred Plotkin is one of America’s foremost opera experts and has distinguished himself as a writer, speaker, consultant, teacher, and expert on all things Italian. He does a great deal of broadcasting (including his program "Fred Plotkin on Fridays" on idagio.com) and is the lead opera writer for New York's wqxr.org.
Fred is a popular presence on the intermission features of the Metropolitan Opera international radio broadcasts. He teaches a series at the Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò of NYU called “Adventures in Italian Opera” which has a big following. Many great singers and conductors have been his guests for those evenings. His seminars at the Metropolitan Opera Guild are always sold out and he has lectured about opera for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, BAM, the Smithsonian, the Morgan Library, the Los Angeles Opera, the Wagner Society of Southern California, the Salzburg Festival and the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. He is a popular pre-concert lecturer for the New York Philharmonic and has also spoken for other important orchestras in the USA and Europe. Plotkin leads opera/food trips in Italy, Austria, France and New York. He has recorded audio books and done narration in concert programs, most recently Ogden Nash’s poems inspired by Saint-Saëns’s “Carnival of the Animals.”
His book, Opera 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera is the best-selling standard text in America on the art form. Classical Music 101: A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Classical Music is well-respected in the USA and has had important editions in the UK and China. Fred has written program notes and articles for the Metropolitan, Chicago Lyric, Los Angeles and Cincinnati opera companies, Carnegie Hall, The Atlantic, Playbill, Stagebill, Opera News, Das Opernglas, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, and Daily Telegraph.
Fred Plotkin lives in airplanes, opera houses, Manhattan, and cyberspace (www.fredplotkin.com).
Your link to attend this Zoom presentation will be sent to you by email in June. All questions will be considered by the panel of moderators, and selections will be made according to time constraints. The panel will present the questions to Mr. Plotkin during the Question and Answer segment following the presentation.