To My
Arms/Restore

MasterVoices | Doug Varone and Dancers | New York Baroque Incorporated | Ted Sperling, Conductor

Music by GEORGE Frideric Handel, and Nico Bentley (Handel Remixed)
Conceived and Choreographed by Doug Varone

MasterVoices reunites with frequent artistic collaborator Doug Varone (Dido and Aeneas, Lady in the Dark) for the NYC premiere of Varone’s To My Arms / Restore. This two-part work is set to a suite of exquisite operatic arias by Handel, and his choral work “Dixit Dominus”. Part 1: To My Arms features eight dancers and a score of gorgeous Handel arias, sung live by five soloists, accompanied by musicians from the New York Baroque Incorporated orchestra, conducted by MV Artistic Director Ted Sperling. Part 2: Restore will feature the dancers and orchestra plus 100+ members of the MasterVoices Chorus, singing the choral masterwork “Dixit Dominus”, layered with Festival Voices and Nico Bentley’s electronic “Handel Remixed”.

Run Time is approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Tickets, priced from $45, are on sale and may be purchased online at nyuskirball.org, by calling  212-998-4941 or in person at NYU Skirball’s box office at 566 LaGuardia Pl, New York, NY

Post-Concert Benefit Reception

Join us for a joint benefit after the March 22nd performance! Mingle with the artists and supporters of Doug Varone & Dancers, New York Baroque Incorporated, and MasterVoices at the post-performance reception. Choose your own adventure – direct your support to any of the three organizations! Benefit Tickets are $250 and will secure you the best seats in the house. If you already purchased a ticket to the performance, just choose the “add-on” option for $210!

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Artwork by Owen Gent

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Featured Soloists

Liz Lang, soprano

Opera News has applauded soprano Liz Lang for her “comedic timing and clear resonant tone.” Known for her crossover abilities throughout multiple genres, the 23/24 season brings some exciting opportunities including a salon hosted by opera great James Morris, an evening with Equinox Swing Orchestra, and an appearance as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with Voices of Ascension. She brings her acclaimed recital Prohibition to New York featuring previously censored classical and jazz music, travels to Venice, Italy for an artist residency and writing retreat to begin work on her newest show, and makes her repertoire debut singing Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with Riverside Orchestra. Recently Liz made her Off-Broadway debut as Glinda in Wicked: Drunk Musicals, her role debut as Mimì in La Bohème with Savannah Voice Festival and played a party for Coca-Cola at the Statue of Liberty with her jazz-fusion band. More details at lizlangsoprano.com.

Emily Donato, soprano

Emily Donato, soprano from Brooklyn NY, was awarded first prize in the 2023 Handel Aria Competition, and was a member of the 2023 Virginia Best Adams Quartet at the Carmel Bach Festival. She made her Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium solo debut in 2023 in Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Oratorio Society of New York conducted by Kent Tritle, and has appeared as a soloist with Voices of Ascension led by Dennis Keene. In 2021, she was awarded first prize in the Lyndon-Woodside Oratorio Competition, and appeared as the soprano soloist in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass on Yale Schola Cantorum and Juilliard415’s Scandinavian Tour. She performed J.S. Bach Cantata 82A “Ich Habe Genug” with Masaaki Suzuki. Emily has worked with conductors David Hill, Nicholas McGegan, Simon Carrington and Leon Botstein. She received a B.A. from Bard College and a M. M. from the Yale School of Music.

Jake Ingbar, countertenor

JAKE INGBAR APPEARS COURTESY OF THE METROPOLITAN OPERA 

American countertenor Jake Ingbar has performed with the San Francisco Opera, Aldeburgh Festival, Los Angeles Opera, Dutch National Opera, Festival Aix-en-Provence, Minnesota Opera, Aspen Music Festival, Guthrie Theatre, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Les Talens Lyriques, Capella Regia Polona, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Polish National Opera, with leading conductors James Conlon, Emmanuelle Haïm, Christophe Rousset, Roberto Kalb, Ottavio Dantone, Stephen Stubbs, Gary Wedow, David Stern, and Petr Kotik, and with stage directors Calixto Bieito, Barrie Kosky, and Francesca Zambello. Stage roles include Narciso/Agrippina, Mercury/La morte d’Orfeo, Nireno/Giulio Cesare, Leonardo/El último sueño de Frida y Diego, among others. In concert, he has performed works of Bach and Pergolesi. He made his Het Concertgebouw debut in a recital of Britten and Purcell. This season, he joins the roster of the Metropolitan Opera to work on John Adams’ El Niño with Marin Alsop. Mr. Ingbar earned degrees from Rice University and The Juilliard School.

John Easterlin, tenor 

JOHN EASTERLIN, a five-time Grammy Award recipient, with four listings in the Guinness Book of World Records, his opera credits include the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Wiener Staatsoper, ROH Covent Garden, ENO, Teatro Real, Bolshoi Theatre, COC Toronto, Israeli Opera, Beijing Opera, and the Sydney Opera House; in addition to the Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Washington National, Houston Grand, Dallas, and Florida Grand opera companies. Soloist with the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and ASO at Carnegie Hall, he created the role of Andy Warhol in Glass’ The Perfect American and Larry King in Turnage’s Anna Nicole. A master puppeteer and certified magician, his additional opera appearances include the Glimmerglass, Ravinia, Spoleto, Saito Kinen, and Merida festivals. Recipient of the Olivier, Gramophone, and Diapason D’Or L’Année awards, he made his Broadway debut as Ubaldo Piangi in The Phantom of the Opera.

Benjamin Howard, baritone

Hailed as a “standout” (Chicago Tribune), baritone Benjamin Howard is a rising talent based in New York City. He has recently been a soloist at Bronx Opera, the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Pacific Opera Project, and Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre. Up next this spring, Benjamin will debut with Orchestra Miami, singing Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer). Stage highlights include the title role in Don Giovanni, the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro, Rapunzel’s Prince in Into the Woods, and Pish-Tush in The Mikado. In concert, he has performed Haydn arias with the Auryn String Quartet, the Fauré and Duruflé Requiems, and the complete Songs of Travel by Vaughan Williams, among others. A Los Angeles native, Benjamin Howard is currently a baritone/bass in New York’s world-renowned Saint Thomas Choir of Men & Boys, and also a founding member of NYC’s new Fourth Wall Ensemble.