FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 4, 2021
Info: philharmonia.org

PRESS CONTACT
Aleba Gartner, aleba@alebaco.com
212/206-1450

 

America's leading-edge early music institution

PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE
ORCHESTRA & CHORALE

 

names the star bass-baritone 

DAVÓNE TINES

first-ever Creative Partner

Tines begins a unique residency with PBO
as a full creative partner involved in the strategic planning,
governance, and programming of the whole organization

 

Tines to work with the board, staff, audience, orchestra...
and of course he will sing, too

Read more in today's San Francisco Chronicle

 

 

From Courtney Beck, PBO Executive Director

“Getting the chance to work with Davóne in a way that extends beyond one short run of performances is nothing short of a dream come true. Bay Area audiences fell in love with Davóne in his star turn as Polifemo in last year’s Aci, Galatea, e Polifemo, and I’m confident that his output as Creative Partner will be just as inspiring. It is no accident that we announce this newly created position so soon after we announced Tarik O’Regan as our first-ever Composer-in-Residence. PBO has been working vigorously toward a more artist-centric philosophy of programming and organizational involvement, and Davóne’s new role is the natural next step. He, alongside Music Director Richard Egarr, Tarik, and others, will help PBO chart a path forward in a dramatically shifting classical landscape.”

 

San Francisco, CA — On the heels of its Tarik O'Regan Composer-in-Residence announcement which breaks new ground in the early music world, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (PBO) takes another bold step into the future with the appointment of bass-baritone DAVÓNE TINES as the organization’s first-ever Creative Partner.

Tines most recently starred in PBO’s critically acclaimed, sold-out run of Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo. The Los Angeles Times was ecstatic in its praise, using words such as extraordinary, gripping, overwhelming, and terrifying to describe him. His PBO residency will include appearances in Philharmonia's virtual and onstage productions; however what makes it unique goes way beyond performing. Tines will play a key role behind the scenes, working side-by-side with administrative staff; attending board, strategic planning, and governance meetings; and producing shows and curating new series. He will engage with PBO stakeholders at all levels of the organization to explore the role of a major historically-informed ensemble in the 21st century that not only performs and presents music from the Baroque, but older and new repertoire, including opera. 

"Our current times find institutions at a critical juncture to either choose survival by meeting the present moment or perish at the hand of their own reluctance to change," states Davóne Tines. "PBO’s bravery and openness in inviting me to partner with them shows their desire to explore a cultural organization's greater potential for transformation. By engaging with the totality of the organization—from performance and artistic output to board membership and strategic planning—I hope to unearth, invigorate, and make more legible the work in which PBO is already engaged, and help them to continue to evolve in the future. Together we will show that what might seem like an antiquated art form can resonate with the modern world."

This new pilot residency fills an unusual gap in the sector. While many institutions offer similar opportunities for administrators, there are few chances for major artists to fully engage with the institutions that present them on their stages. This partnership creates an extraordinary space for an artist to lend their artistic perspective and experience, as well as an opportunity to learn from those inside Philharmonia.

In his role as Creative Partner, Tines will work closely with Music Director Richard Egarr,  Executive Director Courtney Beck, and the artistic team; but equally important will be Tines’ connection to subscribers, ticket buyers, and those who have yet to encounter Philharmonia. As the partnership evolves and deepens, new programs and ideas will be announced. The end goal is to disseminate the organization’s findings to the broader classical community and to help organizations evaluate their approach to artistic planning and output.

Among the many projects Tines will tackle is his new online show, “The Ultimate Outcome,” a series of conversations with artists, administrators, and experts within and beyond PBO. The show will investigate the role of a modern-day Baroque ensemble, and how it fits into and expands tradition. 

Philharmonia has developed a relationship with Tines over the past four years. It began when the organization co-produced Aci, Galatea e Polifemo with National Sawdust, Anthony Roth Costanzo, and Cath Brittan in 2017. Tines joined the organization on tour in summer of 2018 in his role as Mercurio in Handel’s Atalanta at the Caramoor Summer Festival in New York and in performance at Yale’s Norfolk Chamber Festival gala in Connecticut. Tines recently served as host of PBO’s 2021 virtual gala and will host the 2022 live gala (programming to be announced later).

“With Davóne Tines joining the PBO team, I feel more energized than ever about our future,” said Music Director Richard Egarr. “Having a thoughtful, sensitive artist like Davóne on board will be a privilege for all who know and love PBO, and he will play a key role in helping us evaluate our place in the world as we emerge from the pandemic and into a new world, one that is perhaps more thoughtful and introspective.”

 

Davóne Tines
www.davone.org

Heralded as a "singer of immense power and fervor" by The Los Angeles Times and a “charismatic, full-voiced bass-baritone" by The New York Times, Davóne Tines has come to international attention as a path-breaking artist whose work not only encompasses a diverse repertoire but also explores the social issues of today. As a black, gay, classically trained performer at the intersection of many histories, cultures, and aesthetics, his work blends opera, art song, contemporary classical, spirituals, gospel, and songs of protest, as a means to tell a deeply personal story of perseverance that connects to all of humanity. 

Mr. Tines came to international attention during the 2015-16 season in breakout performances at the Dutch National Opera premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s Only the Sound Remains directed by Peter Sellars and at the Ojai Music Festival presenting works by Caroline Shaw and Kaija Saariaho with the Calder Quartet and the International Contemporary Ensemble. 

Davóne Tines is co-creator with Zack Winokur and composer Michael Schachter, as well as co-librettist of The Black Clown, a music theater experience inspired by Langston Hughes’ poem of the same name that animates a black man’s resilience against America’s legacy of oppression by fusing vaudeville, opera, jazz, and spirituals to bring Hughes’ verse to life onstage. The world premiere was given by the American Repertory Theater in 2018 and presented by Lincoln Center in summer 2019. In his review of The Black Clown, Ben Brantley of The New York Times wrote, “this rich, seamless production melds the past and present of African-American history into an electrifyingly ambivalent whole…An estimable opera singer, Mr. Tines has a depths-plumbing bass-baritone that can find a range of contradictions within a single note. And his body and face match that voice in their expressiveness.” 

As a founding core member of the American Modern Opera Company, Davóne Tines has been featured in a wide array of productions including Henze’s El Cimarrón and John Adams’ Nativity Reconsidered, both presented by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in the original work Were You There with music by Matthew Aucoin and Michael Schachter. 

Davóne Tines is a winner of the 2020 Sphinx Medal of Excellence, recognizing extraordinary classical musicians of color who, early in their career, demonstrate artistic excellence, outstanding work ethic, a spirit of determination, and an ongoing commitment to leadership and their communities. He also is the recipient of the 2018 Emerging Artists Award given by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and is a graduate of Harvard University and The Juilliard School.

 

Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale
www.philharmonia.org 

Under the musical direction of Richard Egarr in his inaugural season as Music Director, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale (PBO) is recognized as “America’s leading historically informed ensemble” (The New York Times). Considered the most versatile ensemble of its kind, and performing on period instruments, PBO presents repertoire ranging from early Baroque to late Romantic, as well as new works and major operatic productions. The ensemble engages audiences through its signature Bay Area series, national and international tours, recordings, commissions, and education programs. Celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, PBO was founded by Laurette Goldberg and led by Music Director Laureate Nicholas McGegan for the past 35 years. Philharmonia is the largest ensemble of its kind in the United States.

PBO’s musicians are leaders in historical performance and serve on the faculties of The Juilliard School, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Harvard, and Stanford. It welcomes eminent guest artists including mezzo-sopranos Susan Graham and Anne Sofie von Otter, countertenors Anthony Roth Costanzo and Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, violoncellist Steven Isserlis, and maestros Jonathan Cohen and Jeannette Sorrell. PBO enjoys longstanding artistic collaborations with The Juilliard School, the Mark Morris Dance Group, and the American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), and appears regularly at Disney Hall, Lincoln Center, Norfolk Chamber Festival and Tanglewood. In collaboration with Cal Performances in 2017, PBO produced a fully-staged period opera, Rameau’s Le Temple de la Gloire, and produced a fully-staged, reimagined production of Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo directed by Christopher Alden and featuring countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, bass-baritone Davóne Tines, and soprano Lauren Snouffer in eight sold out performances in January 2020. “Aci” was named Best Operatic Performance in the Bay Area by San Francisco Classical Voice in 2020. PBO also co-produced "Aci" with National Sawdust in Brooklyn, Cath Brittan and Anthony Roth Costanzo in 2017. 

Among the most recorded orchestras in the world, PBO boasts a discography of nearly 50 recordings, including a coveted archival performance of mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson in Berlioz’s Les Nuits D’été, and a GRAMMY®-nominated recording of Haydn symphonies. The orchestra released the world premiere recording of the original version of Rameau’s Le Temple de la Gloire with the unedited libretto by Voltaire in 2018. In 2020, PBO released three groundbreaking recordings: a full collection of commissioned works by Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw, a selection of arias sung by rising star contralto Avery Amereau, and Handel’s Saul with countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen.

Philharmonia was the first ensemble in the San Francisco Bay Area to commission Caroline Shaw. Shaw wrote four works for Anne Sofie von Otter and the Orchestra, including a major choral work. The first work premiered at LA’s Disney Hall; the last at Lincoln Center. 

The award-winning Philharmonia Chorale is critically acclaimed for its brilliant sound, robust energy, and sensitive delivery of the text. Formed in 1995, the Chorale provides a vocal complement whose fluency in the stylistic language of the baroque period matched that of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. Founded by John Butt, a baroque keyboardist and one of the world’s leading Bach scholars, the Chorale was led by Lamott from 1997 to 2020. In 2019, Handel’s Saul was named Best of the Bay’s “Best Choral Performance” by San Francisco Classical Voice.

Philharmonia is the only major orchestra in the United States with a permanent initiative dedicated to Jews & Music. The organization launched one of the most successful alternative concert series in the country, “SESSIONS”, in 2015 with fully sold out performances, and launched “In the Office” in 2019 in partnership with the advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. 

During the pandemic, the organization has presented more than 90 virtual programs, including the popular Live from Amsterdam with Music Director Richard Egarr, and “What’s New and HIP” with Tarik O’Regan and Richard Egarr, focused on notions surrounding new music. 

 

For further information, photos, and to arrange interviews,
please contact Aleba & Co. at 212/206-1450 or aleba@alebaco.com.