Hidden Treasures ~ The Innas, Ettas, Annas & Donnas of Mozart’s Operas

In association with Girls on the Run Los Angeles, Performances à la Carte presents an afternoon concert of arias and duets entitled, Hidden Treasures ~ the Innas, Ettas, Annas and Donnas of Mozart's Operas on Sunday, February 25 at 4:00 p.m. at Neighborhood UU Church Sanctuary in Pasadena.

The concert will feature a variety of singers including several of the rising stars on the opera scene: soprano Julia Metzler (First prize winner, Western Regional Metropolitan Opera Competition); mezzo-soprano Joanna Lynn Jacobs (LA Opera’s Outreach production of Who Wants to be an Opera Singer?); soprano Lucy Zepeda Chirdon (sought after classical singer performing in oratorio, recital and opera productions in NY and LA); as well as soprano Sandy Price (Pasadena Master Chorale, Glendale United); and long celebrated soprano Carla Jamie Perez.

Kristi Brown Montesano, author of Understanding the Women of Mozart’s Operas will be the concert’s narrator, and pianist and coach, Lisa Edwards will accompany. The program’s theme serves to contrast the restricted and predesignated role of women in the 18th century with the expanding egalitarian role of women and girls today by way of using the arias and duets of the female characters of some of Mozart's most popular operas.

The story lines of these particular Mozart operas portray a cross section of 18^th century girls and women whose only means of dealing with their circumstances is by way of their “artful feminine wiles.” The beauty, humor, cleverness, fury and pathos represented by these arias and duets run the gamut of emotion and are filled with wit and intelligence. These are women who from experience generally know all too well what they are up against. Mozart’s music exquisitely represents that despite appearing hidden and ornamental, they creatively utilize the devices of emotion and allure relegated to them to affect their desired outcomes.

Since 2004, Girls on the Run of Los Angeles (GOTRLA) has created safe environments for girls in 3rd to 8th grades to learn the skills and habits that support physical, mental and emotional growth. GOTRLA's nationally developed and tested 10-week curriculum fosters a careful balance between encouraging exercise and deemphasizing the importance of external appearance, particularly an unrealistic body ideal. As one of over 200 independent councils of the national organization, GOTRLA supports and benefits from this expansive network that has served over a million girls since its inception. For more information on GOTRLA, please visit https://www.gotrla.org/.

Tickets for Hidden Treasures ~ the Innas, Ettas, Annas and Donnas of Mozart's Operas are $20 through Brown Paper Tickets in advance; $25 cash only at the door; $15 student rush tickets at the door with valid ID. Neighborhood UU Church Sanctuary is located at 301 North Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91103. For tickets and information visit https://mozartfebruary25.brownpapertickets.com or http://performancesalacarte.org/; 626-296-9843; info@performancesalacarte.com.

Performances à la Carte Performances à la Carte, is a non-profit collaborative arts events producer with a mission to create unique, original live performances utilizing multi-arts genres to showcase the diverse artistic community in the San Gabriel and Crescenta Valley area and to connect the arts with social needs and issues that serve the public interest. This concert, Hidden Treasures, is intended to highlight and promote mentorship and development programs, such as Girls on the Run Los Angeles, which foster the development of every girl’s unlimited potential and encourage and empower her to realize her dreams.

Carla Jamie Perez, soprano and artistic director of Performances à la Carte is an accomplished, recognized and sought-after recitalist, symphony and chamber music soloist and opera singer. With a career spanning forty years, she has sung with symphonies, opera companies, in festivals and in recital throughout the U.S. and has made guest artist appearances in South America, Canada and Europe. She attended Peabody Conservatory, Indiana University, (where she studied with famed soprano, Eileen Farrell) and USC’s Thornton School of Music, (coaching with Los Angeles Opera Conductor, the late, Randall Behr) pursuing both Voice Performance and Theater degrees. She sang for two years at the Bayerisches Stattsoper in Munich Germany before returning to the States to further her career aspirations. She began gaining professional recognition as a classical singer after becoming a finalist and winner of several prestigious voice competitions including the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions and the International Rosa Ponselle Voice Competition and was shortly thereafter awarded her first leading role contract by John Crosby, founder and director of Santa Fe Opera, covering the role of Minnie in Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West.