December 14, 2024 / 7:30 p.m.
Two performances, one day only! South Bend‘s favorite holiday tradition returns with Music Director Alastair Willis and the Symphony for Home for the Holidays for one day only. A spectacular program of cherished Christmas carols and memorable seasonal tunes that bring joy to all. The perfect gift for the whole family.
Program
Sebesky
Christmas Scherzo
Pola/Wyle arr. Kessler
It’s the Most Wonderful Time – Anne Slovin
Humperdinck
Hansel and Gretel Overture
Hammerstein
Favorite Things – Anne Slovin
Anderson
Turkey in the Straw
Sibelius
Karelia Suite, I. Intermezzo
Franck
Panis Angelicus – Anne Slovin
Wendel
Little Bolero Drummer Boy – UZIMA!
Christopher Tin
Baba Yetu – UZIMA!
– Intermission –
Amundson
On Christmas Day
arr. Hjelt
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Anne Slovin
Wendel
Romp for Triangulist and Orchestra – Special Guest
Krogstad
Christmas at the Movies
arr. Bauman
Betelehemu – UZIMA!
Anderson
Sleigh Ride
Stephenson
Silent Night – Anne Slovin
Adam arr. Clydesdale
O Holy Night – Anne Slovin
Anne Slovin, Soprano
Soprano Anne Slovin is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of Notre Dame, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate applied voice lessons, as well as courses on voice science and vocal literature. She is also a candidate for the doctoral degree in voice at Indiana University, where she studied with Patricia Havranek and Julia Bentley, and, most recently, sang the title role in the world premiere of Shulamit Ran and Charles Kondek’s Anne Frank with IU Opera Theater.
An avid performer of new and recent opera, Anne created the role of Mica Segal in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s premiere of The Property, a klezmer opera with a score by Wlad Marhulets and libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann. She has also performed roles in Sumeida’s Song by Mohammed Fairouz andThe Seduction of a Lady by Richard Wargo, as well as covering roles in The Grapes of Wrath by Ricky Ian Gordon and Hello Out There by Jack Beeson. At IU, Anne premiered the role of Brigitte in New Voices Opera’s production of Marilyn’s Room by Kyle Peter Rotolo. Anne also appeared Clara in the collegiate premiere of Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer’s It’s a Wonderful Life with IU Opera Theater, a performance that was called “a delight” by Indiana Public Media. In fall 2018, she joined the Indianapolis Opera Resident Artist program, covering Musetta in La Bohème and premiering the role of Juliet in Star-Cross’d Lovers, a chamber opera by IU professor Don Freund.
Anne is equally at home in standard operatic repertoire, having made her American mainstage debut in 2014 as an Artist-in-Residence at Pensacola Opera. At Pensacola, she sang the roles of Frasquita in Carmen, Clorinda in La Cenerentola and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte as part of the Artist-in-Residence showcase. Anne’s roles in the Chicagoland area include Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica, Marzelline in Fidelio, Aline in The Sorcerer and Gianetta in The Gondoliers. In Bloomington, she has performed the roles of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with Bloomington Chamber Opera, and Micaëla in La Tragédie de Carmen with Arden Opera. In January 2023, Anne will make her South Bend Lyric Opera debut as Hanna Glawari in Léhar’s The Merry Widow.
In demand as a choral and concert artist, Anne has sung frequently with Music of the Baroque, the Chicago Bach Project and the Chicago Symphony Chorus. She made her Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra debut in 2015 as the soprano soloist in Respighi’s Laud to the Nativity and Vivaldi’s Gloria, and at IU she has been a featured soloist in Britten’s Te Deum in C and Ives’s The Celestial Country. In February 2023, she will perform as soprano soloist in Brahms’ Requiem with the University of Notre Dame choral department. Anne is also a dynamic recitalist, having programmed works by composers ranging from Barbara Strozzi and Johannes Brahms to André Previn and Judith Cloud. In 2016, she premiered Myron Silberstein’s song cycle This Blue Dark, which she also assisted in developing with English poet Chloe Stopa-Hunt. She is currently developing recital programs of works by Jewish composers and in the Yiddish language.
Anne has distinguished herself on the competition circuit over the last decade. She is a previous recipient of a Farwell Trust Award from Chicago’s Musicians Club of Women and an international study grant from the Frank Huntington Beebe Fund for Musicians, which allowed her to study voice at the Schola Cantorum in Paris for the 2011-2012 academic year. Anne won first prize in the FAVA Grand Concours de Chant, the Prix Leoš Jánácek in the Czech and Slovak International Vocal Competition, and second prize in the Harold Haugh Light Opera Competition. Anne has also been named Best Female Performer and Best Female Voice at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, UK, for her performances with the Savoynet Performing Group.
Recently, Anne has dipped her toe into the world of cabaret performance. In 2019, she debuted at New York City’s Don’t Tell Mama with her performance of “Wholesome Content,” a curated cabaret about the joys and woes of teaching. In spring 2022 she transformed a basement classroom at Jacobs into a piano bar for “Does a Goat Have a Soul? and Other Questions from Jewish Women on Stage and Screen.” Anne was a 2022 participant in the St. Louis Cabaret Conference, where her mentors included Faith Prince, Jeff Harnar, Karen Mason, and Marilyn Maye, as well as pianists Alex Rybeck, David Pearl and Chris Denny.
UZIMA!
UZIMA! Drum and Dance was founded locally in South Bend by Kelly Burgèt in 2012. The word “UZIMA!” was chosen from the Swahili language as a mantra for the organization, meaning a celebration of wholeness, health, and life. UZIMA! still considers this their central mission and foundation, seeking this for both members and audiences with whom they interact. Performing traditional West African dance, Afro-contemporary, song, and spoken word, UZIMA! always looks to leave their audience in a better place — filled with joy, peace, and a greater sense of the light that exists in all of us.
Kelly studied with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre where she received substantial training in a myriad of dance styles, taking particular interest in African. While looking for a way to invest her gifts in the South Bend community, she decided to create a space where people could come and experience the beautiful culture of the African diaspora.
Today, UZIMA! Drum and Dance is the only Black-owned, female-led performing arts non-profit organization in the region; a growing and thriving performing arts company with expanding influence in the South Bend area and beyond. The company features a diverse collection of members from the community, from young to more mature, of all different races and backgrounds. This unification of the diverse is a victory which UZIMA! proudly champions, seeking to bring people of all backgrounds together through the arts. UZIMA! has performed at many community events, most recently returning to Notre Dame’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center as the featured dance company for the 2022-23 Presenting Series. UZIMA! has been able to perform on the same stages as prestigious performers such as Itzhak Perlman, Patti Lupone, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and Alvin Ailey II. UZIMA!’s DeBartolo concert is aired annually on WNIT’s “Live at Notre Dame” series, allowing it to be seen by the community at large.
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