Join Metropolitan Opera soprano and UCLA alumna Angel Blue for a brief discussion and Q&A hosted by Peter Kazaras, Director of Opera UCLA, before Angel's recital in Seattle Opera's first performance of the Songs of Summer series.
This pre-event discussion starts at 6:00 pm (PST) on Thursday, May 28th. Please register below to take part in this unique opportunity to hear from a phenomenal artist who retains her humor and essential humanity during these trying times. Following the discussion, we will be streaming Seattle Opera's Songs of Summer with Angel Blue, which begins at 7 pm and is also viewable on the Seattle Opera website as well as on Facebook and YouTube. Keep a lookout for future Songs of Summer recitals, including a performance from Vanessa Vasquez, another Bruin alumna, later this summer.
Please check out Angel’s 10th episode of Faithful Friday on May 22nd, at 9 am (PST). Angel will feature interviews with Broadway’s finest singers, actors, and dancers, including Brian Cali, yet another Bruin alumnus! The episode will be viewable both on Facebook and on YouTube Live.
About Angel Blue
In her globe-spanning career, Angel Blue has performed in more than 35 countries with companies including the Vienna State Opera, La Scala (as the company’s first black Violetta), Dresden Opera, San Francisco Opera, Frankfurt Opera, the Aix Festival, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Her most recent triumph was headlining the Metropolitan Opera’s 2019/20 season-opening Porgy and Bess. The Gershwins’ classic was beamed into cinemas all around the world where it was seen in Live in HD transmissions. So successful was the production that extra performances were added – something without precedent in the Met’s modern history.
Angel has been immersed in music her whole life, with a father who was an accomplished gospel singer and mother who played piano and violin. The Californian family frequently traveled together as Angel’s father preached sermons throughout the US. Her first encounter with opera came on one such trip to Cleveland when, aged four, she was taken to a concert version of Turandot. Impressed by one particular singer, Angel announced, “I want to be like the woman in the light”.
Angel funded her vocal training at UCLA by participating in beauty pageants, collecting the Miss Hollywood crown and becoming the first African-American to hold the title of Miss Apple Valley, as well as being named runner-up Miss California and Miss Nevada amongst other titles.
Angel reached new audiences last year thanks to the popularity of a video for YouTube’s HiHi Kids, in which she sat for interviews with children answering questions about her craft.
In addition to opening LA Opera’s new season on Sept. 26, 2020, with a role debut as Leonora in Il Trovatore, Angel’s forthcoming engagements include delivering her signature portrayal of Mimì in three different productions of La Bohème with San Diego Opera, the Metropolitan Opera, and at Washington National Opera. International engagements later in the year include Violetta in La Traviata at La Scala and the title role in Tosca at Semperoper Dresden.
This pre-event discussion is made possible by the David and Irmgard Dobrow Fund. Classical music was a passion of the Dobrows, who established a generous endowment at The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music to make programs like this possible. We are proud to celebrate this program as part of the 2019-2020 Dobrow Series
