The Richmond County Orchestra Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

The Richmond County Orchestra's 25th season on Staten Island, New York, celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month. The performance features Utopia Winds artists along with Soprano Maria Brea who has performed as a soloist recently at Carnegie Hall, Mezzo-Soprano Anna Tonna, who is back from a whirlwind tour of Europe and Tenor Sebastian Armendariz, a gifted singer currently attending the Julliard School are all accompanied on piano by RCO's Olga Gurevich. Music includes Hispanic composers plus popular Opera, Zarzuela, and Broadway pieces.

All pieces will be introduced in Spanish and English with a printed program in both languages. The performance takes place Friday, September 23, at 7:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Mount Carmel -St Benedicta Church, 1265 Castleton Ave, Staten Island with free parking across the street in the school parking lot. Admission is $10 at the door FREE for students and children. For information:

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About the performers:

Sebastian Armendariz

Born in El Paso, TX, Sebastian Armendariz is a Mexican-American tenor, actor, content creator, and cancer survivor currently based in New York City. The youngest of five children, a proud uncle, and a lover of sonnets, soccer, and Salsa dancing, he has performed with Indianapolis Opera as a Resident Artist, the Chautauqua Institution, and Sarasota Opera as an Apprentice Artist. Armendariz holds an MM in Voice Performance from DePaul University in Chicago and a BA in Music from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire.

Maria Brea

Maria Brea, soprano, is a native of Caracas, Venezuela, currently residing in New York City, New York. This upcoming 2022-23 season Ms. Brea will be representing Venezuela in the prestigious Domingos's Operalia. She is making her Cincinnati Ballet debut singing Orff's Carmina Burana. Additionally, Ms. Brea returns in December to The World-Renowned Carnegie Hall to make her debut singing Handel's Messiah with the prestigious Oratorio Society of New York. She will make a reprise of Messiah and her debut with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra this December 2022. She will be making her Schubert Club's debut in Saint Paul, Minnesota along with the Jasper Quartet in a premiere of award-winning Venezuelan composer Reinaldo Moya; In addition, she will be headlining at the Schubert Club's 140th season along with a rare performance by legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma and mezzo-soprano Anne Sophie von Otter.

Anna Tonna

Mezzo soprano Anna Tonna has bowed as Rosina, Carmen, Dorabella, as well as in rarer repertoire by Paisiello, Vivaldi, Mascagni, Zandonai and Giordano. She has appeared with the Casals Festival and Festival Iberoamerican de las Artes in Puerto Rico; El Festival de Segovia, Fundación Juan March, Auditorio Nacional de España and the Museo del Romanticismo in Spain; Teatro Grattacielo, Joy in Singing, Elysium Between Two Continents, Música de Cámara, Americas Society and Hispanic Society in New York City; and the Pacific Music Festival in Japan among others.

Utopia Winds

Utopia Winds artists include Leslie Jay, Alice Petre, Larry Seltzer and Glenda Torres. Although utopia means "nowhere," Utopia Winds group members think clarinet quartets should be everywhere. Their goal is to present live performances of music for any combination of four clarinets. They perform at parties, street fairs, and other events. With more than 100 pieces in their repertoire, which spans several centuries and includes compositions written specifically for their instruments, transcriptions of famous string quartets, and arrangements of jazz and pop standards. When not "quartetting," the members of Utopia Winds perform with orchestras, opera companies, and other ensembles in the New York area. Collectively, they have decades of professional experience.