Turandot: A Night at the Opera with Christopher Browner ’12

Taft’s popular “A Night at the Opera” program returns to campus April 12 with Christopher Browner ’12, senior editor at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

Taft’s popular “A Night at the Opera” program returns to campus this week with Christopher Browner ’12, senior editor at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Browner will take the audience on a journey through Giacamo Puccini's final opera, Turandot; he will be joined by performers from the Met’s young artist program. The event takes place in Taft’s Choral Room on the main campus Friday, April 12 at 7 pm. The program is free and open to the public; tickets are not required.

Turandot is a three-act opera set in China. It tells the story of Prince Calaf, who falls in love with Princess Turandot. To win her hand, suitors must solve three riddles; execution awaits those who answer who do not answer correctly. Despite passing the test, the princess refuses to marry Calaf. As the tale unfolds, Calaf presents the princess with a challenge of her own.

Turandot remained unfinished at the time of Puccini’s death in 1924. The music was completed posthumously by Franco Alfano, allowing for a 1926 debut. Browner’s talk at Taft, along with pieces from the show performed by young Met artists, will serve as an insightful and enthusiastic introduction to Turndot, on stage at The Met through June 7. The show features Franco Zeffirelli’s “dazzling vision of mythic China with soprano Elena Pankratova making her Met debut as the legendary—and lethal—title princess, opposite tenor SeokJong Baek as the valiant prince who puts his life on the line to win her love.”

A lifelong opera fan, Browner still remembers the first show he saw at The Met as a child; he also remembers the seat he sat in.

“As the orchestra was tuning and the chandeliers were rising up to the ceiling, I grabbed my dad’s hand—my heart was beating out of my chest because I was so excited.”

As a Taft student, Christopher went to The Met a dozen or so times each year—even more as a student and opera critic for his campus newspaper at Columbia University. Browner was a music major, and directed operas with student groups. He apprenticed with the Santa Fe Opera, studied Italian, and visited the great opera houses across Europe. His work as a senior editor at The Met is the culmination of a lifetime spent pursuing his passion—one he is thrilled to share each year with audiences at Taft.

Performance photo and show notes courtesy metopera.org

Collegium to Perform at Grace Church in New York City
Collegium to Perform at Grace Church in New York City

Taft's showcase choir, Collegium Musicum, will deliver companion performances on the Taft campus and in New York City this weekend.

A joyful rite of spring returns to Taft—and to New York City—this weekend with Collegium Musicum's companion "Music for a Great Space" concerts. The first of the two, one-hour concerts will take place Friday, April 21 at 7 pm in Woodward Chapel, 25 The Green, Watertown, CT. The second follows on Sunday, April 23 at 3 pm in Grace Church, 802 Broadway at 10th Street New York, NY. Both events are free and open to the public; tickets are not required.

"Music for a Great Space" continues a twenty-year tradition of Collegium spring performances in New York City. Originally held at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the event moved to Grace Church last year, a venue where a number of Collegium members and their families have deep ties.

"Both will be exceptional concerts featuring music chosen to celebrate the beautiful acoustical qualities of both spaces," said Bruce Fifer, Collegium director and head of the Arts Department at Taft. "These will be beautiful and vibrant performances."

The program will feature a repertoire of music for choir, organ, and brass that spans the centuries, incorporating everything from Renaissance to contemporary selections.

Woodward Chapel is on the Taft School campus at 25 The Green, Watertown. Grace Church is located at 802 Broadway (10th Street), New York City. A post-concert reception will be held on Sunday at Huntington Close, on the Grace Church campus. For additional information please call 860-945-7773.