CONGRATULATIONS FLICKA

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Known as the "non-diva", our friend FREDERICA von STADE, was just inducted into the Opera Hall of Fame.  Her ex- agent is a nun in our Mother Abbey. (I have done a Blog in the past on her, but at present have no way to access past Blogs, due to a mess on new computer.)

We have been most fortunate to hear "Flicka" twice in our area: once years ago when she appeared at the famed. Mt Baker theater in Bellingham and more recently on Orcas Island at the Orcas Island Chamber Festival.

Best known for her work in opera, this mezzo-soprano, was also a recitalist and concert artist, having recorded more than a hundred albums and videos. She was especially associated with operas by Mozart and Rossini, and with music by French and American composers.

She is a practicing Catholic, who has given herself to extensive charitable work, especially with education, health issues and the homeless. She retired from the operatic and concert stage in 2010 and now is furthering efforts to bring classical music to disadvantaged youth.

The main beneficiary of her philanthropy has been  (for 20 years) the Young Musicians Choral Orchestra, an East Bay (CA) organization that provides children from low income families with musical tuition, academic reinforcement and assistance in their personal development in order to help them to win a place at university. It's an after-school free program from ages 10 to 18, with everything from opera to jazz. 

Frederica holds honorary doctorates from Yale University, Boston University, San Francisco Conservatory of Music (which holds a Frederica von Stade Distinguished Chair in Voice), Georgetown University School of Medicine, and her alma mater, the Mannes School of Music. 

In 1998  she was awarded France’s highest honor, an officer of L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In 1983 President Reagan honored her with an award at the White House in recognition of her contributions to the arts.

If you want to hear her, I recommend going to Youtube, and listening to Dvorak, “Song to the Moon” from Rusalka. Heavenly!