Merced Symphony taps vocal talent for ‘Carmina Burana’

The classic cantata “Carmina Burana” gets the Merced Symphony treatment this weekend.

Merced Symphony Association has set the concert for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 23, at Merced Theatre, 301 W. Main St.

“Carmina Burana” was composed in 1935 and 1936 by Carl Orff, a German composer who based the music on medieval poetry. The arrangement opens and closes with perhaps its best known piece, “O Fortuna.”

Merced Symphony conductor Ming Luke will lead the performance, which features soprano Isabella Ivy, tenor Andrew Metzger and baritone Igor Vieira.

Ivy was recently named a resident artist at Opera San Jose and has also performed the role of Elvira in “L’italiana in Algeri,” Lillia Herriton in “Where Angels Fear to Tread” and Königin der Nacht in “The Magic Flute,” according to a news release.

A graduate of the Los Angeles OperaWorks Advanced Artist Program, Metzger finished his master of music degree at University of Redlands. He also has a number of performances under his belt and will soon join the summer program at Opera San Jose, according to a news release.

Vieira, who made his professional debut at 17, has had title roles in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” Claude Debussy’s “Pelleas et Melisande” and Gioachino Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville,” as well as many other performances.

Derek Tam, the chorus master for the evening, is a graduate of Yale University who performs regularly in the Bay Area as a conductor and historical keyboardist, according to his website.

Tickets are $39. For tickets, call 209-381-0500 or go to www.mercedtheatre.org.

This story was originally published April 21, 2016 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Merced Symphony taps vocal talent for ‘Carmina Burana’."