A recent graduate of Mannes School of Music and Yale University, New York-based soprano Marisa Karchin has established herself as a compelling and versatile performer of art song, opera and concert works. An avid performer of new music, Marisa most recently performed Earl Kim’s tour de force “Ratting On” with the East Winds Quintet as part of Lehigh University’s Earl Kim centennial celebration. She has also recently collaborated with the Da Capo Chamber Players, Lehigh University Very Modern Ensemble, Washington Square Contemporary Music Society, New Music Mannes, and C4: the Choral Composer- Conductor Collective. In the 2018-19 season, Marisa joined Dayton Opera as an Artist-in- Residence, and made her Weill Recital Hall debut as winner of the 2018 Joy in Singing International Art Song Competition. Marisa was also recently featured in the Chelsea Music Festival’s “200° due Clara” and “Bach 333” series, as well as Moto Osada’s chamber opera Four Nights of Dream, which premiered in NYC and Tokyo. Other operatic roles include La Fée in Cendrillon, Mabel in Pirates of Penzance, Angelica in Orlando, Shirley Temple in Robert Ashley’s DUST, and Nanetta in Falstaff.
Born in Shanghai, China, Haodong Wu made her debut with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra playing the Haydn D Major Piano Concerto at age 9 and was selected as one of the only five candidates across China to study at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. At age 18, Ms. Wu was awarded a merit-based scholarship to study at the Mannes College of Music. Her teachers include Pavlina Dokovska, Cristina Stanescu and Audrey Axinn. She was awarded the Newton Swift Piano Award upon graduation, for excellence as a solo pianist as well as a collaborative pianist. She has graced the stages of major New York City venues, including the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, The Metropolitan Club, Neue Galerie, among others. Her solo performance of the Scriabin Piano Sonata No. 2 was broadcast live on WQXR in 2015. Some recent career highlights include her debut recital with soprano Marisa Karchin at Weill Recital Hall as winners of the 2018 Joy In Singing International Art Song Competition, as well as performances a soloist with the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra and the Yonkers Philharmonic Orchestra. Ms. Wu is scheduled to premiere composer Robert Cuckson’s music, including a solo piano work, in 2021.
Hailed as a composer of “fearless eloquence” (Andrew Porter, The New Yorker), Louis Karchin has been honored with performances of his music throughout the United States, Europe, and the Far East. He has been championed by such organizations as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Fort Worth Opera, the Center for Contemporary Opera, Tanglewood, the Guggenheim Museum, the Louisville Orchestra, the Group for Contemporary Music, the Da Capo Chamber Players, the New York New Music Ensemble, and many more. His music is recorded on Bridge, Naxos, New World, Albany and CRI labels, and his compositions are published by C. F. Peters Corporation and the American Composers Alliance. Mr. Karchin is the recipient of numerous awards for his work including Koussevitzky, Fromm and Barlow Foundation Commissions, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and three awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Active as a conductor, he has founded or co-founded noted performing ensembles including the Harvard Group for New Music, the Chamber Players of the League-ISCM, the Washington Square Ensemble, and most recently, the Orchestra of the League of Composers. He is Professor of Music at New York University.
Two Sacred Songs - Louis Karchin
Recorded at home in New York, NY, October 2020
Marisa Karchin, soprano
Haodong Wu, piano
Mastered by Alex Vourtsanis.
Property of Shelter Recording Project, American Composers Alliance.
