AURELIUS GORI, D.M.A., BARITONE is an acclaimed soloist and recitalist in Washington, DC whose singing has been
hailed as “splendidly lyrical” by the Washington Post. A 1990-91 Fulbright scholar, he studied at the Hochschule
für Musik in
Munich and was a 1991 semifinalist in the International Belvedere Competition in Vienna. Two years later, he was awarded a scholarship to study Lieder with Ian Partridge at the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies in England. As a young graduate student at the
University
of Maryland, Gori portrayed Araspe in the American premiere of Handel’s Tolomeo. Since then he has portrayed many roles including Don Giovanni with Eldbrooke Artist Series
and Gianni Schicchi with the American Center for Puccini Studies.
Although he is celebrated for his many concert and operatic appearances,
his deepest musical love is for the art song, and in this medium he has specialized in the presentation of lecture recitals
of music by André Caplet and Yrjö Kilpinen. He also premiered several compositions by his friend American composer, Marshall
Ocker (1926-2004) including Trilogy for Baritone on the Vienna Modern Masters label
(VMM 2030).
Dr. Gori has appeared as a soloist with
the Fairfax Symphony, the Amherst (New York) Symphony and the North York Symphony in Toronto,
Canada. His soli have graced numerous
local choral societies including his performances last season of the baritone solos in Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sea
Symphony and this season in Durufle's Requiem, Op. 9 with the NOVA Community Chorus and the Washington
Metropolitan Philharmonic .
In addition to being a founding member
of Gori Voice Studios, LLC, Dr. Gori is currently on the faculties of the Washington Conservatory of Music and Northern Virginia Community College-Alexandria. He feels especially privileged to be
a part of Amanti Cantanti, the duo performance series with his wife, mezzo-soprano Grace Gori. You are invited to visit his
website www.aureliusgori.com
GRACE GORI, MEZZO-SOPRANO is known in the Washington DC area as an acclaimed performer in both the concert and operatic repertoire. She has been
praised by The Washington Post for her "fine sense of style" and "strong dramatic impact".
As a concert artist, Ms. Gori has been a featured soloist with organizations including the North York Symphony of Toronto,
Canada, The Amherst Symphony, the Cathedral Choral Society, the Washington Bach
Consort, and the Maryland Handel Festival. She made her solo debut at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall in 1999 with the Master
Chorale of Washington in Alice Parker's Melodious Accord and returned to the Concert Hall in December 2004 as the
alto soloist in the Kennedy Center's Annual Holiday Celebration Messiah Sing-Along concert. In 2006 she created the
mezzo role in the world premiere of "Hannah's Song" by Katherine
Dienes with the Washington Women's Chorus.
Ms. Gori's concert performances during the 2007-2008 season included Handel's Messiah in December 2007 with
the New Dominion Chorale under the direction of Maestro Thomas Beveridge and Beethoven's Choral Fantasy during the
2007 Kennedy Center Honors Gala, broadcast nationally on CBS television on December 26, 2007. In April 2008 she joined
the American University Chorus and Symphony Orchestra as alto soloist in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 ("Choral").
During Spring 2009, she sang the haunting "Pie Jesu" in two performances of Durufle's Requiem, Op. 9 with
the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic and the NOVA Community Chorus. On August 11, 2009, she will join Choralis'
Summer Sing-along as the alto soloist in Handel's Messiah.
Ms. Gori also maintains an active opera career, in
which her credits include the Third Madrigale in Puccini's Manon Lescaut with the Washington National Opera, Carmen
with the Eldbrooke Artists Series, Cherubino in Annapolis Opera's Marriage of Figaro, Tessa in The Gondoliers
with the Washington Savoyards, and La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi with the American Center for Puccini Studies. She
has performed numerous roles with the innovative "In Series" of Washington DC, including Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte,
the Third Lady in The Magic Flute and Mercedes in Carmen: the Tragedy of Don Jose. In June 2008, she
created the role of Miss Skjaere in the world premiere concert reading of Love's Comedy, an opera by Kim D. Sherman,
with the George Mason University Festival of the Arts. Most recently, she returned to the "In Series" as Public Opinion
in their rolicking update of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld.
In addition to her performing career, Ms Gori teaches
classical vocal technique privately through Gori Voice Studios, LLC and is on faculty at the Washington Conservatory of Music.
She also enjoys performing as part of the duo "Amanti Cantanti" with her husband, baritone Aurelius Gori. For
more information, all are invited to visit her website at www.gracegori.com
