Michael Slattery
Since graduating from Juilliard, Michael Slattery has enjoyed an exciting international career. He has worked with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival, the French National Orchestra in Paris, the Akademie für Alte Musik in Berlin, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's at Carnegie Hall. Career highlights include Peter Sellars' Tristan Project at Lincoln Center, the title role in Bernstein's Candide at Royal Festival Hall in London, and Monteverdi's L'Orfeo at the Châtelet Theater in Paris, the Staatsoper in Berlin, and at Glimmerglass. He was recently included in The Spectator's list of tenor "Heroes of the Concert Hall."
His solo discs The Irish Heart, and Secret and Divine Signs, received critical acclaim from Gramophone Magazine and Five Star ratings from BBC Music Magazine and ClassicFM. Other prize-winning recordings include Mozart's Bastien und Bastienne, Scarlatti's Cecilian Vespers, Handel's Atalanta, Acis and Galatea, Saul, Solomon, and Samson, Britten's Curlew River, and Bernstein's Candide. His voice has been recorded for films and for television, and several other projects are currently in development.
Last season he performed at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. In addition to his performances this season, he will record a CD of Dowland songs and offer master classes to students across the United States. Outside his musical activities, Michael Slattery devotes much of his spare time to painting and writing. His paintings have been published in the French art magazine ORAOS and exhibited by Glimmerglass Opera in conjunction with the launch of their new website. They can be seen at www.michaelslattery.com.
The Skye Consort
Alex Kehler, violin; Amanda Keesmaat, cello; Seán Dagher, cittern; Ben Grossman, percussion & hurdy-gurdy.
Skye Consort, with its unique blend of instruments, was formed in 1999 with its name taken from the title of a collection of Scottish melodies compiled in 1887. Skye Consort's first CD Traditional Celtic Melodies received critical acclaim and ample airplay. With the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Skye Consort then embarked on a research project to compare and contrast the music of Brittany and Wales: two Celtic nations united by a common linguistic ancestor. In its next CD, Skye Consort brings its border-crossing sound to French songs from the medieval era to modern times. Visit them at www.skyeconsort.com.
The Irish Heart was recorded in July 2004 in New York's Thousand Islands at the historic Clayton Opera House. The beautifully constructed 1904 brick building proved to be an ideal setting for this acoustic recording.
The Irish Heart was edited and mastered by Brian C. Peters, a member of the Audio Engineering Society for more than 20 years and a senior engineer/producer for Dorian Records with credits on more than 400 CD recordings.
Musical arrangements: Tracks 1, 5, 7, 8, 12, & 13 by Seán Dagher & Michael Slattery; Tracks 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10 & 11 by Seán Dagher.
"I would like to thank my father for singing the melody line on "The Parting Glass", and for taking the photograph of Aunt Babe and Uncle James. To the great Irish tenor Robert White, and to cousin Kathleen Whelan: thank you for sharing your time, enthusiasm and scores. Finally, many thanks to Áine Whelan and Christy Gorman for the tour of the Slattery family homestead in Ireland." -Michael Slattery
Cover Photo by Ned Schenck.
Photos: James and Sarah Slattery at home in County Clare.
The Historic Clayton Opera House
Michael Slattery and The Skye Consort
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