For the third consecutive year, two of Savannah’s leading performing arts organizations, The Savannah VOICE Festival and Savannah Music Festival, are collaborating to create “Arias & Encores” – a two-night run of “greatest hits,” which will include selections from opera, musical theatre and other song genres.

As a highlight of the Savannah Music Festival, which runs March 23-April 8, two outstanding performances featuring some of America’s most talented young vocal artists will unfold on a downtown Savannah stage. “Arias & Encores” will kick-off the festival at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 23 at the Charles H. Morris Center, 10 E. Broad St. Music (originally scheduled for 8pm, the March 23rd performance of Arias & Encores is now at 6pm).  “Arias & Encores” will feature a carefully chosen mix of fan favorites from a variety of musical styles and vocal arts enthusiasts who can’t make the concert will have another opportunity to catch it at 4 p.m. Sunday, March 26, also at the Morris Center. 

The co-production, masterfully curated by VOICE Festival co-founders Maria Zouves and renowned baritone Sherrill Milnes, will put some of the most highly acclaimed rising musical stars in the spotlight. Audiences at both shows will enjoy the talents of sopranos Shana Grossman and Kristin Schwecke, mezzo soprano Emily Righter, tenor Carlton Moe, and baritone James Wright. They’ll be accompanied  by pianist Dan Gettinger, who works with Zouves and Milnes to musically direct the event. Gettinger is beloved throughout the Coastal Empire thanks to his extensive work with various music festivals and events.

Grossman, winner of the Anita Cerquetti International Opera competition, made her New York City debut last summer singing Adele in Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance program of “Die Fledermaus” and is one of the Savannah VOICE Festival artists.

Schwecke, has performed with Piedmont Opera as Kate Pinkerton in “Madama Butterfly” and with the Hubbard Hall Opera Theatre as Countess in “Le Nozze di Figaro,” among many other esteemed roles. In summer 2013, she was an apprentice artist with Chautauqua Opera, where she performed in Benjamin Britten’s “Peter Grimes” and was a featured soloist with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. Schwecke is a former young artist with the Crested Butte Music Festival where she sang Mimi (La Bohème) in concert under the baton of Covent Garden’s David Syrus.

Righter has performed on stages in Austria, Italy and the United States, most recently with Opera Tampa as Angelina in La Cenerentola. In addition to performing in “Arias & Encores” at the Savannah Music Festival, Righer will also join the cast of Michael Ching’s “Anna Hunter” this summer during the Savannah VOICE Festival.

Moe debuted at Carnegie Hall with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra as the Brother in Kurt Weill’s “The Seven Deadly Sins” and has performed as soloist in major works such as Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Mozart’s Requiem, and Handel’s “The Messiah” with such orchestras as the Oregon Symphony, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Walla Walla Symphony and the Charlottesville Symphony Society.

Wright’s recent operatic roles include the Sacristan in “Tosca,” Rev. Gruffydd in Roger Ames’ “How Green was My Valley” with El Paso Opera, Angelotti in “Tosca” with Nickel City Opera and Papageno in “The Magic Flute” with Undercroft Opera of Pittsburgh. He sang the role of Count Almaviva in “Le Nozze di Figaro,” Bob in “The Old Maid and the Thief” with Nickel City Opera, and Richard White in Michael Ching’s “Alice Ryley” with The Savannah VOICE Festival. Wright joins the Savannah VOICE Festival this summer in the title role of Rossini's Barber of Seville (il barbiere di Siviglia)

Gettinger has participated in as a music director, vocal coach, and pianist at VOICExperience in New York, Orlando, and Tampa; the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, Illinois; Lidal North International Opera Workshop in Oslo, Norway; the Manhattan School Of Music Summer Voice Festival in New York; the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Montreal, Canada; and the International Institute of Vocal Arts in Chiari, Italy.

SVF’s Zouves, who will curate and co-direct the shows with Gettinger and her husband, Milnes, said, “Working in partnership with the Savannah Music Festival on co-productions has become an annual highlight for our organization, and audiences are in for an especially exciting treat this month. We are so pleased to have shared missions with SMF to provide world class programming to the Southeast and we love being an going partner with the SMF.  It will be fulfilling to offer a program of treasured songs and gems from the repertoire. There truly will be something for everyone.”

Tickets to both performances cost $52 each and are available for purchase online at www.savannahmusicfestival.org/events, by phone at 912.525.5050 and in person at the Savannah Box Office (216 E. Broughton St.).