Spotlight on Mezzo-Soprano Max Potter | Chrisman Studio Artist Spring Showcase

There is still time to purchase your tickets for the Opera Santa Barbara Chrisman Studio Artist Spring Showcase!Opera SB will highlight its 20|21 Season Chrisman Studio Artists with two performances Saturday, June 5 and Sunday, June 6 at 2:30PM at Center Stage Theater. Tickets are $28 and capacity is limited. Patrons are encouraged to buy early and review the theater’s COVID policies in effect. Buy now!

The Chrisman Studio Artist Spring Showcase will feature three distinct solo performances highlighting the artistry of OSB’s resident artists with Principal Pianist Timothy Accurso on piano.  Tenor Matthew Greenblatt presents a rare performance of Charles Gounod’s Italian song cycle Biondina, evoking the Italian music of the composer’s young days in Rome, directed by Lillian Groag. Mezzo-soprano Max Potter performs the beautiful and haunting love songs from Hector Berlioz’s song cycle Les nuits d’été, directed by Sara E. Widzer. And soprano Brooklyn Snow will perform Jake Heggie and Terrence McNally’s witty and nostalgic musical scene At the Statue of Venus directed by Layna Chianakas.

Today, we spotlight mezzo-soprano Max Potter, who will be performing Les nuits d’été directed by Sara E. WIdzer. Les nuits d’été (Summer Nights), Op. 7, is a song cycle by the French composer Hector Berlioz. It is a setting of six poems by Théophile Gautier. The cycle, completed in 1841, was originally for soloist and piano accompaniment, although today we most often see this cycle performed in its orchestrated form. The theme of the work is the progress of love, from youthful innocence to loss and finally renewal. Les nuits d’été is also the only song cycle composed by Berlioz.

This season, Max performed the world premiere of Constantine Caravassilis‘ song cycle Epiphany for mezzo-soprano and cello, and returned to The Muse’s Creative Artistry Project for a concert series of opera classics and a gala performance at the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion for Governor Asa Hutchinson. She is an alumna of The Aspen Opera Center, Des Moines Metro Opera Apprentice Program, CoOPERAtive, The Opera Southwest Apprentice Artist Program, and New York’s International Vocal Arts Institute.