American Baritone Mark Walters Will Sing on Richard Tucker Music Foundation Concert on March 10th

NEW YORK, March 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mark Walters will make his debut with The Richard Tucker Music Foundation on "An Evening of Concert and Song." This concert is free and open to the public and will take place on March 10th at 6:00 pm at The Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York, NY.  On the concert Walters will sing "Il balen" from Verdi's Il Trovatore and the "Pearl Fisher's Duet" by Bizet.

The Richard Tucker Music Foundation, founded in 1975, is a non-profit cultural organization dedicated to perpetuating the artistic legacy of the great American tenor through the support and advancement of the careers of talented American opera singers by bringing opera into the community. The Foundation seeks to heighten appreciation for opera by offering free performances in New York Metropolitan area and by supporting music education enrichment programs.

"The Richard Tucker Music Foundation has been instrumental in helping the careers of so many singers," said Walters, "it is a real honor to be invited to participate in this event." Walters was heard last week with Opera Tampa in "A Night of Stars" Gala Concert honoring the career of Placido Domingo. Walters performed pieces from Rigoletto, Don Giovanni and sang the "Pearl Fisher's Duet" with the 2010 Richard Tucker Award winner, Metropolitan Opera tenor James Valenti.

In the past three years, Walters has excelled in the demanding Verdi repertoire with US productions of Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Aida and La forza del destino and made international debuts as Don Giovanni in Japan and in La Traviata in Norway. Opera News has called Walters "a force to be reckoned with" as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor and "heroic" as Escamillo in Carmen. He has been fortunate to study all of these operas under the guidance of American baritone Sherrill Milnes.

Besides making his presence known in the Verdi arena, Walters has been active in presenting new music. This April he will be heard in the world premiere of Rappahannock County by America composer Ricky Ian Gordon and librettist Mark Campbell, sponsored by Virginia Opera and the Virginia Arts Festival. Inspired by diaries, letters, and personal accounts during the Civil War, this work explores the war's impact on the people involved. In July, Walters will play the role of Pekka in the US premiere of Rockland by Finnish composer Jukka Linkola, sponsored by The Pine Mountain Music Festival. This piece is based on the real life story of striking Finnish copper miners, who were confronted by sheriff's deputies in Michigan's Upper Peninsula in 1906.

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SOURCE Mark Walters