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Sondheim, Schwartz and Brown: A celebration of contemporary musical theater

Performers Jenny Ribeiro (left) and Yi-Hui Chen (right).

Performers Jenny Ribeiro (left) and Yi-Hui Chen (right).

Concert details

Program

Stephen Sondheim
“Putting it Together” from Sunday in the Park with George

Jason Robert Brown
“I’m Not Afraid” from Songs for a New World

Jason Robert Brown
“Summer in Ohio” from The Last Five Years

Charles Strouse/lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
“Blame it On the Summer Night” from Rags

Stephen Sondheim
“I Remember” from Evening Primrose

Jason Robert Brown
“Flagmaker” from Songs for a New World

Stephen Sondheim
“Not a Day Goes by” from Merrily We Roll Along

Richard Rodgers/lyrics Oscar Hammerstein
“Many a New Day” from Oklahoma

Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein
“If I Loved You” from Carousel

Jason Robert Brown
“Christmas Lullaby” from Songs for a New World

Stephen Sondheim
“Glamorous Life” from A Little Night Music

 Stephen Sondheim
“Children Will Listen” from Into the Woods 

Stephen Schwartz
“Meadowlark” from The Baker’s Wife

Performers

Jenny Ribeiro (soprano)

American soprano Jenny Ribeiro has been using her “bright instrument and engaging personality” to delight audiences throughout the world. Specializing in new works as well as traditional opera, Ribeiro has created the roles of Amy (The North Arcade) and the Cat (Jack Prelutsky’s Something Big Has Been Here) in Seattle as well as The Composer (postminimalist composer Elodie Lauten’s Two Cents Opera), Alice (Wonderland), Aphrodite (Sappho in the Mix), and Martha (Thomas Pasatieri’s God Bless Us Everyone) in New York City. From 2021-2022, Jenny finished obtaining her master’s degree in voice at Michigan State University, where she performed Geraldine/The Mother (A Hand of Bridge/L’enfant) and Lady Billows (Albert Herring) as well as toured with MSU’s Vocal Outreach. She also received third prize in the Medici International Music Competition and debuted three Wagnerian roles at once as Ortlinde, Wellgunde and Waldvogel for Berlin Wagner Group’s “Wagner’s Ring in One Evening.” This season, Ribeiro will be touring throughout the United States in her recital tour “From the Hearts of Women,” as well as singing the soprano solos in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (Indiana) and Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio (New York). Other performances include concerts with Bremerton West Sound Symphony and premiers with University of Michigan’s Concert Band. For more information, visit jennyribeiro.com. 

Yi-Hui Chen (piano)

Yi-Hui Chen was born in Keelung, Taiwan. She started learning the piano at age five and began playing flute at age nine. Chen received a bachelor's degree from National Taiwan Normal University in 2017, and a master of music degree in piano performance from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2019. In 2019, she began studying for her doctor of musical arts degree in piano performance at Michigan State University, where she studies with Deborah Moriarty. Chen worked as a ballet accompanist from 2017-2019, and then worked as a graduate assistant from 2019-2021. Besides solo work, she continues actively collaborating with vocalists and instrumentalists. This summer, she worked as a collaborative pianist for the vocal area at Interlochen summer camp.