Winner of the BEL CANTO VOCAL COMPETITION SCHOLARSHIP

I'm thrilled to announce that I won this competition. It is quite the Christmas gift! I have been wanting to apply for this competition for the last three years and I finally felt like this year I could, should, and would stand a chance to win. I have a strong passion for Bel Canto repertoire and I recently discovered that my voice suits it very well. Bel Canto repertoire requires a lot of demand and it is a real test of the singer's ability and command of vocal technique and artistry.

THANK YOU Bel Canto Vocal Foundation for nurturing the young artists, promoting the Bel Canto repertoire and Bel Canto singing!

http://belcantoscholarship.com/our-newsletter

U-M Orpheus Singers concert

Stamps Auditorium

University of Michigan

Orpheus Singers is a mixed choir of undergraduate and graduate students, and is rehearsed and conducted by the graduate choral conducting students of Jerry Blackstone. 

WINNER OF THE METROPOLITAN OPERA MI DISTRICT NATIONAL COUNCIL AUDITIONS 2014

I had great pleasure singing on the stage of the beautiful Detroit Opera House. It was my fourth time competing in the MI District round and this is the second time, that I had won, two consecutive years. I am excited to have another opportunity to advance to Great Lakes Regional round on January 11, 2015 in Buffalo, NY and see what happens after that. :)

C.P.E. Bach 300th Anniversary Celebration

Tuesday, December 2, 2014, 8:00PM

University of Michigan, Pendleton Room at the Michigan Union Building 

I will be performing an aria and a duet from Die Israeliten in der Wüste Wq. 238 (1769) with a chamber orchestra. This music is stunning and I'm thrilled to celebrate and expose C.P.E. Bach's music. 

You can find a compete program here:

http://www.cpebach.de/en/2014/other/events/1334

Dead Man Walking - U-M Opera Theatre

On Thursday, Nov. 13th, before the opening of the show, we met one of the most amazing human beings, Sister Helen Prejean, who is the author of the book Dead Man Walking. The opera is written by Jake Heggie and libretto by Terrence McNally, based on Sister Helen's book. A true story, about her journey to Christ and how she became a spiritual advisor to several convicts on death row. This woman is so strong, compassionate, direct, and funny! She continues to speak all over the country about many social issues and bringing awareness to the citizens of what death row is and how come it's always done in closed doors and not open to the public of what really happens. She was present in our opening night of this power opera and beautifully written score, which was a success, and I played Sister Rose, who was one of her closest friends at the Hope House of St. Joseph of Medaille.

Simon Carrington Conducting Master Class

Tomorrow, Monday, October 20, I will be one of the graduate conductors to conduct for the renowned Simon Carrington in a Master Class at the University of Michigan. 

Soloist with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra

I'm pretty excited for these recently added upcoming events!

I will be performing as a soprano soloist with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra and their new Music Director, Libor Ondras, this December 18 & 19, in Petoskey, MI

Vivaldi's Gloria & Händel's Messiah: Part 1

and

I will also perform as a soprano soloist with the Great Lakes Chamber Orchestra and Kent Philharmonic Orchestra combined, at St. Cecilia Music Center in Grand Rapids, MI, with Libor Ondras. This will be a 100 years celebration of Grand Rapids Community College and I'm so excited to return as an alumni on March 20, 2014. 

Beethoven's Symphony No.9 

*For more info and specific performances times, please check the page UPCOMING PERFORMANCES on my website: www.antoninanc.com 

Shattering the Mirror - Fairy Tale Song Cycle

Shattering the Mirror: A Fairy Tale Song Cycle is an hour-long musical theatre piece that adapts eight classic Hans Christian Andersen and Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales and brings the stories to life through the perspective of a single character within each song. The music for the show combines elements of popular and classical chamber music to bring the poetic adaptations of the stories to life.

(Recorded live April 27th 2014 at the Keene Theatre in Ann Arbor)

Shattering The MirrorShattering the Mirror: A Fairy Tale Song Cycle is an hour-long musical theatre piece that adapts eight classic Hans Christian Andersen and Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales and brings the stories to life thr

I'm so proud of this!! This was my first time to cast (along with my colleagues), work very closely with a composer, prepare, coach, and conduct a completely new work for chamber orchestra and singers from scratch! It was fully staged, recorded live, and we presented three public shows in April, 2014 at the U-M Keene Theatre. It will be out on DVD soon, if you are interested, but for now you can listen to some tracks on the above link. The show was directed by James Schmid, composed by Zac Lavender, script by Ryan Widner, and the poetry libretto was written by Melissa Golden, all U-M students, which includes all the singers and orchestra!!!! What an unforgettable time this was, and I cannot wait to conduct the next theatrical work!!! BRAVI TUTTI!!!

Enjoy!! 

Rachmaninoff - Op.38, No.4, Pied-Piper from my Master's Recital

Click to watch a video from the Master's Recital - March 9, 2015

With Dylan Perez at the piano

Vier Letzte Lieder (Strauss) with USO and Kenneth Kiesler

Concerto Competition Winner Concert

April 18, 2014

Hill Auditorium

Ann Arbor, MI

Maestro Kenneth Kiesler

With my fabulous coach/pianist Dylan Pianist

Dress Rehearsal

SATURDAY, APRIL 12 PERFORMANCE - NEW LOCATION AND TIME

The Saturday performance of the Der Rosenkavalier final trio will be performed at 4PM in the Britton Recital Hall, U-M Moore Music Building. 

Thomas Hampson Master Class - CANCELLED

I will be singing for Thomas Hampson, baritone, in his Master Class this Friday, March 14 @3:30-7PM, at Stamps Auditorium, Walgreen Drama Center, at the University of Michigan!

Dylan Perez and I will perform, Touch me from Late Summer by Tom Cipullo. 

RUSSIAN ROMANCES - LIVE STREAM

Dear Friends,

For those of you who could not make it in person to my Master's Degree Recital - Russian Romances, please join me via Live Stream link below, on Sunday, March 9, at 7PM EST (EDT).

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/antonina-chekhovskaya-2014-03-09-brh-7pm

Note: It is daylight savings day as well, so make sure you check the correct time depending on your country.

Here is more detailed info on the FaceBook event page:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1440414589522360/

Program:

ANTONINA CHEKHOVSKAYA, Soprano 

DYLAN PEREZ, Piano

ADRIENNE POPE, Violin

DANIEL POCETA, Cello

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Moore Building, Britton Recital Hall

 7:00 PM

Op. 21, No.7, Здесь хорошо - How fair this spot                                                                          Sergei Rachmaninoff

Op. 4, No.4, Не пой, красавица - Oh, never sing to me again                                                                     (1873-1943)

Op. 14, No.4, Эти летние ночи - Midsummer nights

Suite of Romances for soprano & piano trio, op. 127                                                                  Dmitri Shostakovich

 Песня Офелии - Song of Ophelia                                                                                                                   (1906-1975)

Гамаюн, птица вещая - Gamayun, the bird of prophecy

Мы были вместе - We were together

Город спит - The city sleeps

Буря - The storm

Тайные знаки - Secret Signs

Музыка - Music

Adrianne Pope, violin; Daniel Poceta, cello

Intermission

Six Romances, op. 38                                                                                                                        Sergei Rachmaninoff

    Ночью в саду у меня - In my garden at night

    К ней - To her

    Маргаритки - Daisies

    Крысоловъ - The rat-catcher

    Сонъ - Dream

    Ау! - A-oo!

Op. 73, No.1, Мы сидели с тобой - We sat together                                                              Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Op. 57, No.1, Скажи, о чем в тени ветвей - Tell me, what in the shade of the branches                  (1840-1893)

Op. 73, No. 3, В эту лунную ночь - In this moonlit night

Op. 47, No.6, День ли царит - Whether day dawns

RUSSIAN ROMANCES - MARCH 9

Four Last Songs - (Strauss) Concert

Concerto Competition Winner Concert

Four Last Songs (Strauss)

Chekhovskaya, soprano

University Symphony Orchestra 

Kenneth Kiesler, conductor

Friday, April 18, 2014 at Hill Auditorium 

Winner of the U-M Concerto Competition 2014

I am so happy to tell you that I won the concerto competition and I am so excited to perform these beautiful pieces, Four Last Songs (Strauss) again, at Hill Auditorium, but this time with an orchestra. I will post the concert date ASAP.

Congratulations to my incredible pianist and coach, Dylan Perez.