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NEW ENGLAND OPERA CLUB
THE JACOPO PERI AWARD

THE HONOREE FOR 2007
RANDOLPH J. FULLER
THE GALA AWARD RECPTION WAS ON
DATESunday, October 28, 2007
PLACEDoubletree Guest Suites
 400 Soldiers Field Road
 Boston (Allston), MA
 (617) 783-0090
  
TIMECocktails: Five-thirty O'Clock

Dinner: Six O'Clock

"...the most prolific and successful opera impresario in this city since Eben Jordan."

Randolph Fuller’s life-long love of opera began at the age of nine years old, when he attended the Metropolitan Opera touring production of Die Fledermaus in 1951 at the old Boston Opera House on Huntington Avenue (with Eleanor Steber as Rosalinde). After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, he returned to Boston where he helped found one of the three companies that merged to form the Boston Lyric Opera - Associate Artists Opera Company of New England. He spent a decade reviewing opera for the Boston Phoenix and then became President of Boston Lyric Opera Company, a position he held for twenty years. While at Boston Lyric Opera, Mr. Fuller spearheaded the only Boston production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. In 1988 he helped produce the very successful Jenny Lind recital on Northeastern Records which starred Elizabeth Parcells.

In 1995, Mr. Fuller became President of the precursor to Opera Boston, Boston Academy of Music. With Richard Conrad as Artistic Director, Randolph helped define the company’s unique repertoire and supported many important Boston productions including Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda and Anna Bolena for which he was recognized by Mayor Tom Menino. In 2002, Mr. Fuller produced an acclaimed recording of the company’s production of Barber’s Vanessa which was conducted by Gil Rose and published by Naxos.

With Gil Rose, Randolph Fuller created the Opera Unlimited Festival which premiered many important works including Thomas Adès’ Powder her Face and Peter Eötvös’ Angels In America. In 2003, along with Chairman Winnie Gray and General Director Carole Charnow, he transformed Boston Academy of Music into the company we now know as Opera Boston. His vast knowledge of every corner of operatic repertoire (along with an encyclopedic memory of the dates, casts and conductors of virtually every opera’s debut) has led to the company’s unique programming and widely acclaimed artistic achievement.

Randolph Fuller is also a patron of the Boston Early Music Festival and has contributed to many of the company’s acclaimed operatic productions. He has helped launch the careers of many operatic soloists including Elizabeth Parcells, Stephen Salters and Barbara Quintiliani. Being the Renaissance man he is, he is also a knowledgeable collector of art, and spent over twenty years on the visiting committee of the Museum of Fine Arts, working closely with Anne Poulet to build the museum's collection of 17th and 18th century decorative arts. His unmatched knowledge of opera, paired with his keen sensitivity, and shrewd artistic judgment, has made him the most prolific and successful opera impresario in this city since Eben Jordan. It is common knowledge, reports Carole Charnow, General Director of OPERABOSTON, that opera in Boston would simply not exist without Mr. Fuller’s generous patronage. OPERABOSTON is extremely grateful for his outstanding leadership.

JACOPO PERI
Jacopo Peri (1561 - 1633) was a Florentine singer and composer. A member of the Florentine Camarata, he is generally credited for writing the very first opera DAFNE. His second was opera Eurydice composed in 1600 for the wedding of Maria de' Medici and Henri IV of France. The full score exists, and this opera is occasionally staged today.

THE PAST RECIPIENTS ARE LISTED:

DATENAMECOMMENT
2007Randolp J. FullerA generous opera patron and scholar who founded the OPERA BOSTON company
2006Stephen LordA nationally renown opera conductor, Maestro Lord was Music Director of the Boston Lyric Opera for many years.
2005Jeffrey RinkThis talented symphonic conductor is acclaimed for his inovated productions of concert operas.
2004Sarah CaldwellMusic's Wonder Woman, she founded and was Artistic Director of the Opera Company of Boston
2003Sharon DanielsOpera diva and director, she is now Director of the Opera Institue at Boston University.
2002Bradley PenningtonFounder and Artistic Director of the Boston Bel Canto Opera Company.
2001Roland HayesA posthumous award to the first African American male to win universal acclaim as a concert artist.
2000Jan CurtisA promising contralto, who is making an extraordinary and successful effort to overcome an unfortunate handicap.
1999D'Anna FortunatoThis charming mezzo-soprano has delighted audiences with her many appearances in operas and recitals.
1998Norman Kelley In roles from Wagner to Kurka, he was a tenor often featured by both the Metroplitan Opera and New York City opera companies.
1997William MirandaA knowledgeable and innovative opera teacher, he founded and is president emeritus of the New England Opera Club.
1996Scott BrumitFounder and General Manager of the Longwood Opera Company, he often participates in their productions.
1995Robert HoneysuckerHis beautiful baritone voice has enhanced many opera productions in the Boston area and around the country.
1994Susan StoneShe created the "Brown Bag Opera",--an inovative program to introduce opera to children.
1993Richard ConradThe founder, artistic director and featured vocalist at the Boston Academy of Music.
1992John BalmeA past music director and conductor of the Boston Lyric Opera Company.
1991Patricia CriagHer performing career spans more than three decades of major roles in the leading opera houses of the world. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1978.
1991Richard CassillyThe husband of soprano Patricia Craig, he was a world-famous Wagnerian tenor and voice teacher.
1990Ron Della ChiesaHe is a knowlegable radio host for all styles of music and the voice of the Boston Symphony Orchestra broadcasts.
1989Ernest TriplettHe founded and performed in the Associated Artist Opera group, a predecessor to the Boston Lyric Opera Company.
1988John MoriartyLegendary director of the New England Conservatory opera program, he is revered by generations of aspiring singers.
1987Eleanor SteberWinning the 1940 Met Auditions award, she had a long and distinguished career.
1986Donald GrammA bass-baritone who appeared in many productions of both the New York City and the Boston Opera Companies.
1985Phyllis CurtinThis celebrated soprano of the New York City Opera was the dean of the Boston University opera department.
1984Boris GoldovskyA pianist and opera producer, he enhaced for many years the intermission features of the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts.
1983Schuyler ChapinAn entrepeneur in the music industry, he was General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera from 1971 to 1975.
1982Eunice AlbertsThis famous contralto from Boston made her New York City Opera debut in "The Crucible" in 1961.


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