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Chenez To Perform At JCC

Ray Chenez

Operatic countertenor Ray Chenez will perform a recital in Jamestown Community College’s Weeks Reception Hall at noon Wednesday, Oct. 24.

The program is free and open to the public.

Prior to the recital, Chenez will present lectures at 8 and 11 a.m. to students in JCC’s music program.

Chenez’s presentations and concert are provided through the Lenna Endowed Visiting Professorship program sponsored by JCC and St. Bonaventure University. The visiting scholar program, established in 1990, is funded through gifts from the late Betty S. Lenna Fairbank and Reginald A. Lenna. It is designed to bring scholars of stature in their field to St. Bonaventure University and JCC for public lectures.

Chenez, a native of Lockport, earned a bachelor’s degree in music at the State University of New York at Fredonia and a master’s degree and doctorate at Florida State University.

Opera News proclaimed Chenez to be one of the next generation’s rising stars, noting “Ray Chenez’s countertenor is bold and assertive but also warm-toned and luxurious. He has a naturally electric presence, and his diction is precise no matter how high he sings.”

Chenez, who won the 2014 George London Award, recently performed at Oper Frankfurt in Germany as Irina in Tri Sestry. He has performed widely in operas, concerts, recitals, and ensembles throughout Europe and the U.S. since 2005.

In the 2018-19 season, he returns to the Handel Festspiele Halle, where he will sing the title role Mirtillo in Handel’s Il Pastor Fido, and Narciso in Handel’s Agrippina. He will create the role of Ampelos in the world premiere of Dionysos Rising and will sing the title role Aminta in the modern-day premiere of Il Re Pastore by Maria Teresa Agnesi.

Chenez taught previously at the University of Alabama’s School of Music and has been a private voice instructor since 2008.

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