Asia Society Performing Arts Series

Friday, February 5th, 2021

9:00 pm (HKT), 8:00am (EST)

Q&A - ask questions here (Slido # 82606)

Singers don’t only need to sing well, they need to sing smart! In his Amazon #1-rated guide Beyond the Aria: Artistic Self-Empowerment for the Classical Singer, author Neal Goren distils decades of experience as an opera conductor, coach, educator, and collaborative pianist in explaining why some singers are in great demand and others not. From knowing the musical score to playing a convincing character, Goren reveals what singers need to know about launching a career, making their own artistic decisions and becoming an active part of the creative process.

Neal Goren was the founder and artistic director of Gotham Chamber Opera, which popularized and legitimized the formerly ignored genre of chamber opera. Goren’s newest opera venture is Catapult Opera, a new company dedicated to communicating the power of opera through unique internet-based media and world-class live performance. Goren was conductor and music director for Mila, an original chamber opera by Eli Marshall and Candace Chong commissioned and developed by Asia Society Hong Kong, and has conducted standard operas, non-standard operas and premieres throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. As a recital accompanist, Goren has concertized extensively with Leontyne Price, among others. He is an associate professor at Mannes College, The New School for Music, and a frequent judge of national and international vocal competitions. His writings on opera and the arts have appeared in numerous books and periodicals.

Ken Smith has written about arts and culture on five continents for a wide array of print, broadcast and internet media. Since 2004 he has divided his time between New York and Hong Kong, where he is the Asian Performing Arts Critic of London’s Financial Times. Winner of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for distinguished music writing and a 2020 SOPA Award for arts and culture reporting, he is a regular commentator for RTHK Radio 4, a monthly columnist for Opera magazine of Shanghai, and a jury member for the International Opera Awards in London. He was a consultant to many cross-cultural projects, including David Henry Hwang’s bilingual Broadway comedy Chinglish, Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber for San Francisco Opera, and Kung Fu, a musical based on the life of Bruce Lee for New York’s Signature Theatre.

Co-Presenter