James Valenti, tenor & Danielle Orlando, piano

James Valenti, tenor

American tenor James Valenti owns a voice of Italianate lustre which is continually compared to those of the greatest tenors of the post WW ll period: Franco Corelli, Giuseppe di Stefano, and Carlo Bergonzi. The much sought after 6'5" tenor has built a global reputation for his elegant musicianship, commanding stage presence, and ardent vocal style. Mr. Valenti made his sensational professional debut on the stage of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma as Rodolfo in the Franco Zeffirelli production of La Boheme at the age of 25. Since then, he scored one triumphal debut after another in all of the celebrated citadels of Opera, including Teatro alla Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, and Opera National de Paris. Further performances included: Alfredo Germont in La traviata (Royal Opera House and Japan Tour with Anna Netrebko, Simon Keenlyside and Maestro Antonio Pappano, Metropolitan Opera with Angela Gheorghiu and Thomas Hampson, Canadian Opera Company, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Comunale di Bologna with Maestro Daniele Gatti, Salzburg Festival with Maestro Carlo Rizzi, the Bayeriesche Staatsoper, Dallas Opera), Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto (Maggio Musicale Florence, Dallas Opera, Palm Beach Opera), Rodolfo (Teatro alla Scala Milan with Maestro Gustavo Dudamel, Dresden Semperoper, Santander, Spain, Tokyo, Japan), Werther (Opera de Lyon in Tokyo, Opera National de Paris with Maestro Emmanuel Plasson, Minnesota Opera), Faust (Trieste, Royal Opera House with Rene Pape and Dimitri Hvorostovsky), Lt. Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly (Royal Opera House filmed in 3D on DVD, Opera National de Paris, Genoa, Marseilles, Chicago with Maestro James Conlon, Vancouver, San Francisco and on a PBS ‘Live from Lincoln Center’ telecast), Maurizio in Adriana Lecouvreur (Washington DC), Mr. Valenti has also recorded for EMI/Virgin Classics with Ms. Gheorghiu. Mr. Valenti was honored to receive the prestigious Richard Tucker award in 2010.

2012 - 2013 commences with a return to the role of Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor for his debut at the Sydney Opera House with Opera Australia this September. His demanding schedule continues with several concert performances across the globe, after recent appearances in Toronto, Copenhagen, and St. Petersburg, with further debuts at the Opernhaus Zürich, and The Lyric Opera of Chicago. Future appearances include returns to the Metropolitan Opera, and San Francisco Opera among others.

Danielle Orlando, piano

Danielle Orlando is enjoying an active career as an accompanist to many international opera singers as well as serving as a distinguished vocal coach to many organizations throughout the musical world. She is presently the Principal Opera Coach of The Curtis Institute of Music and a Master Coach for the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.

Ms. Orlando collaborated with Luciano Pavarotti as accompanist, judge, and artistic coordinator for all of the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competitions. She spent nine seasons in Spoleto, Italy, working with Gian Carlo Menotti for the Festival Dei Due Mondi as artistic coordinator and coach for the operas, in addition to editing several of his compositions and performing annually in the festival recital series.

She was the Artistic Administrator and Head of Music Staff for the Opera Company of Philadelphia for many years and has served on the music staffs of numerous opera companies and festivals. These include the Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston. She is annually a guest judge for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Ms. Orlando is a member of the music staff of the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland, where she has also performed in recital. She is a Master Coach for Oberlin in Italy (Arezzo), and principal judge in Budapest, Paris, and New York for Armel Opera Festival's 2012 season held in Szeged, Hungary