Broadway, Bacharach and Bossa Nova
DATE: Sunday, May 17, 6pm
LOCATION: Starr Theater at Walton Arts Center
TICKETS: $22 cabaret | $10 tiered
ABOUT:
In the concrete jungle of New York, vocalist Marcy Harriell and pianist Jeannine Wagar both found great success...but found greater inspiration in the lush green hills of Fayetteville, where kismet placed them three doors apart. After years of combined experience learning the rules of music, this eclectic duo is happily breaking them. Come see the maiden performance from this wildly experienced pair, covering everything from Bossa Nova to Broadway to Bacharach!
Jeannine Wagar was conductor of the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra from 1999 to 2008. Her conducting career has brought her to national and international stages, leading orchestras such as the Thailand Philharmonic, the Dubrovnik Symphony Orchestra and the Mexican National Symphony. She has also worked extensively in the U.S., as principal guest conductor of the Women’s Philharmonic in San Francisco, and made appearances with the Rhode Island Philharmonic and San Diego Symphony, among others. A specialist in Latin American music, Wagar has published extensively on Mexican composers, hosted Emmy®-nominated PBS productions, and directed international music festivals. She co-founded the Cuicani Chamber Orchestra with Eleanor Hovda, providing a platform for emerging composers in the U.S. and Mexico.
Marcy Harriell is a singer, actress and designer. Music was as mandatory as air for the daughter of a truck-driving trumpeter and a gardening artist. Her ability to passionately embrace diverse vocal styles has made her a standout in New York theatre. Jumping lithely amongst opera, rock, jazz and R&B, The New York Times recently hailed her as a vocalist who “demolishes the furious torch song” with a “rafter rattling intensity.” Broadway star turns include Tony Award®-winning musicals In the Heights, Rent, and her nightly show-stopping performance in Lennon. Throughout her career, she has had the honor to work with numerous industry legends: Stephen Sondheim, who guided her performance of Marta in Company at Lincoln Center and the Kennedy Center; Athol Fugard, who directed her in the world premiere of his play Sorrows & Rejoicings; Jerome Robbins and Arthur Laurents, under whose masterful supervision Harriell deepened the role of Maria in West Side Story. “Superfriend” Lin-Manuel Miranda recruited her to record early demos for Disney’s Moana, tapping Harriell’s emotional interpretations for the soundtrack. Enamored by another interpretation, Quentin Tarantino wrote the role of “Marcy” for her in his film Death Proof.