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Mary Johnston Letellier, soprano
George Lopez, pianist

Bowdoin College Museum of Art
245 Maine Street, Brunswick

Produced by Bowdoin College Museum of Art in partnership with Opera Maine

Free tickets, distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, will be available at the Museum Shop beginning Tuesday morning, April 16, 2024. The Museum opens at 10:00 a.m. Limit two tickets per household.

Dramatic coloratura soprano Mary Johnston Letellier (she/her/hers) brings her warm, expressive voice and strong artistic instincts to a wide variety of repertoire. This spring, Ms. Letellier and Alexandra Dietrich debut their recital, Deep Magic of the Earth and Songs to the Moon at the University of Southern Maine with Scott Wheatley and Thomas Smoker on the piano. She is excited to collaborate with Opera Maine and Bowdoin College for a recital in May, and serve as the chorus vocal coach for Opera Maine’s summer production of Verdi’s Aida. This past fall, she performed Le Petit Prince: A Musical Journey; the recital featured works that represent characters from the novel. Ms. Letellier sang the soprano soloist of Handel’s Messiah with the Messiah Community Chorus in Southborough, Massachusetts. She had the honor of workshopping the role of Harpy with Mark Adamo for his Sarah in the Theater for NEC and Odyssey Opera this past fall. This past year, Ms. Letellier enjoyed a role premiere as the Queen of the Night in New England Conservatory’s production of Die Zauberflöte. With Opera in the Pines, she made her debut as Musetta in Bar Crawl Bohème. With Snowlion Repertory, she portrayed Grace in The Christmas Bride in Concert. Last year, she had the honor of singing the soprano soloist at the Assabet Valley Mastersinger’s concert of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem. In addition, Ms. Letellier premiered the role of Conrad/ Conradine in Snowlion Repertory’s The Secret Princess and made her debut as soprano soloist of Haydn’s The Seasons with the Assabet Valley Mastersingers. Recently, Ms. Letellier appeared as Violetta in Mass Opera’s unique production of La Traviata and covered the role of First Lady in Die Zauberflöte with Opera Maine, where she appears regularly as a member of the company’s professional ensemble. She originated the role of the Narrator in the premiere of Mesmerized at Snowlion Repertory Theater. Other recent engagements on the musical theater stage include Julie/Carrie/Nettie/Louise in Carousel at Tophat Toy Theater, Franca Naccarelli in The Light in the Piazza and The Ghost of Christmas past in The Christmas Carol: The Musical, both at Biddeford City Theater. Broadwayworld.com called her performance as Franca “one of the highlights of the show.”
Also a sought after concert performer, Ms. Letellier has recently been a featured soloist in programs with Lyric Music Theater, Opera Maine, Port City Blue, Biddeford City Theater, and others. She was particularly proud to lend her voice to the concert Still Dreaming: A Tribute to MLK at Milton Community Concerts, and to the Black Lives Matter Faculty Concert at University of Southern Maine. She is an active performing member of Opera on Tap: Maine (where she is also the Founder and Co-Manager), The Portland Rossini Club, and the MarstonKotzschmar Music Club. In 2021, she won the New England Regional NATS Artist Award and the Anne Marie Gertz Award at the National NATS Artist Competition in 2022.
Ms. Letellier is currently working on her Doctorate of Musical Arts in Vocal Performance at New England Conservatory. She received her Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Opera Performance from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee where she appeared as Magda in La Rondine, Peep Bo in The Mikado, Miss Pinkerton in The Old Maid and the Thief, The Sandman in Hansel and Gretel, Belinda in Dido and Aeneas and many others. She was a member of the Young Artist Program at Seagle Music Colony and has also studied at Flagstaff in Fidenza (Italy). She is currently on faculty at the University of Southern Maine, 317 Main Community Music Center and the Portland Conservatory of Music, in addition to maintaining a busy private vocal studio.

The Robert Beckwith Artist-in-Residence at Bowdoin College, George Lopez, pianist and conductor, has been a dynamic performer, sought-after pedagogue, and engaging lecturer for over 30 years. Known for his “…kaleidoscopic colors and clarity of conception…” (Los Angeles Times) in the standard repertoire as well as being a champion of newly written works, Mr. Lopez gave a highly acclaimed solo recital debut at the renowned Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and was lauded as “… authentic and memorable …” by the Nederlands Dagblad for his interpretation of Bach’s Goldberg Variations along with all Twenty-Four Preludes of Chopin. He performed the complete sonatas of Mozart, all five Piano Concertos of Beethoven, the complete Etude-Tableaux of Rachmaninoff, all 27 Etudes and the Four Ballades of Chopin, and recently did the entire 4-volume set of Bach’s Klavierubungen, which he performed on organ, harpsichord, and piano.

Mr. Lopez performs worldwide as a soloist in major cities throughout Europe, Australia, Japan, Mexico, Central and South America. His extensive performances cover most major U.S. cities, including New York’s Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, Paul Hall at the Juilliard School, Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Ambassador Hall in Los Angeles, the Shao Lin Arts Center in Rockport, Massachusetts, The Cleveland Art Museum, Harvard University, and Tanglewood. After his performance at Lincoln Center, the composer Lowell Liebermann described the performance of his work as “… exciting and decisive!”

A featured soloist at many international music festivals throughout America, Europe, and other continents, Mr. Lopez performed at the renowned Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Girona Internacional Festival de Musica in Spain, the Kowmung Festival just outside Sydney, Australia, Festivale d’Internazionale Solisti e Musica da Camera in Umbria, Italy, and the Latin-American music festival Cubadisco in Havana, Cuba. He performed as guest soloist with the National Symphony of São Paolo in Brazil, Rose Hall in Osaka, Asahi Hall in Tokyo, and appeared as guest soloist and conductor with the New Hampshire Symphony in J. S. Bach’s Keyboard Concerto in D minor. Mr. Lopez has been a regular guest artist with renowned chamber ensembles, including the Emerson, Carpe Diem, Rainier, Skyros, and Ying Quartets. He collaborates in recording and outreach projects with members of major symphony orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Boston Symphony, The Met Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and The New World Symphony. Mr. Lopez recorded Italian composer Romeo Melloni’s Piano Concerto No. 1 dedicated to him with the acclaimed Prague Chamber Orchestra in the former Czech Republic and premiered a new Piano Concerto by the Indo-American composer Dr. Vineet Shende. Mr. Lopez has given radio performances and interviews on Cuban Salon music, the Music of Sherlock Holmes, and all 27 Etudes of Chopin. His interdisciplinary and multi-cultural “Music in the Museum” series at Bowdoin College consistently sells out to audiences who enjoy his creative and engaging lecture-recitals on the relationship of music, art, and its cultural history.

As part of the dynamic DUO MUNDI GEORGE & GULI with his partner in life and music, Gulimina Mahamuti, Mr. Lopez performs two piano and four hand one piano works throughout the globe, focusing on immigrant and underrepresented composers from Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.

Mr. Lopez is an acclaimed public speaker at regional, national, and international conferences throughout the United States and Europe, including the MTNA, NCKP, and EPTA conferences in recent years. He frequently gives masterclasses throughout North America, Latin America, and Europe at prestigious institutions, such as the Manhattan School in New York, Berkeley University, Boston University, the Faber Institute, the International Keyboard Odyssiad Festival, The Music Institute of Chicago, and Steinway Hall. Mr. Lopez received First Prize for the Diplome Superieure at the renowned Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris and the distinguished Uitvorend Musicus degree from the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam. As the artistic director and conductor of the Bowdoin College Symphony Orchestra, he leads one of the most dynamic all-student symphonic programs in the New England region.

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Mary Johnston Letellier & George Lopez

Bowdoin College of Art

Mary Johnston Letellier & George Lopez

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