Doors at 3:30 pm; Show at 4 pm

Tickets are $15

Tonight we celebrate the Art Song of Mexico! Through the intimate, dynamic setting of voice and piano, we will experience the profoundly human connection to the stories of love, life, and loss of of 19th Century Mexico.

Before ear buds, before iPods, CD's, Cassettes, and record players, opera enthusiasts brought the opera home with them in the form of art songs. In art songs, composers set the poetry of their countrymen to music for voice and piano, bringing a complete cultural performance into an accessible format - no orchestra needed! 

Dramatic soprano, Anishka Lee-Skorepa (Master of Music in Voice Performance) from San Diego, California was raised in a culturally diverse environment, speaking English and Spanish, as well as performing music from many genres and cultures. Ashkenaz is very happy to be a host in her series of art song and aria concerts in non-traditional spaces such as cabaret theatres and community centers. Anishka delivers a powerhouse performance in an informative, casual and accessible environment for new and seasoned audiences of classical voice repertoire alike. 

Throughout her career she has performed as a soloist and as part of touring ensembles on stages the world over, including: San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Arizona, Mexico, Germany, Austria, Cuba, and China.

Currently she is a member of the San Diego Opera Chorus Core, where she has performed in over 25 productions, as well as small solo roles in productions of “Turandot” and “Don Pasquale”.

No stranger to the world of competitions, in December 2015 she was one of 8 finalist from over 100 singers for The Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition, and took home a Runner’s Up award.  In 2011 she won 1st Place in the Virginia Hawk Vocal Competition, and in 2012 was a semifinalist in the San Diego Musical Merit Competition.

This past year in Fall 2016 she played the title role in Puccini's Suor Angelica  with La Opera de Tijuana.  In 2013 she performed the role of Aida as a part of the company’s annual opera street festival, “Opera en la Calle”.  In 2014, and 2015 she was invited to return to the festival as a representative for San Diego Opera.

Working internationally on both sides of the US and Mexico border has become a deeply meaningful part of her career, and has led her to accept a teaching position with “Ja’sit” (Escuela de Formación Escénico Vocal).  This newly accredited vocal training program at the Centro de Artes Musicales in Tijuana is the first of it’s kind in the region.  There she gives private voice lessons and group masterclasses to the next generation of opera singers in Baja California.

In addition to her educational work with “Ja’sit” in Tijuana, she is a Teaching Artist for San Diego Opera.  There she participates in the Words and Music Program with Memorial Preparatory for Scholars and Athletes.  There the middle schoolers learn how to sing, act, and tell their own stories on stage.  She also performs for festivals and schools in San Diego and Tijuana as an ambassador for the Opera, engaging new opera audiences.

Eva Monroy Rocha, mezzo soprano is originally from Puebla, Mexico. She completed her higher eduction in music at the Escuela Superior de Musica del INBA in Mexico City. There she studied with Maritza Alemán, Gabriel Mijares and Aurelio Zarrelli. She has sung as a soloist for Beethoven's 9th Symphony, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater, Rossini's Stabat Mater, Bach's Cantata No. 8, Vivaldi's Gloria and Magnificat, and as Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Known for the rich color of her sound and sincere emotional connection, she has appeared with many respected Mexican orchestras including, Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de Puebla, Orquesta de la UDLAP, Orquesta Sinfónica de la BUAP and the Orquesta de Baja California. Currently she is the acting director of a newly formed opera training program in Tijuana, Mexico called Ja'sit (Escuela de Formación Escénico Vocal). There she is coordinating the accreditation process, writing curriculum and building the first fully accredited degree program in Vocal Performance in the area.