Jack Price Founding Partner / Managing Director

Marc Parella Partner / Director of Operations

Mailing Address: 520 Geary Street Suite 605 San Francisco CA 94102 Telephone: Toll-Free 1-866-PRI-RUBI (774-7824) 310-254-7149 / Los Angeles 415-504-3654 / San Francisco

Email: jp@pricerubin.com mp@pricerubin.com Website: http://www.pricerubin.com Yahoo!Messenger pricerubin

Contents:

Biography

Resume

Carnegie Hall Review

CD

Paul Williamson- Biography

Jamaican-born Canadian lyric tenor Paul Williamson has "a startlingly rich voice" (Edmonton Journal) and is now taking his place on the operatic and concert stages of Canada. With a Bachelor of Music degree from the Houghton College School of Music in New York, a Masters degree in Opera Performance from State Glinka Conservatoire of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, Paul continued his vocal studies under Robert MacLaren at the University of Manitoba. In 2007, while a student in the Opera Diploma program at the University of Toronto, he starred as Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, where he was reviewed by Opera Canada as "a very pleasing tenor with Italianate colour, lovely phrasing and even the requisite sob" who can "play with his voice for nuance and has lots of power when needed”. Fluent in Russian, Paul appeared as the Czar with Toronto's Opera in Concert in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Snow Maiden in April 2008. The Globe and Mail declared "High tenor Paul Williamson, as the czar, had some ecstatic moments; his springtime aria was a high point" while Opera Canada's review of this performance stated, "lyric tenor Paul Williamson impressed as the czar". As an opera apprentice with the University of  Manitoba, Paul performed the role of Wilhelm in school tours of Dean Burry’s popular The Brothers Grimm. He recently starred as Umberto in Rossini's La Donna del Lago with Opera in Concert. Oratorio performances include Bruckner's Te Deum (University of Toronto Combined Choirs and Orchestra), Britten's St Nicolas Cantata (Tryptych, Toronto), and the Beethoven Mass in C with MasterWorks of Oakville. Mr. Williamson placed second in the Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition in New York 2007/8. Mr. Williamson sang the role of Finn in Glinka's Ruslan and Ljudmila in October 2010 with Opera In Concert and debuted with the Thunder Bay Symphony in Handel's Messiah in November of that same year. In 2011, he debuted with both the Toronto Philharmonia in their Bel Canto series and at Heliconian Hall in the Birthday Series: Pyotr Tchaikovsky. In 2012, he debuted the role of Don Carlo with Opera By Request to glowing reviews and is set to perform in an opera entitled Treemonisha by Scott Joplin in the role of Remus with the Nataniel Dett Chorale in May 2012.

Paul Williamson- Resume

OPERA REPERTOIRE

2012 Remus (Treemonisha), Joplin, Nathaniel Dett Chorale

2012 Don Carlos (Don Carlos), Verdi , Opera By Request

2011 Rodolfo (La Bohème) , Puccini, Colour of Music Festival

2010 Finn (Ruslan and Lyudmila), Glinka, Opera In Concert

2009 Umberto (La Donna del Lago) Rossini , Opera In Concert

2008 Tsar Berendey (The Snow Maiden), Rimsky-Korsakov, Opera In Concert

2008 Lurcanio* (Ariodante), Händel, University of Toronto

2007 Sam Kaplan (Street Scene), Weill, Opera Nuova

2007 Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Donizetti, University of Toronto

ORATORIO REPERTOIRE

2010 Messiah, Handel, Thunder Bay Symphony Bach-Elgar Choir, Hamilton

2008 Krönungsmesse, Mozart, MasterWorks of Oakville

2008 Mass in C, Beethoven, MasterWorks of Oakville

2007 St. Nicolas Cantata, Britten, University of Toronto Choir

2007 Seven Last Words, Du Bois, Tryptych

2007 St. Cecilia Mass, Gounod, Tryptych

2007 Te Deum, Bruckner, University of Toronto Orchestra/Choirs

COM PETITIONS

2007 Barry Alexander International Vocal Competition Second Place Laureate

RECORDINGS

2009 Sound An Alarm, Paul Williamson, tenor/Marty Smyth, organ

EDUCATION

2006–2008 Opera Diploma , University of Toronto Opera School Division

2004–2006 Post Baccalaureate Artist Diploma in Opera Performance, and opera apprentice

University of Manitoba Opera Apprenticeship Programme (UMOA)

1996–1998 Master of Fine Arts degree in Opera Performance and Vocal Pedagogy (M.F.A.),

State Glinka Conservatoire of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

1991–1995 Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance, Houghton College School of

Music, Houghton, New York, U.S.A.

Paul Williamson- Carnegie Hall Review

USA-JAPAN GOODWILL MISSION CONCERT

NEW YORK FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA, BEETHOVEN MEMORIAL CHORUS

HIDEAKI HIRAI, MUSIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR; HIDEYUKI TSUJI, CHORAL CONDUCTOR

NAOMI SATAKE, SOPRANO; FRANCESCA LUNGHI, ALTO; PAUL WILLIAMSON, TENOR; KATSUJI

MIURA, BASS-BARITONE

STERN AUDITORIUM AT CARNEGIE HALL, NEW YORK, NY

DECEMBER 26, 2013

In order to raise money for the victims of

Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, a benefit

concert entitled “USA-Japan Goodwill Mission

Concert” was held at Stern Auditorium at

Carnegie Hall on the evening of December 26,

2013. Raising money for a good cause is

always a welcome activity, and I commend the

organizers for this. It is thus with reluctance

that I take issue with the chosen program. It

seemed that there were two concerts slapped

together to be one, without any thought as to

the appropriateness of having Beethoven’s

Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125,

the Choral, paired with a motley assortment of

popular songs.

I am not a music snob. I love the popular music

of the 1980s and can probably identify within a

few seconds any song from that era that

received airplay. I love music of all genres and

eras. I also love the 9th Symphony of

Beethoven. As one who does, I find the idea of

“Meet the Flintstones“ on the same program as

the Beethoven to be bizarre in the extreme. The

clashing of Schiller’s “Götterfunken!” with Hanna-Barbera’s “Wilmaaaaaa!” is still filling my

ears with horror, as the ghost of Kafka smiles with a knowing nod. “O Freunde, nicht diese

Töne!” To have any work follow this monument of the Western music canon shows a lack of

respect to the sheer magnitude of this masterpiece, but to follow it with show tunes, popular

music performed in a style strongly akin to a Gleeepisode, and Barbershop with slapstick, was

the musical equivalent of Marcel Duchamp’s treatment of La Gioconda in his L.H.O.O.Q. I

would have been perfectly content with either half standing alone, but NEVER paired together.

My programming objection in no way is meant to disparage the performers in the second half,

as they were all very entertaining and gave energetic, crowd-pleasing and wholly committed

performances. The No Borders Youth Chorus, an all-male a cappella chorus with young men

from the United States, Canada, and China, led by Joe Cerutti, was delightful, and the

barbershop quartet, Lunch Break, was hilarious in their set. It was just a shame that the net

effect of each mismatched half was to nullify the value of the other through the pairing.

The program did not list the movements of the Beethoven, nor include the text of the Ode to

Joy. If there was an assumption of familiarity as a reason for the omission, it proved to be

completely unfounded. Applause between the movements and ear-shattering yelling from the

audience from the start of the Alla Marcia section in the finale (for a good ten seconds), were

proof enough of not only a lack of familiarity with the work, but a lack of familiarity with how

to behave at a classical concert. Enthusiasm is good, but yelling loudly is never appropriate. To

his credit, conductor Hideaki Hirai endured these interruptions with grace and did not allow

them to distract him or the orchestra.

The New York Festival Orchestra, consisting of players from throughout the United States,

was specially formed for this concert. Usually one expects some roughness from groups of this

nature, and while there were a few instances of this, the playing overall was polished and the

ensemble remarkably unified, as if they had been together for a long period of time. From the

tremolos that open the work, to the timpani bursts in the Scherzo, the sublime Adagio in the

third movement, to the Prestissimo of the final bars of the epic last movement, it was a highly

satisfying performance.

The Beethoven Memorial Chorus was made up of singers from Japan and the United States, all

with extensive experience performing the 9th Symphony. This experience showed in their rock-

solid performance. Bass-Baritone soloist Katsuji Miura projected with a powerful voice that

easily filled the hall with its bold resonance. Soprano Naomi Satake’s voice soared with

passion, while Tenor Paul Williamson and Alto Francesca Lunghi enriched the textures with

their considerable talents.

Maestro Hirai was especially impressive. Conducting from memory, he demonstrated his deep

knowledge of the score with unflagging energy and intense concentration. He was dynamic,

confident, and completely engaged for the entire 75 minutes. It was especially interesting to

me that he “sang” along with the chorus with evident joy on his face. It was among the best of

the live performances I have heard of this work and justly deserving of the standing ovation it

was accorded. Bravo to all!

Jeffrey Williams for New York Concert Review; New York, N

Paul Williamson- CD

Purchase the CD