In a rare treat, two of the region’s most accomplished singers, Noemi Kiss and Kathleen Neudorf, will perform an afternoon concert of soprano duets on Sunday at 2 p.m. at the United Church in Nelson. The program will contain songs from the Baroque and Romantic periods, as well as contemporary pieces.
Kiss, originally from Hungary, now lives in Argenta when not performing in concert halls in Europe or Montreal, or fulfilling local engagements. Local audiences may have heard her perform solo roles in Nelson Choral Society productions of Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Coronation Mass. As a voice coach, she has worked with many of area’s finest singers.
Neudorf, too, is a local voice instructor, as well as choir director for the Nelson Choral Society, Cottonwood Singers, and children’s choir SongCore. She directed the music for local Amy Ferguson Institute productions of Gluck’s Orpheus and Euridice as well as Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. Nelsonites may also remember her in the role of Adriana, Persephone’s friend, in the locally-produced opera Khaos. She received her musical training in Edmonton with further study in Europe.
Kiss says she is thrilled to have found Neudorf as a duet partner: “I’ve always loved working with another voice, finding the nice blend. We have our individual voices but are also able to sound like one voice, so audiences sometimes aren’t sure who’s singing in that very moment. In some ways it’s like finding your vocal sister.”
The performance will be full of contrasts, says Neudorf. Some of the duets are simple in their settings and evocative of English gardens. There are two pieces by Ernest Chausson — one a song about night and how it delivers us from worry and noise if you surrender yourself to it, and the other a fiery and teasing Bolero.
The singers will be accompanied by Hungarian pianist Csinszka Redai, who teaches and studies at the Victoria Conservatory. Tickets are $20 ($15 for seniors) at the door.