2021-2022 Chamber Music Series


​“Cosmic Ecstasy in 20th- and 21st-Century Song”
Mezzo Soprano  Sophie Delphis ​with Pianist Emma Luyendijk

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Mezzo Soprano Sophie Delphis
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Pianist Emma Luyendijk
4 pm April 24, 2022 
Amherst Presbyterian Church
(163 Second St.  •  Amherst, VA)
Franco-American mezzo-soprano Sophie Delphis has performed at National Sawdust, SongFest as a Stern Fellow, American Opera Projects, the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the Tianjin Symphony Orchestra, the iSING Festival, UMS (University Musical Society), Bronx Opera, Opera on the James, Bare Opera, Dell'Arte Opera Ensemble, Opera Pomme Rouge, Floating Tower and Monk Parrots, among others. Her operatic roles include: Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Giunone (La Calisto), Carmen and Mercédès (Carmen), Flora (La Traviata), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Marla Maples (The Drumf and the Rhinegold, premiere), Cenerentola  and Tisbe (La Cenerentola), Concepción (L’heure espagnole), Mother/Yaga the Witch (Ami and Tami, English-language premiere), Hansel, (Hansel and Gretel) and Elle (La voix humaine).

An avid recitalist, Sophie regularly produces recital programs and fundraiser concerts for musical and cultural organizations in the United States and China. Recent and upcoming works include: Ravel's Chansons madécasses and Trois poèmes de Stéphane Mallarmé, Bolcom's Cabaret Songs, Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire and Das Buch der Hängenden Gärten and Messiaen's Harawi. Along with classical repertoire, she enjoys collaborating with composers, improvisers and theater artists on new works. Sophie can be heard as the Mother/Witch in the original English cast recording of Matti Kovler’s Ami and Tami and as a soloist on the Grammy Award-nominated Naxos recording of Milhaud’s Oresteia trilogy, produced by UMS in association with the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theatre & Dance.
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She currently resides in New York City, where she is pursuing a doctoral degree in voice performance at the Graduate Center CUNY. In addition to performing, Sophie is passionate about writing, linguistics and non-musical art forms. She teaches French language and poetics, as well as interpretation of mélodies repertoire. She serves as the house translator for the Paris-based classical and jazz label NoMadMusic.
Emma Luyendijk is a Cape Town-born pianist  based in New York City. Her collaborative work encompasses art song, opera, contemporary Music, and interdisciplinary projects. Luyendijk has been the recipient of the Brown-Loranger Fellowship at SongFest, the United States’ premier art song festival, and was a 2019 fellow at the Collaborative Piano Institute in Minnesota. She has served as a staff pianist at The New England Conservatory, and Boston Conservatory, and has received masterclasses from composers and artists including Barbara Hannigan, Libby Larsen, Roger Vignoles, and Martin Katz. Notable performance engagements include projects with The Berlin Umculo Opera Incubator, Voices of South Africa International Opera Competition, Boston Art Song Society, and New York City Ballet.
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Emma's commitment to community engagement through music has led her to work with several international organizations. Among various projects in South Africa’s non-profit sector, Luyendijk has worked abroad alongside the international music organization El Sistema teaching music to victims of the 2011 tsunami. In 2016, she was certified by Musicians Without Borders through the School for International Training (Vermont, USA) Graduate Institute’s Peacebuilding Program.
Tickets:
Adults $15; Students $10 
  • Advance tickets can be purchased online through Eventbrite
    (click on the button below) . 
  • Or pay at the door (cash or checks only); doors open at 3:30 pm.