New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The Musicians of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra present a companion piece to Richard Wagner's The Ring of the Nibelung cycle in partnership with jazz composer and pianist
Valerie Capers and her musical collaborator, bassist John Robinson III. Wagner Takes the "A"
Train is a meeting of musical styles that will please both opera devotees and jazz lovers alike. In conversation with San Francisco Opera Dramaturg, Kip Cranna, Dr. Capers will reflect on the influences of Wagner and his mighty Ring cycle on her work as a composer. Proceeds benefit the African American Composers Initiative, dedicated to commissioning and presenting the work of African American composers, past and present.
Born in the Bronx,
Valerie Capers received her early schooling at the New York
Institute for the Education of the Blind. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from The Juilliard School of Music, the first blind person to do so. She has served on the faculty of the Manhattan School of
Music and Bronx Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY). Her outstanding work as an educator has been lauded throughout the country as innovative and she has been awarded honorary doctorates from many institutions, including Susquehanna University, Lehman College of the City University of New York, Doane University and Bloomfield College.
An accomplished composer, Capers' most noted extended works include Sing About Love, the critically acclaimed Christmas cantata produced by
George Wein at Carnegie Hall; Sojourner, an operatorio based on the life of Sojourner Truth, performed and staged by the Opera Ebony Company of New York and commissioned by the
National Endowment for the Arts; and Song of the Seasons, a song cycle for voice, piano and cello which was commissioned by the Smithsonian
Institute and premiered in Washington, D.C. Her numerous radio program appearances include Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz, Branford Marsalis' JazzSet, and NPR's Adventures of Wagner in Jazz. Dr. Capers has appeared with ensembles, including her trio, at colleges, universities, jazz festivals, clubs and concert halls throughout the country and internationally. For more information, visit valcapmusic.com.
