Arts on Center Stage with ePOP and Opera Philadelphia
Presented by Opera Philadelphia and ePOP
August 25, 2022
Dilworth Park
ePOP and Opera Philadelphia presented a free concert in the shadow of Philadelphia City Hall as they toasted the return of Festival O! The concert starred soprano Ashley Marie Robillard (An ePOP favorite and Musetta in Opera Phila's 2019 production of La bohème), tenor Aaron Crouch (Gondolier in Opera Phila's September production of Otello), and baritone Benjamin Dickerson, accompanied by ePOP Music Director Aurelien Eulert.
Additionally, the year's opera-themed beer, Hopera Philadelphia, a hazy IPA from Conshohocken Brewing Company, made its debut.
Supported by PNC Bank
The Arts on Center Stage is generously supported with funds
from the Center City District Foundation (CCDF).
PROGRAM
Aurelien Eulert,
Pianist/ePOP Music Director
Libiamo, ne’ lieti calici
from La Traviata
Giuseppe Verdi
— Ashley Marie Robillard & Aaron Crouch
Votre toast (Toreador Song)
from Carmen
Georges Bizet
— Benjamin Dickerson
Una furtiva lagrima
from L'elisir d'amore
Gaetano Donizetti
— Aaron Crouch
Quando m'en vo
from La bohème
Giacomo Puccini
— Ashley Marie Robillard
Au fond du temple saint
from Les pêcheurs de perles
Georges Bizet
— Aaron Crouch & Benjamin Dickerson
What Good Would the Moon Be?
from Street Scene
Kurt Weill
— Ashley Marie Robillard
Pierrot's Tanzlied
from Die tote Stadt
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
— Benjamin Dickerson
L'alba separa dalla luce l'ombra
Francesco Paolo Tosti
— Aaron Crouch
La ci darem la mano
from Don Giovanni
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
— Ashley Marie Robillard & Benjamin Dickerson
Lady of the Harbor
Lee Hoiby
— Ashley Marie Robillard
Ride On, King Jesus!
Arr. by Hall Johnson
— Aaron Crouch
Some Enchanted Evening
from South Pacific
Richard Rodgers
— Benjamin Dickerson
Artist Biographies
Aaron Crouch, tenor
An artist and activist, American tenor, Aaron Crouch has been described by the Huffington Post as “riveting vocally and as an actor.” Originally from Bowie, Maryland, he is a graduate of the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. During the 2022/23 season, Mr. Crouch will debut with Opera Philadelphia in the role of Gondolier in their new production of Otello. Additionally, he will reprise the role of The Son in Jeanine Tesori and Tazewell Thompson’s award-winning opera, Blue, for his long awaited debut at Washington National Opera. He will also appear as Lindoro in Tulsa Opera’s production of L’Italiana in Algeri as well as Conte Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Florentine Opera. This season will also include performances with Opera America, Carnegie Hall, Parlando, & The Charlotte Symphony. Most recently, Mr. Crouch thrilled audiences with his performance as Candide with The May Festival. He was also seen as Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola with Tri-Cities Opera and The Son in Blue with Pittsburgh Opera. This year, Mr. Crouch received 2nd prize at The Cooper-Bing Vocal Competition in Ohio. In 2020, he was a winner in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions at the Michigan District. He was also chosen as one of nine finalists for the Houston Grand Opera’s Concert of Arias, the 33rd Annual Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers in February 2021.
Benjamin Dickerson, baritone
Benjamin Dickerson is a Third-Year Resident Artist at the Academy of Vocal Arts. With AVA, he has been seen on stage in the title role of Eugene Onegin and as Schaunard in La bohème. Additionally at AVA, he has appeared in Verlaine, Le Voyage Humain, a French Recital, and Jubilate! A Concert of Sacred Music. Elsewhere, he has performed Albert in Werther, Mr. Kahlo/Mr. Rockefeller in Frida, Schaunard in La bohème, 1st Soldier in Salome, and Enrico (cover) in Lucia di Lammermoor all with Florida Grand Opera; Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with Music Academy of the West; Bill in The Grapes of Wrath and the Wigmaker in Ariadne auf Naxos with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; and Valmont in The Dangerous Liaisons and the title role in Don Giovanni, both with Manhattan School of Music. Benjamin has been honored with the Mozart Award from the Orpheus Vocal Competition, the Audience Choice Prize at the Houston Saengerbund Awards, 1st Prize at the Ades Vocal Competition, and was a Winner of the Marilyn Horne Song Competition. He received his Bachelor of Music from Manhattan School of Music.
Aurelien Eulert, pianist/music director
Hailing from Alsace, France, Aurelien Eulert made his U.S. house debut in 2014 with Palm Beach Opera as diction coach for their production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann and head coach for the Young Artist Program. Since then, he has been on the music staff of Charlottesville Opera, Opera Memphis, Opera Roanoke, Palm Beach Opera, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, USC Thornton Opera, UCLA Alpert School of Music, Pacific Opera Project and the Los Angeles Opera Education department. Aurelien has played for acclaimed singers such as Marilyn Horne, Phyllis Curtin, Dawn Upshaw, Frederica von Stade and Rod Gilfry. He has assisted and performed under conductors such as James Conlon, Robert Spano and John Williams. In 2019, Aurelien was named Head of Music Staff at OperaDelaware, and was instrumental in launching the company’s Young Artist Program. He had previously held the position of Chorus Master and Principal Pianist since 2017. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, he was instrumental in OperaDelaware’s switch to digital and outdoor performances and continues to manage the acclaimed Pop-Up Opera program with outdoor presentations on the company’s mobile stage. Aurelien’s 2021/22 season included a return to the theatre stage with OperaDelaware’s productions of Don Pasquale, The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro, and a debut with Opera Southwest for Pelléas et Mélisande. His 2022/23 season includes debuts with Opera Baltimore and Intermountain Opera Bozeman. Aurelien holds degrees from the Conservatoire National de Strasbourg, Syracuse University and the University of Southern California, and attended the Tanglewood Music Center in the summer of 2010.
Ashley Marie Robillard, soprano
Heralded by Parterre Box for her “fresh-brook lyric soprano”, Ashley Marie Robillard is making waves as a passionate interpreter and committed storyteller in the world of opera, concert, chamber music, and cabaret. She has performed with operatic and symphonic institutions across the USA including Opera Philadelphia, Washington Concert Opera, the Amarillo Symphony, Opera Grand Rapids, Opera Lafayette, the Merola Opera Program and Wolf Trap Opera. An alumna of Opera Philadelphia’s Emerging Artist Program, credits with the company include Musetta (La bohème), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), a headliner in the cabaret series Late Night Snacks, and several recitals with the company, including the Fridays at Field series. A frequent collaborator with EPOP, Ashley first performed in their inaugural house concert and went on to star in their Love Notes concert during the lockdown of 2020. A passionate chamber musician, Ashley spent a summer with Music from Angel Fire premiering Wei Dai’s The Wind May Know. Her staged rendition of Hugo Wolf's Italienisches Liederbuch toured alongside pianist Mikael Eliasen and baritone Dennis Chmelensky with Curtis on Tour, Music for Montauk, and the La Jolla Athenaeum. She was an encouragement award winner of the Gerda Lissner Lieder/Art Song Competition, the Opera Index foundation, and a semi-finalist of the Orpheus Music Competition.
