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Paul Sperry, Tenor

PROFESSION

  • Recital singer, concert soloist; teacher of voice and interpretation; lecturer, presenter of master classes and lecture-recitals.

    EDUCATION

  • Harvard University, MBA, With Distinction
  • University of Paris, Certificate of Studies in French Civilization, Mention Très Bien
  • Harvard College, AB, Cum Laude

    VOCAL STUDIES

  • Major voice teachers: Richard Barrett, Michael Trimble, E. Randolph Mickelson, Olga Ryss
  • Major Coaches: Pierre Bernac, Jennie Tourel, Paul Ulanowsky, Hans Hotter

    PERFORMANCES WITH ORCHESTRA
    Albany Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, American Symphony Orchestra, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Baltimore Symphony, Boston Symphony, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Louisville Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, RAI Orchestra of Milan, San Francisco Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia da Camera, Welsh BBC.

    OPERA COMPANIES
    La Scala, Milan, Nederlands Operastichting, Opéra de Lyon, Rome Opera, Washington Opera.

    AMERICAN COMPOSERS PERFORMED
    David Amram, Dominick Argento, Harold Arlen, Daniel Asia, Frederick Ayres, Victor Babin, Ernst Bacon, Samuel Barber, Amy Chaney Beach, Robert Beaser, Christopher Berg, Arthur Berger, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, William Billings , Susan Blaustein, Marc Blitzstein, William Bolcom, Carrie Jacobs Bond, Victoria Bond, All Borzova, Paul Bowles, Daniel Brewbaker, Claire Brook, Dudley Buck, Ron Caltabiano, Hoagy Carmichael, John Alden Carpenter, Elliott Carter, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, George Chadwick, Theodore Chanler, Paul Chihara, Tom Cipullo, George M. Cohan, Robert Convery, Aaron Copland, John Corigliano, Henry Cowell, Ruth Crawford, Richard Cumming, Nathan Currier, Norman Dello Joio, David Diamond, Lucia Dlugoszewski, Celius Dougherty, Jacob Druckman, John Duke, Vernon Duke , Arthur Farwell, Irving Fine, William Flanagan, Arthur Foote, Stephen Foster, Charles Fussell, George Gershwin, Gordon Getty, Miriam Gideon, Henry F. Gilbert, Philip Glass, Charles T. Griffes, John Gruen, Louis Gruenberg, Daron Hagen, Charles Harris, Lou Harrison, Victor Herbert, Lee Hoiby, Richard Hoyt, Richard Hundley, Chester Ide, Charles Ives, Jerome Kern, William Kraft, Meyer Kupferman, Libby Larsen, Tom Lehrer, David Leisner, Marvin David Levy, Frank Loesser, Edwin London, Harvey W. Loomis, Joel Mandelbaum, Edward MacDowell, Paul Moravec, Larry Moss, John Musto, Ethelbert Nevin, Robert Paterson, Stephen Paulus, Daniel Pinkham, Russell Platt, Raoul Pleskow, Cole Porter, Bernard Rands, Paul Reif, Richard Rodgers, Robert Rodriguez, Ned Rorem, Peter Sacco, Gregory Sandow, Ruth Schontal, Gunther Schuller, William Schuman, David Sisco, Larry Alan Smith, Edwin Soule, William Grant Still, John Philip Sousa, John Stromberg, Warren Swenson, Louise Talma, Virgil Thomson, Francis Thorne, Nicholas Thorne, Lester Trimble, Harry von Tilzer, Ben Weber, Kurt Weill, Hugo Weisgall, Dan Welcher, Richard Wilson, Maury Yesten, Judith Lang Zaimont.

    TEACHING

  • Founder and Director of the Vocal Program at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, 1991-97
  • Juilliard School, 1984- Conceived and taught the school's first-ever course in American Song. In addition, currently teaches classes in 19th and 20th Century song.
  • Manhattan School of Music, 1996- Teach classes in American song
  • Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, 2003- Classes in German, French and American repertoire and in how to prepare and program a recital
  • Aspen Music Festival, 1978-2002 Voice and Master Classes in Song Interpretation and Performance.
  • International Volcal Arts Institute, 2004- Choach singers in song interpretation and organize a student song recital.

    Have also taught Master Classes taught at:

    American Center - Paris, California State University at Sacramento,Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, Dartmouth College, Eastman School of Music, Harvard University, Jordan Conservatory at Butler University, Longy School, Cambridge, Manhattan School of Music, Meetings of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, North Carolina School of the Arts, Oberlin Conservatory, Ravinia Festival, San Francisco Conservatory, University of California at Los Angeles - Summer Vocal Institute, University of Southern California, University of Texas at Austin, Westminster Choir College, Yale University.

    Also teach private students in New York.

    ADJUDICATIONS
    Carnegie Hall International Competition for the Performance of American Music; Young Concert Artists; Concert Artists Guild; Walter A. Naumburg Competition; Poulenc Competition; Minnesota Composers Forum - Composers' Competition; La Rochelle Festival - Contemporary Vocal Music Performance Competition; Metropolitan Opera Regional Competitions; National Association of Teachers of Singing Competitions; Lola Hayes Competition; Richard Tauber Competition.

    OTHER MUSICAL ACTIVITIES

  • American Music Center - President, July, l990- June, 1993
  • American Music Center - Board Member, 1978-84, 1986-95, 1999-
  • American Composers Orchestra - Chairman of the Board, 1995-2003 ; Board Member, 1980-
  • Aspen Music Festival - Musicians Committee and Board Member, 1984-1993, 1999-2003
  • Joy in Singing - I became the Director of this organization in 1986. Joy in Singing sponsors a series of master classes for which students audition, and which I teach. From the singers in the classes, we pick from four to six to compete for our prize: a Merkin Hall recital preceded by three out-of-town tryouts. All finalists are required to submit a recital program, at least part of which must be American music.

    PUBLICATIONS

  • American Art Songs of the Turn of the Century. NY, Dover Publications, Inc. A songbook which I compiled and for which I wrote the preface.
  • Songs of an Innocent Age . NY, G. Schirmer, 1984. A songbook of turn-of-the-century American classical songs which I compiled and edited.
  • Vote for Names. NY, Peer-Southern, 1988. A twentieth-century American songbook which I compiled from the Peer-Southern catalog, and for which I wrote the preface.
  • Arthur Farwell, 34 Poems of Emily Dickinson. NY, Boosey & Hawkes, 1983. 2 volumes which I persuaded Boosey & Hawkes to publish and for which I wrote the preface.
  • Songs by Charles Tomlinson Griffes. NY, G. Schirmer. A complete reissue of all the songs Schirmer originally published, collected into three volumes. I conceived the idea for the reissue and wrote the preface.
  • Collected Songs of Theodore Chanler. NY, G. Schirmer. I made a compilation of all his previously published songs and several songs never published before.
  • John Duke: Richard Cory and Selected Songs. NY, Carl Fischer. A complete reissue of all the Duke songs originally published by Fischer. I conceived the idea and wrote the preface.
  • American Encores. NY, Oxford University Press. A collection of American songs that I think make effective encores. I put the collection together, wrote a preface, and gave editorial performance suggestions.
  • Article: "What's So Special about Poulenc's Songs?," Keynote Magazine, May, 1982.
  • Article: "Artist's Life", Keynote Magazine, December, 1989.
  • Article: "Yankee Lieder", Institute for Studies in American Music Newsletter, November, 1990.

    AWARDS

    MAJOR RECITALS
    New York debut, Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, October, 1969, James Levine, Pianist
    Austin, Amsterdam, Boston, Berlin, Chicago, The Hague, Cleveland, La Rochelle, Dallas, Lausanne, Houston, London, Las Vegas, Maastricht, Los Angeles, Munich, Miami, Nuremberg, Minneapolis, Oslo, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Reykjavik, St. Louis, Rotterdam, Washington, Salzburg, Winston-Salem, Stockholm, Zurich.

    WORLD PREMIERE PERFORMANCES

    *=American Premiere / H=Harp / O=Orchestra / G=Guitar / C=Chamber Ensemble / Co=Commissioned / P=Piano
    Dominick Argento Le Tombeau d'Edgar Poe O 1986
    Victor Babin Sunshafts C 1973
    Robert Beaser The Seven Deadly Sins P 1982
    Songs from "The Occasions" C 1985
    Christopher Berg Six Poems of Frank O'Hara P 1987
    Arthur Berger Five Songs P 1980
    Leonard Bernstein Dybbuk Suite #1 O 1981
    Susan Blaustein Song of Songs O 1985
    William Bolcom Open House O 1975 Co
    Victoria Bond A Modest Proposal P or O 1999
    Alla Borzova Mother Said C 1998 Co
    Daniel Brewbaker Asphodel O 1988 Co
    Ronald Caltabiano Passages C 1993
    Paul Chihara The Oedipus Rag P 1979
    Tom Cipullo Rain C 1991
    Long Island Songs P 1992
    The Land of Nod P 1994 Co
    Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House P 2001
    Robert Convery Brando Watching P 1987
    Nathan Currier A Kafka Cantata C 1993
    Peter Maxwell Davies The Martyrdom of St. Magnus Opera 1978*
    Jacob Druckman Animus IV C 1977 Co
    Charles Fussell Cymbeline C 1984
    Gordon Getty Plump Jack O 1987
    Daron Hagen Muldoon Songs P 1992
    First Songbook
    Songs of Madness and Sorrow C 1997 Co
    Figments P 2001 Co
    Hans Werner Henze Natasha Ungeheuer C 1972*
    Voices C 1974 Co
    Richard Hundley Three Songs P 1978 Co
    Water Bird P 1988 Co
    Numerous other songs P 1976-88
    Peter Jona Korn Four Occasional Songs P 1967 Co
    Eine kleine Deutsche Stadt O 1988
    William Kraft The Sublime and the Beautiful C 1979
    Libby Larsen Rilke Songs G 1985
    My Antonía P 2001
    David Leisner Outdoor Shadows G 1985
    Marvin David Levy In Memoriam: W. H. Auden O 1974 Co
    Edwin London Peter Quince at the Clavier O 1987
    Bruno Maderna Boswell's Venetian Journal C 1972 Co
    Satyricon Opera 1973
    Philip Martin Four E.A. Robinson Poems C 1984
    Paul Moravec Vita Brevis P 2001 Co
    Larry Moss Voyages C 1987
    John Musto Encounters O 1992 Co
    Robert Paterson Stepping into the Batter's Box, He Hears His Father's Voice P 2005
    Russell Platt In Evening Air C 1992
    Eating Poetry C 1999 Co
    Why Brownlee Left P 2002
    Raoul Pleskow Three Songs C 1972
    Motet and Madrigal C 1973
    Stephen Paulus Artsongs P 1983 Co
    Bernard Rands Canti del Sole O 1983
    Canti del Sole C 1984 Co
    Robert Rodriguez Tango C 1985
    Larry Alan Smith Songs of Prévert S 1982
    Strands H 1982
    The Scrolls C 1982
    An Infant Crying G 1984
    Songs of the Silence P 1988
    Karlheinz Stockhausen Donnerstag aus Licht Opera 1981
    Warren Swenson The Lepidoptera Waltz P 1987
    Louise Talma Variations on "13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" C 1980 Co
    Diadem C 1980
    Have You Seen, Do You Know? Opera 1981
    Infanta Marina P 1994
    Francis Thorne Money Matters C 1989 Co
    Nicholas Thorne Songs from the Mountain C 1986 Co
    Ben Weber The Ways P 1971
    Richard Wilson The Ballad of Longwood Glen H 1978
    Three Painters P 1984
    Dan Welcher Evening Scenes C 1985 Co
    Charles Wuorinen Six Songs C 1977
    Three Songs P 1979 Co
    Judith Lang Zaimont In the Theater of Night P 1983