The classical voice trio Women on the Verge will perform with guest opera baritone Dr. Gregory Brookes on Wednesday, April 17, at 7:30 p.m. in the Natalie Davis Rooke Recital Hall, Sigfried Weis Music Building.
Co-founded in 2016 by Bucknell music professor Emily Martin, director of Bucknell Opera Theatre, Women on the Verge was created as a way to focus on the stories of women both historical and fictional as they are relevant to contemporary culture. With a mandate to commission and perform music written by and about women, Women on the Verge premiered their first commission Blue of the Distance by Emilie LeBel in March 2018 in Toronto, Canada based on the Syrian refugee crisis. They recently returned from a premier in Paris and in parts of the U.S., and are touring London, the U.K., Reykjavik, Iceland and Canada.
Brookes is an assistant professor of music at Texas Tech University where he teaches applied voice, graduate and undergraduate vocal pedagogy, and lyric diction. As a singer, he has been praised for his “rich baritone sound” and “Shakespearean acting.” He has performed with opera companies throughout North America including NUOVA Opera Edmonton, Opera in Concert of Toronto, Eastman Opera Theatre, Brevard Music Festival, Indiana University Opera Theatre, Indiana University Theatre, Ohio Light Opera, and Opera Fort Collins. He has earned praise for both his operatic and musical theatre roles, some of which include Leporello in Don Giovanni, Lindorf in Les Contes d’Hoffman, Don Geronio in The Turk in Italy, the title role in Sweeney Todd, the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance, Cervantes in Man of LaMancha, Alfred Doolittle in My Fair Lady, and Billus in South Pacific.
Women on the Verge and Brookes will also conduct a masterclass on Tuesday, April 16, at 12 noon.