Dr. Ginger Beazley had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Leyna Gabriele in New York in early May. Leyna Gabriele was closely involved in the creation of Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe, which Ars Nova will be performing June 11 - 13. Ms. Gabriele was fortuante enough to work with Douglas Moore as he tried out all of Baby Doe's music on her before the production in Central City. Ms. Gabriele was the first soprano to premiere the opera in 1956.
Ms. Gabriele had an amazing career as an opera singer and currently remains an active voice teacher in New York City whose students include Met soprano Erika Sunnegardh and Michael Hendrick.
Ars Nova is extremely excited to welcome Ms. Gabriele to Huntsville in June as we perform The Ballad of Baby Doe. With her will be some of the "Doe-heads", fans of the opera who travel around the country to see various companies perform the opera. They have created a website dedicated to the story, the town and it's people, and to the opera itself! Mr. Dave Kanzeg, founder of the Doe-heads, will be accompanying Ms. Gabriele to Huntsville. Mr. Kanzeg was also one of the founders of Huntsville's own classical radio station, WLRH.
This photo is from the Doe-head's website: www.babydoe.org and captures Ms. Gabriele in her early years.
Ars Nova is made possible in part through generous grants from the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts 
