Great Music at St. Bart's Presents Opera Exposures in 'The Elizabeth Taylor Greenfield Story' 2/6

On Sunday, February 6 at 3 pm, Opera Exposures will offer a program entitled "The ElizaBeth Taylor Greenfield Story" in the Chapel of St. Bartholomew's Church. Born a slave in 1819 in Natchez, Mississippi, ElizaBeth Taylor Greenfield would become known as "The BLACK SWAN," the first African-American singer to gain recognition in the United States and Europe. She made her New York City debut in 1853 at Metropolitan Hall drawing an audience of over 4,000. In 1854, she sang for Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace in what was called a "royal command performance." During the Civil War she made appearances alongside such orators as Frederick Douglass and Frances E. W. Harper.

Soprano Heather Hill will sing arias taken from programs sung by Greenfield including "Salute a la France" from Le Fille du Regiment by Donizetti, "Ah non creda" from La Sonnambula by Bellini and "Regnava nell silencio" from Lucia di Lammermoor by Donizetti. She will be joined by tenor Robert Mack in duets by Donizetti as well as songs of Stephen Foster and Henry Bishop. JoNathan Kelly will be the pianist. The program will be narrated by Dwight Owsley.

Tickets at $50 with student/senior citizen rates of $40 can be purchased by calling (212) 378-0248 or by consulting the Great Music at St. Bart's website at www.stbarts.org.

Opera Exposures is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to presenting seasoned professional musicians to a wide and diverse audience at accessible venues with affordable prices.

The Great Music Series, produced by the Mid-Manhattan Performing Arts Foundation, Inc., offers a diverse variety of concerts from large scale choral works and organ concerts in the church to chamber music and jazz in the acoustically remarkable chapel. Crucial to the musical programming of the series is St. Bartholomew's Choir, a fully professional choir, and the Boy and Girl Choristers, renowned as one of the finest children's choirs in the metropolitan area. The church also possesses an Aeolian/Skinner pipe organ of 168 stops, the largest in New York City and considered to be one of the greatest examples of the American Classic Organ of the 20th century.

Great Music concerts take place at St. Bartholomew's Church at the corner of Park Avenue and 51sst Street. Subway: 6 to 51sst Street. For more information, call (212) 378-0248 or visit www.stbarts.org.