WOODCLIFF LAKE, N.J.—The stars will shine and the night will be filled with music on Friday, Dec. 13 at 7 p.m. when Our Lady Mother of the Church parish, 209 Woodcliff Ave., presents “A Christmas Extravaganza.”
Barbara Ciannella, Amy Duran, Chad Armstrong, Sara Louise Petrocelli, Kyunghee Kim, and Lucia Wehr will perform Christmas carols and other holiday music, Broadway delights, the classic repertoire, and Italian love songs.
A unique offering at the Extravaganza: Barbara Ciannella and Amy Duran in duet on grand pianos.
Ciannella has served as a collaborative pianist, coach, and teacher in the New York metropolitan area for most of her career. She has had the distinct privilege of working with many superb instrumentalists, vocalists and dancers from the premier ensembles of this area including the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera Company, the Juilliard School of Music, the New York City Ballet, and the Westchester Symphonic Winds.
The Norwood resident is in her fifth year as a faculty member in the Department of Performing Arts at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, New York.
Duran—pianist, conductor and accompanist—is at home in any genre from the world of a classic Broadway show to an Italian opera on a European stage. She spent two years with the Zurich Opera, where she made her conducting debut.
Returning to New York she joined the conducting team of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast.” She has performed with the New York Festival Orchestra for Andrea Bocelli’s concert tours. She works as a coach/conductor for the Music Theatre Department at New Jersey City University.
She was the guest conductor for the world premiere of “A Christmas Carol: the Concert” with the Baltimore Symphony, which was aired nationwide on PBS.
Kim has delighted audiences with her concert and operatic performances throughout Europe, Asia, Latin America and the United States.
Recently she performed at the Opera America National Center in New York and as a soloist with the Bergen Symphony Orchestra, the Central Park West Presbyterian Church, and the World Premiere Contemporary Music at Symphony Space.
She has been a soloist with the Music From Above Foundation, teaching master classes and performing in Mexico, Argentina, Guatemala, Paraguay and Turkey. She also appeared with the Lyric Opera of New Jersey, the Bronx Opera, and Teatro Carlo Felice.
Wehr brings a traditional European flair to every performance whether singing on an opera stage, a recital hall or in a church. A soprano with a rich and angelic voice she recently performed at Carnegie Hall.
She made her debut in Italy with both Teatro Giuseppe Verdi and Teatro Comunale di Trela singing excerpts from “Madama Butterfly” and “Le Nozze di Figaro.”
She frequently returns to Italy to perform and share her gift. She has thrilled audiences at the San Gennaro Festival with traditional Neapolitan songs. She performed in Operafest New Jersey in Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito.”
She is a cantor at Holy Trinity Church in Hackensack and Our Lady Mother of the Church in Woodcliff Lake.
At intermission, following the lighting of the parish Christmas tree, wine and cheese will be available and coffee and cookies will be served. Tickets are $35 each and are available after all the masses on weekends and at the Parish office, 209 Woodcliff Ave.
Parishioners will have the opportunity to become a sponsor of the concert and they will be prominently recognized in the concert’s program. Previous Christmas concerts have sold out. Get your tickets early.
