Mr. Jason Collins This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. Midland Symphony Orchestra Artists' Biographies at Midland Center for the Arts

   www.mcfta.org/symphony_orchest - [Cached]

   Published on: 11/27/2001   Last Visited: 3/6/2003

   Jason Collins, tenor | Malcolm Smith, bass | Scott St. John, violin | Antonio Pompa-Baldi, piano
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   Jason Collins,tenor
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   Jason Collins,tenor
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   Jason Collins, tenor
   
   American tenor Jason Collins possesses a unique voice, which combines a robust heroic size tenor with lyric style and beauty. An innate performer, Mr. Collins is equally at home with the music of Monteverdi and Handel as he is with Beethoven or Mahler.
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   Equally at home on the concert stage, Mr. Collins has been heard most in performances of Handel's Messiah with the Haddonfield Symphony, Mozart's Requiem, Schubert's Mass in G, and Rossini's Stabat Mater.
   
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   Mr. Collins received his bachelor's degree in voice from The Juilliard School and is currently a candidate for the Masters of Opera degree from The Curtis Institute of Music.
   
   February 8, 2003 • Romeo and Juliet

2. 2. www.dispeker.com

   www.dispeker.com/page/collins. - [Cached]

   Published on: 6/1/2001   Last Visited: 1/13/2004

   Jason Collins
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   Jason Collins, tenor...
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   Young American tenor Jason Collins possesses a unique voice, which combines a robust heroic tenor with lyric style and beauty. A consummate performer, Mr. Collins is equally at home with the music of Monteverdi or Handel, as he is with Beethoven or Mahler. The native South Carolinian has been heard at New York's State Theater, Alice Tully Hall, Prince Theater, Philadelphia's Academy of Music, and at Chicago's Athenaeum, where he recently received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Schweik in Chicago Opera Theater's production of Kurka's The Good Soldier Schweik. "With a controlled vibrato, a rhythmic clarity…and a non-stop grin that always made quizzical sense, Collins made one wish Kurka and Hasek might have seen their hero come to life in his portrayal" (Opera News, 7/01). His performance in the title role is also featured on the world premiere, 2003 Cannes Awards nomination recording of the opera with Cedille Records.
   
   Mr. Collins' engagements for the 2002/03 season included the roles of Dancaire in Bizet's Carmen and Malcolm in Verdi's Macbeth with the Opera Company of Philadelphia; a concert performance of Berlioz's Romeo and Juliet with the Midland Symphony Orchestra; Stravinsky's Les noces with the Curtis Opera Theatre; and the portrayal of Tambour Majour in Berg's Wozzeck with Opera Festival of New Jersey. Season 2003/04 features Mr. Collins in the role of Narraboth in Strauss' Salome with Nashville Opera; as Steuermann in Pittsburgh Opera's production of Wagner's Der Fliegende Hollaender; and as Elder Gleaton, in addition to the responsibilities for the role of Sam Polk, in Floyd's Susannah with the Opera Company of Philadelphia.
   
   Concert and opera highlights from the previous two seasons have included Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde in Philadelphia, Honegger's Le Roi David with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Handel's Messiah with the Haddonfield Symphony, and the "Viva Italia" concert with The Stockton Symphony. He was La Théière in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortileges under the baton of Robert Spano in Philadelphia's new concert hall at the Kimmel Center, and Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress at Centennial Hall. He performed Chevalier de la Force in Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites with Glimmerglass Opera and had the responsibilities for Beppe in I Pagliacci. With Curtis Opera Theater, he was Nerone in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea and Anatol in Samuel Barber's Vanessa. "Collins applied his substantial voice to create the cynical opportunist Anatol. His singing layered insincerity with exuberance, and his voice had the power and nuance to shape the character" (Philadelphia Enquirer, 4/01).
   
   The recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, Jason Collins was the winner of the 2000 Mario Lanza competition, the Lucrezia Bori prize for foreign study, the Alice Tully scholarship, and the Tatiana Troyanos scholarship. He received his Bachelor of Music in Voice from the Juilliard School and Master of Music in Opera from the Curtis Institute of Music.
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   "The uniformly excellent cast is led by tenor Jason Collins in the title role. He's on stage almost all the time and has the voice and the acting ability (even unseen) to make the character and his many absurd situations come alive. Collins's Schweik is the embodiment of pure innocence, and he sings with a warm, colorful timbre.
   
   Classics Today.com April 2002 - by Jed Distler
   
   The excellent cast features tenor Jason Collins in the title role, whose warm voice and impetuous delivery are exactly what Schweik needs.
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   "In Collins, the production boasted a young singer-actor who looked, sang and inhabited the title role... But all recognized that their characters served the seemingly hapless Schweik, who in Collins's portrayal made on think that the only way to tackle a staircase is to fall up it. With a controlled vibrato, a rhythmic clarity.., and a non-stop grin that always mad quizzical sense, Collins made one wish Kurka and Hasek might have seen their hero come to life in his portrayal."
   
   Chicago Sun Times March, 2001
   
   "In his COT debut, Jason Collins was the very image of the good soldier.
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   "..and with a young tenor, Jason Collins, as Schweik himself, you have the extra opportunity of watching not only the launch of a career with great potential, but also a performance of a singer-actor born to play this delightful role."
   
   Chicago Tribune March, 2001
   
   "In the title role, Jason Collins perfectly catches Schweik's amiable, dimpled innocence while his tenor projects strongly and clearly."
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   "Jason Collins sang the role of Anatol- the son of Vanessa's love- with complete assurance, adding a cynical edge to his characterization."
   
   Philadelphia Weekly April, 2001
   
   "Jason Collins used his vibrant and nuanced tenor to create an effective young Anatol…"
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   "Of particular note was Jason Collins as Nero. His tenor voice was remarkably rich and handsome, and he captured Monteverdi's style masterfully."
   
   Courier Post December, 2000
   
   "…Jason Collins firmly voiced Nero sounds impressive. Collins doesn't lose his musical command even when his trousers are down."