Jorge Antonio Pita in a program of Sacred Arias

Gounod Symphony No.1

March 11, 7pm – Trinity-On-Main, New Britain
March 13, 7pm – Cathedral of Saint Joseph, Hartford

The brilliant tenor voice of Jorge Antonio Pita, which has been celebrated at the world’s leading opera houses, will be accompanied by the Connecticut Virtuosi Orchestra in a program of favorite Romantic opera sacred arias. Mr. Pita will also be joined by Connecticut Lyric Opera’s prima donna soprano Jurate Svedaite.

Also in program: maestro Sylveen and the Virtuosi will explore the symphonic work of another Romantic composer – Charles Gounod – in a performance of his Symphony No. 1.

Jorge Antonio Pita is hailed as one of the leading exponents of the bel canto and lyric styles among today’s singers, and has performed the lyric tenor repertoire to great praise in opera houses throughout the world. Mr. Pita’s voice has now naturally blossomed into the spinto verismo repertoire.  Mr. Pita’s appearances have taken him to the leading opera houses in Hamburg, Stuttgart, Linz, Amsterdam, London, Covent Garden, Oslo, Toulouse, Kiel, Basel, Nantes, Marseille, Liverpool, Glasgow, Dublin, Los Angeles, Leeds, Madrid, Barcelona, Toledo, Paris, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Toronto, Tel Aviv, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Salzburg, Berlin, Edinburgh, Boston, Dallas, Denver, New York, among others. His accomplishments also extend to oratorio and concert performances and on the recital stage with major symphony orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra.  At age of 22, Mr. Pita became the youngest tenor to debut at the Vienna Staatsoper, singing Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. Following this successful debut, he appeared in leading tenor roles in Macbeth, La Traviata, Falstaff, Rigoletto, Lucia di Lammermoor, and as the Italian Tenor in Der Rosenkavalier.  Mr. Pita has become a favorite of many conductors, including Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, Jose Lopez Cobo, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Anton Guadagno, John Mauceri, Nikolaus Hamoncourt, Antonio Pappano, Fabio Luisi and many others. Maestro Abbado invited Mr. Pita to record Schubert masses for Deutsche Grammophon, including the Mass in E-flat Major, the Mass in G dur, the Tantum Ergo in E-flat, and the Beethoven choral fantasy with Maurizio Pollini and Barbara Bonney. Other recordings include the Berlioz Requiem with the Moscow Philharmonic at the Chaise Dieu Festival, Verdis La traviata with the Arturo Toscanini Company in Paris, and Donizettis Poliuto for CBS Masterworks with Jose Carreras, Katia Ricciarelli, and the Vienna Philharmonic. Mr. Pita was chosen by maestro Claudio Abbado to sing the Beethoven Choral Fantasy for Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev with Pianist Evgeny Kissin and the European Youth Orchestra in Moscow and St.Petersburg, Russia.  In 2001 Mr. Pita was invited to sing the Verdi Requiem commemorating the 100th anniversary of Giuseppe Verdi’s death at the London’s Barbican Hall with Maestro Antonio Pappano, Rene Fleming, Violeta Urmana, Rene Pape and the London Philharmonic for the BBC.  Mr. Pita began his vocal studies under the guidance of Placido Domingo and Joan Owen. He furthered his studies at Indiana University, where he studied with Jean Dies, Gabriella Tucci, Nicholas Rossi Lameni, James King, and Virginia Zeani. Mr. Pita has won the Boca Raton International Competition, the Pavarotti Competition, the Rosa Ponselle Competition, and the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition.