Saturday October 26

Grace Presents soprano Marie McManama, tenor Daniel O’Dea, and pianist Thomas Kasdorf performing Hugo Wolf’s beautiful Italienisches Liederbuch, a song collection of 46 Italian vignettes translated into German, divided between male and female perspectives. 

Join us at Noon on Saturday October 26

Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Marie McManama is an accomplished opera singer and stage performer. Trained in classical voice at University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) with both Bachelors and Masters degrees, Ms. McManama has performed in recital halls, concert halls, and on opera stages all over the country including the Madison Choral Project, Cincinnati Opera, St. Louis Symphony, San Francisco Festival Chorus, SongFest in Malibu, California, and the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson, Wyoming. Though her background is in performance, she completed her music education licensure in December 2012 and has been teaching in the Madison area since January. In addition to her singing, she grew up studying violin and ballet and has recently added piano, guitar, and flute to her solo instrument skills. She teaches private voice in Waunakee and elementary general music in Madison.

Daniel O’Dea is a tenor from Chicago, Il. He is currently working towards his DMA in Voice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he is the recipient of the Paul Collins Wisconsin Distinguished Fellowship. In Madison he has recently performed with Madison Choral Project and the role of Valjean in Les Mis with Middleton Players Theater. He has recently performed with the Chicago Lyric Opera Chorus, Chicago Bach Project, Grant Park Symphony Chorus, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Rockford Symphony Orchestra, the The Crossing choir in Philadelphia and with Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble. He received his Artist Diploma in Opera from CCM, Masters of Music in Voice from CCM and Bachelor’s of Music in Vocal Performance from Westminster Choir College. He was an Apprentice Artist with Des Moines Metro Opera and is an alumnus of the Aspen Opera Theater Center, Brevard Music Center and the Chautauqua Institute.

Thomas Kasdorf is a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance, where he studied with Prof. Christopher Taylor, and where he was selected to be an inaugural member of the Perlman Piano Trio. His work with the Trio and with other instrumentalists has been featured in performances on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Live at The Midday” series. He appeared as a soloist with the Middleton Community Orchestra in performances of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and Mozart’s Concerto K. 488. Of a recent performance with MCO, Isthmus Magazine wrote “Quite avoiding the temptations to virtuosic display and showy overstatement, he treated his assignment with a gentle delicacy.” He was co-winner of the Irving Shain Woodwind and Piano Duo Competition, with collaborative partner, flutist Morgann Davis and awarded the Bolz Prize of the Madison Symphony Orchestra.