The Apollo Duo: “Reality & Escape" at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral -- April 23.
Saturday, April 23, 7 p.m.
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 121 West 12th Street, Davenport IA
Performing in an April 23 art-song recital sponsored by Opera Quad Cities and Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Music, baritone Nicholas Fahrenkrug and pianist Eleonora Apostolidi, appearing as the Apollo Duo, pay a visit to Davenport's Trinity Episcopal Cathedral with the moving and musical Reality & Escape, a program designed to address our current frustrations, losses, and challenges of life, as well as the various ways in which we cope.
Following a highly regarded December presentation that found Fahrenkrug and Apostolidi taking on the entire Schubert song cycle Die Schöne Müllerin, Reality & Escape highlights a diverse range of composers and styles. As Opera Quad Cities and Opera Quad Cities president and Trinity Episcopal Cathedral director Ron May stated, "The last years facing the challenges of COVID have given the world strong examples of the realities of unwelcome hardships and the ways one escapes those intense anxieties. We often seek to escape the reality we are confronted with in an effort to find comfort, stability, and constancy in our lives. This program is designed to provide a musical escape, one that will not only entertain through the fiery Spanish music of Fernando Obradors and his 'Canciones classicas espanolas,' but one that will offer a meditation on the temporality of existence through Butterworth’s 'A Shropshire Lad.' With additional selections by Rachmaninoff, Glinka, Tchaikovsky, and Rossini, the audience can bask in a romantic view of the world through exceptional art song."
Fahrenkrug is a second-year Masters student in Vocal Performance at the Louisiana State University School of Music in Baton Rouge, where he studies with baritone Dennis Jesse. While at LSU, he has performed multiple roles with the Turner-Fischer Center for Opera, including Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Giulio Cesare in Giulio Cesare, Marco in Gianni Schicchi, and Marquis de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites. Originally from Davenport, Fahrenkrug graduated from Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in 2020, and from Davenport Central High School in 2016.
Accompanying the baritone on piano, Apostolidi is a prize winner in many national and international competitions, as well as an active solo and collaborative performer who has appeared in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, and Wiener Saal. She is a doctoral candidate in Piano Performance with a minor in Collaborative Piano at the LSU School of Music, where she is graduate teaching assistant. Apostolidi previously earned her Master of Music degree at LSU, following her undergraduate degree from SUNY-Purchase. The artist is also an experienced piano teacher who has been on the faculty at Grace Notes School of Music in Baton Rouge since 2018, where her students have been awarded multiple prizes.
The Apollo Duo will perform Reality & Escape in the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral's on April 23, admission to the 7 p.m. recital is free (although donations are encouraged), and more information on the evening is available by calling (563)650-1487 and e-mailing Ron May at rmay2000@aol.com.
