 Aria of the Week #74: "Cara Sposa" by G. F. Handel. Performed by Ala Coroid. Score: IMSLP (Pg 39 of score, pg 49 viewer). Uploaded by Massimo Grelli.
0 Comments
UPDATE: T-Boz will be performing an acoustic set of her fans' favourite songs on Sunday 19th April. It is a charity benefit concert, benefiting the Sickle Cell Foundation Support Group. You can donate to, and live stream, the event here.  Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins Tionne Tenese Watkins (born April 26, 1970),[1] better known by her stage name T-Boz, is an American singer, songwriter, model, dancer, actress, author, and executive producer. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Watkins rose to fame in the early and late 1990s as the lead singer of the R&B/hip hop girl-group TLC. She has won four Grammy Awards for her work with TLC. Tionne Watkins was born in Des Moines, Iowa, to James and Gayle Watkins. She is of African American and Native American descent.[2][3] As a child, Watkins was diagnosed with sickle-cell anemia.[4] Since the age of seven, she has been in and out of hospital due to her condition.[4] Watkins's family moved from Des Moines to Atlanta, Georgia, when she was nine years old. Because of her disease, she was not expected to have children or live past her 30s, but has lived 14 years past her life expectancy and has a 14-year old daughter. Crystal Jones held auditions for a singing group and chose Watkins, and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. The group eventually attracted the attention of Perri "Pebbles" Reid and her husband, Antonio "L.A." Reid, head of LaFace Records. Jones was replaced with Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas and the group was signed in 1991 as TLC. They went on to become one of the most successful girl groups in history with over 65 million records sold worldwide.[5] T-Boz has won four Grammy Awards for her work with TLC.[6] In late 2011, VH1 announced plans to produce a biopic on TLC to air in 2013.[7] Watkins and Thomas signed on as producers. The role of Watkins was portrayed by actress/singer Drew Sidora in CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story. Watkins' daughter, Chase, portrayed a younger Tionne in the film. In addition to her work with TLC, Watkins recorded solo singles, including: "Touch Myself" (For the soundtrack of the 1996 film Fled) and "My Getaway" (for the soundtrack to the 2000 film Rugrats in Paris: The Movie). In addition, she has been a featured vocalist on such songs as: "Ghetto Love" with Da Brat, "Changes" with Society of Soul, "He Say She Say" with Keith Sweat, "Different Times" with Raphael Saadiq and "Be Somebody" with Paula Cole. Watkins has appeared on a song by her TLC bandmate Rozonda Thomas, entitled "Gameproof". Watkins has worked as an actress, appearing in Hype Williams' 1998 film Belly. She also appeared in an episode of Living Single, the first time guest-starring along with her bandmates and another time without them. Watkins also served as one of the executive producers for the 2006 movie ATL featuring the rapper, T.I..[8] She was also featured in the music video for "It's Good" with YoungBloodZ, and appeared on The Real Housewives of Atlanta as a friend of Kandi Burruss. T-Boz was a contestant in The Celebrity Apprentice, where she was fired for volunteering to come back into the boardroom. After referencing a previous contestant who was fired from the show for the same action, Donald Trump told her, "Never volunteer for an execution." Watkins published a book of semi-autobiographical poetry called Thoughts on November 3, 1999.[9] In 2005, Watkins and stylist Tara Brivic (who would later appear regularly on Totally T-Boz) opened a children's boutique called Chase's Closet (named after her daughter). It was shut down years later. On October 1, 2012, The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Watkins will have her own reality TV show Totally T-Boz on the TLC network.[5] Totally T-Boz premiered January 1, 2013. The show chronicled Watkins' quest to create a solo album, reunite with bandmember, Chilli, and take care of herself and daughter Chase. During 2013, alongside group-mate Chilli they executive produced the VH1 biopic CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story which aired on October 21, 2013, actress Drew Sidoraportrayed Watkins. Her daughter Chase portrayed a younger Tionne in the film. They also released a soundtrack album 20 marking both the band's 20-plus year legacy in entertainment business and the release of their biopic, this album included a new track written by singer Ne-Yo, “Meant to Be.” They also had guest vocals on J. Cole's track "Crooked Smile". TLC celebrated their return with a series of highly publicized performances which included 2 dates: VH1's Mixtape Festival in Hershey, PA on July 27, 2013 and Drake's OVO Fest in Toronto on August 5, 2013. They are expected to release a new studio album in 2015. © Wikipedia Crazy Sexy Cool Album
Fanmail Album
We are pleased to announce that Contralto Jen Wiggins will perform in the role of Fernando in a free production of Handel's Rodrigo at the Smith Memorial Hall Recital Hall at the University of Illinois. Jen is a fantastic up-and-coming artist, so please go support her and the production if you are in the area. There will be two performances: one on the 13th April, and the second on the 18th of April at the Wesley United Methodist Church. Jen will also be performing the Alto Soloist role in Mozart's Requiem at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, alongside the UI Symphony Orchestra, the UI Chamber Singers, and the UI Oratorio Society, Conducted by Donald Schliecher. Check out her wonderful performance of the "Lullaby" from Menotti's The Consul in the video below. Swedish Contralto Susanna Sundberg has added to her already impressive repertoire list performances of Xerxes (Amastre) with Spinosi, and Falstaff (Mrs. Quickly). Sundberg, you may remember, performed with world renowned mezzo Anne-Sophie von Otter on the Sogno Barocco album, which was released in 2012 to critical aclaim. She has also released a new video: her perfomance of "Saprà delle mie offese" from Xerxes, which you can see below. It is with a sad and heavy heart that I share the news that Contralto Maria Radner was killed in the plane crash involving a German Wings plane over the Alps. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family at this awful time. She had just finished performing the role of Erda in Wagner’s "Siegfried" at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. As a tribute to her, here is a recording of her performing "Weiche, Wotan! Weiche!" from Das Rheingold. Aria of the Week #73: "Morgen" by R. Strauss. Performed by Maria Radner. Score: IMSLP (Pg 13 of score, and viewer). Uploaded by Rosenblatt Recitals. |
Dramatic ContraltosMeredith Arwady
Gwendolyn Brown Dame Clara Butt Patricia Forbes Nicole Mitchell Sharmay Musacchio Angela Christine Smith Contralto ProfondosLinksHere are a few links which may prove useful. Blog RollBarihunks Categories
All
Archives
February 2024
|
RSS Feed