First Baptist of Boone Hosting Concert of Opera for the Season of Epiphany By Sherrie Norris Dr. Wayne Brown and congregation of First Baptist Church of Boone will be hosting “An Operatic Concert For The Season of Epiphany” on Sunday, January 29 at 6:00 pm at the church, located at 375 West King Street in downtown Boone. Brad Sisk, who is fulfilling a dream to study with Italian master tenor, Carlo Bergonzi, will be in concert at First Baptist Church of Boone Sunday evening, January 29. Photo submitted Dr. Brown is pleased to announce that the concert will feature his nephew, Brad Carlton Sisk, tenor, accompanied by pianist Sidney Hamilton, Bessemer City native and graduate of Oberlin Conservatory of Music. Hamilton has been principal pianist for the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and has played and toured with numerous ensemble groups. The concert will include works of Bach, Mendelssohn, Verdi, Donizetti, Cilea, and Thomas. Sisk, the son of Mrs. (Joy) Brown’s sister, tells us the season of Epiphany is “a little known and less celebrated part of the Christmas season that commemorates the moral decisions the three wise men faced after Herod ordered them to return to him.” The concert will be a rare state-side appearance for Sisk, who is visiting family in his hometown of Blacksburg, South Carolina, while taking a break from his studies at the Accademia Verdiana in the studio of Carlo Bergonzi, located in Italy. Sisk was a former tenor soloist for the Lutheran Bach Choir at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina and has performed lead roles with Sinfonicron Light Opera Company and New York Opera Productions. Sisk is fulfilling a dream to study with the Italian master tenor, Bergonzi, described as “the most stylish Italian tenor to emerge since World War II.” Born in the vicinity of Giuseppe Verdi’s hometown, Brad tells us that Bergonzi has had one of the longest and most distinguished careers of any singer of the past sixty years. “He has been renowned for his interpretations of his beloved Verdi, but verismo roles and some of the lighter lyric parts suited him as well. He began his career as a baritone, making his debut in 1948 with Rossini’s Barber of Seville. Only in 1951 did he retrain his voice and made his second debut, as a tenor in Andrea Chenier.” Sisk tells us, “I first went to Italy because I like music and had planned on staying in the country for a while and work on a farm while touring famous sites and historical buildings. But, I thought about all of the legendary masters that have left us, some of them very recently, and I decided while I was there I should at least try and talk with some of the famous ones.” Sisk says that while Italy is known for its famous musicians, one name stood out among them all. It was “Carlo Bergonzi, who at the age of 81 is still popping high C . . . I consider him the greatest living tenor in the world today. He is still accepting students, so on a lark I decided to audition for him.” Sisk is no stranger to studying music, having been to numerous schools in the United States, including the Oberlind Conservatory in Ohio. But, the young tenor tells us, “Bergonzi had his own opinion of what it meant to study music . . . He asked if I had ever studied music before and told me, ‘You have a good voice, even phrasing, but no technique!’ Basically, he said I had talent but that I had wasted my time and money in those other studies. When he said he would teach me, I was shocked! For me, it was like climbing the mountain to see the sage.” Born in Vidalenzo near Busseto in Italy on 13 July 1924, Carlo Bergonzi studied with Edmondo Grandini following an audition at the age of 14 when Grandini was performing in Busseto. Grandini trained him as a baritone, having decided this was the true nature of his voice. Their studies were interrupted by the onset of the World War II and imprisonment in a German POW camp for anti-Nazi activities. When the war ended and he was released, he returned to Italy and began studies at the Boito Conservatory in Parma, and after graduation, further studies with Ettore Campogalliani. Sisk described Bergonzi’s early baritone career as a period where the singer was ‘misdiagnosed,’ and adds, “It’s a very strange thing to be a tenor . . . it’s like learning to get comfortable with a part of your voice that you don’t use a lot. Because Bergonzi began as a baritone, it adds a lot of dramatic style to his voice.” While studying with a living master is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it certainly isn’t cheap. The upcoming concert is free of charge and open to all, but donations will be appreciated to help with expenses for Sisk and Hamilton, as well. A nursery will be provided for the little ones. For further information please call the church office, 264-2441.