Katharine McPhee And Lang Lang Perform America The Beautiful At The Live Memorial Day Concert

May 25, 2009 by Masterclass Lady 5 Comments


A Blessed Memorial Day to all. And what greater way to be inspired than to watch and listen to this excellent performance by vocalist Katharine McPhee and pianist Lang Lang. This video was recorded live last evening and I was just so touched by this rendition. It is extremely beautiful and I know you will agree.

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American Idol, American Idol Season 5, Katharine McPhee, Music, Television, Videos

About Masterclass Lady

Rosanne (Giallonardo) Simunovic began her musical career in Timmins, Ontario. She studied piano with Anne Pizzale and later, at an advanced level, with Soeur Anita Vaugeois (Sister Cecile of Les Soeurs De L’Assomption in Timmins). Her vocal and accompaniment skills were nurtured by her aunt, the late Dorothea Mascioli. When Rosanne graduated from O’Gorman High School, she moved on to the University of Toronto where she continued her piano and vocal studies while attaining a Bachelor of Arts Degree. She was hired as a piano accompanist for several musical companies, most notably, the National Ballet Of Canada. She presently holds an A.R.C.T. Teacher’s Diploma in Voice from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Rosanne has studied choral conducting with numerous well known Canadian Conductors, including Wayne Riddell of Montreal, Quebec and the internationally renowned Dr. Elmer Iseler. She has been a founding member of numerous community-based arts organizations: the Timmins Arts Council, later known as Arts & Culture Timmins, the Timmins Symphony Orchestra, and, the Timmins Youth Singers…as well as the TYS Alumnus choir, the Timmins Concert Singers. In 1987, she was also selected to be the conductor of the Timmins Board Of Education Choir, comprised of talented students from Grades 5 to 8. In 1988, she was elected to the Board Of Directors of the Ontario Choral Federation (now known as Choirs Ontario), where she served as Chair of the Festivals Committee for six consecutive seasons. In 1996, in honour of the Ontario Choral Federation’s 25th Anniversary, Rosanne was selected as one of 25 recipients of the OCF’s Distinguished Service Award for outstanding contribution to the choral art. The ceremony was presided by Lieutenant Governor, Hal Jackman. In November 1997, Rosanne Simunovic was selected by the Rotary Club Of Timmins to receive the prestigious Paul Harris Award for her years of dedication to the artistic development of young musical talent in Timmins. In August of 2002, Rosanne Simunovic was selected by the Board Of Directors of Choirs Ontario to serve as Conductor of both the Provincial Junior and Teen Choir Camps, now renamed in honour of the Camp Benefactors, Don and Lillian Wright. In November 2002, Rosanne was the one of the recipients of the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, honouring her work in the development of the arts in Timmins. Under Rosanne Simunovic’s direction, the Timmins Youth Singers and the Timmins Concert Singers have been featured in numerous choral festivals and performing opportunities outside of Timmins. In 1985, they were selected to partici
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5 Responses to “Katharine McPhee And Lang Lang Perform America The Beautiful At The Live Memorial Day Concert”

  1. JennJenn May 26, 2009 at 11:32 am

    Hi MCL. I have thoroughly enjoyed your critiques of AI singers the past few seasons. I watched the Memorial Day concert, and I think Brian Stokes Mitchell is just breathtaking–as always. Anyway, I had a few questions for you.

    Denyce Graves: It looked like her breathing was mainly thoracic from the way her shoulders raised when she took a breath. Also, when her pitch when up, she tended to throw her head back.

    I haven’t listened to a lot of operatic singers, but there seemed to be something off—like her vocal focus was in the back of her throat. I don’t quite have the vocabulary to explain it properly. Im a speech therapist, not a singing teacher.

    I wondered what you thought about it.

    Like

  2. Liz May 27, 2009 at 1:12 am

    Huh. After all this time, I still don’t get the appeal of Katharine McPhee’s vocal stylings. She’s attractive and charming, but her voice doesn’t seem any more special than, say, Haley Scarnato’s. Maybe I’m just (always) missing something on this subject.

    Like

  3. Jasmine May 27, 2009 at 3:14 pm

    I am glad to see this beautiful performance here! This is my all-time favorite rendition of this song. I love how she slows down the tempo, yet keeps the song fluid. She did more runs and melisma in her rehearsals, but I guess she wanted to keep it conventional for the show.

    Did you happen to see her performance of Somewhere yet? Very touching and emotional, especially after the story of injured soldier and his family. She was performing for a crowd of 300,000, so I’m sure she must have been nervous, but she seemed very composed. I was all the way up in the front row of the public seating area, and when I turned my head I was astonished at all all the people there!

    Liz, have you ever heard Katharine live? Absolutely breathtaking! Maybe, you’ll change your mind then.

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  4. soccer247 May 27, 2009 at 4:58 pm

    So I have absolutely no idea where to put this – but I wanted to share this with everyone! GO SUSAN!!

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  5. Kariann1 May 28, 2009 at 3:01 am

    Katherine is a beautiful woman with a nice voice. She shows us that second place isn’t so bad after all.

    What a lovely and heartfelt presentation!

    Like