By Michael Luce
As a guest for the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts, soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen will make her Carnegie Hall debut next Tuesday, April 9, an event that serves as a culmination and celebration of the work of numerous creatives artists with ties to Utah.
Willis-Sørensen has received global attention in the opera community and was recognized as “one of the most acclaimed American sopranos of her generation.” She has recorded with Sony Classical and performed all across opera houses in Europe. For next week’s performance, Willis-Sørensen will sing works from various composers, such as Strauss and Rachmaninoff, as well as give the premiere performance of S. Andrew Lloyd’s Amaranthine, winner of the 2022 Prize of The Ariel Bybee Endowment at the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts.
The endowment is named for Ariel Bybee, another renowned opera singer and advocate for Latter-day Saint arts. Bybee sang in over 460 performances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City and taught vocal students at several universities across the country. Following Bybee’s passing in 2018, the Endowment was set up to honor her legacy and continue developing art that could bridge the gap between religious works and the greater art community. Neylan McBaine, daughter of Bybee and current chair of The Ariel Bybee Endowment, expressed her joy over the event and the realization of her mother’s dream of helping Latter-day Saint artists make an impact in the global arts community. McBaine, who often writes about women in Mormonism, credits much of her writing career and interest in advocacy to her mother, noting their shared love for hymns and music. She said her mother wasn’t afraid of thinking big and would have loved a big event like this one.
McBaine also explained that Willis-Sørensen was both the intended performer for this piece and interested in the collaboration from the very start. The singer adapted her schedule to make sure the performance could happen as planned. The whole event serves as a culmination of sorts for the work of Willis-Sørensen, the Center for Latter-day Arts, and the Ariel Bybee Endowment.
Interestingly, the event is also a celebration of creatives and artists from Utah specifically. Nearly everyone involved either lived or studied in Utah. Those with Utah music ties include Willis-Sørensen herself, S. Andrew Lloyd (the composer of Amaranthine), Ariel Bybee, and the sponsor of the reception following the performance. Additionally, BYU Assistant Vocal Professor Jennifer Young and several students will participate in a master class with Willis-Sørensen and Darrell Babidge, chair of Juilliard’s voice faculty and former BYU faculty, the day before the premier. In many ways, this isn’t just a celebration of Latter-day Saint voices and perspectives; it’s also a celebration of Utah experiences and a chance for Utah music to touch those outside of its normal reach.
Though this is Rachel Willis-Sørensen’s New York debut, she will return to play Lenora in Il Trovatore at the Met. It’s another fitting full-circle moment given Ariel Bybee’s fourteen appearances in the same opera during her career.
More information on the event can be found on the Center for Latter-day Saint Arts website. You can hear Willis-Sørensen performing Strauss below!