Theodore Chletsos EDISON — A township native is set to make his Carnegie Hall solo debut.
Theodore Chletsos will be joined by more than 100 choristers, comprised of Seton Hall University students and New Jersey residents, for the benefit concert, “A Prayer for Peace,” at p.m. on Oct. 17 in Stern Auditorium/ Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall.
Presented by New Jersey’s newest professional opera company
— the New Jersey-based MidAtlantic Opera (MAO) — and Seton Hall University, the concert is the third in conductor Jason C. Tramm’s Peace Trilogy Concert series during the 2015-16 season. In the trilogy designed to underscore humanity’s universal connection through music, the concert will feature classical music selections from composers of Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths whose music transcends its individual context and gives voice to the composers’ visions of peace in response to conflict and violence.
Chletsos, a tenor, has performed many roles with regional companies across the country, as well as in such contemporary works as Ricky Ian Gordon’s “Grapes of Wrath,” Laurent Petitgirard’s “Joseph Merrick dit Elephant Man,” Michael Ching’s
Buoso’s Ghost” and Samuel Barber’s “Antony and Cleopatra.”
The graduate of J.P. Stevens High School has a large concert repertoire, ranging from Bach and Handel to Verdi and Menotti, and has won numerous awards, including the Shoshana Foundation’s Richard F. Gold Career Grant.
While in high school, Chletsos went to The Governor’s School of New Jersey for music, won the Governor’s Award and got a commendation from the Board of Education for excellence in music. His choir director/music teacher was a local resident, Virginia Moravek.
The concert will include the “Elegy for Cello and Strings” by Behzad Ranjbaran, selections from Ahmed Adnan Saygun’s rarely performed “Yunus Emre Oratorio,” Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms” and Ralph Vaughan Williams’s “Dona Nobis Pacem.”
Ticket prices range from $10-$90, and can be ordered online at www.carnegiehall.org, by phone at 212-247-7800 or at the Carnegie Hall box office at 57th Street and 7th Avenue in New York City.
Student and senior discounts are available at the box office only. Group ticket discounting is available to organizations by calling 212- 903-9705 Monday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. or emailing [email protected].