May 17, 2002 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 13

Tenor sings an eclectic mix of songs in the key of life

y Anthany Bisgema

Question: What do Gabriel Fauré, Paul Bowles, Gustav Mahler and Ned Rorem have in common?

Answer: Absolutely nothing, other than

Kurt Ollman performing their works at the Cleveland Institute of Music's Art Song Festival.

The openly gay Ollman, a baritone, has performed in productions as diverse as the operas Don Giovanni and Figaro to West Side Story and works by Gershwin, Noel Coward and Ned Rorem.

Born in Wisconsin, he studied Romance languages in college, the operatic equivalent of pre-med, and has worked with opera companies and orchestras in New York, London, Paris, Rome, Brussels, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco, earning critical acclaim for his performances on two continents and spreading his music through recordings across the world. He was on the cast recording of West Side Story under Leonard Bernstein and was one of the original performers of The AIDS Quilt Songbook.

The New York Times described his voice as a "clear, eloquent baritone, negotiating every stylistic turn with the utmost grace," while the New Yorker said, "Mr. Ollmann was compelling: fully in character, singing with the radiant strength of purpose and clarity."

For his appearance at the Art Song Festival, he and accompanist Steven Blier have selected an eclectic mix of music. The program will begin with a quartet of arrangements by Paul Bowles, then moving on to four pieces by Albert Roussel and three by Gustav Mahler from Des Knaben Wunderhorn.

After an intermission, five works by gay composer Ned Rorem from poems by Walt Whitman, four selections from Gabriel

Fauré's Mirages, Opus 113, finishing up with Joaquin Nin, Francisco de la Torre and Manuel de Falla.

The Art Song Festival will be held from May 20-25; Ollmann will perform on Thursday, May 23. He will also be holding master classes the following day 10:30 am and 3 pm.

Tickets for the recital are $25, $20 for senior citizens and $10 for students. Master class tickets are $5. Both are available through the Cleveland Institute of Music box office at 216-791-5000, ext. 411; the box office is open 10 am to 3 pm, Monday through Friday.

The recital takes place in Kulas Hall, the master class in Le Pavillon, both of which are in the institute, 11021 East Boulevard, in the University Circle area of Cleveland.

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