A proud graduate of the University of Maryland School of Music, Gordon Hawkins began his career in the bel canto roles of Italian opera. His luxuriant baritone is equally at home on the concert stage as in the opera house, in repertoire from Wagner to Gershwin to Beethoven.  Acclaimed by audiences and critics alike for his roles at the Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera and Seattle Opera, Hawkins’ homecoming recital is sure to inspire.

Originally from San Francisco, Justina Lee is principal coach of the Maryland Opera Studio. She has worked as an assistant conductor/pianist and coach for the Metropolitan Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis and the Wolf Trap Opera Company. She has been a collaborative artist with the Cleveland Art Song Festival, the Aspen Music Festival and the Music Academy of the West.

Program:

War and Remembrance: Selections for Veteran's Day

• George Frideric Händel: Semele, "Where'er You Walk"
  Alexander's Feast, "Revenge Timotheus Cries - Behold the Ghastly Band"
• Gabriel Fauré: "Les Berceaux"
• Henri DuParc: Phidylé
  Chanson triste
• Gustav Mahler: Wo die Schöne Trompeten Blasen
  ​Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen
• Benjamin Britten: War Requiem, "Bugles Sang"
• Ned Rorem: "Look Down, Fair Moon"
• Celius Dougherty: "Hush'd be the Camps Today"
• Cal Stewart Kellogg: Sullivan Ballou Letter to Sarah
• Charles Ives: Memories
  Serenity
  ​Three Songs of War: "In Flanders Fields," "He Is There," "Tom Sails Away"

“Ever an instrument of malleable but unbreakable bronze, [Hawkins’] voice is now polished to a bright, shining surface that rests upon a column of powerful, ably-projected tone.”

— Voix Des Arts

Engagement events

Engagement at The Clarice is characterized by facilitated audience interactions with artists, scholars and community leaders that are focused on process and research rather than product and performance.

• On Wednesday, Gordon Hawkins visited with hundreds of students who were part of the 14th Annual High School Choir Invitational, sponsored by the School of Music, and spoke about his life and his career as a singer.
• Hawkins also taught a master class for students in the Voice Division of the School of Music, performing for and coaching both graduate and undergraduate students.