4-15-19 Divas Guest Recital

On Monday, April 15^th, 2019, College of the Ozarks welcomed guest performers Jennifer Forni, Dawn Gutierrez, and our own Rebecca Claborn as they sang their favorite songs and hymns. The three were accompanied by pianist Jonathan Raney. The concert included pieces by Chausson, Schubert, Brahms, Strauss, Sondheim, and Bernstein. We appreciate them sharing their musical talents with us!

Praised for her "warm, gleaming lyric soprano" voice (Washington Post), American soprano Jennifer Forni is quickly distinguishing herself as a dynamic singer possessing the raw yet luxurious power of a classic full lyric soprano.  Always “attentive to the subtler points of interpretive expression” (The Baltimore Sun), Ms. Forni, while possessing a “fuller lyric sound” (Opera News) has maintained the ability to float stunningly-spun pianissimo above the staff. Jennifer was granted the Evelyn Puddy Oliver Scholarship to attend the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where she received a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. She continued her studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she received a Master of Opera. In recent years Jennifer has returned to Portland Opera for such roles as Tatyana in their new production of Eugene Onegin, under the direction of Kevin Newbury. Jennifer returns to Portland this summer to sing the Chants d'Auvergne in the Oregon Music Festival. 

Dawn Gutierrez, a native of Long Island, New York, received her Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education at New York University and her Master of Arts degree in Vocal Performance at The Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. Dawn joined the faculty at OTC in the Spring of 2011 as an adjunct voice instructor, and she has had the pleasure of teaching the group voice class at OTC every semester since then. Dawn made her professional operatic debut as Young Pocahontas in the world premiere of Linda Haugen’s “Pocahontas,” at the Virginia Arts Festival with rave reviews, from both here and abroad. She has had the pleasure of performing with the New York Summer Opera Scenes in Manhattan and also performed several roles at Shaker Mountain Opera. Dawn performed as Najade in Strauss’s “Ariadne auf Naxos” with The German Opera Project in NYC. Aside from her private voice studio, she also proudly serves as adjunct voice faculty at Evangel University. 

Rebecca Claborn recently finished her master’s degree in Voice Performance at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Before CCM, Ms. Claborn received her bachelor’s degree from Simpson College in Indianola, IA. She has had the great privilege to work with companies such as Wolf Trap Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera Theater and now Springfield Regional Opera. In the summer of 2016, Rebecca returned to Wolf Trap Opera as a studio artist to cover the role of Stonatrilla in the U.S. premier of Florian Gassmann's L'Opera Seria. While there, she also had the great honor to perform selections from Sondheim's A Little Night Music with the National Symphony Orchestra. In summer of 2017 she went to Des Moines Metro Opera as an apprentice artist and covered Mrs. Anderssen in A Little Night Music. Some other noted performances include Rooster in Cunning Little Vixen Mrs. Mitchell in Meet John Doe, Anna Maurrant in Street Scene, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and the title role in Cendrillon. When not performing, Ms. Claborn is an adjunct professor of Voice at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, MO.

Jonathan Raney currently resides in Springfield, Missouri where he is in constant demand as a pianist, coach and accompanist. Mr. Raney has worked in these various roles with Evangel University, Missouri State University, Missouri Southern State University, Central High School and Republic High School, as well as several other educational institutions. Mr. Raney has also served as coach and accompanist for Vandivort Theater, Springfield Regional Opera and The Messiah Project. He serves as pianist for Silver Dollar City's opera house and their various shows throughout the fall and winter.