Hanover Square Lunchtime Concert: Jacquelyn Matava and Samuel Gaskin

Today's Hanover Square Lunchtime concert is the first in the Autumn series and is given by Jacquelyn Matava, mezzo-soprano and Samuel Gaskin, piano who will be performing the following programme:

Brad Mehldau - Love Songs

'We met at the end of the Party'

Messiaen - Trois mélodies

i. Pourquoi ?

ii. Le sourire

iii. La fiancée perdue

Mehldau - Love Songs

'Twilight'

'Dreams'

Messiaen - Harawi

i. La ville qui dormait, toi

ii. Bonjour toi, colombe verte

iii. Montagnes

iv. Doundou tchil

As always admission is free with a retiring collection in aid of the series.

Winner of The American Prize for Women in Art Song (2023), American mezzo-soprano Jacquelyn Matava commands the stage with a voice that seamlessly traverses opera, oratorio, and art song genres.

Her versatility in opera is showcased in roles such as Nelda in Kamala Sankaram’s Taking Up Serpents at The Glimmerglass Festival and Zita in Gianni Schicchi at Festival Napa Valley with Kent Nagano conducting. Other operatic credits include the title roles in Cendrillon and Dido and Aeneas, Charlotte (Werther), Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Tisbe (La Cenerentola), and Nancy (Albert Herring).

Jacquelyn’s dynamic vocal artistry also extends to competitions. A Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, she won 1st Prize in the 2022 NATS Artist Awards Texoma Regional, 3rd Prize in the 2020 National Opera Association Vocal Competition, and was named winner of The American Prize for Women in Opera (2021).

As a concert soloist, Jacquelyn has been heard in performances of Bach’s Mass in B minor, Duruflé’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor, and Stravinsky’s Les Noces. In 2014, she performed in Berio’s Coro at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. She has sung with the Tanglewood Music Center, Lucerne Festival Academy, Glimmerglass Festival, Opera Saratoga, Crested Butte Music Festival, Opera San Antonio, Alamo City Opera, Victoria Bach Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and Hudson Valley BachFest.

Jacquelyn’s true passion is art song. Her inventive programming and expressive storytelling make her an exceptional interpreter of this genre. She has crafted a variety of themed recitals, including Short Stories, which contrasts traditional and modern songs, and Sacred Song, a program of music for voice and organ that celebrates world religions. In May 2024 she was a vocal fellow in the inaugural Fellowship of the Song program with Cincinnati Song Initiative.

A native of Farmington, Connecticut, Jacquelyn earned her D. M. and M. M. degrees in vocal performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and B. A. in music and economics from Vassar College. She serves as Associate Professor of Music at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and teaches on the voice faculty at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute in Lenox, Massachusetts.

As a keyboardist and improviser, Samuel Gaskin is interested in music of all kinds. As an improviser, he shared 1st prize with Niklas Jahn (Germany) in the 2023 St. Albans International Organ Competition, and received 2nd prize in the 2021 American Guild of Organists' (AGO) National Competition of Organ Improvisation. As a composer, recent premieres include Chase, for the ~Nois Saxophone Quartet, In memoriam, premiered by the Unheard-of Ensemble, and Psalm 118, for SATB choir.

Samuel was assistant organist at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas before receiving a Fulbright grant to France, where he is currently pursuing Artist's Diplomas in organ and in jazz studies at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Versailles.