Renowned baritone to help Music in the Mountains kick off SpringFest

Richard Zeller

Richard Zeller has performed this season with the Charlotte Symphony, the Portland Symphonic Choir and at the Opera Gala in Lodz, Poland. He has also performed for 12 seasons at the Metropolitan Opera.

One of America's foremost baritones, Richard Zeller, will perform at the Wine, Women and Song concert on March 24 that starts the annual Music in the Mountains SpringFest concert series.

Conductor Gregory Vajda also will make his debut as the Music in the Mountains’ artistic director at the four-day event, which will be held at the Amaral Family Festival Building on the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley.

The 37-year-old Vajda is a native of Budapest, Hungary, and studied conducting at the Franz Liszt Academy.

Since then, he has built an extensive resume, which includes being the resident conductor for the Oregon Symphony Orchestra and the permanent guest conductor for the Hungarian State Opera.

The March 24 show, which starts at 7:30 p.m., will include a Viennese waltz. Zeller will sing the songs of Wolf, Schubert and Brahms at the concert.

According to his web site, Zeller has performed this season with the Charlotte Symphony, the Portland Symphonic Choir and at the Opera Gala in Lodz, Poland. He has also performed for 12 seasons at the Metropolitan Opera.

Zeller and the MIM Festival Choir will be doing the concert Waltzes and Love Songs at 7:30 on Friday, March 26. Ryan Murray will be the conductor.

On Saturday, the show will be Romantic String Music and on Sunday it’s the Wind Serenade. Both shows start at 7:30 p.m.

Music In The Mountains is a non-profit that hosts seasonal music festivals and has helped thousands of students over the years with its outreach programs.

For ticket and other information about SpringFest, visit www.musicinthemountains.org and or call 530-265-6124.