A concert to benefit the Dr. Stephen and Suzanne Menkes Child Advocacy Center (CAC) in Hudson, featuring two critically acclaimed singers and a leading international pianist, will be held Saturday, July 9, 2011 at 6:30 pm at St. James Church on Hudson Avenue in Chatham. Tickets are $15 and are for sale at the door. All the proceeds will go to the Dr. Stephen and Suzanne Menkes Child Advocacy Center.
The mission of the Dr. Stephen and Suzanne Menkes Child Advocacy Center is to reduce trauma, provide expert medical care, and enhance collaboration among organizations in the investigation, prosecution, and treatment of child abuse. The Child Advocacy Center provides a child-friendly setting where they investigate serious child abuse allegations, conduct forensic interviews, and provide therapy and victim assistance services - always keeping the best interest of the child in mind. The team helps the children move beyond the role of victims and lead healthy, happy lives.
The concert features internationally hailed soprano, Amanda Boyd, Dr.
Carol Curran, Medical Director of the Center and an accomplished singer as well, and Gili Melamed-Lev, an internationally renowned pianist.
Amanda Cara Boyd has been hailed by critics as one of Britain's "Rising Stars." Ms. Boyd trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She also trained at the National Opera Studio in London. Ms. Boyd has played the title role in the film Lucia (Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor). Other operatic roles include: La Contessa (Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro) for the New Opera Festival in Rome, Italy; Ginevra (Handel's Ariodante) for the Covent Garden Festival; Adina (Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore) for Bel Canto UK and the Cambridge Opera Players; Despina (Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte) for The London Opera Players; Cunegonde and Maria (Bernstein's Candide and West Side Story) with the Columbia Festival Orchestra, NY.
Dr. Carol Curran is the Medical Director of the Dr. Stephen and Suzanne Menkes Child Advocacy Center in Hudson, NY. The daughter of a professional contralto and an avid amateur baritone, she began singing at a young age, and attended Indiana University as a voice major. After singing classical music semi-professionally in New York City for several years she moved to southern Vermont, where she continued performing traditional folk and popular music.
Gili Melamed-Lev is an internationally acclaimed pianist. Most recently she collaborated with Walking-the-Dog Theater in the production of Bon-Appetit and with the Actors-Ensemble in Painting Churches. She has performed with the Columbia Chamber Orchestra, at the Trail Mix music series in the Catskills and at PS21. Her extended tour of the East Coast with a production of The Snow Goose, garnered rave reviews. She was the artistic director of Red Carnations, a one act opera, and participated in Diamond Street, also an opera, written by Harold Farberman. She is a graduate of the Juilliard school in NY city.
For more information about the concert or the Dr. Stephen and Suzanne Menkes Child Advocacy Center, contact Denise Saunders at 697-3320.
