The Olive Tree 橄榄树 and The Crescent Moon 弯弯的月亮 - Weilong Tao (tenor) and Karen Lee-Morlang (piano)

Описание: 橄榄树 (The Olive Tree) 齊豫 Qi Yu (b.1957)
弯弯的月亮 (The Crescent Moon) 刘欢 Liu Huan (b.1963)

This recording is excerpted from live handy-cam footage of an August 2014 performance, featuring Weilong Tao (tenor) and Karen Lee-Morlang (piano) at the Koerner Recital Hall, Vancouver Academy of Music in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

BIOGRAPHIES:
Weilong Tao (tenor)
Tenor Weilong Tao studied in China, USA, Italy, Switzerland and Canada. He received his
Bachelor in Music from Anhui Normal University, furthered his studies at the Shanghai
Conservatory of Music, the University of Southern California, the Julliard School of Music and
the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House. He recently received his Master in
Vocal Arts at the University of British Columbia. His teachers include Chaozhi Ge, Herta Glaz,
Daniel Ferro, Martin Katz, Martial Singher, Pier Miranda Ferraro, Carlo Bergonzi, Gianfranco
Cecchele, Franca Ostini, Romano Emili, Franco Corelli and Roelof Oostwoud. He made his professional debut singing the baritone role of Giorgio Germont in La Traviata in
Bregenz, Austria. Since then, he has been performing opera and concert in Germany, Austria,
Switzerland, Italy, Great Britain, USA, Canada, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Slovakia, Finland,
Greece, Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan. Weilong Tao has appeared in leading roles such as Radames in Aida, Rodolfo in La Boheme, Manrico in Il Trovatore, Calaf in Turandot, Florestan in Fidelio, Ismaele in Nabucco, Valentin in Faust, Don Jose in Carmen, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, Canio in I Paliacci, Maurizio in Adriana Lecouveur, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Souchong in The Land of Smiles, the speaker in The Magic Flute, Eurico in Lucia di Lammemoor, Max in Der Freischultz, Eisenstein in The Bat and the title roles of Otello, The Tales of Hoffmann, Tannhauser, Rigoletto, Macbeth, Andre Chenir and Don Carlo. His oratorio performances include Verdi's Requiem, Brahams' Requiem, Dvorak's Requiem, Mahler's Das Lied vonder Erde, Lieder Einen Fahrenden Gesellen, and Beethoven's The Ninth Symphony. In 2009, he was presented the Thalia Award - The Best Male Opera Singer of 2008 of Czech Republic for his performance in The Tales of Hoffmann. The first time ever such prize was awarded to an Asian opera singer .

Karen Lee-Morlang (piano)
Award-winning pianist, producer and educator Karen Lee-Morlang has performed in Europe, Asia, Canada and the United States. She has been featured at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, MusicFest Vancouver, World Peace Forum, Women’s Worlds Conference and Vancouver Folk Festival and has been broadcast on CBC Radio. After earning two music degrees, she also taught at UBC and has co-produced several concert series for the general public. Karen is a founding member of the swingin' vintage vocal quartet “The Lady Larks” as well as the acapella world-music vocal septet “The No Sh*t Shirleys”. Karen currently maintains a small studio of piano students and plays for The Vancouver Welsh Men’s Choir. In 2017, Karen was appointed Artistic Director for The Health
Arts Society in BC, which delivers over 700 annual “Concerts in Care”, professional music and
theatre performances to audiences in health-care facilities throughout the province, providing
those isolated from the arts community the experience of enjoying performance arts in their own
health-care setting.