The Runaways

Free! (Reservations required.) 

The Runaways is a solo piano and vocal performance of works by contemporary composers from Spain who have expanded their creative borders by moving to New York City. Rosa Torres-Pardo (piano) and Anna Tonna (mezzo soprano) will explore these captivating crossroads through the music of contemporary Spanish-American composers Sonia Megías, Octavio Vazquez and Ricardo Llorca.

The concert will be preceded by a talk by composer Ricardo Llorca, who will delve into the fascinating interaction between Spanish and American musical traditions, highlighting the profound influence each has had on the other.

Mezzo Soprano Anna Tonna has been described as "mezzo heroine who knows how to sing Rossini" by the Rossini Gessellschaft and as "showing off her warm, secure mezzo-soprano to maximum advantage" by New York Magazine. Accolades such as these explain her constant demand as a recitalist and opera singer in both Europe and the Americas. The combination of a highly developed coloratura with a full, balanced, flexible lower register have guaranteed her acclaim as a lyric mezzo, both in familiar roles Rosina, Carmen, Dorabella, as well as in more rarer repertoire by Paisiello, Vivaldi, Mascagni, Zandonai and Giordano.

One of the most outstanding Spanish pianists of her generation, Torres-Pardo is the winner of the Extraordinary Prize Efrom the Madrid Conservatory. She furthered her studies in London with María Curcio and at the Juilliard School in New York. In 2017, she was awarded the National Music Prize (Spain). She has performed on stages such as the Teatro Real in Madrid, Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center in New York, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, and Konzerthaus in Berlin, among others. Her recent recording of the piano works of E. Granados with Deustche Grammophon has been unanimously praised by critics. Her repertoire ranges from 18th century Spanish music to the latest generations of contemporary composers.

Ricardo Llorca is one of the most recognizable Spanish composers in the international music scene. Llorca studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid with Román Alis and Antón García Abril. He also worked with composers Luigi Nono, Carmelo Bernaola and Luis de Pablo in the more advanced courses at the Granada Festival. After graduating in 1988, Ricardo Llorca moved to New York City to complete his studies at The Juilliard School of Music, where he has worked with composers David Diamond and John Corigliano. Llorca currently works as a teacher at The Juilliard School of Music. Llorca alternates his teaching work—he has also been a teacher at the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute in New York City—with his compositional duties. Ricardo Llorca has also been the Assistant Deputy Director at NYOS (The New York Opera Society) since 2008.