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Her performances of Weill's
Johnny Johnson Suite and Marie Galante Suite were presented by
the Almeida Theatre, directed by Jonathan Kent, and broadcast for BBC
Television. Réaux made her New York Philharmonic debut singing Weill's
The Seven Deadly Sins which she has also performed with the
Philadelphia Orchestra, Sacramento Symphony, Orchestre de Montréal,
Orchestre de Lyon, and Vienna's Klangforum Orchestra. She has appeared with
the Santa Fe Opera as the False Angele in the American stage premiere of
Weill's opera The Tsar Has His Photograph Taken and has portrayed
both Polly and Jenny in The Threepenny Opera as well as directed a
production for the Chautauqua Institute. She has performed concerts of his
American Broadway songs in New York City, Sarasota, San Antonio, Boston, and
San Francisco, and sung a concert of his "undiscovered" archival
material at Weill Recital Hall in New York City. Her Berlin Kaberett
was first created for performances for the New York Philharmonic, leading to
performances with St. Luke's Orchestra at Caramoor, the Philadelphia
Orchestra at Saratoga, the Gilmore Piano festival, and Chicago's Royal
George Theatre. The year 2000 celebrates Weill's centennial and Réaux
will be honoring him with performances of Weill's Marie Galante and
Lost in the Stars with the St. Louis Symphony, in recital at the
Konzerthaus, Berlin, and here at the Cabrillo Music Festival.
Réaux began her collaboration with Leonard Bernstein performing
Francesca on his recording of West Side Story for Deutsche Grammaphon
and traveling to the Vienna Staatsoper with an all-American cast to perform
his opera A Quiet Place. Réaux was then hand-picked by Maestra
Bernstein to perform and record the role of Mimi in La Boheme which
was televised on Italian TV and nominated for a Grammy. She has since
performed his songs in numerous festivals and concert series around the
world and has sung his Jeremiah Symphony at the Concertgebouw in
Amsterdam, Vienna's Konzerthaus, and with the Slovenian Philharmonije and
the Innsbruck Philharmoniker. Most recently Réaux conceived, directed,
and participated in the premiere of a new theatrical piece There is a
Garden: A Bernstein Celebration which was the highlight of Chicago
Opera Theatre's 25 season.
A champion of American music and in particular, living composers, Réaux
has collaborated with and premiered the music of such prominent composers as
Ned Rorem, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, William Mayer, Roberto Sierra, Robert
Rodriguez, Stuart Wallace, Henri Mollicone, and Ricky Ian Gordon.
Her discography includes a recording of Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins
(Teldec), conducted by Kurt Masur, his opera Street Scene
(Decca/London), conducted by John Mauceri, Stranger Here Myself, a
collection of Weill songs (Koch Classics), as well as La Boheme and
Mad About Puccini (Deutsche Grammaphon), Marc Blitzstein's opera
Regina (Decca/London), Enter Ariel, a song cycle for soprano
by William Mayer (Newport Classics), Green Eggs & Ham, a chamber
opera for soprano and boy soprano (Koch Classics), and the recently
released Robert Rodriguez chamber opera Frida based on the life of
painter Frida Kahlo (CRI).
Réaux was born in Houston, Texas to a Spanish mother and a Cajun
father. She currently resides in Santa Barbara with her husband, baritone
Michael Sokol, their three dogs, and many cats.
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