Rush Tully
Encyclopedia
Rush Tully is an American composer
and operatic bass-baritone
who performed many seasons with Lyric Opera of Chicago
in the company of such luminaries as Plácido Domingo
, Mirella Freni
, Alfredo Kraus
, Paul Plishka
and Nicolai Ghiaurov
. He also worked under the stage directors Jean Pierre Ponelle, Franco Zeffirelli
, Hal Prince
, and Metropolitan Opera
conductor James Levine
.
He sang his first public performance at age 6, and by 15 he was working professionally teaching guitar and doing folk concerts. At 18 began composing his first songs. At 20 he became a winner of the Santa Fe Opera
auditions (the youngest male ever). There he began his road in the operatic world under director Lotfi Mansouri
, who quickly noticed not only his rich, dark voice but considerable acting skills as well.
Before launching full time into the life of an opera singer he pursued further studies at the University of Southern California
under William Eddy, University of New Mexico
under Tom Philips, and the Vienna Music Academy under the famous soprano Hilde Zadek
. Later, he would study with the tenor Gualtiero Negrini
(an artistic friendship that has lasted nearly three decades). In this period he gave critically acclaimed performances of the Felix Mendelssohn
Elijah
. This would soon be followed by Tully winning the Lyric Opera of Chicago
auditions.
There he would be heard on 8 national radio broadcasts and in countless roles. In the following years he would make notable appearances such as his Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with the Chicago Symphony, as well as performing with the Ravinia and Grant Park Festivals, Milwaukee Florentine Grand Opera, Tulsa Grand Opera, Minnesota Opera, Cleveland Opera, Opera Orchestra of Los Angeles as Verdi's Attila
, Opera à la Carte of Los Angeles and many others.
He has served virtually his entire professional life as a church musician, in the capacity of music director, choir conductor, section leader, and soloist. Certainly grounding him spiritually while being in the whirlwind life of the theater, it was in the spiritual venue that his componistic abilities began to truly flourish. Now his works are performed across the United States in both sacred and secular settings.
He is currently working on a 5 CD recording project of sacred music (a personal investigation into human spirituality and the presence of God within human circumstance), and has composed many song cycles for piano and voice, two settings of the Magnificat – Nunc Dimittis, three settings of O Magnum Mysterium, and a Requiem for Children, scored for violin, cello, and harp. His newest song cycle, Any Given Day, for voice, clarinet and harp, is receiving its debut on the soon to be released CD by San Francisco baritone William Tull (no relation).
He recently completed the musical score for Jose Garcia-Daviss epic masterpiece, The Magdalena Cantata, which receives its world premiere on January 25, 2007 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center for the Arts in Albuquerque, New Mexico
.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and operatic bass-baritone
Bass-baritone
A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...
who performed many seasons with Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
in the company of such luminaries as Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo
Plácido Domingo KBE , born José Plácido Domingo Embil, is a Spanish tenor and conductor known for his versatile and strong voice, possessing a ringing and dramatic tone throughout its range...
, Mirella Freni
Mirella Freni
Mirella Freni, birth name Mirella Fregni, is an Italian opera soprano whose repertoire includes Verdi, Puccini, Mozart and Tchaikovsky...
, Alfredo Kraus
Alfredo Kraus
Alfredo Kraus Trujillo was a distinguished Spanish tenor of partly Austrian descent, particularly known for the artistry he brought to opera's bel canto roles...
, Paul Plishka
Paul Plishka
Paul Plishka is a Ukrainian-American bass opera singer.Mr Plishka comes from Old Forge, Pennsylvania and Paterson, New Jersey; his parents were American-born children of Ukrainian immigrants...
and Nicolai Ghiaurov
Nicolai Ghiaurov
Nicolai Ghiaurov was a Bulgarian opera singer and one of the most famous bass singers of the postwar period. He was admired for his powerful, sumptuous voice, and was particularly associated with roles of Verdi.Ghiaurov married the Italian soprano Mirella Freni in 1978...
. He also worked under the stage directors Jean Pierre Ponelle, Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli
Franco Zeffirelli KBE is an Italian director and producer of films and television. He is also a director and designer of operas and a former senator for the Italian center-right Forza Italia party....
, Hal Prince
Hal Prince
Harold Smith Prince is an American theatrical producer and director associated with many of the best-known Broadway musical productions of the past half-century...
, and Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
conductor James Levine
James Levine
James Lawrence Levine is an American conductor and pianist. He is currently the music director of the Metropolitan Opera and former music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Levine's first performance conducting the Metropolitan Opera was on June 5, 1971, and as of May 2011 he has...
.
He sang his first public performance at age 6, and by 15 he was working professionally teaching guitar and doing folk concerts. At 18 began composing his first songs. At 20 he became a winner of the Santa Fe Opera
Santa Fe Opera
The Santa Fe Opera is an American opera company, located north of Santa Fe in the U.S. state of New Mexico, headquartered on a former guest ranch of .-General history:...
auditions (the youngest male ever). There he began his road in the operatic world under director Lotfi Mansouri
Lotfi Mansouri
Lotfollah “Lotfi” Mansouri is an Iranian-born opera director and manager. He was an opera director from about 1960 onwards, and is most well known for being the General Director of the Canadian Opera Company and of the San Francisco Opera from 1988 through 2001...
, who quickly noticed not only his rich, dark voice but considerable acting skills as well.
Before launching full time into the life of an opera singer he pursued further studies at the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
under William Eddy, University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
under Tom Philips, and the Vienna Music Academy under the famous soprano Hilde Zadek
Hilde Zadek
Hilde Zadek is a German operatic soprano.After her hometown became Polish after World War I, her parents moved to Stettin in 1920, where Zadek spent her youth; however as a Jew she was forced to leave Germany in 1934, and settled in then Palestine, where she worked as a nurse in Jerusalem, while...
. Later, he would study with the tenor Gualtiero Negrini
Gualtiero Negrini
Gualtiero Negrini is a pianist, conductor, and singer, known mostly as an Italian-American tenor who has performed leading roles with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Washington Opera and many others...
(an artistic friendship that has lasted nearly three decades). In this period he gave critically acclaimed performances of the Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
Elijah
Elijah (oratorio)
Elijah, in German: Elias, is an oratorio written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1846 for the Birmingham Festival. It depicts various events in the life of the Biblical prophet Elijah, taken from the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings in the Old Testament....
. This would soon be followed by Tully winning the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago
Lyric Opera of Chicago is one of the leading opera companies in the United States. It was founded in Chicago in 1952, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox, Nicolà Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, with a season that included Maria Callas's American debut in Norma...
auditions.
There he would be heard on 8 national radio broadcasts and in countless roles. In the following years he would make notable appearances such as his Papageno in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte with the Chicago Symphony, as well as performing with the Ravinia and Grant Park Festivals, Milwaukee Florentine Grand Opera, Tulsa Grand Opera, Minnesota Opera, Cleveland Opera, Opera Orchestra of Los Angeles as Verdi's Attila
Attila (opera)
Attila is an opera in a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the play Attila, König der Hunnen by Friedrich Ludwig Zacharias Werner. Initially, Verdi had enlisted Francesco Maria Piave to prepare the libretto, after Verdi's own scenario...
, Opera à la Carte of Los Angeles and many others.
He has served virtually his entire professional life as a church musician, in the capacity of music director, choir conductor, section leader, and soloist. Certainly grounding him spiritually while being in the whirlwind life of the theater, it was in the spiritual venue that his componistic abilities began to truly flourish. Now his works are performed across the United States in both sacred and secular settings.
He is currently working on a 5 CD recording project of sacred music (a personal investigation into human spirituality and the presence of God within human circumstance), and has composed many song cycles for piano and voice, two settings of the Magnificat – Nunc Dimittis, three settings of O Magnum Mysterium, and a Requiem for Children, scored for violin, cello, and harp. His newest song cycle, Any Given Day, for voice, clarinet and harp, is receiving its debut on the soon to be released CD by San Francisco baritone William Tull (no relation).
He recently completed the musical score for Jose Garcia-Daviss epic masterpiece, The Magdalena Cantata, which receives its world premiere on January 25, 2007 at the National Hispanic Cultural Center for the Arts in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...
.