Carly Rapaport-Stein, a longtime West Windsor resident, performs in the Opera Project’s production of Gian Carlo Menotti’s “The Telephone” and in the premier of Michael Schmidt’s “Fern Hill” on Saturday, January 16, at 7 p.m. in Lambertville. A soprano, she is a graduate of Westminster Choir College with a bachelor’s degree in voice performance, Class of 2007, and is currently working on her master’s degree in opera at Boyer College of Music and Dance (of Temple University). She was home schooled up until college.
She began playing piano when she was eight, and started singing in choirs when she was 10. She began voice lessons at age 14 with Tracey Chebra at the Westminster Conservatory. During her high school years she won the Anna B. Stokes competition and also the Westminster Conservatory Scholarship competition. During her college years, she placed in the New Jersey chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing three times, and was a Westminster Choir College Scholarship recipient three times.
Rapaport-Stein began performing with the Opera Project in October, 2008, at its first concert, and has sung with the group throughout the past year. A member of Temple Opera Theater, she was in the fall production of Lee Hoiby’s “A Month in the Country” and is cast in the spring production of Janacek’s “The Cunning Little Vixen.” She is also the director of the Seasonaires’ Choir at the Four Seasons in Allentown, New Jersey, for the past two and a half years.
A frequent guest soloist in the tri-state area, her past roles include scenes from Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Walkure, Orphee et Euridice, and Die Fledermaus. With the Westminster Choir, she performed with the Spoleto Festival USA (Don Giovanni, Romeo et Juliette, Die Vogel), the New York Philharmonic, and the Dresden Philharmonic.
Her father, Peter Stein, is a physician, and her mother, Barbara Rapaport, is a home schooling educator. Her sister, Hannah, a senior at Muhlenberg College who sings and plays the piano, is a theater major and a French minor. Her brother, Jeremy, a high school senior who plays the cello, piano, and composes, is considering a music major or minor in college next year. The family moved to West Windsor in 1999.
In the joint recital, Rapaport-Stein will be joined by Grant Mech, bass-baritone. They will be accompanied by Fabio Bezuti and Matei Varga. The program will include songs of Francis Poulenc and George Enescu. The Opera Project supports Doctors Without Borders. Tickets are $18 and are available at the door.
Recital, Opera Project, Saint Andrew’s Church, 50 York Street, Lambertville, 908-268-1264. Saturday, January 16, 7 p.m.