UB Presidential Inaugural Event to Feature Soprano Kathleen Battle and Pianist Ted Taylor

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Center for the Arts at the University at Buffalo will present Kathleen Battle at 8 p.m. on Oct. 14 in the Mainstage theater in the Center for the Arts on the UB North Amherst Campus. This performance is made possible by the Bernice Poss Memorial Fund.

Kathleen Battle's soaring voice has carried her to the heights of the classical music world. She has appeared in opera, concert and recital worldwide and collaborated with the most noted artists of our time. Perhaps what distinguishes this luminous soprano most is her almost magical ability to create an unwavering bond with audiences through a voice that is "…without qualification, one of the very few most beautiful in the world," according to The Washington Post.

In a repertoire that ranges from Handel to Richard Strauss, Kathleen Battle has appeared on the stages of the world's leading opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, the opera houses of Vienna, Paris, San Francisco and Chicago, and London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Battle has enjoyed close collaborations with most noted artists of our time and has performed with the world's great orchestras. She also has appeared regularly in the festivals of Salzburg, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Blossom, Hollywood Bowl, Mann Music Center, Caramoor and Cincinnati's May Festival. In recital, she has performed extensively throughout the U.S. and Canada, South America, Europe and Asia, and in the music capitals of the world.

A five-time Grammy Award winner, Battle has made many recordings and television appearances that have brought her voice and musicianship into millions of homes worldwide. Her repertoire embraces jazz and spirituals, as well as an uncommonly wide range of classical music, from the Baroque to composer André Previn's song cycle "Honey and Rue," commissioned by Carnegie Hall for Battle, with texts by Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison.

A native of Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees from the College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. She made her professional debut at the Spoleto Festival, and her Metropolitan Opera debut followed only five years later. Battle is the recipient of six honorary doctorates from American universities and, in 1999, was inducted into the NAACP Image Hall of Fame.

Tickets for Kathleen Battle are $50, $45 and $40. Tickets are available from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday in the Center for the Arts Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations, including Kaufmann's. To charge tickets, call 852-5000; in Canada, call 1-416-870-8000. For group sales, call 645-6771. For more information, call 645-ARTS. The Center for the Arts is a Ticketfast location.