Press Releases

Manasquan, NJ - Algonquin Arts will be featuring their extremely popular annual Rising Stars music performance and competition on Wednesday, November 18th at 10:00 am and 11:30 am. This event will showcase eleven classical music students comprised of both vocalists and musicians, selected through a competitive audition process that spans across all twenty-one counties in New Jersey. These final eleven performing artists will have the opportunity to perform on the Algonquin Arts stage.

This year�s eleven finalists include: 16 year old John Caliendo from Point Pleasant, 15 year old Evangeline Athanasiou from Lincroft, 17 year old Ashley Grant from Point Pleasant, 17 year old Zachary Miller from Marlboro, 15 year old Christa Dalmazio from Leonardo, 17 year old Nicolette Mavroleon from Freehold, 15 year old Adeline Lee from Princeton Junction, 16 year old Alfred Califano from Sea Girt, 16 year old Kevin Lin from Tenafly, 16 year old Ashleigh Smith from Howell, and 17 year old Liliana Ma from West Windsor.

Each finalist will have the unique opportunity to go to lunch with two professional classical music mentors and learn more about their craft. The mentors this year are Maestro Fernando Raucci, an international music conductor, and Brett Colby, an international operatic tenor. Maestro Fernando Raucci conducted professionally in the USA for the past six years, and has conducted throughout Europe prior to that. Most recently he opened the 2008 summer season at Opera of New Jersey with Verdi�s La Traviata. He also spent three successful years as Assistant of American Symphony Orchestra, Lincoln Center, NYC, with Mo. Leon Botstein.

Brett Colby has toured the United States and Europe, interpreting character roles in the operatic repertory, as well as making appearances in musical theatre, film, and radio. Mr. Colby�s signature roles include Goro in Madame Butterfly and Basilio/Curzio in Le Nozze di Figaro. He has performed these roles throughout the U.S. with such companies as Virginia Opera, Anchorage Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera, Opera Illinois, Connecticut Opera, Midland Symphony (Michigan), Westfield Symphony (NJ) and Green Mountain Opera (VT), among others.

Tickets to see the Rising Stars live at Algonquin Arts are free, and reservations are required. To reserve tickets, contact the box office at 732-528-9211 or email [email protected], or visit www.algonquinarts.org. Box office hours are Monday-Friday from 9 am to 5 pm and Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm. Algonquin Arts is located at 173 Main Street in downtown Manasquan, NJ.

Algonquin Arts was founded in 1991 by Fran and Jack Drew to provide cultural enrichment for residents of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. This mission is still accomplished to this day by presenting a wide range of arts programming, including dramatic and musical theatre, dance, musical concerts and film representing a diversity of style and cultural influence, film and mixed media presentations. Algonquin Arts would like to thank OceanFirst Foundation, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, PNC Foundation, Manasquan Savings Bank, Woman�s Club of Brielle, Investors Savings Bank Charitable Fund, Verizon Foundation, Janice Blanton Plangere & Jules Plangere III, as well as many generous individuals and local businesses for their contributions to the Capital Campaign.