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feb 25
Limmie Pulliam, tenor with Greg Zelek, organ
Venue: Overture Hall
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
7:30 p.m.
Limmie Pulliam awed our Madison audience with his performances in Madison Opera’s Tosca and our own 2023 Madison Symphony Orchestra Christmas concert. He and I will join forces in a program featuring some of the most well-known operatic arias, gospel works arranged for organ and tenor, and solo organ arrangements of opera overtures and instrumentals. I can’t wait to bring Mr. Pulliam back to wow our audience once again! – Greg Zelek
Program
Giuseppe Verdi, Celeste Aida from Aida
Giacomo Puccini, Nessun Dorma from Turandot
Giuseppe Verdi, La donna è mobile from Rigoletto
Giuseppe Verdi, Grand March from Aida
Giacomo Puccini, E lucevan le stelle from Tosca
Moses Hogan, Give Me Jesus
Traditional, Steal Away
Traditional, Ride On, King Jesus
Andraé Crouch, Through It All
Take Note: Drinks Allowed in Overture Hall
As of this season, drinks are allowed inside Overture Hall during all Madison Symphony Orchestra concerts. Refreshments may be purchased at bars and concession stands located around the Overture Hall lobby before each concert and during intermission. Please enjoy food in the lobby and unwrap any candy or cough drops before the performance begins. Thank you!
“Limmie Pulliam had an amazing voice and presence. I read about him in the NY Times but never thought I’d get to see him in Madison!”
“He’s a genuine dramatic tenor, a singer with a large, burnished, baritonal sound. Pulliam can roar, he can sing sweetly, and he can simmer, all the while creating a dramatically believable character.”
“The audience ovation for Pulliam at the end of the performance was almost frenzied.”
Meet the Performers
Greg Zelek, organ
Limmie Pulliam, tenor
Thank You To Our Generous Sponsors!
MAJOR SPONSORS
Fernando and Carla Alvarado
Peter and Leslie Overton
Walter and Karen Pridham Charitable Fund
ADDITIONAL SPONSORS
Janet and Scott Cabot
Martha and Charles Casey
Greg Zelek is the Principal Organist and Elaine and Nicholas Mischler Curator of the Overture Concert Organ.
Rising tenor Limmie Pulliam continues to thrill audiences with his captivating stage presence and his “stentorian, yet beautiful,” sound. Pulliam was recently praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for his “full-throated vocal power, and intimate lyricism,,’ with his recent debut at Livermore Valley Opera in Verdi’s Otello.
On December 17th, 2022, Pulliam made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Radamès in Aida, which also served as his role debut. He later performs Radamès with Tulsa Opera for their 75th anniversary gala concert. Elsewhere during the season, he returns to the Cleveland Orchestra for his first performances as Dick Johnson in Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West, conducted by Franz Welser-Möst. In concert, he debuts with the San Diego Symphony singing Verdi’s Requiem and makes his Carnegie Hall debut performing “The Ordering of Moses” in collaboration with his alma mater, The Oberlin Conservatory. He also joins pianist Mark Markham for a series of recitals entitled “Make Them Hear You: A Spiritual Journey” and will also be featured on “operatic greatest hits” concerts with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra and Delta Symphony.
The 2021/22 season has been highlighted by his highly-anticipated L..A. Opera debut as Manrico in Verdi’s Il Trovatore, where he was lauded by the Los Angeles Times for his “healthy, focused, ringing tenor.” He followed that with a successful role debut as Turiddu in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana with Vashon Opera. Upcoming performances include his company debut with Livermore Valley Opera in the title role of Verdi’s Otello, his company debut in Fort Worth Opera’s A Night of Black Excellence Concert, and his rescheduled appearance with The Memphis Symphony Orchestra as the tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. He is set to take the stage again as Verdi’s Otello in his highly-anticipated debut with The Cleveland Orchestra.
In the 2020/21 COVID-affected season, Mr. Pulliam’s original engagements included his role debut as Florestan in Fidelio with the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra (canceled). During the shortened 2020/19 season, he appeared with the Springfield Regional Opera for their 40th Anniversary Gala (performed) and made his debut with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra (performed) for a gala concert. He was a featured performer for the 6th Annual Viennese Opera Ball in New York and appeared in a recital in Charlotte, NC, and at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, OH. Additionally, he was slated to join the Newport Music Festival during the summer for a concert of Verdi selections (canceled).