Free Readers Ensemble 


Wm. B. Sullivan Realty & Co.
Estate Planning and General Law

RAVINIA
"A Great time in a
Wonderful Place" SJC 














"Highly recommended.."
Suburban Journals of  Chicago Inc

---

CAGIS Archaeological
Consulting Services

Jini Coolidge Watercolors

  The Other
3 Tenors

Warren, Franco and Simon will make a special concert appearance at the Mayfair Salvation Army Church, 5020 North Pulaski, Chicago.  The program, consisting of selections by Verdi, Leoncavallo, Bixio, Rodgers, d’Hardelot, Romberg and others, will be held in the church’s main sanctuary, followed by a light reception in the fellowship hall.  There is no admission charge but freewill donations will gladly be accepted.

<>Since joining forces in 2001, the trio of Warren Moulton, Franco Martorana and Simon Kyung Lee, a.k.a. The Other 3 Tenors has been playing to capacity crowds in such venues as The Arcada Theater in St. Charles, IL, The Sandwich Opera House, Beloit College, The Onesti Dinner Club, The Beverly Arts Center, Chicago’s Festa Pasta Vino, Taste of Melrose Park, IL, and The Acorn Theater in 3 Oaks, MI. Combining theater shaking voices with side splitting humor, this trio creates a program like no other.
 
“The 3 Tenors meet the 3 Stooges”, is the way one recent concertgoer put it. With their combined experience on the opera stage and concert platform as well as radio and television, this talented triumvirate takes you on a veritable musical tour of the world, with everything from operatic arias and musical theater standards to Korean folksongs, Viennese waltzes, French cabaret favorites, Spanish melodies, Irish ballads and Neapolitan love songs, with a Yiddish lullaby thrown in for good measure!
 
Host Warren Moulton and fellow tenors Franco Martorana and Simon Kyung Lee raise the rafters with beautiful harmonies and uproarious laughter. The Other 3 Tenors...an unforgettable evening of high notes and hijinks!
 



Chicago tenor, actor, comic, writer and raconteur Warren Moulton has left his mark on over 50 leading and character roles in opera and operetta during the past two decades. Known to audiences for putting a light touch on the classics, Warren has performed in productions of La Bohème, Madama Butterfly, Gianni Schicchi, Falstaff, Don Giovanni,  Così  fan
Tutte, Lucia di Lammermoor, La Favorita, The Barber of Seville, Romeo and Juliet, Ariadne auf Naxos, L’Incoronazione di Poppea, The Count of Luxembourg, The Merry Widow, Die Fledermaus, A Waltz Dream, Candide, Knickerbocker Holiday, The Desert Song, Babes in Toyland, Amahl and the Night Visitors and others. This multi faceted tenor has been heard frequently from the stages of Chicago Opera Theater, Glimmerglass Opera, Pamiro Opera, Chicago Chamber Opera, Madison Opera, Light Opera Works, Du Page Opera, Muddy River Opera, Lincoln Opera and Da Corneto Opera.
 
After a few false starts as a cartoonist, country western musician, nightclub comic and radio announcer, Warrenmade his operatic debut, as a baritone, as John Sorel in Menotti’s The Consul. After discovering his true tenor range, Warren has sung a few leading roles…Cavaradossi in Tosca and the title role in Les Contes d’Hoffmann among them…but prefers to portray the many comic roles that opera and operetta have to offer. A gifted actor and comedian, Warren has won rave reviews for his unique characterizations of such supporting roles as Harry Helmsley (Prince Paul) in Chicago Opera Theater’s hilarious update of Offenbach’s The Grand Duchess, Monostatos in The Magic Flute for Madison Opera, Spalanzani in Chicago Opera Theater’s The Tales of Hoffmann, Dottore in the Chicago premiere of The Jewel Box (Chicago Opera Theater, 1996) and the inept but proud cook, Sam Sharkey, in the world stage premiere of Britten’s Paul Bunyan at Glimmerglass Opera in 1995.   A  veteran  of  over  three  hundred  concert  and  recital performances, Warren has soloed with Elgin Symphony, The Illinois Valley Symphony, The Chicago Symphonic Pops, Waukegan Symphony, City Symphony of Chicago, West Suburban Symphony and Wheaton Symphony. This versatile artist has also become well known as the host of numerous Chicago area programs, including  the  immensely  popular “Wednesday Opera” and “Classical Cabaret” series at the Chicago Cultural Center, the long running “Venuti’s Opera Dinner” in Addison and the “Summer Opera” concert series in Grant Park.

Born in Geneva, Switzerland to Sicilian parents, Franco Martorana was born to be a tenor. Franco’s father...also a tenor...raised the youngster on the recordings of the great Italian tenors of the past and taught his son the folksongs of his native region. The Martoranas immigrated to the United States and settled in Chicago, where Franco received his education.

During his teen years, the aspiring divo began to receive a good deal of attention for his natural tenor voice. Following a number of well received recitals in his community, Franco made his operatic stage debut as Camille in Franz Lehàr’s The Merry Widow for Chicago’s Lincoln Opera. While cutting his operatic teeth at Lincoln Opera, Franco journeyed to Germany with the company for a series of performances of scenes and ensembles from La Bohème, Madama Butterfly and La Traviata. After returning to the States, Franco had the opportunity to meet Luciano Pavarotti’s teacher, Arrigo Pola, during the maestro’s visit to Chicago.

After a brief period of study with Pola, the young tenor was awarded a scholarship to University of Oklahoma, where he spent the next few years working with some the country’s top voice teachers and coaches, including Paul Kiesgen and John Wustman. Franco then returned to Chicago, where he was accepted into the chorus of the Lyric Opera of Chicago. One of the highlights of Franco’s tenure with Lyric happened in December of 1994 when he was chosen to sing the role of the Messenger in a production Verdi’s Aïda under Maestro Bruno Bartoletti.

In 1997, he was invited to sing the roles of Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata and Turiddu in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana for Zwei-Groschen-Oper in Humbach, Germany under the direction of Nicholas di Virgilio. In 2007, Franco debuted with Chamber Opera of Chicago as Michele in The Saint of Bleecker Street during the company’s tribute to the late Gian Carlo Menotti. A co-founder of Bellissima Opera Productions, Franco has starred in the company’s productions of La Traviata and Madama Butterfly in numerous theaters throughout the Midwest. This golden voiced tenor has also gained a well deserved reputation for his interpretations of classic Italian and Neapolitan songs.



Although he happens to be the youngest member of this tenorial trio, Simon Kyung Lee, has a performing career that dates back some three decades! This former child star made appearances in two major motion pictures in his native Korea before the idea of singing opera ever entered his head. As is so often the case with child stars, Simon found that his film career was over by the time he reached the ripe old age of seven. After an uneventful childhood and adolescence, Simon once again found himself bitten by the performing bug. This time, the bug was musical and Simon took up vocal studies at Dong Eui University in his hometown of Busan.

After migrating to the United States, he continued his education at Chicago’s Roosevelt University. During this time, Simon continued to learn his craft as a chorister with Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he had the opportunity to share the stage with many of opera’s greatest talents. His solo debut came about during a 1994 production of La Bohème, when the tenor took over the role of Rodolfo for an indisposed artist. This artist was
none other than Warren Moulton, who was unable to sing due to bronchitis! Since this unexpected debut, Simon has made a tremendous impression on public and critics alike in such leading roles as Radames in Aïda, Manrico in Il Trovatore, Ismaele in Nabucco, Cavaradossi in Tosca, Luigi in Il Tabarro, Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi, Dick Johnson in La Fanciulla del West and, what is fast becoming his signature role, Calaf in Turandot. Of a 2005 performance of Calaf, Matt Wright of The Utah Statesman reported that, “The absolute highlight of the evening was Lee’s performance of one of opera’s greatest arias, ‘Nessun dorma’”. This versatile tenor has also adopted some of opera’s lesser known roles such as Arvino in I Lombardi, Giles Corey in The Crucible, the Third Jew in Richard Strauss’ Salome and the title role in Menotti’s Goya. Simon has been enjoying his association with Utah Festival Opera, Chamber Opera of Chicago, Da Corneto Opera, Opera Carolina, Kansas City Puccini Festival, Sunstate Opera and others. This two time recipient of awards from the National Bel Canto Foundation was invited to perform in recital at the first annual Musical Festival in Modena, Italy. In April of 2007, Simon made his Carnegie Hall debut as tenor soloist in Haydn’s Mass in Time of War.

Funiculi ' funicula '
Sung by the Other 3 Tenors
(music of Luigi Denza, text of Peppino Turco, 1880)

The Other 3 Tenors video by Suburban Journals of Chicago Inc.

Please Get Help
Suicide.org