Faith Geier Artist Initiative
In July 2010, Philip H. Geier made a very generous gift of $100,000 to The Collegiate Chorale in honor and memory of his late wife Faith. The Geiers have been close friends and patrons of The Chorale for many years, and we consider it a great privilege to honor Faith’s spirit and love of music in this way.
This gift is a four-year challenge grant
to fund The Faith Geier Artist Initiative, which continues – and further expands – the young artist program that Phil and Faith started in 2007, to underwrite the appearance of young singers making their debuts with The Chorale at Carnegie Hall and other prominent venues.The expanded initiative now supports both young artists and the world-class soloists we engage,
because having the opportunity to work with established artists can prove transformational to young singers. One Geier Young Artist, Ain Anger, had the opportunity to perform with Stephanie Blythe, Adrienne Pieczonka and Ramón Vargas as the bass soloist in our Verdi Requiem performance at Carnegie Hall in 2008, earning the following mentions in the press:“Estonian bass Ain Anger unleashed magnificently cavernous tones and was properly sepulchral in his Mors Stupebit solo. Still young, he has not sung very much in New York yet, but he made the Carnegie Hall audience sit up and take notice.”
– Opera News
“The surprise of the evening was Estonian bass Ain Anger, whom I had not heard before. He has a voice of great depth and smoothness. He sang with tremendous power.”
– The New York Daily News