BOSTON—By definition, “bel canto” means beautiful singing. The term can refer to both a style of singing and a genre of opera.
Former Wakefield Memorial High School students and their parents might remember Bradley Pennington who taught voice and piano at the school from 1993 through 2007.
During the same year he began his work in Wakefield, Pennington founded Boston Bel Canto Opera (BBCO) as a 501(c)(3) non-profit business. Since then, he has dedicated his work to beautiful singing for 30 years. The organization has presented 10 operas, two opera gala concerts and more than 150 opera recitals since its inception.
BBOC has given Italian opera concerts for the Luigi Pirandello Lyceum since January 1998 at Harvard Club of Boston.
To commemorate the organization’s 30th anniversary, Pennington’s 26th concert will be held at 3 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 4 at the Dante Alighieri Italian Cultural Center in Cambridge.
(Ticket information below.)
The event will feature two sopranos, one tenor and one baritone performing arias and duets from 12 Italian operas.
Pennington will be master of ceremonies and provide piano accompaniment.
Sopranos Adriana Repetto and Letitia Stevens, baritone Paul Soper and tenor Giovanni Formisano will perform selections from operas “Le Nozze Di Figaro,” “La Forza Del Destino,” “Maria Stuarda,” “Rigoletto” and others.
Formisano said that he and “Maestro” Pennington have collaborated for about 10 years “with great success.”
“His quality of teaching and coaching is New York level,” Formisano commented. “In fact, I always suggest to local singers that they try to work with him.”
He added that Pennington’s understanding of the voice, different styles of repertoire and languages, paired with his “amazing piano skills,” make him a complete artist and the sort of resource singers seek when taking the trip down to New York City.
“To have coaching and voice lessons of this level at the same time is like hitting the lottery for all of us who perform,” Formisano said.
Pennington’s walk through life reads like a compelling novel. He grew up in western Kentucky in the 1950s and recalls watching Liberace play piano on his family’s antique television set. Thrilled by the sound of the piano, he also watched cartoon characters on “Looney Tunes” display their brilliance at the keyboard. This provided the incentive he needed to take piano lessons so he could make what he called “glorious music” himself.
Though there was no piano in his home, as a child Pennington was exposed to the vocal talents of both parents.
He also had an older cousin who had learned to play piano “by ear” without having an ability to read music. His maternal grandmother had been taught to read music while growing up in the late 19th century, and it was she who taught him the “do, re, mi” syllables and how they sounded when moving from one line or space on the treble clef to different lines and spaces above or below.
“She even sang the examples for my better understanding,” Pennington noted.
At age 12, he began his first lessons with Dorothy Winchester Mason, a Maine native and expert pianist, who had moved to his hometown when her husband was hired by the Music Department at Murray State University.
It would soon become apparent to his teacher that her student was born with a gift for music.
“Playing the piano made total, logical sense,” said Pennington. “I had no difficulty absorbing the rules of music in general and of learning the skills of coordinating my hands with the three pedals under the piano.”
His teacher also observed that he had a major talent in piano playing, one worthy of cultivation.
“She also observed that I possessed ‘perfect absolute pitch’ and had a photographic memory for playing with no music in front of me,” he said.
As Pennington became more proficient and confident, he was often asked to play accompaniment at various churches for the congregational hymns. He found this easy to do and at times transposed the hymn notes to a lower key as the congregation would not have been able to reach the highest pitches in the hymn.
Throughout high school, his teacher entered him in local piano competitions, and he often played pieces that were considered too difficult for most teenage contestants.
“As a result, I habitually won first prize to the chagrin of my peers,” he said. Other musical activities during this period involved singing in the high school choruses as a bass even though he was actually a tenor.
Pennington’s prowess as a pianist eventually won him a full scholarship as a piano performance major at Murray State, earning him a bachelor of music degree in 1970. His reputation in finesse grew quickly and to the point that even the instrumental degree students wanted his accompanying services. Pennington went on to earn his master of music in piano degree at the prestigious Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington. He said that the school is ranked with Juilliard as the best in the nation for classical music training.
As if all of this were not enough, while teaching at a college in Tennessee Pennington decided to earn his doctoral degree in piano solo.
His love of opera had taken hold during his studies in Indiana, and the School of Music excelled in opera productions, usually giving five or six works per season in multiple performances.
“I played for voice lessons in the studios of several former leading singers at the Metropolitan Opera, who were then celebrated singing instructors,” Pennington said, adding that he became instantly overwhelmed by this medium of performance and fell in love with it.
He took voice lessons with the primary voice teacher there and luckily garnered the position of assistant manager of the newly constructed opera house at the school—The Musical Arts Center—once it opened in January 1972 with a production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni.”
“All of this responsibility at age 23!” he recalled.
Having always been enchanted by the idea of living in historic New England, Pennington auditioned at Boston University in the fall of 1973 and was accepted immediately. He moved to Boston to begin his “beloved career” in June 1974 and has lived in the city ever since.
“Boston is, and always will be, my permanent home,” he said.
While at WMHS, Pennington enjoyed a strong, supportive relationship with then choral and band director Kim Smith.
“I never envisioned that she would climb the ladder to assistant principal, principal and then superintendent of the school system,” he said.
His days of teaching at WMHS brought him face to face with “extremely gifted voice students” who, through his tutelage, became major singers in classical and music theater repertoire. Most notable were tenor Joseph Holmes and baritone John Erban, both of whom have sung with distinction at BBCO.
Eventually, Pennington left Wakefield to accept a voice/piano teaching position at Braintree Conservatory, which was under the auspices of the Continuing Adult Education program. He has held this position for the past 19 years.
Over time, Pennington has had the good fortune of having met famous opera singers Eileen Farrell, Margaret Harshaw, Lilia Albanese and Beverly Sills.
In addition to the Feb. 4 concert, BBOC will hold another major event in 2024 to honor contralto Joanna Porackova, who this year celebrates being on the BBCO roster for 30 years. She will be featured in a recital partnered by Formisano in a program of songs, arias and duets. The date and time of this concert has yet to be announced.
Asked how life has surprised him, Pennington said that he never could have imagined that at 75 years old he would have built such a legacy in what he calls his “special discipline.”
“I am a believer in the old adage, ‘To whom much is given, much is expected,’ he said. “I have achieved this fulfillment.”
For Pennington retirement is unthinkable.
“As a performer, teacher and impresario, I have every intention of propagating my artistry for as long as my good health permits. It’s the Lord’s mission for my life.”
Tickets for the Feb. 4 concert are $27 for general admission and $24 for seniors 62 and over and students with proper ID. Cash or checks will be accepted at the door. For more details, visit the Dante Alighieri Web site at https://www.facebook.com/DanteSocietyMA. Patrons may also e-mail inquiries at BBCO@comcast.net or call/text 617-949-6543.