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Allison Charney Epstein
Allison Charney Epstein (born 1967) is an American soprano specializing in opera. Charney has "a notably beautiful voice. Expressive, lush and clear." She performs in the classic languages of opera: Italian, French, Russian, and German, and has sung concerts in many others such as Hebrew, Czech, and Portugese. She is also the curator of the performing arts series PREformances with Allison Charney: An Insider's First Encounter with Great Music in New York City.

Biography
Charney first began receiving acclaim for her singing in high school at the Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles (now Harvard-Westlake School), where her performances in the Great Hall remain legendary. (perhaps adjust this wording) She attended Belvoir Terrace Summer Camp for several years, and now returns most summers to teach a master class.

She attended Harvard College, where she directed the annual Lowell House Opera, and graduated magna cum laude (need cite) in 1989.

Later, she earned two graduate degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University.

Charney is the daughter of the actor Jordan Charney and the playwright Nancy Cooperstein Charney. She is married to Adam Epstein ; they have two sons and live in New York City. A brief discussion of their first lunch together was featured in Daniel Goleman's book Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships. She retains Allison Charney as her performing name, and Allison Epstein as her personal/married name.

Career


Early in her professional career, Charney was a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera competition. (need citation details)

Singer (need description)

She is represented by Peter Randsman of Randsman Artists Management.

In 2009, she developed and inaugurated PREformances with Allison Charney: An Insider's First Encounter with Great Music. The PREformances series provides an opportunity to professional classical musicians who are about to go onstage elsewhere to rehearse their piece before a live New York City audience. The setting is somewhat intimate, the performers can stop and work on a specific section as needed, and the musicians often provide commentary to the audience about why they choose to perform the piece in their specific way. Performed at the JCC in Manhattan, and developed in conjunction with Executive Director Joy Levitt, PREformances are held on the second Tuesday of each month during the season.

Recordings
Her most recent recording is as cast member of Choose Life, Uvacharta Bachayim, the dramatic oratorio commemorating the Holocaust. The piece was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and was released in late 2011.

She can be heard on the soundtrack of Disney's Pocahontas (1995 film), as well as those of other television shows.

Allison and Ben...For the Record, Volume 2, a collection of classic American songs, with Benjamin Loeb on piano, was released on the DSC Label in 1998.

Selected Repertory
Among others, concerts with The Philadelphia Orchestra,(need cite), with Teatro Grattacielo at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, Memphis Symphony Orchestra (need cite), Mississippi Opera (need cite), Awadagin Pratt, Mark Mazullo, The San Jose Chamber Orchestra, Arts Ahimsa , XXXXX, XXXX, and also XXXX.

She has frequently collaborated with the composer Kim D. Sherman to premier new pieces, and with the conductor/pianist Benjamin Loeb on favorites from the classical canons.