Bon Appétit!: Julia Child and Her Sumptuous Buffet

Mezzo-Soprano Alta Boover Dantzler and pianist Susan Snyder serve up a scrumptious buffet of operatic works. The program’s main course is Bon Appétit!: Julia Child and Her Sumptuous Buffet, a one-act opera by Lee Hoiby that offers a delicious comedic take on Child’s popular television show, The French Chef. Dantzler and Snyder round out the menu with a selection of opera songs—all performed while Dantzler cooks live on stage. A feast for ears, nose, and soul, this one-of-a-kind performance is sure to leave you asking for seconds.

Expect a delectable mix of Julia Child’s famous chocolate cake recipe and musical treats that blend drama, humor, and culinary artistry! Check out the recipes featured in the show here.

About the Artists:

Alta Boover Dantzler, mezzo-soprano, is praised by audiences and critics for her “perfect comic timing” and “lustrous big voice.” She has appeared at Carnegie Hall as a soloist with the New York City Chamber Orchestra in Mozart’s Solemn Vespers, and at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center as the Narrator in Peter and the Wolf as well as Mrs. Barnaby in the premiere of a new version of Victor Herbert’s Babes in Toyland. Internationally, she toured Brazil as the alto soloist in a resurrection of the work of Jose Mauricio Nuñes Garcia, and sang with the Choeur Maurice de Sully of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. On the operatic stage, favorite roles include Marcellina in Il Nozze di Figaro, Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus, Ruth in The Pirates of Penzance, Berta in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Katisha in The Mikado, and Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd.  She performs regularly as a concert and oratorio soloist with symphony orchestras across the country in performances including Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Bach’s St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion, Magnificat, Weinachts Oratorio, and Handel’s Messiah.  She spent six seasons with the Ohio Light Opera, the only professional company in the United States entirely devoted to the preservation of operetta.  With them, she gave well over 400 performances in over 50 separate productions of European and American operetta. She can be heard on many full cast recordings on both the Albany Records and Operetta Archives Labels and in solo album releases with Centaur Records, all of which are available for purchase or to stream on all platforms.  She is thrilled to return to Interlochen to share Julia’s recipe for Gateau aux Chocolat L’Eminence Brune, which appeared in Season 2 episode 5 of Child’s PBS Series The French Chef.  For more information, please visit www.altadantzler.com

Susan Snyder is widely sought after as a collaborative pianist. A specialist in the flute and piano repertory, Snyder has performed at the National Flute Association Annual Convention, the Florida Flute Fair, and Flute Fair Midsouth. As a solo pianist, she has performed concertos with the Jackson (Tennessee) Orchestra, the Orchestra of the North Carolina School of the Arts, and the Orchestra of the University of Memphis. She has appeared three times on the Memphis Chamber Music Society series, performed in Martinu Hall as part of the Prague International Chamber Music Festival, and has spent seven summers as a pianist for Charles Castleman's Quartet Program. Snyder studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts, Mannes College of Music, the University of Memphis, Florida State University, and the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.