Choral Society Benefit at the Woodhouse Playhouse

Samantha Hankey, a rising mezzo-soprano, will join a new chamber singing group from the Choral Society of the Hamptons at a benefit for the society on Sept. 24, to be held at the storied Woodhouse Playhouse in East Hampton.

Ms. Hankey, a student at the Ellen and James S. Marcus Institute for the Vocal Arts at the Juilliard School, has been described by Opera News as a “beauty with a maple-flavored mezzo,” and The New York Times has called her work “serious” and “penetrating.” She has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, in operas at Juilliard, and on HBO and NPR.

She will perform pieces ranging from an aria from Rossini’s “La Cenerentola” to Kurt Weill’s “Speak Low.” The chamber singers, led by the society’s music director, Mark Mancini, will perform a variety of madrigals.

Members of the event’s 56-person benefit committee include the composer Victoria Bond, the television producer Susan Lacy, and Molly Channing of Channing Daughters Winery.

The Woodhouse Playhouse, at 64 Huntting Lane in East Hampton, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. It is seldom open to the public, making the benefit a rare opportunity to see the building, an iconic reflection of early “summer colony” culture. Richard Brockman and Mirra Bank Brockman, its owners, are the honorary chairs of the event, which will include cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Tickets are $300, $250 of which is tax-deductible. Reservations can be made at the society’s website or by calling 631-904-0402. 

The benefit, which will begin at 5:30 p.m., culminates celebrations of the choral society’s 70th year. An auditioned chorus that performs with professional conductors, soloists, orchestra, and accompanists, the society has presented high-quality choral music on the East End since its founding by the late Charlotte Rogers Smith in 1946.