Stephanie Houtzeel

Mezzo-Soprano Stephanie Houtzeel is winning accolades for her opera and concert performances around the world. Appearances as Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier at the Paris-Bastille Opera, the New Israeli Opera Tel Aviv and the Graz Opera have been heralded as “vocally, dramatically and physically sublime” (OPERA NEWS). She was nominated one of the best up-and-coming singers by OPERNWELT Magazine for her Graz performance of the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos (under Philippe Jordan), and has gone on to sing this role with success in Zurich, Tel Aviv and Antwerp.

She has sung all of the major Mozart roles for mezzo-soprano, most recently Sesto in La clemenza di Tito in Graz. On this occasion Austria’s largest paper DIE PRESSE wrote: “…rarely has one seen such a vocally outstanding and moving performance of Sesto as on this evening; thunderous applause for this world-class performance!” Her appearance as Idamante in Mozart’s Idomeneo with Opera Lafayette was noted by THE WASHINGTON POST as “thrilling, intelligent…filling her deep, azure mezzo with Idamante’s sorrow, longing and love.”

Ms. Houtzeel regularly sings the French lyric repertoire, including Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann (most recently at the Teatro Nacional de São Carlos-Lisbon, but also in Antwerp, St. Gallen and Linz), Marguérite in Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust (Antwerp) and Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther (Sassari). Her debut in Werther was celebrated by the Italian press: “A surprise, a joy, has arrived with the Italian debut of mezzo-soprano Stephanie Houtzeel – a powerful, expressive voice and outstanding stage presence.”

Stephanie Houtzeel’s baroque performances are also wide-ranging, both on stage and in concert. Most recently she performed and recorded the title role in Lully’s Armide with Opera Lafayette, soon to be released on the Naxos label and acclaimed by the THE WASHINGTON POST as “the outstanding performance of the afternoon....her Armide seemed life itself, with its messy joys, sorrows, hungers and contradictions...the role was sung with all the ardor, intelligence and vocal luster at Houtzeel’s command, which was plenty.” In 2008 she sang both Juno and Mystery in Purcell’s Fairy Queen in Rennes, France, where she was noted for her “majestic presence and timbre.” Summer 2008 also marked her debut with the Ludwigsburger Festspiele, in an opera program of Jommelli and Mozart under the baton of rising star Michael Hofstetter. This performance prompted THE STUTTGARTER NACHRICHTEN to write: “The phenomenal Stephanie Houtzeel succeeded in packing high emotion into the broad and serpentine vocal lines of her Fetonte aria – exactly 240 years after the work’s world-premiere on the same stage of this Palace Theater.”

In the coming months Ms. Houtzeel will make her debut at the Opéra de Lyon as Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus – a role she has sung many times to outstanding acclaim – as well as her debut at the Opéra National du Rhin, Strasbourg, as Dorabella in the David McVicar production of Così fan tutte. She returns to Graz in 2009 to reprise Octavian in Marco Arturo Marelli’s production of Der Rosenkavalier.

Stephanie Houtzeel made her professional opera debut as Dorabella in Così fan tutte at the Hersfelder Festspiele, Germany and subsequently joined the Linz and Graz Operas, where she sang many Mozart and Strauss mezzo roles, the Rossini heroines Rosina and Cenerentola, the Handel roles Ariodante, Galatea and Ino, Nicklausse, Prince Orlofsky, Diana in Orphée aux Enfers as well as major roles in World Premieres by Austrian composers Peter Androsch and Balduin Sulzer.

Ms. Houtzeel’s international concert appearances include Mahler’s Third Symphony at both the Vienna Musikverein and Avery Fisher Hall, appearances with the Collegium Vocale Gent under Phillippe Herreweghe, the New York Festival of Song, Musicians from Marlboro, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, styriarte Graz, the International Bruckner Festival and Great Performers of Lincoln Center. She recently returned to the Musikverein to sing Mahler’s Lieder aus Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Graz Philharmonic and also appeared in a program of Respighi and Saint-Saens at La Monnaie in Brussels. She has collaborated with conductors Dennis Russell Davies, Philippe Jordan, Pinchas Steinberg, Phillippe Herreweghe, Eric Ericsson, Claus Peter Flor and Michael Hofstetter, to name a few. Upcoming engagements include appearances with the Orchestre de la Monnaie, the Ludwigsburger Festspiele, the Real Filharmonia of Galicia, the Norddeutsche Rundfunk, the Grand Tour Orchestra as well as chamber music concerts with The Four Nations Ensemble and Opera Lafayette.

In addition to the Armide recording (Naxos), Ms. Houtzeel sings the title role on the world premiere CD of von Suppé’s Fatinitza (CPO), recorded at Austria’s Léhar Festival and lauded by OPERA NEWS as “wonderfully, brilliantly taken. Her spirit and charm are readily in evidence.” She appears on a CD of Handel chamber music with the Bouts Ensemble (Raumklang Label), which garnered high marks from both THE AMERICAN RECORD GUIDE and CLASSICS TODAY.

Stephanie Houtzeel was born in Kassel, Germany and grew up near Boston. She studied voice with Edward Zambara at New England Conservatory and at the Juilliard School, where she received her Masters of Music in 1996. She was the first recipient of Juilliard’s Vocal Arts Debut Award as well as a Laureate at the 1996 International Queen Elisabeth of Belgium Competition.

Marcy Rosen

Marcy Rosen has established herself as one of the most important and respected artists of our day. Los Angeles Times music critic Herbert Glass has called her “one of the intimate art’s abiding treasures.” She has performed in recital and with orchestra throughout Canada, England, France, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, and all fifty of the United States. She made her concerto debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the age of eighteen and has since appeared with such noted orchestras as the Dallas Symphony, the Phoenix Symphony, the Caramoor Festival Orchestra, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, the Jupiter Symphony and Concordia Chamber Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall, and the Tokyo Symphony at the famed Orchard Hall in Tokyo. In recital she has appeared in New York at such acclaimed venues as Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street “Y” and Merkin Concert Hall; in Washington D.C. at the Kennedy Center, Dumbarton Oaks, the Phillips Collection and the Corcoran Gallery, where she for many years she hosted a series entitled “Marcy Rosen and Friends.”

A consummate soloist, Ms. Rosen’s superb musicianship is enhanced by her many chamber music activities. She has collaborated with the world’s finest musicians including Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode, Andras Schiff, Mitsuko Uchida, Isaac Stern, Robert Mann, Kim Kashkashian, Lucy Shelton, Charles Neidich and the Juilliard, Emerson, and Orion Quartets. She is a founding member of the ensemble La Fenice, a group comprised of Oboe, Piano and String Trio, as well as a founding member of the world renowned Mendelssohn String Quartet. With the Mendelssohn String Quartet she was Artist-in-Residence at the North Carolina School of the Arts and for nine years served as Blodgett-Artist-in Residence at Harvard University. The Quartet tours annually throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.

She performs regularly at festivals both here and abroad, including the Caramoor, Santa Fe, Ravinia, Saratoga and Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festivals, the Seattle International Music Festival, the Lockenhaus Kammermusikfest in Austria and the International Musicians Seminar in England. Since 1986 she has been the co-artistic director of the Chesapeake Chamber Music Festival in Maryland and as a long time participant at the Marlboro Music Festival she has taken part in eighteen of their “Musicians from Marlboro” tours and performed in concerts celebrating the 40th and 50th Anniversaries of the Festival.

The recipient of many awards and prizes, Marcy Rosen won the 1986 Young Concert Artists International Auditions and was further honored with the Walker Fund Prize and the Mortimer Levitt Career Development Award. She is the winner of the Washington International Competition for Strings and was the first recipient of the Mischa Schneider Memorial Award from the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation.

Marcy Rosen was born in Phoenix, Arizona and her teachers have included Gordon Epperson, Orlando Cole, Marcus Adeney, Felix Galimir, Karen Tuttle and Sandor Vegh. She is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music. Ms. Rosen is currently Associate Professor of Cello at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College and on the Faculty at the Mannes College of Music in New York City. She has also served on the faculties of the North Carolina School of the Arts, the Eastman School of Music, the New England Conservatory and the University of Delaware.

Her performances can be heard on recordings from the BIS, Bridge. Deutsche Grammophon, Sony Classical, CBS Masterworks, Musical Heritage Society, Phillips, Nonesuch, Pro Arte, and Koch labels among others. You can visit her website at www.marcyrosen.com.

Pei-Yao Wang

Pianist Pei-Yao Wang has established herself as a prominent soloist and chamber musician.

She made her official orchestral debut with the Taipei symphony Orchestra at age 8 and has since performed as soloist with the Stamford Symphony, Orlando Symphony, and Taipei Philharmonic. She also has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia; including venues such as the Carnegie, Avery Fisher, Alice Tully, 92nd street Y, Merkin Halls in New York City, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Salle des Varietes in Monte-Carlo, Suntory Hall in Tokyo and the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. As a chamber Musician, Pei-Yao has collaborated with members of the Guarneri , Orion, Chicago, Mendelssohn and Miro quartets; and has performed with other distinguished artists such as Claude Frank, Hilary Hahn, Nicola Benedetti, and Mitsuko Uchida. She is also regularly invited to perform at festivals including Marlboro, Caramoor, Chamber Music North West, La Jolla, Ravinia, and Bridgehampton in New York. During the 2002-2004 season, Ms. Wang was a member of Chamber Music Society Two at Lincoln Center, a program to promote emerging young artists.

Born in Taipei, Taiwan, At age 12, Ms. Wang was invited to study at The Curtis Institute of Music, where she worked with Seymour Lipkin and Institute Director Gary Graffman. She then studied with Claude Frank at Yale University, where she received the Master of Music degree, and also pursued a concentration in architecture. She currently resides in New York City, where for several years she was under the tutelage of celebrated pianist Richard Goode. Pei-Yao is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artists Program.

Brittany Boulding

Violinist Brittany Boulding currently resides in New York City. Most recently she performed as Concertmaster of the Mimesis Ensemble, she also performs frequently with New York City Opera, Saint Louis Symphony and Gotham Chamber Opera. She is currently a member of the Albany, Haddonfield and New Haven Symphonies and Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic among many others. Among her most recent solo engagements Ms. Boulding performed The Four Seasons of Vivaldi with the New Haven Symphony and the Lark Ascending with the Sploleto USA orchestra. She has also performed as soloist with the National Repertory Orchestra, Northwest and Young Virtuosi chamber orchestras, Musician Emeritus of Seattle along with frequent solo performances with the Tacoma Youth Symphony Association.

Ms. Boulding received her BM from Rice University as a student of Kenneth Goldsmith and her Professional Studies Certificate from the Colburn School under the tutelage of Robert Lipsett. During the summer season Ms. Boulding performed as Concertmaster of the Tanglewood Music Center, Banff Center, Spoleto USA and Evergreen Music Festival orchestras, and as Assistant Concertmaster of the National Repertory Orchestra and National Orchestra Institute. Ms. Boulding’s violin career also extends far past her experience as a classical musician. Since the age of 6 she has been performing with her family the internationally acclaimed MAGICAL STRINGS touring throughout the U.S., Canada, Japan and Ireland. She has recorded on five of their sixteen albums and been a featured soloist at their annual Celtic Yuletide Concerts, a celebrated Northwest tradition.

Jennifer Curtis

Praised for her interpretations, premieres and virtuosity, Ms. Jennifer Curtis is an artist who navigates with personality and truth into the essence of each piece of music she performs. The New York Times recently recognized Ms. Curtis' recital in Weill Hall as "one of the gutsiest, most individual recital programs..." and proclaimed her an "artists of keen intelligence and taste, well worth watching out for." Winner of Artists International Presentations' 2009 outstanding alumni award, Ms. Curtis is also a winner of Astral’s 2006 National Auditions, as well as the recipient of the inaugural MILKA/ASTRAL VIOLIN PRIZE, designated for a violinist invited to join the Astral Artists roster. Astral presented her Philadelphia recital debut, and her solo debut with Symphony in C in the Kimmel Center, which was praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer as “a startlingly authoritative performance." Ms. Curtis was presented in recital at New York’s Merkin Concert Hall, where she gave the New York Premiere of George Enescu's Suite for solo violin in Romanian Folkstyle. Highlights of past seasons have included a solo appearance with the celebrated Simón Bolívar Orchestra in Venezuela, performances with the International Contemporary Ensemble (with whom she is a member) at Mexico's Festival Internacional de Música Contemporánes, Muisca Nova in Helsinki, Finland as well a musical exploration in the Amazon Jungle of Peru.

Ms. Curtis is the founder and director of the Tres Americas Project, and was featured with this ensemble as part of the Brooklyn Philharmonic's Nuevo Latino Festival. Possessing an avid interest in music of all kinds; she has studied West African, Haitian, and Afro-Cuban percussion, and plays the mandolin professionally. Also an accomplished composer, her works have been performed in New York City, at Italy’s Spoleto Festival, the Verbier Festival de Musique in Switzerland and throughout Latin America. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Mills College in California, where she studied with David Abel and a Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Robert Mann.

Keats Dieffenbach

Since making her concerto debut at the age of eight with the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, Keats Dieffenbach has made her mark as a unique artist with infinitely varied interests and abilities. She is a sought-after interpreter of contemporary music, an avid chamber musician, and an experienced concertmaster, equally comfortable on the stages of Carnegie Hall and the set of Saturday Night Live. Ms. Dieffenbach frequently appears with Argento New Music Project, Axiom Ensemble, and Second Instrumental Unit, and has worked closely with composers Steve Reich, Shulamit Ran, Fred Lerdahl, and countless others. She has collaborated with many of the world’s foremost musicians including Paula Robison, Roger Tapping, Donald Weilerstein, and Michael Kannen, and she appears frequently with indie rock sensation Vampire Weekend. At The Juilliard School she was a frequent concertmaster under such renowned conductors as Gerard Schwarz, David Atherton, Dennis Russell Davies, Sir Roger Norrington, Andrew Litton, and Ransom Wilson. As a student of Robert Mann and Donald Weilerstein, Ms. Dieffenbach holds Bachelors and Masters degrees from The Juilliard School and a Graduate Diploma from New England Conservatory where she served as Mr. Weilerstein’s teaching assistant.

Meg Freivogel

Meg Freivogel, second violinist of the Jupiter String Quartet, grew up playing chamber music with her siblings in a quartet of their own. Originally from St. Louis, she was fortunate to grow up in a big family in which it was possible to play team sports on a regular basis (quartets included, of course)-- among her favorites Ultimate Frisbee. Inspired by childhood music teachers Ronda Cole and John Kendall, she attended the Cleveland Institute of Music for a Bachelor of Music degree, studying with Donald Weilerstein and participating in the flourishing chamber music program run by Peter Salaff and the Cavani Quartet. From there, Meg moved to Boston and the New England Conservatory where she fulfilled her Master of Music and Master of String Quartet degrees, acting as teaching assistant to Donald Weilerstein and studying closely with Paul Katz. She now lives in Boston concertizing extensively with the Jupiter String Quartet, devoting her life to keeping chamber music easlily accessible, current and interesting to young and old audiences alike.

Angelia Cho

Lauded by critics for her expressive and dynamic performances, Violinist Angelia Cho’s solo and ensemble performances have taken her all over the US, England, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Vienna, and Israel performing in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Jordan Hall, Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall, Kennedy Center, Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center, and The Musikverein Hall.

In Fall 2007, Ms. Cho joined The Academy—a fellowship program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute. Since joining The Academy, she has performed chamber music regularly in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall among other venues in New York and on the East Coast. She has appeared as soloist with many ensembles including Philadelphia Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Israel Kibbutz Orchestra and Allegro Society, NEC Symphony, and has collaborated with conductors Mark Laycock, Daniel Meyer, Luis Biava, Shlomo Mintz, and David Lobel.

The Albany Times, of New York recently praised Ms. Cho as “formidable”. The New York Times, on a performance of Bartok’s Contrast for violin, clarinet and piano called Ms. Cho “a dynamic violinist…won and deserved whoops and bravos from the audience for their visceral account of this familiar work, which had the music sounding freshly and audaciously modern.” Of her recital at The Ethical Society of Philadelphia, The City Paper wrote she “Displayed bottomless technique and electrifying passion. Her future would seem to be without limit.”

Violinist Angelia Cho, originally from Columbia, South Carolina began to study violin at the age of three. A year later she made her public recital debut at South Carolina Women’s College, and performed on NBC-TVs critically acclaimed PM Magazine. Ms. Cho made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age 11 with the Wieniawski Concerto at the Mann Music Center and appeared with them again in the Academy of Music three years later.

Angelia Cho attended The Curtis Institute of Music in 1996 to study with the late Jascha Brodsky, and later continued her studies with Ida Kavafian. After receiving her Bachelors from the Curtis Institute of Music in 2002 Ms. Cho went on to complete Masters and graduate studies with Donald Weilerstein at The New England Conservatory.

Ms. Cho was the first prize-winner in the National Society of Arts and letters Violin Competition and The New England Conservatory Concerto Competition in 2006. In that same year, Ms. Cho performed ‘Song and Dance’ for violin and wind ensemble by Gunther Schuller as part of a Festival honoring the legendary composer. Of the performance, New Music Connoisseur wrote, “ Angelia Cho, whose violin playing traversed both expressive and rambunctious passage work with seemingly effortless expertise.” Ms. Cho has explored and dedicated her time to performing contemporary works that led her to work closely with today’s most renowned composers such as Gyorgy Kurtag, Gunther Schuller, Steve Reich, and Michael Gandolfi.

Angelia’s festival appearances have included Kneisel Hall, Sarasota, Verbier, Keshet Eilon Violin Mastercourses in Israel, International Musicians Seminar and Open Chamber Music Sessions at Prussia Cove, England and Yellow Barn Music Festival. Ms. Cho has also performed and collaborated with world-renowned artists such as, Ida Haendel, members of the Cleveland Quartet, Donald Weilerstein, Paul Katz, Michael Cannon, Katherine Murdock, Roger Tapping and some members of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Ms. Cho, a passionate chamber musician is one of the founding members of the New York based Ansonia Trio which formed in 2009.

Annaliesa Place

The Cleveland Plain Dealer hailed American violinist, Annaliesa Place, as “the epitome of poise and intelligence” and the Baltimore Sun wrote, “Place left a serious and effective impression.” She made her solo debut at the age of twelve with the Heidelberg Orchestra and has since appeared with orchestras throughout the United States including the Jackson, Peabody, and North State Symphonies, Ohio Chamber Orchestra, and Concert Artists of Baltimore. Upcoming performances include chamber music concerts at Juneau Jazz and Classics Festival in Alaska, the Thurnauer Chamber Music Society, and the Kennedy Center with the conductor-less string orchestra, ecco.

An active chamber musician, Ms. Place has appeared as violinist and violist in the United States and Europe. She is a past participant at Encore, Sarasota, Music Academy of the West, Yellow Barn, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, Holland Music Sessions, and Verbier. She recently performed at the Laguna Beach Chamber Music Festival with Claude Frank, Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello, and the French Embassy in Madrid. She was featured on the Millennium Stage at the Kennedy Center as part of the National Symphony’s Beethoven Festival.

Annaliesa’s degrees include a B.M. from Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University and a M.M. from The Juilliard School. Her principal teachers have included Vasile Beluska, David Russell, David Updegraff, Victor Danchenko, and Robert Mann. Ms. Place is on the faculty of the JCC-Thurnauer School of Music, Summertrios Festival, and EMS Summer String Festival.

Asmira Woodward-Page

Described as “a remarkable and auspicious talent” by The Sydney Morning Herald and praised for her “transforming intensity and beauty of tone” by Allan Kozinn of the New York Times, Australian violinist Asmira Woodward-Page has received international recognition for her artistry. As First Prize winner of the 2003 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, she was awarded the Victor and Sono Elmaleh Prize, a management contract with CAG, composer commission, and her New York solo recital debut at Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall the following year. This spring she will return to Weill on April 9th 2008 with pianist Steven Beck performing a 20th century program entitled “Dusk to Dawn”. See “engagements” for sneak previews of this show in other cities. Ms. Woodward-Page performs internationally as soloist and chamber musician, appearing last season in New York City as guest soloist with SONYC (the unconducted String Orchestra of NYC) and The Little Orchestra Society. Anya Grundmann of Symphony magazine recently singled her out in a feature story as one of six “young solo artists in peak form…who typify the talent and breadth of the best in a new generation of classical-music hopefuls.” She has soloed with her native Australia’s major orchestras; the Sydney, Melbourne and Queensland Symphonies. In North America she has also performed with the Evanston, Altoona, Wartburg, Oakville and Indiana University Symphonies, the Charlotte and Colgate Philharmonics, and the Metropolitan Orchestra of New Jersey. She has collaborated with many conductors including Andre Previn, Kurt Masur, Christopher Hogwood, Jahja Ling, Michael Christie, Muhai Tang, Matthew Coorey and Nicholas Braithwaite. Ms. Woodward-Page was recently presented in recital by both the Ravinia Festival’s Rising Stars and Dame Myra Hess series in Chicago (the latter broadcast and televised on public radio and television), the Rockerfeller University’s Tri-Institutional Noon Recital concerts, The Chamber Music Society of Little Rock, the University of Central Florida, Macon Concert Association, Saint Vincent College Concert Series, Maverick Concerts’ “Music in the Woods” series and several libraries in the New York City area. She has toured with pianists Inon Barnatan, Ieva Jokubaviciute and Einav Yarden, and concertized extensively in her native Australia with pianist Scott Davie. Her debut album of Australian music was selected by ABC-FM and 2MBS-FM (Australia) as CD of the Week. “Both Woodward-Page and Davie are inspired interpreters encouraging return visits to the disc”, writes Rob Barnett of musicweb-international.com. Ms. Woodward-Page is heard frequently on national radio and TV in Australia, where she was recently the cover story in Australia's Fine Music magazine and the subject of two ABC-TV features: "The Little Box that Sings" and Andrea Stretton's "Sunday Afternoon."

An avid chamber musician, Ms. Woodward-Page has collaborated in concert with artists like Gilbert Kalish, Miriam Fried, Inon Barnatan, Nina Lee, Mark Kosower, Lara St.John, Corey Cerovsek, Jennifer Frautschi, guitarist Slava Grigoryan, soprano Lauren Flanagan, the Avalon and Antares Quartets, the Omega Ensemble, and toured with Ravinia’s Rising Stars. Her North American summer festival appearances include Ravinia, Aspen, Internacional Cervantino (Mexico), Cooperstown, Manchester and Maui and her chamber music collaborations have included guest appearances with performances in New York City venues like Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Merkin Hall, Columbia University’s Miller Theater; also Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum among others. Her wide musical interests have led to collaborations with hip hop artists Jay-Z and Kanye West, jazz clarinetist Don Byron, and to India where she studied Hindusthani Classical music with Pandit Prabakhar Dhakde.

As a passionate advocate of contemporary music, Ms. Woodward-Page has received recognition for her interpretation of this music. For three years she was the violinist of counter)induction, the five-musician/two-composer collective who receive frequent praise from the New York Times for its contemporary music performances: “What kept the program fascinating was the vitality the players brought to the music. These performances were not merely dutiful; they sang and danced.” She is also a founding member and rotating concertmaster of SONYC (String Orchestra of New York City); the twenty-member conductorless ensemble featured in the documentary “Breathing Together”. Their recently released debut album on the Albany Records label features the music of New York composers Christopher Theofanidis, Lisa Bielawa, Michael Gatonska and Pulitzer Prize-winner Paul Moravec, who describes this group as “a composer's dream come true. Their amazing virtuosity, comprehensive artistic intelligence and passionate spirit combine to make brilliant music on every level. SONYC is an avatar of all that is right and true in our musical universe."

Aside from her Concert Artists Guild competition win in New York City, Ms. Woodward-Page is the recipient of many awards internationally. Among them she has garnered prizes at the Queen Elizabeth International Violin Competition of Belgium and won Sydney’s 2MBS-FM Young Performer of the Year award. She is the four-time winner of the City of Sydney Violin Award, two-time winner of the Australian Music Foundation in London Award, recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Music Award, the Ernest Llewellyn String Award. She also won the Gisbourne International Wind String and Brass Competition, Dorcas McClean Violin Competition (Australia), and the Indiana University Concerto Competition.

Asmira believes deeply in presenting music to young people through whatever means necessary to inspire in them a love for Classical music. She has lead many outreach programs individually, and with SONYC in New York City’s public schools and across the country, drawing upon her extensive teaching and performing experience…and a few crazy ideas.

Asmira Woodward-Page began her violin studies with Jan Cooper then Harry Curby at Sydney University's Conservatorium of Music, and later became a student of Miriam Fried and Paul Biss at the Indiana University School of Music, where she received her Bachelor of Music and Artist Diploma, and was awarded the Performer’s Certificate for outstanding musical performance. She went on to earn a Master of Music degree at Juilliard where she studied with Robert Mann. She currently lives in Brooklyn New York.

Michi Wiancko

Described in Gramophone Magazine as an "alluring soloist [with] heightened expressive and violinistic gifts," violinist Michi Wiancko has performed concertos with orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic, and in recital and chamber appearances across the nation. Michi made her New York solo recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall after winning the 2002 Concert Artists Guild International Competition. An artist with a unique vision and deemed "Pure Gold" by the Des Moines Register, Michi has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Library of Congress, Sydney Opera House, Merkin Hall, Town Hall, National Gallery, Orange County Performing Arts Center, Banff Centre, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Frick Center in Pittsburgh, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, BargeMusic, and Philadelphia's Kimmel Center. Michi was featured as an "Artist to Watch" on the cover of the January 2007 issue of SYMPHONY Magazine.

Michi is a member of the renowned Los Angeles Piano Quartet, with whom she regularly tours the United States. She has attended the Marlboro Music Festival and toured several times with Musicians from Marlboro. She was a participant in Isaac Stern’s Chamber Music Workshop at Carnegie Hall, as well as the Aspen Festival Center for Advanced Quartet Studies and Music Academy of the West. She has been a guest artist at the Lincoln Center Outdoor Series, Olympic Music Festival in Seattle, Pablo Casals Festival in Puerto Rico, and the Tucson Chamber Music Festival, and has performed and toured regularly with the Mark Morris Dance Group.

Michi is a founding member of ECCO (East Coast Chamber Orchestra), an exciting conductor-less string ensemble that has performed at The Kennedy Center, Philadelphia Convention Center, New York’s Town Hall, and BargeMusic, among others. Michi arranged a version of Corelli/Geminiani’s La Follia for ECCO, a live performance of which was broadcast on NPR’s Performance Today. In 2007 she premiered a violin concerto composed for her by Margaret Brouwer with the Cleveland-based CityMusic Orchestra conducted by James Gaffigan.

A native of Southern California, Michi began playing the violin at the age of 3, and her early teachers include Haroutune Bedelian, Sharon Holland, and Mehli Mehta. She graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Donald Weilerstein, and earned her master of music degree at The Juilliard School, working with Robert Mann.

Having traveled extensively, she has many world music influences inspiring her to push the boundaries of classical repertoire and explore new genres. Kono Michi (Japanese for “This Path”) is Michi’s singing/songwriting alter ego. Described by Planet Sound Reviews as a “Bjork-like brooding wonderland,” Kono Michi has performed at Brooklyn’s BAM Café, Barbes, Merkin Hall and the World Café Live in Philadelphia. She is signed to Shark Batter Records, an independent label based in the UK. She has recently released her first album entitled 9 Death Haiku, and performed it in its entirety as a world premiere in New York’s Thalia Theater at Symphony Space.

The Knights

The New York-based ensemble The Knights seeks to expand the idea of what an orchestra can be through creative programming and a unique atmosphere of camaraderie that treats the orchestra as an ensemble capable of creating the intimacy and immediacy of a much smaller group. Each individual voice in the group helps to shape, refine, enrich, and eventually unify the overall sound and feeling of the ensemble. The sense of openness, warmth and trust that is present in the rehearsals translates into an amazing amount of freedom, spontaneity and joy in performance.

Eric Jacobsen

In the fall of 2003, cellist, Eric Jacobsen appeared with Renee Fleming at the opening of Zankel Hall, at Carnegie Hall and on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Mr. Jacobsen is a member of the string quartet known as Brooklyn Rider, with violinists Jonathan Gandelsman and Colin Jacobsen and violist Nicholas Cords. He regularly performs at Bargemusic, often playing with Steven Beck, a pianist that Mr. Jacobsen has worked with for 10 years. He is the curator and artistic director of the 92nd Street Y's Makor Centor for Classical Cafe.

Mr. Jacobsen has appeared as soloist with the Chamber Soloists of Austin in Texas , the Riverside Orchestra, the New Hampshire Music Festival Orchestra, the Greenwich Village Orchestra, the Lake George Chamber Orchestra, the Woodstock Festival Orchestra, and the New York Repertory Orchestra. He has been heard on NPR programs such as ‘Sound Check’ and ‘Performance Today’, where he performed in four live chamber music concerts last November. Mr. Jacobsen enjoys performing with Dutch violinist Vera Beths and studying with her husband, the great baroque cellist Anner Bylsma.

Mr. Jacobsen is a member of Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project. Last year he participated in residencies in Japan's National Museums in Nara and Fukuoka and travels with the ensemble have taken him to Baku, Azerbaijan, Switzerland and Malaysia to perform for the Aga Khan. During this fall, Mr. Jacobsen has participated in residencies at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art in NY. Mr. Jacobsen has also collaborated at The Tenri Cultural Institute and The Angel Orensanz Foundation in performances with musicians from Armenia and Iran; Gevorg Dabaghyan on the Duduk, and kemancheh master, Kayhan Kalhor. Mr. Jacobsen is also the cellist in the Mark O'Connor String Quartet performing original works by the great American fiddler.

Mr. Jacobsen organizes the chamber ensemble, The Knights, which performs as a chamber orchestra and smaller ensembles. The Knights recently presented a series of concerts at New York 's Bargemusic, in collaboration with flutist Paula Robison. Working with Ms. Robison, Mr. Jacobsen kicked off a Sol Lewitt exhibit at the Gardner Museum in Boston, performing the Mozart D major flute quartet in a room designed around that piece.

As a conductor, Mr. Jacobsen most recently led an all Beethoven program at the Tilles Center in Long Island and at the Washington Irving School in Manhattan. In the spring of 2007, Mr. Jacobsen lead The Knights in Beethoven’s 7th Symphony at the annual Beethoven Festival at the Planting Fields Arboretum. In conjunction with a celebration for the city of NY, he conducted a concert at the Brooklyn Lyceum working with singer-songwriter Christina Courtin.

Mr. Jacobsen has studied at The School for Strings, and The Juilliard School, where he received his Bachelor of Music, under the guidance of Harvey Shapiro and David Soyer.

He has spent summers, in Salzburg, Austria, Villars, Swizerland with Ardyth Alton, in Engelberg, Switzerland and Florence, Italy with Harvey Shapiro, and chamber music at the Lucerne Festival.

Recent events this season included a tour to Ireland with The Knights and a debut performance of the Dvorak Cello Concerto. Upcoming events include a tour to India with the Silk Road Ensemble and a DVD release of the first Bach Cello Suite with animation by Kevork Mourad.

Mr. Jacobsen can be heard on recordings with distinguished artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Bono, and Mark O'Connor.

Mr. Jacobsen plays a Bernardus Calcanius cello crafted in 1744.

Colin Jacobsen

Violinist Colin Jacobsen, a 2003 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, first played to critical acclaim at the age of fourteen, collaborating with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic in a performance that was hailed by The New York Times:
‘Jacobsen was the impressively accomplished soloist in Bruch's Scottish Fantasy, sounding as if he were born to the instrument and its sweet, lyrical possibilities.’

He looks forward to a return engagement with the New York Philharmonic this May, performing Brahms' Double Concerto with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, David Zinman conducting. Colin Jacobsen began his violin studies at the age of four with Doris Rothenberg and continued with Louise Behrend at the School for Strings and, later, at The Juilliard School Pre-College Division, where he won the school-wide concerto competition. He was also the recipient of the Grand Prize from both the New York State and National American String Teachers Association Competitions. Mr. Jacobsen studied with Josef Gingold for two summers, and graduated in 1999 from The Juilliard School, where he worked with Robert Mann. During the 2000-2001 season, he continued his studies with Vera Beths at the Royal Conservatory of the Hague.

Over the past few years, Colin Jacobsen has pursued a varied career of solo and chamber music engagements. In addition to his appearance with the New York Philharmonic, Mr. Jacobsen has been guest soloist with the symphony orchestras of Albany, Charlotte, Eugene, Rhode Island, Nashville, Charleston, the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra, Santa Fe Pro Musica and the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. He has given recitals at Long Island University's Tilles Center for the Performing Arts and the San Miguel de Allende Music Festival in Mexico. At the School for Strings 25th anniversary celebration at Carnegie Hall, Mr. Jacobsen gave the world premiere of Ellen Taafe Zwillich's Partita for Violin and String Orchestra.

Mr. Jacobsen has also enjoyed cross-disciplinary explorations with several dance companies, including the New York City Ballet, Mark Morris Dance Group, and the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. In May of 2005, he wrote and performed the music for Spiral Songs, a collaboration with C. Eule Dance.

Mr. Jacobsen performs regularly with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, at Bargemusic, and is a member of the Metropolitan Museum Artists in Concert. Summer performances have taken him to the Banff Centre for the Arts, Bravo! Colorado Music Festival, Caramoor International Music Festival, Marlboro Music Festival, Moritzburg Festival, Ravinia Festival, Salzburg Festival and in Taiwan's National Concert Hall. As the Young Artist in Residence for NPR's Performance Today, he programmed and played live for listeners across the country this past November. Mr. Jacobsen has also been a resident performer on WQXR Radio's weekly On A-I-R (Artists-in-Radio) Series. Colin Jacobsen plays a Guarneri violin crafted in 1696.

The Hon. Gustin L. Reichbach

Justice Gustin L. Reichbach is a native of Brooklyn a 1967 graduate of SUNY at Buffalo, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Columbia Law School in 1970.

While in law school at Columbia, he co-authored The Bust Book - What to do Until the Lawyer Comes, published by Grove Press in 1970. He is also one of the authors of Raising and Litigating Electronic Surveillance Claims in Criminal Cases, published by Lakes Law Books, San Francisco,1976.

Justice Reichbach was in private practice from 1972-1990, with offices in both New York and California. In 1974-1975, he served as counsel to Commissioner of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board, which secured for the first time bargaining rights for the United Farm Workers to represent California field workers.

As an attorney, Justice Reichbach tried and won the landmark loft living case, Lipkis v. Pikus, which resulted in the protection of 10,000 loft tenants living in formerly illegal commercial lofts.

Justice Reichbach has been on the bench for more than 18 years having been first elected to the Civil Court in 1990 and then to the Supreme Court in 1998.

Reichbach attracted considerable attention when he instituted an AIDS Prevention and Education project within the criminal court, which included distribution of condoms to prostitutes and drug addicts. His efforts, earning him the sobriquet “The Condom Judge”, were recognized in 1992 when he received the David Michaels Award for Courageous Efforts to Promote Integrity in the Criminal Justice System from the New York State Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section.

In 2003-2004 he served as an international judge for the United Nations Mission is Kosovo, where he presided over war crime cases growing out of the Balkans Wars of the 1990’s. He was eventually made a ‘permanent’ member of the Kosovo Supreme Court.

Justice Reichbach is the author of more than 100 published opinions and has presided over more than 80 homicide trials

He has been honored by both the New York Criminal Bar Association and the Brooklyn Criminal Bar Association.

Justice Reichbach, his wife Ellen Meyers and daughter Hope are 25 year residents of Boerum Hill.

Trio Cavatina

“…each player, in his or her way, made a compelling argument - Lee with her probing phrasing, violinist Rhodes in some charismatic moments of triumph, and Jokubaviciute with a big personality communicated through a sound of great refinement and presence.”
Philadelphia Inquirer

Trio Cavatina is deeply rooted in a strong sense of shared musical values and is rapidly emerging as one of today’s outstanding chamber ensembles. They met and formed in 2005 during the renowned Marlboro Music Festival.

The Chamber Music America Directory included Trio Cavatina in Harris Goldsmith’s article: “2008 Young Artists: More Thrills of Discovery”, describing the trio as offering: “potent, intense interpretations”.

Only two years later, Trio Cavatina gave notable debut appearances at Kneisel Hall’s “Emerging Artists” Series in Maine; Union College in Schenectady, New York and at the Eastern Shore Chamber Music Festival in Maryland. They were selected to perform at the closing concert of the Chamber Music America Conference in New York City. Trio Cavatina’s performances in New York City, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Boston, and Sarasota, were received with enthusiastic and encouraging reviews by the press. Their first international tour in the 2007-2008 season included performances in Lithuania on stages in Vilnius and Kaunas.

Season highlights in 2006-2007 included the debut concerts at the New Schools’ Schneider Concert Series in New York City and at Jordan Hall in Boston. Trio Cavatina appeared in Merkin Hall, New York City, Brattleboro Music Center, and on the concert series of Performers of Westchester.

During the up coming season, Trio Cavatina will be one of the youngest ensembles to perform on the prestigious Philadelphia Chamber Music Society’s concert series. They have received an immediate return engagement to Union College in New York for a performance of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time with clarinetist Alex Fiterstein.

In addition to the classical and romantic repertoire, Trio Cavatina is committed to collaborate with living composers and perform 20th century music. The Trio will record, for CD release, piano trios by American composer Leon Kirchner.

Trio Cavatina has recently completed the New England Conservatory’s Professional Piano Trio Training Program.

Harold Meltzer

Born in Brooklyn in 1966, Harold Meltzer co-directs the ensemble Sequitur and teaches at Vassar College. His current composition projects are Beautiful Ohio, a song cycle commissioned by the ASCAP Foundation for tenor Paul Appleby to premiere with the New York Festival of Song in May 2010; Kreisleriana, a violin and piano duo commissioned through the McKim Fund at the Library of Congress for Miranda Cuckson, violin, and Blair McMillen, piano, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Fritz Kreisler early in 2012; a String Quartet, awarded by his winning the 2008 Barlow International Prize, for the Avalon, Lydian, and Pacifica Quartets; and an Oboe Quartet, commissioned by Winsor Music for oboist Peggy Pearson. Brion, a sextet for the Cygnus Ensemble previously commissioned by the Barlow Endowment at Brigham Young University, was a Finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Harold's music has been recognized also with a Rome Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Privacy, a piano concerto commissioned and premiered by Ursula Oppens and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association in 2008, will be performed next by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project in January 2010, and recorded by them for release together with their commission of a second piano concerto for pianist Sara Laimon. Harold's music has been recorded on the Albany and CRI labels, and next year Naxos will release a disc of his chamber music.

Tessera Quartet

One of the most exciting chamber ensembles currently emerging on the concert scene, the Tessera Quartet has already created an energetic presence, captivating audiences with its glowing sound and bold interpretations. A compelling mosaic of four accomplished young soloists, the Tessera Quartet was formed under the guidance of the renowned Juilliard String Quartet in 2007. The quartet has performed with the legendary pianist Claude Frank and enjoys an ongoing collaboration with composer Lowell Liebermann, whose complete quartets it is recording for Koch Records. Highlights of its current season include performances and residencies at Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music, the Schneider Concerts at The New School, Aaron Copland School of Music, and The National Arts Club, among many other venues.

Hamish Milne

Hamish Milne has appeared as soloist with most of the leading British orchestras and has given over two hundred broadcasts for the BBC. Overseas engagements in recent years have taken him to the USA, the Far East, Africa and several countries of the former Soviet Union as well Western Europe; He is also well known as a chamber musician, formerly with the Parikian/Milne/Fleming Trio and currently with the Pro Arte Piano Quartet and the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Ensemble, appearing in London’s Wigmore Hall and at several major music festivals in the UK and abroad. In the past few seasons he gave concerts in Armenia, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany , Italy, Japan, South America and the USA as well as UK venues.

He has recorded for Chandos, CRD, Danacord, Decca and Hyperion labels. He has made a special study of the music of Nikolai Medtner and has performed his music on four continents and was prominently featured in the Medtner Festivals held in Moscow in 1995, 2006, 2007 and in a similar event in New York in March 2004. There is a discography of some twenty commercial CDs. Recent releases include Concertos by Holbrooke and Haydn Wood , described in the press as ‘An exemplary release’ (The Gramophone) and ‘Mesmerising’ (Fanfare, USA), Schubert’s ‘Trout Quintet’ with the ASM Chamber Ensemble and the first CD recording of the Russian Anatoly Alexandrov hailed by International Record Review as ‘altogether exceptional playing’. In 2005 an album of Russian Bach transcriptions was awarded the coveted ‘Diapason d’or’ in France. In 2007, Hyperion released the first ever recording of the Complete Skazki (Tales) by Medtner (2Cds.) which was a Gramophone Award nominee (Instrumental). His recent Busoni CD was also awarded the ‘Diapason d’or’.

He is a piano professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London and a Professor of the University of London.

The Grand Tour Orchestra

The Grand Tour Orchestra, founded in 2006 by flutist Charles Brink, takes its name from the 18th-century traveler's quest for cultural enlightenment. This period-instrument ensemble, comprised of outstanding instrumentalists from all over North America, engages New York audiences with arresting programming - including masterpieces never heard in America's concert halls – and vigorous interpretations. The Grand Tour Orchestra, whom the New York Times called "willing and energetic, playing with an involved enthusiasm," offers audiences the whole spectrum of late 18th century music; from Galuppi to Jommelli, from the sons of J. S. Bach to Haydn and from Myslivecek to Mozart.

The Grand Tour Orchestra performed Bach's Saint John and Saint Matthew Passions and Handel's Resurrection in the series of Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music. BFCM welcomes the orchestra in Brooklyn for the fourth consecutive year.

Charles Brink

Charles Brink, conductor, began his flute studies with Jacob Berg in St. Louis, Missouri. After receiving his Bachelor's degree at the San Francisco Conservatory he studied with Fenwick Smith at the New England Conservatory and received his Master's of Music in modern flute performance in 1993. That summer he was a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival. In 1995 he received a Fulbright to study at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, The Netherlands. He frequently performs with period instruments ensembles such as his own Bouts Ensemble, the Four Nations Ensemble, the New York Collegium and others. Charles founded The Grand Tour Orchestra in 2006.

Conflitti di Voci

Conflitti di Voci is a New York City based professional vocal ensemble varying in size from quartet, to 24 voice double choir. Members of Conflitti di Voci all have Master's degrees in Vocal Performance, and are accomplished solo performers in their own right. Two seasons performing with The Grand Tour Orchestra have helped launch side engagements for the choir, such as for weddings and special events.

Anne-Carolyn Bird

Recipient of a 2008 Sullivan Foundation Award, soprano Anne-Carolyn Bird is rapidly gaining attention by major companies in her young career. Of a recent performance, the Seattle Times says “no one shone brighter than Anne-Carolyn Bird...her stage presence [is] nothing short of magnetic.”

Ms. Bird opened the current 2008-2009 season with two role and company debuts: Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Nashville Opera and Yum-Yum in The Mikado at Arizona Opera. Completing the season, she performs at Opera Carolina as Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro, at Opera New Jersey as Yum-Yum in the Mikado, and at the Spoleto Festival U.S.A., where she will perform Camille in Louise and Mozart’s Requiem. Three recital collaborations with Jocelyn Dueck round out the season, including one at her alma mater, the University of Georgia. In the 2009-2010 season, engagements include a her role debuts as Micaela in Carmen at Opera Carolina and Marguerite in Faust at Dayton Opera, as well as a return to the MET for Le Nozze di Figaro, Il Trittico and Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos. In concert, she will perform CPE Bach's Auferstehung und Himmelfahrt Jesu with Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music.

After making her Metropolitan Opera debut in the 2006-2007 season, singing two roles in a new production of Il Trittico, Ms. Bird returned there in the 2007-2008 season to sing Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro. Also that season she performed Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Grand Rapids and Rosina in Dayton Opera’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia. The summer of 2008, she returned to Wolf Trap Opera for a second summer to perform Cunegonde in Candide with the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stephen Lord and starring Seinfeld’s Jason Alexander as Pangloss.

Recent concert appearances include A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Cleveland Orchestra, “An Evening of Musical Shakespeare” with the Atlanta Symphony, both conducted by Nicholas McGegan, and her Carnegie Hall debut in Evan Chamber’s oratorio The Old Burying Ground. Past performance highlights include Celia in John Musto’s comedic masterpiece Volpone at Wolf Trap Opera, Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Magnificat with Portland Baroque Orchestra, the Noémie in Laurent Pelly’s highly-acclaimed production of Cendrillon at Santa Fe Opera. She has been seen in staged and concert versions of Osvaldo Golijov’s opera Ainadamar and can be heard on the Grammy award-winning recording. In 2006, she toured internationally with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to perform Golijov’s La Pasion de segun San Marcos (“luminous” -The New York Times).

The Bhakti Project, Ms. Bird’s on-going recital project with Ms. Dueck included a world premiere last season: Hillula by Judd Greenstein. Steve Smith from Time Out New York wrote of the performance: "Bird proved herself a singer capable of ... getting under the skin of a piece, touching its inner passions and revealing them to a listener."

Ms. Bird has been a recipient of grants and awards from many organizations, including the Santa Fe Opera, the Oratorio Society of New York, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Twice a Young Artist with the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers and twice a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, she holds degrees from New England Conservatory and the University of Georgia. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband, bass-baritone Matthew Burns.

Matthew Garrett

The tenor Matthew Garrett is a 2005 graduate of the prestigious Juilliard Opera Center in New York City. The 2008-2009 season’s engagements include Paolino (Il Matrimonio Segreto) with Scottish Opera, Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni) with Eugene Opera and the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, Tamino (Die Zauberflöte) with the Ann Arbor Symphony, and as tenor soloist in: Messiah with the Virginia Symphony, Das Lied von der Erde with the Brooklyn Symphony, Handel’s La Resurrezione with the Grand Tour Orchestra, Handel’s Solomon with the Berkshire Choral Festival, and St. Matthew Passion with the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola.

Highlights of last year’s season include Ernesto (Don Pasquale) with Syracuse Opera, Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) with Connecticut Opera, Apollo (Orfeo) with Glimmerglass Opera, Zen (What Next?) with Miller Theater at Columbia University, the Evangelist (St. Matthew Passion) with the Grand Tour Orchestra, tenor soloist (Verdi Requiem) with the Ashland Symphony, tenor soloist with the AXIOM Ensemble under James Conlon, and participation in the Jours des Arts Music Festival in Montreux, Switzerland.

Additional past engagements for the New Jersey native include performances with Houston Grand Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Cincinnati May Festival, Opera Omaha, Merola Opera Center, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall, New World Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Basel Festival Orchestra, Arion Ensemble in Montreal, National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall, and at New York’s Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on Park Avenue. He has presented solo recitals in Merkin Hall and Paul Hall in New York, including a complete Die Schöne Müllerin of Schubert.

Mr. Garrett was recently a World Finalist in the Montreal International Musical Competition. Other awards include 2nd Prize in the Young Concert Artists International Competition, 2nd Prize in the Eastern Regional Finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, 2nd Prize in the Dupont Voice Competion at Opera at Florham, and encouragement prizes from Opera Index, the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation, and the Giulio Gari Foundation.

Operatic performances include Ferrando (Cosi fan tutte), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Belmonte and Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Don Basilio (Le Nozze di Figaro), Lensky (Eugene Onegin), Jenik (The Bartered Bride), Imeneo (Imeneo), Soldat (Der Kaiser von Atlantis), Sam Sharkey (Paul Bunyan), Le Petit Vieillard (L’Enfant et les Sortilèges), Harry (La Fanciulla del West), the Prologue (Turn of the Screw), the wistful John Styx (Orphée aux Enfers), Little Bat (Susannah), Gomatz (Zaide), and Lysander and Flute (A Midsummer Night’s Dream).

Past teaching engagements include three years as a Teaching Fellow in the Ear Training Department at the Juilliard School, and at the Metropolitan Opera as a music theory teacher to the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Originally trained as an orchestral conductor, he received a Bachelor’s degree from Brown University in 1999, as well as the coveted Madeira Prize and Ron Nelson Prize for musical excellence. He earned a Masters degree in Voice from the Juilliard School in 2003.

Randall Scarlata

Baritone Randall Scarlata enjoys a lively career encompassing opera, recital, chamber music and works for voice and orchestra. Career highlights include the world premiere of Thea Musgrave’s one man opera, The Mocking-Bird in Boston, recitals in the US and Europe with pianist Richard Goode, soloist with the Philadelphia and Minnesota Orchestras, and with the Pittsburgh, San Francisco, American, Ulster, Tonkünstler, National and BBC Symphonies, and the early music groups Wiener Akademie Orchester, Musica Angelica among others. With Great Performers at Lincoln Center, he portrayed Siskov in Janacek’s From the House of the Dead. He has appeared in many of the world’s great music festivals, including the Ravinia, Marlboro, Edinburgh, Vienna, Salzburg, Aspen and Spoleto (Italy) festivals.

Known for his versatility and consummate musicianship, Mr. Scarlata’s repertoire spans four centuries and fifteen languages. A sought-after interpreter of new music, he has given world premieres of works by George Crumb, Paul Moravec, Ned Rorem, Lori Laitman, Thea Musgrave, Samuel Adler, Daron Hagen, Wolfram Wagner and Christopher Theofanidis. His performances of Songs of Tin Pan Alley with soprano Jennifer Aylmer and pianist Laura Ward are favorites of both Art Song aficionados and lovers of popular music. He regularly performs the Schubert song cycles with pianist Jeremy Denk throughout the United States. In addition, Mr. Scarlata has recorded for the Chandos, Naxos, CRI, Gasparo, Arabesque and Albany labels.

Randall Scarlata’s awards include First Prize at the 1999 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, First Prize at the 1997 Das Schubert Lied International Competition in Vienna, First Prize at the 1997 Joy in Singing Competition in New York, and the 1998 Alice Tully Vocal Arts Debut Recital Award. Mr. Scarlata received a Fulbright Grant to study at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna and holds a masters degree from the Juilliard School. In addition, Mr. Scarlata spent several summers studying with the great French baritone, Gérard Souzay in Nice and in Salzburg. He is a Sing for Hope artist, having been involved with the foundation for over 10 years. Mr. Scarlata serves on the faculty of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at West Chester University.

“It is impossible to imagine Randall Scarlata singing a mechanical or thoughtless phrase. One has the wonderful sense that Scarlata searches out the Platonic essence of what he plans to sing and then uses every attribute at his disposal to create the most appropriate and fully dimensional realization possible.”
The Washington Post