Keith Jameson, tenor
Keith Jameson, tenor, a native of South Carolina, recently appeared as Bardolfo in Robert Carsen’s new production of Falstaff at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by James Levine, and seen “Live from The Met in HD” movie theaters around the world. He also sang the Novice in Britten’s Billy Budd at the Metropolitan Opera, and Osman in Handel’s Almira with NYC’s operamission in the North American premiere staging of the entire opera at the historic Gershwin Hotel.
Kim Josephson, baritone
Hailed as one of opera’s most versatile baritones, Kim Josephson is a regular guest of leading opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera where, since 1991, he has performed more than 230 performances of 24 roles including the title role in Rigoletto, Germont in La Traviata, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore to name a few.
The Knights, orchestral collective
The Knights are an orchestral collective, flexible in size and repertory, dedicated to transforming the concert experience. Driven by an open-minded spirit of camaraderie and exploration, they engage listeners and defy boundaries with programs that encompass their roots in the classical tradition and passion for musical discovery. For their outstanding virtuosity, innovative programs, and bold mission, The Knights are at the forefront of “the future of classical music in America” (Los Angeles Times).
Storm Large, singer
Storm Large: musician, actor, playwright, author, awesome. She shot to national prominence in 2006 as a finalist on the CBS show Rock Star: Supernova, where despite having been eliminated in the week before the finale, Storm built a fan base that follows her around the world to this day.
Gyan Riley, bass
Gyan Riley won his first guitar in a raffle when he was 12 years old. After learning all of the songs in his cassette collection by ear, he began his life-long adventure in music, becoming the first full-scholarship graduate guitar student at the San Francisco Conservatory.
Sarah Rothenberg, piano
Sarah Rothenberg is a pianist of “heart, intellect and fabulous technical resources” (Fanfare) and “a prolific and creative thinker” (Wall Street Journal) who is recognized internationally for her innovative interdisciplinary performances linking music to literature and visual art. Active as performer, writer, concert curator and institution builder, she has been artistic director of Da Camera in Houston since 1994, general director since 2011, and previously was co-founder of the Bard Music Festival.
Ashraf Sewailam, bass-baritone
The New York Times hailed Egypt native Ashraf Sewailam’s debut at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall as a “stand out performance” and Opera News described his voice as “purring and velvety with an easily produced Ramfis-like top range with a majestic tone,” and his stage presence as “strong, mysterious and with mesmerizing intensity”. In his debut with New Zealand Opera as the assassin Sparafucile in Rigoletto, he was described as “hard to better, both vocally and dramatically”.
Joshua Rubin, clarinet
Joshua Rubin is a founding clarinetist and the co-artistic director of the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), where he oversees the creative direction of more than 60 concerts per season in the United States and abroad. As a clarinetist, the New York Times has praised him as “incapable of playing an inexpressive note.”
Peabody Southwell, mezzo-soprano
Lauded by Opera Magazine UK for her “stylistic mastery and ripe, sensual sound” American mezzo-soprano Peabody Southwell “is going places” (Los Angeles Times). She most recently appeared as the title role in Handel’s Agrippina with Opera Omaha conducted by Stephen Stubbs in a new production by James Darrah. Other work of the 2013-2014 season has included performances as the Third Lady with Los Angeles Opera in Barrie Kosky’s production of The Magic Flute conducted by James Conlon and a concert of Stravinsky with New World Symphony and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas in Miami and on tour to Chicago.
Robert Spano, conductor
Robert Spano is one of the brightest and most imaginative conductors of his generation. As Music Director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, he has enriched and expanded its repertoire and elevated the ensemble to new levels of international prominence and acclaim. As Music Director of the Aspen Music Festival and School, he oversees the programming of more than 300 events and educational programs for 630 students, including Aspen’s American Academy of Conducting.
Wilfried Wendeling, video & live electronic music designer
Born in a family of theater and fascinated by connections between scene, text and music, Wilfried Wendling has already realized about 15 multidisciplinary shows, presented in many theaters and operas, on texts of Beckett, Camus, Nietzsche, Perec, Queneau, Jouet, Müller, or Boltanski. His musical compositions are also played on numerous stages and festivals. As a musician and\or video director, he has collaborated with numerous artists of many disciplines. Wilfried Wendling is at present director of France’s La Muse en Circuit, National Centre of Musical Creation.
Jennifer Zetlan, soprano
Soprano Jennifer Zetlan is swiftly garnering recognition for her artistry and captivating stage presence. She has debuted on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Seattle Opera, Santa Fe Opera and Florida Grand Opera. On the concert stage she has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony, the Juilliard Orchestra and has been heard at Carnegie Hall in recital and with Oratorio Society of New York, Musica Sacra, and the New York Youth Symphony.
Eva Soltes, filmmaker
Eva Soltes – Filmmaker/Performing Arts Producer has, over the course of her decades-long career, produced, directed and/or written nearly one thousand music, dance, theater and media works for national and international audiences. Soltes has also facilitated the creation of new work by gifted artists and documented historic figures who would otherwise have been under-recognized.
Yulia Van Doren, soprano
Recently recognized by Opera Magazine as “A star-to-be” following her Lincoln Center debut, young Russian-American soprano Yulia Van Doren’s recent debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra was acclaimed as “This year’s big revelation… a ravishing lyric voice and an ease with vocal ornamentation that turned her into an enchanted songbird” (Toronto Star).
Leif Ove Andsnes, 2012 Music Director
The New York Times has called Leif Ove Andsnes “a pianist of magisterial elegance, power and insight.” With his commanding technique and searching interpretations, the celebrated Norwegian pianist has won worldwide acclaim, prompting the Wall Street Journal to call him “one of the most gifted musicians of his generation.” He gives recitals and plays concertos each season in the world’s leading concert halls and with the foremost orchestras.
Antoine Tamestit, Viola
Antoine Tamestit was born in Paris and studied with Jean Sulem, Jesse Levine and Tabea Zimmermann. He was the recipient of several coveted prizes which lauched him at the highest level – First Prize at the Maurice Vieux Competition (Paris, 2000) and the William Primrose Competition (Chicago, 2001), First Prize at the Young Concert Artists (YCA) International Auditions which led to his New York, Boston and Washington recital debuts in 2003. In September 2004, he took First Prize at the 53rd ARD Munich International Music Competition.
Lucy Shelton, soprano
Winner of two Walter W. Naumburg Awards—as chamber musician and solo recitalist—soprano Lucy Shelton continues to enjoy an international career bringing her dramatic vocalism and brilliant interpretive skills to repertoire of all periods. An esteemed exponent of 20th- and 21st-century repertory, she has premiered over 100 works.
Christianne Stotijn, Mezzo Soprano
Mezzo soprano Christianne Stotijn was born in Delft, the Netherlands and received her first solo diploma for violin in 2000. She then Pursued intensive vocal studies with Udo Reinemann at the Amsterdam Conservatory graduating cum laude. S he furthered her studies with Jard van Nes, Noelle Barker and Dame Janet Baker.
Steven Schick, percussion/director
Percussionist, conductor and author Steven Schick was born in Iowa and raised in a farming family. For the past thirty years he has championed contemporary percussion music as a performer and teacher, by commissioning and premiering more than one hundred new works for percussion. Schick is Distinguished Professor of Music at the University of California, San Diego and a Consulting Artist in Percussion at the Manhattan School of Music.
Norwegian Chamber Orchestra
The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra was founded in 1977 under the leadership of Terje Tonnesen, who still works as the orchestra’s Music Director. For many years he worked in parallel with Iona Brown, who was Music and Artistic Director until 2001. Isabelle van Keulen will share the position as Music Director together with Tonnesen and with Leif Ove Andsnes as Principal Guest Director from the start of the 2009/10 season.
Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano
Marc-André Hamelin’s unique blend of musicianship and virtuosity brings forth interpretations remarkable for their freedom, originality, and prodigious mastery of the piano’s resources. Long known for his bold exploration of unfamiliar pianistic terrain, Mr. Hamelin has increasingly turned his attention to the established masterworks of the piano literature, in performances and recordings of the piano sonatas of Haydn, major works by Mozart, Schumann, Brahms, Chopin and others.
Martin Fröst, clarinet
Martin Fröst is internationally recognized as one of the most exciting wind players around today. Forthcoming concerts include debuts with the Minnesota Orchestra and Los Angeles Philharmonic with Osmo Vänskä (performing Kalevi Aho’s Concerto which was commissioned for him by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust), Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under Paavo Järvi, NHK Symphony Orchestra under Sir Neville Marriner, and both the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and Radio Chamber Orchestra (at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw).
Jamie Van Eyck, mezzo-soprano
With polished, elegant vocalism and committed dramatic portrayals on-stage, American mezzo-soprano Jamie Van Eyck appeals to audiences and critics alike as a compelling young artist in opera and concert. This season, she makes her New York City recital debut with pianist Jocelyn Dueck in a performance sponsored by The Casement Fund.
Douglas Williams, bass-baritone
“The gifted young bass-baritone Douglas Williams” (Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times) combines a “formidable stage presence” (Seattle Times) with “a bass voice of splendid solidity” (Bernard Jacobson, Music Web International), making him one of the most appealing singing actors of the younger generation. He has collaborated with leading conductors including Helmut Rilling, Sir Neville Marriner, John Nelson, and Christoph Rousset in such prestigious venues as Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Stuttgart’s Mozart-Saal, and the Frankfurt Alte Oper.
Wu Man, pipa
Recognized as the world’s premier pipa virtuoso and as a leading ambassador of Chinese music, US-based, Chinese-born musician Wu Man has carved out a career creating and fostering projects that give this ancient instrument a new role in today’s music world, not only introducing the instrument to new audiences, but commissioning and premiering over a hundred new works to grow the core repertoire. A Grammy Award-nominated artist, her adventurous musical spirit has also led to her becoming a respected expert on the history and preservation of Chinese musical traditions, reflected in her recorded and live performances and multi-cultural collaborations.