2024 Conductors and Guest Artists

Meet the Conductors

John Butt

John Butt is Gardiner Professor of Music at the University of Glasgow, musical director of Dunedin Consort, and a Principal Artist with the OAE. His career began with his appointment as organ scholar at King’s College Cambridge, and this led to various academic and performing posts. His work, as both musician and scholar, gravitates towards music of the 17th-18th centuries, but he is also concerned with the implications of the past in our present culture. Author of five monographs centering around Bach, the baroque and the concepts of historical performance practice, his recent work concerns music and modernity, listening cultures, embodied musical experience, and music and film. Having made 11 recordings on organ and harpsichord for Harmonia Mundi (including the complete organ works of Elgar), he has made 19 recordings for Linn Records. Highlights, directing Dunedin, include the Gramophone award-winning recordings of Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Requiem (the latter also nominated for a GRAMMY award), together with recordings of Bach’s Passions, Mass, Magnificat, Christmas Oratorio and Brandenburg Concertos, Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, and Handel’s Acis and Galatea, Esther and Ode to St Cecilia. Handel’s Samson in 2019 was an Editor’s Choice and Critic’s Choice in Gramophone and disc of the month in BBC Music Magazine. With Dunedin he has made multiple appearances at the BBC Proms, London, and Edinburgh International Festival. As guest conductor he has worked with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Stavanger Symphony, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Academy of St Martin’s in the Fields, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, City of London Sinfonia, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Music of the Baroque, and the Irish Baroque Orchestra. Since winning the W.H.Scheide prize for his first book, he has received the Dent Medal of the RMA together with the RAM/Kohn Foundation’s Bach Prize; the award of FBA and FRSE. In 2013 he gained the medal of the Royal College of Organists, together with an OBE.

BACH: ASCENSION ORATORIO
FRIDAY, JUNE 28 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

MUSIC OF THE DRESDEN COURT
TUESDAY, JULY 2 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Craig Hella Johnson

Johnson is beloved by audiences, revered by singers, and lauded by critics and composers. The Wall Street Journal praised his ability to “find the emotional essence other performers often miss,” and Fanfare wrote that “Craig Hella Johnson has assembled and molded a first-rate choir to be respected as highly as the best we have had.”

Distinguished composer John Corigliano wrote, “I believe that [Johnson] has understood my music in a way that I have never experienced before. He is a great musician who understands everything about the music he conducts.” Composer and collaborator Robert Kyr observed, “Craig’s attitude toward creating a community of artists who work together to interpret the score … goes beyond technical mastery into that emotional depth and spiritual life of the music.”

Of Johnson’s performance of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, the San Antonio Express-News wrote: “Through all the amazing ebbs and flows of dynamics, the radiant balances, the seamless connection of episodes, the theatrically astute tempo relations, the unified structural arc, the music shone forth with organic naturalness. Nothing sounded fussed over. Everything just sounded right.”

LET’S TALK: SNIDER: MASS FOR THE ENDANGERED
SUNDAY, JUNE 30 • 1:30 PM • FROHNMAYER MUSIC BUILDING 163

SNIDER: MASS FOR THE ENDANGERED
SUNDAY, JUNE 30 • 2:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Alevtina Ioffe

Alevtina Ioffe is the new Chief Conductor of the Bern Opera, effective from summer 2025: as one of the most versatile and exciting conductors of her generation she is also the Principal Guest Conductor of the Staatskapelle Weimar. In October 2023 she made her symphonic US debut with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, as the result of the successful US debut conducting Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at the Seattle Opera in May 2022. She will return to the helm of the Seattle Symphony in October 2024. Alevtina conducts regularly at the Komische Oper Berlin, at the Staatstheater in Stuttgart, where she made her debut with Hänsel und Grätel and at the Gothenburg Opera, where she returns during the season 2023/24 with a new production of The Flying Dutchman. Alevtina Ioffe is equally successful with her symphonic activities: in France she regularly conducts the Orchestre National de Lille, the Orchestre National de l’Île-de-France, and will make her debut with the Orchestre National de Lyon in August 2024 leading the orchestra in a concert for the festival La Chaise Dieu. Alevtina is a regular presence in Italy, where she has conducted the Orchestra della Toscana, the Orchestra del Teatro Lirico di Cagliari (where she will return in June 2024) and the Haydn Orchestra. During the season 2024/25 Alevtina will have important debuts in UK with the Ulster Orchestra, (October 2024), followed by her first time at the helm of the London Philharmonic (November 2024). Born in Moscow, Alevtina studied choral conducting, classical vocal and piano. For a decade, until 2021, Alevtina was Music Director of The State Opera and Ballet Theatre for Young Audience “Natalia Sats” in Moscow, where she has experienced a significant number of educational projects and developed a vast operatic repertoire; between February 2021 and July 2022 she has been Music Director of the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, the first women to lead an important musical institution in Russia. She presently lives in Berlin.

LET’S TALK: HOLST: THE PLANETS
SUNDAY, JULY 7 • 1:30 PM • THE STUDIO

HOLST: THE PLANETS
SUNDAY, JULY 7 • 2:30 PM • SILVA CONCERT HALL

Ken-David Masur

Hailed as “fearless, bold, and a life-force” (San Diego Union-Tribune) and “a brilliant and commanding conductor with unmistakable charisma” (Leipzig Volkszeitung), Ken-David Masur celebrates his 5th season as Music Director of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Principal Conductor of the Chicago Symphony’s Civic Orchestra during the 23-24 season. He has conducted distinguished orchestras around the world, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, l’Orchestre National de France, the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the National Philharmonic of Russia, and others throughout the United States, France, Germany, Korea, Japan and Scandinavia. Masur’s tenure in Milwaukee is notable for its innovative thematic programming, including a festival celebrating the music of the 1930s – the decade when the MSO’s current home, the Bradley Symphony Center, was built – and the Water Festival, which highlighted local community partners whose work centers on conservation and education. This season, he begins a residency with bass-baritone Dashon Burton during which Masur and Burton will work with area high school choruses, and he leads the MSO in an inaugural city-wide Bach festival, celebrating the diverse and universal appeal of J.S. Bach’s music in an ever-changing world. Last season, Masur made his New York Philharmonic debut in a gala program featuring John Williams and Steven Spielberg. He also debuted at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan, Classical Tahoe, and led the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Branford Marsalis, and James Taylor at Tanglewood in a 90th birthday concert for John Williams. Masur received his B.A. from Columbia University in New York City. As founding Music Director of the Bach Society Orchestra and Chorus there, he toured Germany and released a critically acclaimed album of symphonies and cantatas by W.F. Bach, C.P.E. Bach and J.S. Bach. He received further music studies at the Leipzig Conservatory, the Detmold Academy, the Manhattan School of Music and the “Hanns Eisler” Conservatory in Berlin, where he was a five-year master student of bass baritone Thomas Quasthoff. He studied conducting primarily with his father, Kurt Masur, and was further mentored by such conductors as Stefan Asbury, Christoph von Dohnányi, Jorma Panula, Larry Rachleff and Christopher Seaman. Masur and his family are proud to call Milwaukee their home and enjoy exploring all the riches of the Third Coast.

LET’S TALK: BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONY NO. 9
SUNDAY, JULY 14 • 1:30 PM • THE STUDIO

BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONY NO. 9
SUNDAY, JULY 14 • 2:30 PM • SILVA CONCERT HALL

Gemma New

New Zealand-born Gemma New is the Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Music Director of Canada’s Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. New is the recipient of the prestigious 2021 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award. In Summer 2023, New makes debuts at the BBC Proms with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, and she returns to the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She makes additional festival appearances including Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival, Festival de la Chaise-Dieu with Orchestre National de Lyon and Opera Theatre of St. Louis, where she leads a production of Susannah. During her 2023/24 season, New makes subscription debuts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony and Orchestre National de France. North American returns include Atlanta Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. Continually in demand in Europe, New makes her debut with the Bamberger Symphoniker as well as conducting the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona y Nacional de Cataluña, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orchestre de l’Opéra de Rouen-Normandie, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine and Staatsorchester Hannover. New previously served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Resident Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Associate Conductor of the New Jersey Symphony. A former Dudamel Conducting Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Conducting Fellow at Tanglewood Music Center, she was awarded Solti Foundation U.S. Career Assistance Awards in 2017, 2019 and 2020, before receiving the 2021 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award.

ORGAN SYMPHONY
THURSDAY, JULY 11 • 7:30 PM • SILVA CONCERT HALL

Julian Perkins

Julian Perkins is the Artistic Director of Portland Baroque Orchestra in Oregon, USA. Based in the UK, he is also Artistic Director of Cambridge Handel Opera and Sounds Baroque in the UK. Julian was shortlisted for the 2021 Gramophone Award for his recording of Eccles’s Semele with the Academy of Ancient Music, and in August 2023 his latest clavichord disc, Handel’s Attick, was Instrumental Choice in BBC Music Magazine. He has been praised as both conductor and keyboard soloist for his ‘‘demonic intensity’’ (BBC Music Magazine Recording of the Month), ‘‘fluid and natural pacing’’ (Gramophone Editor’s Choice), conducting ‘‘as if every bar means the world to him’’ (Opera Disc of the Month). With Sounds Baroque, Julian has directed performances with such singers as Dame Emma Kirkby, Mark Padmore and Carolyn Sampson. He has directed groups ranging from the Academy of Ancient Music, Croatian Baroque Ensemble and Deutsche Händel-Solisten to the New London Singers, Orchestra of Welsh National Opera and St Paul’s Sinfonia, and worked closely with conductors including Ivor Bolton, Christopher Hogwood, Vladimir Jurowski and Trevor Pinnock. He has led over twenty Baroque projects with Southbank Sinfonia and conducted many staged opera productions. As a keyboard player, Julian performs regularly at the Salzburg Festival and has given concerto performances with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Florilegium, among others. His wide-ranging discography includes world-première recordings of modern works by Stephen Dodgson, Iain Farrington, Nicola Lefanu, Peter Maxwell Davies, Rhian Samuel and Héloïse Werner.

LET’S TALK: MOZART PIANO CONCERTO NO. 24
WEDNESDAY, JULY 10 • 6:30 PM • FROHNMAYER MUSIC BUILDING 163

MOZART PIANO CONCERTO NO. 24
WEDNESDAY, JULY 10 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Deanna Tham

Powerfully compelling, Deanna Tham is known for her captivating and tenacious spirit on and off the podium. She is currently the Associate Conductor of the Oregon Symphony and Music Director of the Union Symphony Orchestra. Previously, Tham was the Assistant Conductor of the Omaha Symphony, following her tenure as Assistant Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony and Principal Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras. In 2024 she appeared in the prestigious La Maestra Conducting Competition in Paris, France where she was a semi-finalist. She has performed at the Proms in Royal Albert Hall, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and Seiji Ozawa Hall at the Tanglewood Music Center working with Maestros James Ross, Joseph Young, and Sir Antonio Pappano, as well as renowned artists Isobel Leonard and Joyce DiDonato. Tham has additionally appeared with the Oregon Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Spokane Symphony, Ballet Idaho, Opera Idaho, Orpheus PDX, 45th Parallel, and Present Music Milwaukee. Recent highlights of the include leading the all-women Broadway Sinfonietta in the world-premiere of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse live with symphonic score, Jacksonville Symphony’s first educational Martin Luther King Jr. tribute concert and the Union Symphony’s first city-community Pops on the Plaza collaboration of Latin American pop and classical music. Additional recent engagements include Assistant Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra (NYO-USA and NYO2) and Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta with Maestro Mei-Ann Chen. Tham is additionally a cover conductor for the San Francisco Symphony. Her past positions include those with the Boise Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Louisville Youth Orchestras, and American Chamber Opera. In 2013, Tham’s work with the National Music Festival was featured on National Public Radio as well as American Public Media. Tham holds a Professional Studies Certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music in Orchestral Conducting studying with Maestro Carl Topilow. She received her Master of Music in conducting from Northwestern University studying with Dr. Mallory Thompson. There, she additionally worked with Dr. Robert Harris, Victor Yampolsky, and Dr. Robert Hasty. Tham received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in horn performance studying with Dennis Abelson, Zachary Smith, Bob Lauver, and Steven Kostyniak at Carnegie Mellon University.

CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS
SATURDAY, JUNE 29 •11:00 AM • SORENG THEATER 

Jos van Veldhoven

Jos van Veldhoven studied musicology at Utrecht University and choral and orchestral conducting at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. As a guest conductor he conducts the Netherlands Chamber Choir, the Groot Omroepkoor, The Flemish Radio Choir, the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, the Robert Schumann Philharmonie, the Essener Philharmoniker and the Brabant Orchestra. He collaborated with director Dietrich Hilsdorf on a cycle of Handel oratorios in the opera houses of Bonn and Essen.
Jos van Veldhoven is known for his performances of ‘new’ early music repertoire. He conducted numerous remarkable performances of oratorios by Telemann and Graun, vespers by Gastoldi, reconstructions of Bach’s Markus Passion and the Köthener Trauer-Music. He also conducts many comtemporary premieres of Baroque operas by composers such as Mattheson, Keiser, Bononcini, Legrenzi, Conti and Scarlatti. He recorded an impressive CD series with the great Bach works and toured Europe, the United States and Japan with the Netherlands Bach Society. In 2007, he received a royal decoration for his work.
Jos van Veldhoven teaches choral conducting as a principal subject at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague.

LET’S TALK: MOZART: MASS IN C MINOR
FRIDAY, JULY 5 • 6:30 PM • UO FROHNMAYER MUSIC BUILDING, ROOM 163

MOZART: MASS IN C MINOR
FRIDAY, JULY 5 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Eric Whitacre

GRAMMY Award-winning composer and conductor, Eric Whitacre, is among today’s most popular and widely performed composers. His works are programmed worldwide and his ground-breaking Virtual Choirs have united over 100,000 singers from more than 145 countries. A graduate of The Juilliard School, Eric is currently Visiting Composer at Pembroke College, Cambridge University (UK) and is an Ambassador for the Royal College of Music (London). Eric served two terms as Artist in Residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and is proud to be a Yamaha Artist. His long-term relationship with Universal/Decca Classics has produced several ‘hit’ albums. Current commissions include a new work for distinguished violinist Anne Akiko Meyers and a major new choral composition to premiere in 2024. Recent projects include the album Home recorded with VOCES8 released on Decca Classics and an orchestral piece – Prelude in C – commissioned by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra (USA). His collaboration with Spitfire Audio has resulted in two trail-blazing vocal sample libraries which are used by composers the world-over.

THE SACRED VEIL
FRIDAY, JULY 12 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

HINKLE DISTINGUISHED LECTURE AND COMMUNITY SING
SATURDAY, JULY 6 • 2:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

STANGELAND FAMILY YOUTH CHORAL ACADEMY
TUESDAY, JULY 9 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

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Meet the Guest Artists

Janai Brugger

Winner of Operalia and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2012, Janai Brugger’s recent season engagements include her outstanding debut in the title role of Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah at Opera Theatre of St Louis, followed by her performances as Pamina The Magic Flute at Ravinia Festival, a role she previously sang at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, London and more recently at the Metropolitan Opera of New York. She also sang the role of Glauce in Cherubini’s Medea at the Metropolitan Opera, Susanna Le Nozze di Figaro at Los Angeles Opera, and Liu Turandot at Opera Colorado. Concert engagements include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and with Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Ravinia Festival under the baton of Marin Alsop, Poulenc’s Gloria with Bozeman Symphony Orchestra and Mahler’s Second Symphony with Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Jader Bignamini conducting. Recent successes include the principal soprano role in Jake Heggie’s Intelligence at Houston Grand Opera, and appearances with Colorado Symphony, Atlanta Symphony and Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Future engagements include her debut at Canadian Opera Company as Glauce in a revival of the Met’s Medea, and in the UK at Glyndebourne Festival as Michaela Carmen.

BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONY NO. 9
SUNDAY, JULY 14 • 2:30 PM • SILVA CONCERT HALL

John Buffett

Baritone John Buffett enjoys a versatile career lending his “warm tone and ringing top” (Salt Lake Tribune) to music from the early baroque through the 21st century. Highlights of his 23/24 season include solo engagements singing both Bach passions, BWV 182, and his Coffee Cantata, Scarlatti’s Il Primo Omicidio, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, and Handel’s Messiah with the Cal Poly Bach Festival, LA Master Chorale, Long Beach Camerata, the New West Symphony, the Messiah Festival of the Arts, Musica Angelica, Tesserae Baroque, Bach Collegium San Diego, the Charlotte Bach Festival, and Seraphic Fire. Buffett is thrilled to be returning to OBF; some highlights include Adonis in Blow’s Venus and Adonis, and the bass arias in Bach’s St. John Passion. Buffett has been a featured soloist with the Pacific Symphony, the Utah, San Antonio, Winston-Salem, Flagstaff, and Syracuse Symphonies, the Mark Morris Dance Group, the Pacific Chorale, and the Rochester Philharmonic. He has also been a featured performer with many leading Early Music Ensembles including: Apollo’s Fire, Ars Lyrica, Bach Collegium San Diego, The Boston Early Music Festival, Con Gioia, The Charlotte Bach Academy, The Oregon Bach Festival, Musica Angelica and Tesserae Baroque. Also an accomplished Chamber musician, he regularly performs with some of America’s best choral ensembles like Seraphic Fire, The Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. Solo appearances at the Tanglewood Music Festival, the Aspen Music Festival and the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center highlight other important performances. Buffett, currently on voice faculty at UCLA, CSU Long Beach, and recently for the Professional Choral Institute at the Aspen Music Festival, received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Eastman School of Music.

BACH: ASCENSION ORATORIO
FRIDAY, JUNE 28 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Andrew Campbell

Andrew Campbell has established himself as one of the most versatile collaborative pianists in the United States with a performing career as a chamber musician, opera coach, orchestral pianist, and choral pianist that has taken him to six continents, including concerts in South Africa, Bogotá, Mexico City, Luxembourg, Melbourne, the UK and over 40 states. His partnership with violinist Katherine McLin in the McLin/Campbell Duo has led to performances on numerous recital series throughout the United States and Europe. He has directed summer music programs in Germany, Luxembourg and North Carolina, and currently serves as Faculty Artist for Rocky Ridge Music. His many recordings include Cantando, a recording with bassoonist Albie Micklich for which he was praised for his “uncanny musical intelligence.” He has performed at many noted international conferences including the National Flute Association, MTNA, the International Viola Congress, and the International Double Reed Society. He was a national prizewinner in the MTNA Collegiate Artists solo piano competition, and concerto appearances include the Bach d minor concerto with the Chintimini Festival Chamber Orchestra, the Stravinsky Concerto for Piano and Winds with the ASU Wind Symphony, and the world premiere of Deanna Rusnock’s Piano Concerto with the ASU Philharmonia in 2023. As a vocal coach, he has served on the music staffs of the Washington National Opera and the San Diego Opera, collaborating with distinguished conductors including André Previn and Heinz Fricke, and worked closely with the composer Carlisle Floyd on several productions of his operas. Andrew Campbell studied with the renowned collaborative artist Martin Katz at the University of Michigan and is currently Professor of Music and Director of Collaborative Piano at Arizona State University.

THE SACRED VEIL
FRIDAY, JULY 12 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Maire Therese Carmack

American mezzo-soprano Maire Therese Carmack, Third Prize winner at the 2022 Operalia World Opera Competition, has been praised by Opera News for her “deep mezzo and vibrant metallic timbre” and for “taking focus by her very presence.”
Ms. Carmack’s 2024/25 season includes debuts with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra in Don Carlo (Eboli), Lyric Opera of Chicago in Rigoletto (Giovanna/Maddalena cover) and Houston Grand Opera in Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves (Dodo). She will also return to the Metropolitan Opera for The Magic Flute—Holiday Presentation (Second Lady). In concert, Ms. Carmack makes debuts with the Oregon Bach Festival as alto soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and with UF Symphony Orchestra as alto soloist in Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony.

Ms. Carmack joined the Metropolitan Opera for the 2023/24 season as a member of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. She covers Fenena in Nabucco, makes her debut in The Magic Flute (Second Lady), and is featured in Madama Butterfly (Kate Pinkerton). This season she also makes her San Francisco Opera debut in Die Zauberflöte (Dritte Dame) and returns to Deutsche Oper Berlin to reprise Der Missmut in Rued Langgaard’s rarely performed Antikrist, which will be released on DVD in a collaboration with NAXOS.

The 2022/23 season marked Ms. Carmack’s European debut with Deutsche Oper Berlin, where she opened the season in the title role of Carmen. During her year-long tenure with the company, she was seen in Don Quichotte (Dulcinée), Rigoletto (Giovanna/Maddalena), Die Zauberflöte (Dritte Dame), Lucia di Lammermoor (Alisa), Manon Lescaut (Singer), Salome (Page), and Antikrist (Der Missmut). She also had debuts with Santa Fe Opera as a member of the Apprentice Artist Program, singing Mercédès in Carmen and performing as a soloist in the world premiere of David Henry Hwang and Huang Ruo’s M. Butterfly 蝴蝶君, and with the Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, as a soloist in Bach’s Matthäus-Passion under the baton of Christoph Koncz.

In the 2021/22 season, Ms. Carmack debuted with the Glimmerglass Festival in Die Zauberflöte (Dritte Dame), Songbird (Celeste), and as a featured soloist in “Gods and Mortals,” a concert celebrating the works of Richard Wagner. She then reprised Dritte Dame with Pittsburgh Opera and debuted with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as a soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony under the baton of Manfred Honeck.

Previously, Ms. Carmack performed the role of Prima Donna in the world premiere of Philip Blackburn’s multimedia hyper-opera The Sun Palace, which became a 60-minute Indie film that premiered at New York’s Anthology Film Archives. She also created the role of Mezzosopran in the world premiere of Arne Gieshoff and Franziska Angerer’s Bär*in at the Deutsche Oper Berlin’s Tischlerei. Additional credits include Eugene Onegin (Olga and Larina), Così fan tutte (Dorabella), Semele (Juno), Hänsel und Gretel (Witch/Mother), Die Fledermaus (Prinz Orlofski), L’incoronazione di Poppea (Ottavia), La fille du régiment (Marquise of Berkenfield), Suor Angelica (La Zelatrice), La traviata (Flora), The Barber of Seville (Berta), Charlie Parker’s Yardbird (Baroness Nica), and Light in the Piazza (Margaret Johnson).

Ms. Carmack is an alum of the Palm Beach Opera Bailey Apprentice Artist Program, The Glimmerglass Festival Young Artists Program, the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Artist Program, and the Pittsburgh Opera Resident Artist Program. Ms. Carmack holds a Master of Music in Voice Performance and Literature (with honors) from the Eastman School of Music, as well as Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Philosophy and Music (summa cum laude) from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.

BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONY NO. 9
SUNDAY, JULY 14 • 2:30 PM • SILVA CONCERT HALL

Rhianna Cockrell

Rhianna Cockrell, mezzo-soprano, whose singing has been described as “luscious” and “pleading” (Washington Classical Review) has captivated audiences with her interpretations of Renaissance and Baroque works as well as her passion for contemporary works. As a frequent and award-winning interpreter of J.S. Bach’s music, Cockrell’s performances have been described as “unforced” and “resolute” (Oregon ArtsWatch). Cockrell’s 2023–24 season sees an album release as the alto soloist in Bach’s B Minor Mass with Cantata Collective, an artist residency with the Cornell Department of Music featuring a solo recital that includes a commission premiere of Amelia Brey’s ALL THE FLOWERS WERE MINE, a feature as an alto soloist in Bach’s St. John Passion with True Concord Voices & Orchestra, an alto soloist in Bach’s B Minor Mass with The Thirteen, and the alto soloist in Bach’s Wir danken dir, Gott, wir dankey dir, BWV 29 with Oregon Bach Festival, as well as performances with Apollo’s Fire, Washington Bach Consort, Ensemble Altera, and Upper Valley Baroque. Recent solo performances include Bach’s Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80 with Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Handel’s Messiah with South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Kentucky Bach Choir, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Bach’s Magnificat with The Thirteen, Bach’s B Minor Mass with Cantata Collective, as well as Bach’s Jesus nahm zu sich die Zwölfe, BWV 22 and Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 with Oregon Bach Festival. She was recently chosen to perform airs de cour in a masterclass with Dame Emma Kirkby and Jakob Lindberg, hosted by Gotham Early Music Scene. Previously, Cockrell won the Colorado Bach Ensemble’s 2020 Young Artist Competition and an encouragement award in the 2021 Audrey Rooney Bach Competition. Cockrell holds degrees from Yale University (MMA), University of Minnesota (MM), and George Mason University (BM).

STANGELAND FAMILY YOUTH CHORAL ACADEMY
TUESDAY, JULY 9 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Duncan Copp

Duncan has worked as a freelance producer-director for over 20 years, specializing in popular science and culture, history, and film for symphonic performances. His first documentary Rocket Men of Mission 105, followed the astronauts of the STS-105 shuttle mission, during which he was granted access to film extensively at the Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers, during 2001. He helped conceived, produced and directed Hunt for the Death Star (awarded the Gold Hugo at the Chicago international Film festival) Magnetic Storm and Global Dimming, (both winning WildScreen awards). His films Secrets of the Sun, Doomsday Volcanoes and Neil Armstrong: First man on the Moon, were screened on PBS’s flagship science series, NOVA. Duncan conceived, developed, and produced the much-acclaimed feature documentary In the Shadow of the Moon the intimate story of the Apollo astronauts. Distributed world-wide as a theatrical and television release, the film garnered over 15 awards internationally, including the coveted Sundance Audience Award at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. For over a decade Duncan has collaborated with world-leading symphonies, producing visually engaging high-definition films to accompany live orchestral and ballet performances. He helped conceive and produced the Houston Symphony’s ‘HD Odyssey’ film trilogy; The Planets, The Earth and The Cosmos, married to music by Holst, Strauss, John Adams, and Dvořák. In 2019, Duncan worked with renowned Nashville Ballet Artistic Director Paul Vasterling, and the Nashville Symphony, to produce and direct a vibrant multi-screen visual production to accompany a live ballet and symphonic performance of Carmina Burana. Recent documentary credits include Comet Encounter (National Geographic), Mankind from Space (a 120-minute special for Discovery Canada), and Survival in the Skies – the Ejection Seat (Smithsonian Channel). Duncan series-produced and co-directed America’s Secret Space Heroes, a six-part series for the Smithsonian Channel; and Speed, a four-part flagship series for CuriosityStream. In 2019 he was entrusted to produce the Discovery Channel’s primetime 2-hour documentary special, Apollo: The Forgotten Films, for the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing. Duncan holds a PhD in Astronomy / Planetary Geology. He lives in London.

HOLST: THE PLANETS
SUNDAY, JULY 7 • 2:30 PM • SILVA CONCERT HALL

Aaron Diehl

Pianist Aaron Diehl has quietly re-defined the lines between jazz and classical, and built a global career around his nuanced, understated approach to music-making. Praised for his “melodic precision, harmonic erudition, and elegant restraint” (The New York Times), and his “traditional jazz sound with a sophisticated contemporary spin” (The Guardian), Diehl has performed with musical giants such as Wynton Marsalis, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Tyshawn Sorey, and Philip Glass, and has been a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Cleveland Orchestra. In 2023, Diehl was named as the Artistic Director of 92NY’s Jazz in July Festival, succeeding the legendary Bill Charlap. Diehl has performed with top orchestras across the US, at leading venues like Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Hollywood Bowl, the Elbphilharmonie, and Tanglewood. As the 2024 Resonate Festival artist-in-residence, Diehl will explore the theme of musical intersections, with works by John Lewis, Mary Lou Williams’ Zodiac Suite and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 in D minor, conducted by Eric Jacobsen. In the spring, Diehl joins the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the world premiere of Timo Andres’s new piano concerto, conducted by John Adams. In September 2023, Diehl released his GRAMMYnominated recording of Mary Lou Williams’s Zodiac Suite with The Knights, a Brooklyn-based orchestral collective led by conductor Eric Jacobsen. As the first-ever studio recording of Mary Lou Willams’s Zodiac Suite, it has been touted as “a joyous, enchanting creation… a triumph” (The Guardian) with Diehl lauded as “a contemporary champion” (The New York Times) and “a perfect choice to preside over this landmark recording” (The Wall Street Journal). The album features Diehl’s trio and guest artists saxophonist Nicole Glover, clarinetist Evan Christopher, trumpeter Brandon Lee, and soprano Mikaela Bennett. Diehl was born in Columbus, Ohio, where he grew up listening to his grandfather, pianist and trombonist Arthur Baskerville. His family nurtured Diehl’s undeniable musical talents from a young age and in 2002, a 16-year-old Diehl competed in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington competition, where he placed as a finalist. It was there that he attracted the attention of Wynton Marsalis, who invited Diehl to join his septet for a European tour. After studying at Julliard under the direction of Kenny Barron, Eric Reed and Oxana Yablonskaya, Diehl was awarded the 2011 American Pianists Association’s Cole Porter Fellowship. Diehl has been a Steinway Artist since 2016.

24 PRELUDES
SATURDAY, JULY 6 • 7:30 PM • SORENG THEATER

Jongwon Han

In the summer of 2023, Mr. Han debuted at the San Francisco Opera in Madama Butterfly (Bonze) and Die Frau ohne Schatten (Nightwatchman), where he also covered Der Einarmige. In the 2023/24 season, he returns to the San Francisco Opera stage to sing in Lohengrin (3rd & 4th Noble) and covers in Il trovatore (Ferrando) and L’elisir d’amore (Belcore). He also makes Atlanta Opera debut in La bohème (Schaunard) and joins the Oregon Bach Festival as the bass soloist in Penderecki’s Credo.

In the summer of 2022, Mr. Han joined the Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist, covering the role of Bartolo in Il barbiere di Siviglia. He then went to San Francisco to begin his tenure in the Adler Fellowship Program, where he sang Colline in Bohème Out of the Box. He also made debuts with Dayton Opera in Handel’s Messiah and Palm Beach Opera in Madama Butterfly (Bonzo).

He made his professional debut at the Vernazza Opera Festival (Cinque Terre, Italy) and has been featured in concerts in Osaka, Japan, Seoul, South Korea, and New York City. His operatic roles include the title roles in Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Schaunard in La bohème, and Barone Douphol in La traviata. Having a deep connection to sacred music, Mr. Han has been featured in Bach’s Cantata BWV 140, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Sparrow Mass, and Haydn’s Theresienmesse.

Mr. Han was a winner in the 2022 Operalia competition and finalist in the Metropolitan Opera’s Laffont Competition.

BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONY NO. 9
SUNDAY, JULY 14 • 2:30 PM • SILVA CONCERT HALL

Harrison Hintzsche

Praised for his warm lyric tone, musical subtlety, and dedication to text, “Sonorous” (Opera News) and “Suave” (parterre box) baritone Harrison Hintzsche enjoys a diverse career in oratorio, art song, and ensemble singing. His interpretation of Schubert at London’s Wigmore Hall with pianist Graham Johnson was noted by Opera Today for a “strong sense of narrative” and “gentle poignancy.” Hintzsche won first prize at the 2021 Colorado Bach Ensemble Young Artist Competition and the 2018 Edvard Grieg Society of Minnesota Voice Competition, and was the 2020 recipient of the Margot Fassler Prize in the Performance of Sacred Music from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. Recent soloist performance highlights include Bach’s Mass in B Minor and St. Matthew Passion with the Colorado Bach Ensemble (bass arias), Bach’s Magnificat and St. John Passion (“Pilate”) with the Oregon Bach Festival, Handel’s Messiah with Ensemble Altera and the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, John Blow’s opera Venus & Adonis (“Adonis”) and Locke and Gibbons’s masque Cupid & Death (“Host,” “Mercury”) with Early Music Access Project, a tour of South Korea with the American Soloists Ensemble and conductor Euijoong Yoon, and Finzi’s In Terra Pax and Vaughn Williams’s Fantasia on Christmas Carols with the Choral Society of the Hamptons. Hintzsche has recorded Lieder by Luise Greger on New Muses Project’s inaugural self-titled album, as well as the bass arias and role of “Pilate” on Cantata Collective’s live performance recording of Bach’s St. John Passion, led by Nicholas McGegan and released by AVIE Records in June 2023. Hintzsche sings regularly with the nation’s leading choral ensembles, including the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, Yale Choral Artists, True Concord Voices & Orchestra, and Ensemble Altera, among others. He holds degrees in music from Yale University and St. Olaf College, and is a native of DeKalb, Illinois.

STANGELAND FAMILY YOUTH CHORAL ACADEMY
TUESDAY, JULY 9 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Robin Johannsen

American soprano Robin Johannsen is known for her virtuosity, energy, agility, endurance, and above all for her scintillating coloratura. Her career began when she joined the ensemble at Deutsche Oper Berlin singing roles such as Susanna Le nozze di Figaro, Norina Don Pasquale, Oscar Un ballo in maschera, and Soeur Constance Les dialogues des Carmélites.Elsewhere on the operatic stage she has appeared at Theater an der Wien, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Athens’ Megaron, Staatsoper Berlin, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro Regio Torino, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Oper Frankfurt, Vlaamse Opera, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, Komische Oper Berlin, Oper Leipzig and Bayreuth Festival in roles including Marzelline Beethoven’s Leonore, Konstanze Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Fiordiligi Così fan tutte, the title role of Telemann’s Emma und Eginhard, Leocasta Vivaldi’s Il Giustino, and Adina L’elisir d’amore. Robin has a special affinity for the Baroque and Classical repertoires and has close working relationships with René Jacobs and the Freiburger Barockorchester and is a frequent guest with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, La Cetra Basel, the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, Concerto Köln, Kammerakademie Potsdam, La Folia Barockorchester, and Belgium’s B’Rock. She has also collaborated with conductors such as David Afkham, Marin Alsop, Jonathan Cohen, Teodor Currentzis, Ottavio Dantone, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Thomas Hengelbrock, Philippe Herreweghe, Manfred Honeck, Philippe Jordan, Ton Koopman, Antonello Manacorda, Alessandro De Marchi, Andrea Marcon, Hans- Christoph Rademann and Christian Thielemann.

MOZART: MASS IN C MINOR
FRIDAY, JULY 5 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

MOZART PIANO CONCERTO NO. 24
WEDNESDAY, JULY 10 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Linh Kauffman

Praised as “vocally and dramatically powerful” by the Washington Post and “radiant” by the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, Vietnamese-American soprano Linh Kauffman enjoys an active career in oratorio, opera, new music, and recital. Her recent performances include Orff’s Carmina Burana for the Prague Choral Festival, Joshua with the Panama National Symphony, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Minnesota Orchestra, Ariadne auf Naxos with Minnesota Opera, and appearances at the Indianapolis Early Music Festival, Festival Musica Antica Urbino, Festival Musica Antigua Panamá and Festival Musique en l’Île de Paris. A prolific concert artist, Ms. Kauffman has appeared with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Akron Symphony, Richmond Symphony, and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, among others, and as a chamber musician with Seraphic Fire, Spire Chamber Ensemble, Consortium Carissimi, and The Rose Ensemble. She made her Latin American debut in Mozart’s Apollo et Hyacinthus at the Teatro Nacional de Panama and has appeared in opera and musicals across the United States. As an interpreter of contemporary works, Ms. Kauffman has appeared in the world premieres of Hector Armienta’s Rio de Mujeres, Carla Lucero’s Wuornos, and Jocelyn Hagen’s Amass. The soprano’s growing discography includes Hagen’s Songs of Fields and Prairies, Aaron David Miller’s Clamor for organ, voice and percussion, three discs of Italian motets with Consortium Carissimi, and Haydn’s Heiligmesse with the Oregon Bach Festival. A native of Connecticut, Ms. Kauffman earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University, Master of Music from the University of Maryland, and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Minnesota, with further study at the Weill Institute at Carnegie Hall and the Salzburg Mozarteum. She is Associate Artistic Director of Antiqva Panamá and is a co-founder of the Minnesota Bach Ensemble.

BACH: ASCENSION ORATORIO
FRIDAY, JUNE 28 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Kim Leeds

With her “vivid, deeply satisfying sound” (Boston Music Intelligencer) and “rich, smooth mezzo soprano” (St. Louis Post), Kim Leeds engages audiences in her exploration of life’s essence through music. As a soloist, she has appeared with the GRAMMY winning ensemble Apollo’s Fire, GRAMMY nominated True Concord Voices and Orchestra, Gramophone award winning ensemble Blue Heron, Tafelmusik Baroque Chamber Orchestra and Choir, Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Cantata Collective, Bach Akademie Charlotte, Les Délices, Bach Society of St. Louis, the Oregon Bach Festival, Ad Astra Music Festival, Chicago Master Singers, and the Handel Society of Dartmouth. Over the years, Ms. Leeds has garnered multiple accolades including winning the Tafelmusik Vocal Competition in 2016, attending the Carmel Bach Festival as a Virginia Best Adams Fellow in 2017, worked with Philippe Herreweghe as a Britten-Pears Young Artist in their Bach Cantata programme in 2019, and was semi-finalist in the Oratorio Society of New York Vocal Competition in 2022. Ms. Leeds enjoys performing a wide range of repertoire from Ockeghem and Dowland, to Rheinberger and Charles Ives as well as sung premieres of works by James MacMillan, Richard Danielpour, James Kallembach, and Julia Wolfe. As a choral artist, Ms. Leeds has toured with Helmuth Rilling in Eastern Germany as a member of the Weimar Bach Academy and toured Northern Italy and Southern Germany with the Junges Stuttgart Bach Ensemble under the direction of Hans Christoph Rademann. In the US, she has performed with GRAMMY winning ensembles the Crossing and Apollo’s Fire; GRAMMY nominated ensembles Seraphic Fire, True Concord, and Clarion Choir; as well as the Oregon Bach Festival, Musica Sacra, Handel and Haydn Society and Ensemble Altera. Ms. Leeds is also a co-founder of the New England based ensemble Filigree.

BACH: ASCENSION ORATORIO
FRIDAY, JUNE 28 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Sylvia Leith

Sylvia Leith, mezzo-soprano, is a soloist and consort singer based in New York City. She has appeared as a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Washington Bach Consort, the Oregon Bach Festival, St. Thomas Fifth Avenue, American Classical Orchestra, the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Bach Akademie Charlotte, Cantata Collective, Riverside Choral Society, Princeton Pro Musica, Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity, Baroque Music Montana, Early Music Access Project, and Emmanuel Music Baltimore, among others. Though known primarily for her performances of the high baroque works of Bach and Handel, she is equally at home singing repertoire of the Romantic era including Mahler and Elgar, as well as newly composed works. Her ensemble credits include TENET, Lorelei, Bach Collegium San Diego, Ekmeles, the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, Ensemble Altera, Musica Sacra, the Crossing, Skylark, and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street. Her operatic roles range from Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea to Nancy in Britten’s Albert Herring. With a special interest in one-perpart chamber singing, she is a founding member of the Polyphonists, a vocal quartet that includes her husband, bass-baritone Edmund Milly, and two of their dearest friends, soprano Amy Broadbent and tenor Matthew Hill. In July 2024, Sylvia is the alto in the Virginia Best Adams Masterclass quartet at the Carmel Bach Festival. Sylvia holds a bachelor’s degree in German from Yale University and a master’s in Voice from Boston University. www.sylvialeith.com

BACH: ASCENSION ORATORIO
FRIDAY, JUNE 28 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

 

Pualina Lim Mei En

Singaporean pianist Pualina Lim Mei En is hugely passionate in collaborative music-making. As an avid collaborative pianist, she has diverse experience and was Collaborative Piano Fellow at Chamber Music Northwest’s Young Artist Institute 2022 and Bowdoin International Music Festival 2023. She loves sharing her knowledge and serves on the core team of staff pianists at New England Conservatory (NEC)’s Preparatory School. She has also been a part of Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras’ Intensive Community Program and NEC’s Community Performances & Partnerships Fellowship program. During her undergraduate studies, she formed WAN Trio (a clarinet-violin-piano trio) with her friends and they represented Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YST) at the chamber music festival Musical Chairs 2020 in Canada. As piano soloist, Pualina received 3rd Prize in Singapore’s 2019 National Piano and Violin Competition (Senior Category). She also won both 2nd Prize and Best Accompanist Award in the piano category of the YST Concerto Competition in 2020, and subsequently emerged as Top 3 Prize Winner across all instrument categories, leading to a concerto soloist performance with the YST Conservatory Orchestra. Pualina completed undergraduate studies in Piano Performance at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, graduating with Highest Distinction and was awarded the National University of Singapore Society Medal for Outstanding Achievement in recognition of her all-round excellence. She then pursued her passion in collaborative piano at New England Conservatory in Boston. She is currently in the Graduate Diploma program after completing her Master of Music degree with Pei-Shan Lee and Cameron Stowe under full scholarship. Beyond piano, Pualina is a composer and an award-winning electone player. She has represented Singapore by performing her compositions at the Asia Pacific Electone Festival in Singapore (2017), Indonesia (2018), and the prestigious Yamaha Electone Concours in Japan (2018). In her free time, she finds peace in nature, a cosy café trip and loves good sushi.

THE LARK ASCENDING
MONDAY, JULY 1 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Alex Longnecker

Lauded for his “handsome, potent tenor and vivid, expressive delivery” (Dallas Morning News), Alex Longnecker specializes in Baroque concert works and vocal chamber music. He performs a wide range of styles, including ensemble singing, opera, recital repertoire, commercial singing, and musical theater. He currently serves as a member of the Choir of Men and Boys at St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York. Professional choral credits include the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, Apollo’s Fire, The Thirteen, The New Consort, Bard Festival Chorale, New York Virtuoso Singers, Dallas Bach Society, and the Verdigris Ensemble. Alex has recently sung operatic roles with American Baroque Opera Company, Opera in the Rock, Cedar Rapids Opera Theater, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, University of North Texas Opera, and the Tanglewood Music Center. Alex made his Lincoln Center solo debut with Yale Schola Cantorum and Juilliard 415 in Telemann’s Tag des Gerichts, under the baton of Masaaki Suzuki. Other recent solo engagements include full performances of Schumann’s Dichterliebe, a recital of English masque music with Collectio Musicorum, Mozart’s Requiem with Blessed Sacrament Church in Alexandria, Virginia as well as Princeton Pro Musica, Mozart’s Vespers and Vivaldi’s Magnificat with the Greenwich Choral Society, assorted works with the Blue Hill Bach Festival, Bach’s Coffee Cantata with Berkshire Bach Society, Handel’s Messiah with the Yale Glee Club, Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion with the Dallas Bach Society, and Bach’s St. John’s Passion with UNT’s Collegium Singers, the premiere of Trevor Weston’s American Lamentation with the St. Thomas Choir and the Orchestra of St. Lukes, and Handel’s Dixit Dominus with The Manhattan Choral Ensemble. Alex can be heard as a featured soloist on recordings of works by Calvin Hampton with the St. Thomas Choir to be released this coming year and a selftitled album with the New Muses Project. Alex is a native of Ankeny, Iowa.

MUSIC OF THE DRESDEN COURT
TUESDAY, JULY 2 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Catherine Manson

Catherine Manson enjoys a versatile performing career as a soloist and chamber musician. As first violinist of the classical London Haydn Quartet she has performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, London’s Wigmore Hall and the Sydney Opera House. The quartet’s series of recordings of the Haydn quartets on the Hyperion label has met with high critical acclaim internationally. She was appointed as leader of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 2006. Together with the orchestra’s director, Ton Koopman she has recorded the six obbligato sonatas by Bach, Haydn’s concerto for violin and organ and the complete chamber music by Buxtehude. They have given many concerts together throughout Europe. Teaching has always been an important part of her musical life; in 2001 she co-founded and now directs MusicWorks, an organisation which presents a range of chamber music courses for young musicians. She has given masterclasses and workshops at conservatories in London, Lyon, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore and at Juilliard School, Yale and Indiana Universities.

ON THE HOUSE: BERWICK ACADEMY CHAMBER MUSIC WITH CATHERINE MANSON
MONDAY, JULY 8 • 2:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Gitanjali Mathur

Having sung on several GRAMMY-nominated and GRAMMY-winning CDs, Gitanjali Mathur is hailed as having “skyrocketing coloratura”, “fluid and dexterous voice”, “piercingly clear soprano” and being a “natural and convincing comedic actress.” Originally from India, she grew up learning North Indian Classical music. After moving to the US, she pursued South Indian Classical and Western Classical Voice Lessons. She continued her musical training by completing her Bachelors, Masters and Performer Diploma Degrees in Vocal Performance along with minors in Computer Science and Mathematics from Indiana University. Once Ms. Mathur moved to Austin, TX she started pursuing her career in Western Classical Music. She now performs regularly with Texas Early Music Project, Ensemble viii, La Follia, the Victoria Bach Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, GRAMMY-nominated ensemble True Concord Voices and Orchestra, GRAMMY-nominated ensemble Seraphic Fire and the GRAMMY-winning ensemble Conspirare. She has sung with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and made her debut with the Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble and The Five Boroughs Music Festival in 2022-2023. Ms. Mathur was nominated in 2018 in the Austin Critics Table Awards for “Classical Best Singer”. She made her solo Carnegie Hall debut with Helmuth Rilling in J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and fondly remembers her time singing with Maestro Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festival. She has performed in the lead female roles in Pergolesi’s Intermezzo “La Serva Padrona” in 2009, Telemann’s comic Opera “Pimpinone” in 2018, and “Galatea” in Handel’s “Acis and Galatea” with American Baroque Opera in 2022. In 2020, she birthed the idea, performed in, and co-produced an online talk-show style mini-series featuring lullabies and songs of comfort from around the world called “Night Music!”

MUSIC OF THE DRESDEN COURT
TUESDAY, JULY 2 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

MaryRuth Miller

Praised by the Boston Musical Intelligencer for her “clear soprano” and “tasteful dramatic interpretation”, MaryRuth Miller has appeared throughout North America as a concert soloist and choral artist. She is one sixth of the newest ensemble from the VOCES8 Foundation, Lyyra, and temporarily joined VOCES8 for their Winter 2024 USA Tour. Other recent performance highlights include solo features with Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society, Bach Akademie Charlotte, Upper Valley Baroque, Pegasus Early Music, San Diego Baroque, the Charlotte Master Chorale, the Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival, and the Oregon Bach Festival. MaryRuth sings regularly with the Handel and Haydn Society Chorus, New York City’s Clarion Choir, and the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, and made her debut with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale in 2022. Also in 2022, she could be seen singing backup for Ellie Goulding on the internationally televised Earthshot Prize award ceremony. Originally from West Columbia, South Carolina, she now lives in San Diego, California.

BACH: ASCENSION ORATORIO
FRIDAY, JUNE 28 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Edmund Milly

Bass-Baritone Edmund Milly is sought after for his “annunciatory power” (New York Times), “perfect diction” (Los Angeles Times), and distinctive “delicacy and personal warmth” (Boston Classical Review). As a soloist, he has recently performed with the American Classical Orchestra, Washington Bach Consort, Tempesta di Mare, Bach Akademie Charlotte, and the Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Edmund’s 2023-2024 season included performances of Bach’s cantatas at Bachfest Leipzig, as well as with Trinity Wall Street, Cantata Collective, Gamut Bach Ensemble, the Oklahoma Bach Choir, and Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity. Other recent solo credits include Carmina Burana, Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, and Brahms’ Requiem. A consummate ensemble singer, Edmund has also recently sung with Seraphic Fire, Ensemble Altera, and TENET. Edmund’s education began with cello lessons at age 3 and continued at the American Boychoir School, where he became steeped in the concert repertoire while singing under conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Mazur, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and André Previn. Edmund holds degrees from McGill University and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, where he studied with James Taylor. In his Lincoln Center debut with Yale Schola Cantorum under Masaaki Suzuki, Edmund portrayed an “authoritative and confident” Jesus in Bach’s St. John Passion (Seen and Heard International). He has since sung this role at Trinity Wall Street and the Oregon Bach Festival, and performed over 90 of Bach’s cantatas. A veteran of the U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own,” Edmund has been a soloist at the White House, the Pentagon, and the U.S. Supreme Court. His recorded work includes solo credits on the BBC and CBC, and appearances on several GRAMMY-nominated albums. Edmund often has the good fortune to sing with his wife, mezzosoprano Sylvia Leith, notably with their vocal quartet, the Polyphonists. For a full calendar of upcoming performances, see www.edmundmilly.com.

BACH: ASCENSION ORATORIO
FRIDAY, JUNE 28 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

MOZART: MASS IN C MINOR
FRIDAY, JULY 5 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Marilyn De Oliveira

Brazilian cellist Marilyn de Oliveira enjoys an active career as a symphonic and chamber musician. Since joining the Oregon Symphony as the Assistant Principal cellist in 2009, Marilyn has been a founding member of Mousai Remix and Pyxis String Quartets, cellist of Third Angle and 45th Parallel Music, and guest artist with prestigious local festivals such as Chamber Music Northwest and Oregon Bach Festival. In addition to her many performance engagements, Mrs. de Oliveira is also an educator, orchestral coach and music activist. She is part of the music faculty at Reed College, maintains a private studio with graduates now in prestigious music schools worldwide, and founded the Oregon Symphony Musician’s Caroling Project— a collaborative effort which has brought the joy of music to those in need during the holidays for over a decade. Prior to joining the OSO, Marilyn served as Acting Assistant Principal cellist and section member of the San Antonio Symphony and was a fellow at the New World Symphony in Miami, FL. She received her Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University, her Master of Music degree at Rice University and was the Bronze Award Winner in the senior division of The Sphinx Competition in 2006.

THE SACRED VEIL
FRIDAY, JULY 12 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Clara Osowski

Mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski, who sings “from inside the music with unaffected purity and sincerity” (UK Telegraph), is an active soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Europe. The 2023/2024 season includes Schubert lieder with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Bach’s St. John Passion for a return to Music of the Baroque led by Dame Jane Glover, a return to LA’s Salastina for Handel’s Messiah, the University of Washington Symphony Orchestra for Clara Schumann lieder, the Bach Christmas Oratorio with Madison Bach Musicians, SongSLAM at National Sawdust, a recital at Augustana University, Bach’s St. John Passion for the South Carolina Bach Choir, Mozart Mass in C minor for a return to the Master Chorale of South Florida, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius for a return to the Bel Canto Chorus of Milwaukee and Bach’s Mass in B minor with Tenet at St. Jean-Baptiste, NYC. Career highlights include her appearances with the Milwaukee Symphony, Mid-Columbia Symphony, St. Paul Civic Orchestra, Tulsa Signature Symphony, Winona Symphony Orchestra, Winston Salem Symphony, Back Bay Chorale, and the Mobile Symphony Orchestra. Clara is a frequent collaborator of the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, and with them she has performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, and Dominick Argento’s orchestral song cycles Casa Guidi and A few words about Chekhov. In 2017, Clara became the first ever American prize winner when she placed second at Thomas Quasthoff’s International Das Lied Competition in Heidelberg, Germany and won the Houston Saengerbund Competition. In the 2019 Wigmore Hall Song Competition she was awarded The Ralph Vaughan Williams Society Prize for the best interpretation of songs in English by a British composer and in the 2017 competition the Richard Tauber Prize for the best interpretation of Schubert Lieder. She won the Radio-Canada People’s Choice Award and third place in the song division at the 2018 Concours Musical International de Montréal. Clara received her Bachelor of Musical Arts degree with emphasis in Voice from North Dakota State University in 2008 where she received the 2022 Horizon Award for great success in her profession, and Master of Arts Degree in Voice from the University of Iowa in 2010. In addition to performing, Clara serves as the Artistic Director of Source Song Festival, a week-long art song festival in Minneapolis, Minnesota and participates in a number of ensembles, including Lumina Women’s Ensemble and Seraphic Fire.

MOZART: MASS IN C MINOR
FRIDAY, JULY 5 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Issachah Savage

Dramatic tenor Issachah Savage has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, The Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, and the Melbourne Symphony and worked with some of the today’s foremost conductors including Yannick Nézet-Seguin, Gustavo Dudamel, Riccardo Muti, Fabio Luisi, James Conlon, Gianandrea Noseda, Marin Alsop, Jaap van Zweden, Robert Spano, and Susanna Mälkki. Operatic highlights include appearances with The Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, LA Opera, Seattle Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, and the Salzburg Festival. He has sung much of the great dramatic tenor repertoire including the title roles in Tannhäuser, Otello, and Rienzi, Siegmund in Die Walküre, Radamès in Aida, Bacchus in Ariadne auf Naxos, Manrico in Il trovatore, and Narraboth in Salome. This season, Mr. Savage will make a highly anticipated role debut as Der Kaiser in Die Frau ohne Schatten at Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse. On the concert stage, he will with debut with the Houston Symphony for Salome (Narraboth) and make returns to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for Mendelssohn’s Elijah conducted by James Conlon and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for a program of selections from Great American Songbook with Karen Slack and conducted by Fabio Luisi. He will also return to Los Angeles to present a recital at UCLA. He possesses a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance from Morgan State University and a master’s degree in Opera Voice Performance from The Catholic University of Americ

BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONY NO. 9
SUNDAY, JULY 14 • 2:30 PM • SILVA CONCERT HALL

Corey Shotwell

Corey Shotwell is a tenor specializing in the performance of music spanning the 14th through 18th centuries, as both soloist and ensemble member. Recent concert engagements include the world premiere of David Lang’s the writings at Carnegie Hall in collaboration with Paul Hillier and Theatre of Voices as part of the Yale Voxtet, and Telemann’s Der Tag des Gerichts with Masaaki Suzuki at Lincoln Center. He has also sung with the San Diego Bach Collegium, Bach Akademie Charlotte, Oregon Bach Festival, Bach Collegium Fort Wayne, Apollo’s Fire, Boston Early Music Festival, Carmel Bach Festival, and The Newberry Consort. He most recently received his M.M.A. in Early Music, Oratorio, and Chamber Ensemble from the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University. He has also earned degrees from Western Michigan University and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Having grown up in West Michigan, he now resides in New Haven, Connecticut and teaches at Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts.

STANGELAND FAMILY YOUTH CHORAL ACADEMY
TUESDAY, JULY 9 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Steven Soph

A “superb vocal soloist” (The Washington Post) with “impressive clarity and color” (The New York Times), tenor Steven Soph performs concert repertoire spanning the Renaissance to the modern day. In 2023- 2024, Steven appears as a soloist at Lincoln Center with the American Classical Orchestra in Bach’s Mass in B minor; at Boston’s Symphony Hall with the Handel and Haydn Society in Handel’s Israel in Egypt; at Dallas’ Meyerson Symphony Center for the Highland Concert Series’ performance of Berlioz’s Grande Messe des Morts; with the Tucson Symphony and Pro Musica Colorado in Handel’s Messiah; with the Bach Society of St. Louis and Lincoln, Nebraska’s Abendmusik as Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion; at the University of Iowa in Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem; with Washington D.C.’s The Thirteen in Monteverdi’s “Lost” Vespers of 1650; at Philadelphia’s Penn Arts Live in a program featuring works of Salamone Rossi; and with Tulsa’s Oklahoma Bach Choir in BWVs 61, 62, 65, and 70. He joins the Baroque Music Festival, Corona del Mar and returns to the Oregon Bach Festival, Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival, and the Bach Festival of Winter Park. Steven also appears with Vancouver’s Leonids, Providence’s Ensemble Altera, Washington Bach Consort, Tucson’s GRAMMY-nominated True Concord Voices and Orchestra, Yale Choral Artists, Kansas City’s Spire, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and Orlando’s Bach Vocal Artists. He earned degrees from the University of North Texas and Yale’s School of Music. www.stevensoph.com

BACH: ASCENSION ORATORIO
FRIDAY, JUNE 28 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

MOZART: MASS IN C MINOR
FRIDAY, JULY 5 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Gregório Taniguchi

Gregório Taniguchi, tenor, empowers narratives with an intuitive sense of storytelling. He brings linguistic gusto and vitality to performances as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion and Christmas Oratorio, Æneas in Cavalli’s La Didone, Miles Zegner in Missy Mazzoli’s Proving Up, and Septimius in Handel’s Theodora. He was a featured soloist in a Peter Sellars-staged production of Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien with Los Angeles Master Chorale, which opened the Salzburg Musikfestpiele. He has toured Ecuador with the emerging ensemble Las Aves, presenting historically-informed 17th-century Italian and Spanish sacred repertoire in the cathedrals of Quito during Holy Week. Gregório has worked with pioneers and the next generation scholar-interpreters of early music, such as John Butt, Rubén Dubrovsky, Jane Glover, Maria Guinand, Matthew Halls, Dana Marsh, and Ruben Valenzuela. He enjoys the alchemy of collaborative ensemble singing, especially with Clarion Vocal Ensemble, TENET, Tesserae, Bach Collegium San Diego, and Washington Bach Consort. Gregório earned a Bachelor’s degree (B.M.) in Vocal Performance at the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University–Long Beach, and a Master’s degree (M.M.) in Early Music at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Gregório is passionate about being an active part of the community of artists, coaching language, and teaching. As a pandemic passion project, he recorded some of his mother’s favorite fado while self-accompanying on ukulele, spurring him to learn guitarra portuguesa. He revels in being part of his ecological community, germinating seeds and raising native wildflowers of the places he calls home.

BACH: ASCENSION ORATORIO
FRIDAY, JUNE 28 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Camilla Tassi

Camilla Tassi is a projec/on/video designer, producer, and musician from Florence, Italy. Her design credits include Falling Out of Time (Carnegie Hall), Adora3on (Beth Morrison Projects), L’Orfeo (Apollo’s Fire Tour), King Arthur (Lincoln Center, Juilliard415), Malhaar: A Requiem For Water (LA Master Chorale, Disney Concert Hall), Fun Home (TheaterWorks HarNord), Iphigénie en Tauride (Boston Baroque), Fires in the Mirror (Bal/more Center Stage), Path of Miracles (Conspirare & OBF), Elijah Reimagined (Kennedy Center, The Washington Chorus), Lady M (Heartbeat Opera), SEACHANGE (Miami City Ballet), Handel’s Alcina & Stravinsky’s Rossignol (Yale Opera). Camilla has directed and produced performances of period and contemporary classical works, including Missy Mazzoli’s Song from the Uproar, a joint theater and opera project of Tennessee Williams and Larry Delinger’s Talk to Me Like the Rain and the US Premiere of Morricone’s Se questo e` un uomo. She’s sung with the NY Phil, Yale Schola, and coaches Italian dic/on. Tassi holds degrees in Computer Science & Music (U. Notre Dame), Digital Musics (Dartmouth) and an MFA in Projec/on Design (Yale School of Drama). Burry Fredrik Design and Robert L. Tobin Opera Design Award recipient.

SNIDER: MASS FOR THE ENDANGERED
SUNDAY, JUNE 30 • 2:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Euan Tait

Euan Tait is a European of Welsh-Scottish heritage, born in Berlin in 1968 and now living in sight of the Rivers Wye and Severn in the ancient Welsh kingdom of Gwent. He delights in the wisdom and learning we gain from our differences, having been taught so much by community life with people with learning differences and by his current students. He is a retreat leader, leading weekends exploring the inner life of great choral works, as well as an FE teacher and a librettist (he has worked internationally with choral and opera composers). He is currently developing online retreats.

SNIDER: MASS FOR THE ENDANGERED
SUNDAY, JUNE 30 • 2:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Coraine Tate

Coraine Tate, soprano, emerges as a distinguished vocal artist, captivating audiences with a vocal honesty that unveils the profound human stories concealed within the music. Her multiracial background intricately shapes a diverse musical tapestry, fostering a deep passion for an array of genres. As a fervent advocate for social justice through the arts Coraine utilizes her platform to amplify narratives that resonate with depth and significance. Her numerous concert appearances include The Conservatory Project Recital Series at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Renée Fleming’s Songstudio Young Artist Program, the Oregon Bach Festival, Songfest at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, the Cleveland Art Song Festival, and the Arts Renaissance Tremont Series. As a solo collaborative artist, she has appeared in Severance Hall, Wells Cathedral, Orchestra Hall, Kennedy Center of the Arts, Oslo Concert Hall, Grieghallen, and The Music Center at Strathmore. She has performed as a soloist with the Duke Symphony Orchestra, St. Olaf Orchestra, and the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra and the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra. In film, she received national attention for her solo performance at the Trondheim Nidaros Cathedral of This Little Light of Mine in the PBS Special: Christmas in Norway with the St. Olaf Choir. A native of Columbus, GA Coraine holds degrees in Voice Performance from St. Olaf College and an Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music.

STANGELAND FAMILY YOUTH CHORAL ACADEMY
TUESDAY, JULY 9 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

Claire Wells

American violinist Claire Wells is acclaimed by audiences and press for her expressive musicality and rich, singing quality of sound. Solo concert engagements have brought her to halls like the Wigmore Hall, the Meyerson Symphony Center, Bass Performance Hall, Teatro Degollado, and Konzerthaus Berlin. Having won major prizes in international competitions, Claire Wells is the Mendelssohn-Prize 1st Prize winner and Commission Prize winner at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Competition 2021, 2nd Prize winner at the Michael Hill International Violin Competition 2023, and has taken major prizes at the Indianapolis International Competition, Mirecourt International Competition, and Lynn Harrell Competition, among others. Claire Wells grew up in a musical family, playing both violin and piano from the age of three. Today, Wells has performed with major orchestras such as the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jalisco Philharmonic, and the Shen Zhen Symphony Orchestra, among others. Now studying at the Kronberg Academy with Mihaela Martin since 2022, Claire Wells studied privately with Brian Lewis, Sandy Yamamoto, and Emanuel Borok, and in 2017 attended the Yehudi Menuhin School with Lutsia Ibragimova. A passionate chamber musician, Claire Wells has worked alongside artists such as Enrico Pace, Nobuko Imai, Frans Helmerson, Christian Tetzlaff, and Steven Isserlis. Wells has also taken coachings from the likes of Ana Chumachenco, Boris Kuschnir, Andras Schiff, and Robert Levin. Claire Wells has performed at festivals such as the International Holland Music Sessions, Music@Menlo chamber music festival, Chamber Music Connects the World, Gstaad Festival, the Verbier Festival, and others. Wells plays on a Nicola Amati, on loan from a generous donor.

THE LARK ASCENDING
MONDAY, JULY 1 • 7:30 PM • BEALL CONCERT HALL

David Wong

Bassist David Wong was born and raised in New York City. In 2004, he graduated from the Juilliard School in classical music. He has studied with Orin O’Brien (New York Philharmonic), and Ron Carter. He is currently a member of Roy Haynes’ “Fountain of Youth” band, the Charles Mcpherson Quintet and The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. He was also the last bass player in the Heath Brother’s Quartet led by Jimmy Heath and Albert “Tootie” Heath as well as Hank Jones’ “Great Jazz Trio” and is featured on the piano master’s last recording.
David is on faculty at Temple University, Purchase College, The New School and The City College of New York.

24 PRELUDES
SATURDAY, JULY 6 • 7:30 PM • SORENG THEATER

Greg Zelek

Praised as “extraordinary in the classical music world” (Jon Hornbacher, PBS Wisconsin Life) and a “musical star” (Bill Wineke, Channel 3000), Greg Zelek is the Principal Organist of the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Curator of the Overture Concert Organ, where he regularly performs and oversees all of the MSO’s organ programming. Since September 2017, Greg has proudly held the Elaine and Nicholas Mischler Curatorship. Highlights of the upcoming 2024-25 season include return appearances as the Curator of the Organ Series of the Jacksonville Symphony, concerts as the Visiting Guest Artist at St. John’s University, collaborations with multiple instrumentalists, as well as solo concerts throughout the country. As the Curator of the Overture Concert Organ Series, Greg will perform in three of the four concerts, including a performance with the Lyyra Ensemble, a concert with tenor Limmie Pulliam, and a celebration concert with former Empire Brass members. He will also be the featured soloist at the opening concert of the MSO’s season, performing Jongen’s Symphonie Concertante. Greg released his first recording on the Overture Concert Organ in the Fall of 2022. In 2016, Greg was chosen by The Diapason magazine as one of the top “20 Under 30” organists, a feature which selects the most successful young artists in the field. He was the First Prize winner in the 2012 Rodgers North American Classical Organ Competition, 2012 West Chester University Organ Competition, and 2010 East Carolina University Organ Competition, as well as the Audience Prize winner of the 2016 Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition. A recipient of the inaugural Kovner Fellowship, he received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, as well as an Artist Diploma, from the Juilliard School as a student of Paul Jacobs. Greg, who is Cuban-American and a native Spanish speaker, grew up in Miami, FL.

GREG ZELEK ORGAN RECITAL
MONDAY, JULY 8 • 7:30 PM • CENTRAL LUTHERAN CHURCH

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Meet the Guest Ensembles

Portland Cello Project

In the fall of 2006 a group of nine cellists got on stage at Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge to perform Western classical music in an informal setting. Many of the cellists that night thought that was a fun one-off gig. But the energy of the night carried on, and that one-off gig became a second, and a third… almost every cellist in Portland at the time hopped on stage with the group, performing in Portland’s most popular clubs at the height of Portland’s acclaimed early-2000s music scene. The Cello Project quickly evolved into a nationally-recognized performing, recording and educational group touring everywhere in North America, performing in every type of venue imaginable, from punk rock clubs to symphony halls, to street parties, to TED Talks and exclusive private events, Under the artistic direction of Douglas Jenkins, the group grew and evolved a repertoire of over 1,700 pieces of music, working with an all-star group of cellists in the Pacific Northwest (Skip vonKuske, Diane Chaplin, Nancy Ives, Gideon Freudmann, Kevin Jackson, and Lauren McShane to name just a few…). Jenkins developed a three-part philosophy for the group that has mostly remained its unchanged north star over the years — to bring the cello places you wouldn’t normally see it, to perform music on the cello you wouldn’t normally associate with the instrument, and to build bridges between different musical communities through collaborations and community engagement.

PORTLAND CELLO PROJECT: BACH WITH A TWIST
SATURDAY, JUNE 29 • 7:30 PM • SORENG THEATER

Rebirth Brass Band

For almost four decades, the GRAMMY-winning Rebirth Brass Band has been “stunning” fans with a fiery live show and a rich musical catalog. Their trademark sound pays homage to the New Orleans brass band tradition while weaving a tapestry that combines elements of jazz, funk, soul, R&B and the sounds from the streets they grew up on. From their legendary 25+ year run of Tuesday nights at the Maple Leaf to stages all over the world, Rebirth is the soundtrack of the Crescent City and her premier musical ambassador.

Founded by brothers Phil and Keith Frazier over 35 years ago, Rebirth began their career playing on the sidewalks of the French Quarter, and quickly landed gigs at second line parades. Those auspicious beginnings have led to thousands of shows to music aficionados everywhere, including heads of state and royalty.

The band’s unique “soundtrack of New Orleans” has also garnered admiration from artists of all genres. They’ve shared the stage and collaborated with everyone from the Grateful Dead to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Maceo Parker, Green Day, U2, James Brown, 311, G-Love, MuteMath, Juvenile, Train, Big Freedia, Ani DiFranco, Galactic, Allen Toussaint, The Neville Brothers, Quincy Jones and Trombone Shorty.

BIG BRASS AND BOOM 2
WEDNESDAY, JULY 3 • 8:00 PM • PK PARK
TICKETS AT GO-EMS.COM

Resonance Ensemble

In its fifteenth season, Resonance Ensemble creates powerful programs that promote meaningful social change. Resonance Ensemble works to amplify voices that have long been silenced, and they do so through moving, thematic concerts that highlight solo and choral voices, new music by composers and poets whose stories have been underrepresented on the concert stage, visual and other performing artists, and community partners. Under Artistic Director Katherine FitzGibbon, Resonance Ensemble has performed challenging and diverse music, always with an eye toward unusual collaborations with artistic partners from around the country: poets, jazz musicians, singer-songwriters, painters, playwrights, and dancers. The Resonance Ensemble singers are “one of the Northwest’s fi nest choirs” (Willamette Week), with gorgeous vocal tone, and they also make music with heart. Resonance has commissioned new works from Jasmine Barnes, Kenji Bunch, Melissa Dunphy, Judy A. Rose, Renée Favand-See, Damien Geter, Joe Kye, S. Renee Mitchell, Kimberly Osberg, Vin Shambry, Mari Esabel Valverde, and Freddy Vilches. We look forward to the latest commissioned premiere by beloved jazz pianist and composer, Darrell Grant to celebrate our 15th anniversary on our “Amendments” concert (March 2024). Each concert connects the musical experience with tangible ways the audience can take action in collaboration with our community partner organizations. The groundbreaking work that Resonance Ensemble has been producing over the last few years has been noted by local media and national arts organizations. In Oregon ArtsWatch, Matthew Andrews described Resonance as “part social commentary, part group therapy, and part best damn choir show in town.”

BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONY NO. 9
SUNDAY, JULY 14 • 2:30 PM • SILVA CONCERT HALL

Sandbox Percussion

Described as “exhilarating” (The New York Times) and “utterly mesmerizing” (The Guardian), GRAMMY-nominated ensemble Sandbox Percussion is dedicated to artistry in contemporary chamber music. The ensemble was brought together in 2011 by a love of chamber music and the simple joy of playing together; today, Sandbox Percussion captivates worldwide audiences with visually and aurally stunning performances. Sandbox Percussion’s 2021 album Seven Pillars was nominated for two GRAMMY awards — Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance and Best Contemporary Classical Composition. The ensemble performed the piece more than 15 times throughout the United States and Europe last season, including at the Théâtre du Châtelet, in Paris. In the 2023-24 season, Sandbox Percussion performs Seven Pillars at the VIVO Music Festival (Columbus, OH); the New School (New York); Aperio, Music of the Americas (Houston); the Frost School of Music (Miami); Brown University (Providence, RI); and the Peace Center (Greenville, SC), among other venues. This season, Sandbox Percussion also released their fourth album, Wilderness, featuring the piece of the same name by experimental composer Jerome Begin. Other season highlights include two performances at the Park Avenue Armory (New York), featuring premieres by Chris Cerrone and Viet Cuong; a performance at the 92nd Street Y with pianist and new-music champion Conor Hanick featuring the New York premiere of two works composed for them by Christopher Cerrone and by Tyshawn Sorey; and an appearance at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Sandbox Percussion will also continue to champion Viet Cuong’s acclaimed concerto for percussion quartet, Re(new)al, including performances with the Des Moines Symphony and with the Albany Symphony, which commissioned the piece. Besides maintaining an international performance schedule, Sandbox Percussion holds the position of ensemble-in-residence and percussion faculty at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and The New School’s College of Performing Arts. In 2016, Sandbox Percussion founded the Sandbox Percussion Seminar, introducing percussion students to the leading percussion chamber music of the day. Sandbox Percussion endorses Pearl/Adams musical instruments, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Remo drumheads, and Black Swamp accessories.

SANDBOX PERCUSSION: PROPHECIES OF FIRE
SATURDAY, JULY 13 • 7:30 PM • SORENG THEATER

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