Soprano and Stony Brook University alumna Christine Goerke is the artistic director of Music at Southampton: Sustainable Treasures and a Stony Brook University alumnus. Recipient of the 2001 Richard Tucker Award, Goerke has established an outstanding reputation with many of the world’s leading opera houses and orchestras. During the 2006 season, Goerke created a sensation with critics and the public alike as Rosalinde in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus for her San Francisco Opera debut. Noting the agile richness and size of her soprano, one critic simply wrote, “Ecco la Brunnhilde.” The Opera News wrote: “The evening’s standout was Christine Goerke. Making her company debut as Rosalinde, the soprano brought large, luxuriant tone and gorgeous top notes to the assignment: She projected mightily, phrased unerringly, handled her dialogue with finesse, and enlivened her scenes with keen comic skill.”
Christine Goerke's Web site »
| Christine Brewer (Soprano) Grammy Award-winning American soprano Brewer’s appearances in opera, concert, and recital are marked with her own unique timbre, at once warm and brilliant, combined with a vibrant personality and emotional honesty reminiscent of the great sopranos of the past. Brewer has appeared with many of the world’s great conductors and has performed her broad repertoire regularly with the world’s leading orchestras. In addition to her many appearances at Wigmore Hall in London, Brewer, a stunning recitalist, has graced Lincoln Center’s Art of the Song series at Alice Tully Hall and made appearances in Washington, D.C.; Vancouver, British Columbia; Santa Fe, New Mexico; Cleveland; St. Louis; and Portland, Maine. Christine Brewer's Web site » |
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| Patrick Carfizzi (Bass-baritone) Carfizzi graduated from the Yale School of Music and is the winner of the 2002 Richard Tucker Career Grant Award and 2001 George London Award. He has performed a number of roles at the Metropolitan Opera, including Schaunard in La Boheme, the Doctor in Pelleas et Melisande, Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro, Wagner in Faust, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Haly in L’Italiana in Algeri, and Peter Quince in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, among many others. His Taddeo (L’Italiana in Algeri) with the Canadian Opera Company won him widespread acclaim from both sides of the border: “American bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi has a rich, creamy voice that is a delight,” reported Classical 96.3 FM in Toronto. “Bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi…made his role into something much bigger thanks to the soaring breadth of his voice. Whenever he was on stage, the drama brightened.” Patrick Carfizzi's Web site » |
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| Ray Fellman (Piano) A multitalented music maker, Fellman was musical director for productions such as The Tutor by Wood/Gerle (59 E. 59th), Reluctant Pilgrim (The Barrow Group), Blood Drive: A Musical Triptych by Sheinkin/Derfner (workshop at the O’Neill Theater Center), and Amahl and the Night Visitors (national tour directed by David Aiken). He has also served as accompanist for the Utah Festival Opera Company, the Opera Company of Brooklyn, and MidAmerica Productions at Carnegie Hall (with John Rutter). Equally at home on the opera stage, Fellman has performed the roles of Marcello, Figaro, Silvio, Mandryka, and Rigoletto for such opera companies as Glimmerglass Opera, New Orleans Opera, Chautauqua Opera, and Florida Grand Opera. |
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| Joel Frahm (Tenor saxophone) One of the busiest tenor saxophonists on the New York scene, Frahm is one of the most talented bandleaders playing today. Down Beat magazine recently named him a “Rising Star.” His most recent CD, We Used to Dance, brings together a classic rhythm section of musicians who played with Stan Getz on some of his final recordings. A talented composer and arranger, Frahm calls himself a “musical chameleon,” but the rich sound he produces is very much his own. He’ll be bringing a special group of friends to perform with him. Joel Frahm's Web site » |
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| Jill Grove (Mezzo-soprano) Winner of the 1996 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, 2001 Richard Tucker Foundation Career Grant, and 2003 Aria Award, Grove has sung at every major opera house in the world and collaborates regularly with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. She “pulls no punches in her singing, deploying a vibrant, earth-colored tone that combines agility with a low center of gravity. …And Grove’s expressive impulse is never less than forceful. She shapes legato phrases with a rough-hewn elegance that stresses every emotional nuance, and rises to a dramatic climax with even greater vividness,” wrote Joshua Kosman of San Francisco Chronicle. Jill Grove's Web site » |
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| Sarah Heltzel (Mezzo-soprano) Heltzel is a graduate of Manhattan School of Music and Seattle Opera’s Young Artists Program. She was a finalist and grant recipient in the 2005 Gerda Lissner Foundation Competition, and a winner in the 2004 Sun Valley Opera Competition. She’s made a name for herself at the Seattle Opera. Her performance as Siegrune in Stephen Wadsworth’s acclaimed Ring Cycle won praise from Seattle Weekly, which lauded her for her “perfectly polished and vivacious singing.” |
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| Christopher Higgins (Bass) At the age of five Higgins began studying the violin, switching to bass at age 13. He is recognized as a member of the new jazz generation, having recorded and toured extensively with top Spanish jazz artists and visiting acts such as Richie Cole, Sonny Fortune, Pat Metheny, Jerry Gonzalez, Benny Green, and Donald Harrison. He lives in New York City, where he can be heard performing with some of the city’s top musicians, and tours often in Europe, Japan, and around the United States. |
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| Dominic Inferrera (Baritone) The 1995 winner of the Central City Opera Outstanding Apprentice Award, Inferrera played the role of The Son in Hugo Weisgall’s Six Characters in Search of an Author with the Opera Festival of New Jersey; The New York Times proclaimed him a “standout” for that performance. Dominic Inferrera's Web site » |
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| Kathleen Kelly (Piano) Head of the Houston Grand Opera’s (HGO’s) music staff, music director of the HGO Studio, and music director of the Berkshire Opera, Kelly is also a conductor, opera coach, and recital pianist for some of the world’s greatest singers. For nine years (1997-2006) she served as coach and prompter at the Metropolitan Opera, specializing in German repertoire. In December 2006 she made her HGO conducting debut leading performances of Hansel and Gretel in her own arrangement for chamber ensemble to critical acclaim. |
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| Frank LoCrasto (Piano) LoCrasto is a recipient of the Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship and began turning heads as pianist for the acclaimed trumpeter Jeremy Pelt. His debut record, When You’re There (MaxJazz),reveals influences that span the jazz and modern pop landscape. Nate Chinen of The New York Times called LoCrasto “a pianist-composer of modernity and promise.” Frank LoCrasto's Web site » |
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| Lisa Mandelkorn (Soprano) Mandelkorn is a two-time regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a graduate of the New England Conservatory and Boston University Opera Institute. Noted for her shimmering soprano and exceptional acting skills, Mandelkorn has received critical acclaim for such diverse portrayals as Sister Constance in Dialogues of the Carmelites and Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Equally at home in dramatic and comedic roles, she has been described as “…possessed of a beautiful voice…” and a “…physical and imaginative abandon on stage.” |
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| Rebecca Martin (Vocalist) The New York Times selected Martin’s 2002 recording Middlehope for its annual Top Ten Best Jazz Albums of the year. Ben Ratliff wrote: “This is a fresh jazz singer set loose in folk-pop, or vice versa; you never quite know which. . . and both sides of the equation come out well.” Martin’s 2004 debut release for MaxJazz, People Behave Like Ballads, received accolades. Steve Israel of recordonline.com wrote: “On her new album with the terrific title, People Behave Like Ballads, Martin makes beguiling music that’s deceptively complex. With a voice that often sounds like a young, pre-cigarettes Joni Mitchell, Martin sounds wise and warm as she sings about ‘the road (of life) that twists and sways.’” Rebecca Martin's Web site » |
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| Liz McCartney (Vocalist) A veteran of many Broadway musicals, most recently Mamma Mia and Thoroughly Modern Millie, McCartney returns with a new show called Rosemary and Time, a Tribute to the Life and Music of Rosemary Clooney. Rob Lester of www.CabaretExchange.com wrote, “The word ‘triumph’ comes to mind in describing Rosemary and Time: an involving, intriguing, informative, insightful piece that never forgets its other mission—to thoroughly entertain.” In 2003 McCartney originated the role of Sue Tilley in the musical Taboo; she also created the role of Rebecca in Dance of the Vampires. Rosie O’Donnell, who worked with McCartney on Broadway, said McCartney “carries herself like a queen, which I love, and when she starts to sing, there is nothing to say but ‘thank God for giving her to us.’ ” |
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| Marcy McGuigan (Vocalist) Marcy McGuigan's stage credits include New York productions of Meet Me in St. Louis, A Wonderful Life, Shanghai Moon, Swingtime Canteen, It's Not My Fault, Times Square Angel, Box Office of the Damned. She has performed cabaret at Sardi's, Town Hall, CBGB's, Danny's, The Ballroom, and Don't Tell Mama. |
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| Sylvia McNair (Vocalist) Grammy Award winner McNair’s segue from an incredible and long-lived opera and oratorio career to cabaret and musical theater continues to meet with outstanding approval and adulation. The Wall Street Journal recognized McNair as one of only two of today’s first-rank American classical artists who “proved adept at jazz vocals.” And Chicago Tribune hailed her cabaret show as “a stylistic breakthrough.”McNair’s cabaret appearances include those at Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois; the Milwaukee Symphony; the Carlyle Hotel in New York; and the famed Oak Room of The Algonquin Hotel in New York, where critic Rex Reed of The New York Observer heard one of McNair’s performances and wrote: “What a glowing surprise to find Ms. McNair not only in such splendid voice, but thrillingly adept at exploring the subtexts of songs in a dozen variable moods … I could get used to this kind of ecstasy.” SylviaMcNair's Web site » |
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| Greg Ritchie (Drums) Since moving from Montreal to New York in September 2003, Ritchie has recorded and toured North America, Europe, and Japan with various artists including the indie-pop group Clare & The Reasons, Francois Bourassa Quartet, Christine Jensen, and Adam Niewood. He has also performed with David Binney, Seamus Blake, Vic Juris, Geoffrey Keezer, Dave Liebman, and Mark Turner. Greg Ritchie's Web site » |
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| Craig Rutenberg (Piano) One of the world’s most sought after vocal accompanists and coaches, Rutenberg has appeared with many of the world’s greatest singers. He has worked as the senior coach at Glyndebourne and as the head of the music staff and coach and prompter with the Metropolitan Opera. Craig Smith of The Sante Fe New Mexican said the following about a joint recital in 2005: “I’ve always wanted to start a review with, ‘ha, ha, we were there and you weren’t,’ and soprano Christine Brewer and pianist Craig Rutenberg’s Sante Fe Chamber Music Festival recital … provided the perfect opportunity” and “… audience members heard glorious singing, magnificent piano playing … and a creative collaboration that defined what chamber music is all about.” |
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| Ted Taylor (Piano) Whether conducting opera at New York’s Lincoln Center, appearing as pianist in recital at Suntory Hall in Tokyo or London’s Wigmore Hall, or in cabaret at the Oak Room in The Algonquin Hotel, Taylor enjoys a multifaceted career. A native of Texas, Taylor did his graduate studies at Indiana University and is on the faculties of Yale University and Mannes College The New School for Music in New York City, where he maintains an active studio as coach and teacher. |
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| Thomas Wazelle (Tenor) Thomas Wazelle is a rising star. His portrayal of Frederic (Pirates of Penzance) prompted performing arts critic Jack Neal to wrote: “Wazelle has got the kind of young-chap charm that makes his wide-eyed Frederic a pleasure to behold.” He has a beautiful, rich tenor voice and a passion for music ranging from opera and classical music to pop, jazz and musical theatre. Also a trumpeter, composer and songwriter, he holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Trumpet Performance and Music Composition as well as a Master’s in Vocal Performance. Thomas Wazelle's Web site » |
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