Mark Bleeke, Tenor
Mark Bleeke sings a wide array of musical styles and idioms, including Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Contemporary, and Jazz. As the Evangelist in Bach's St. John and St. Matthew Passions, The New York Times called his performance "wonderful…superbly fresh, lyrical and communicative."
Recently, Mr. Bleeke sang Kurt Weill's, The Seven Deadly Sins with a number of orchestras and conductors including the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival under the direction of James Conlon, The Bruckner Orchestra in Linz, Austria, and Salle Pleyel in Paris (Dennis Russell Davies), Accademia Nazionale Di Santa Cecilia in Rome (Ingo Metzmacher), and in Japan at the Miyazaki International Music Festival. He sang Stravinski's Renard, as well as the Weill under the direction of Charles Dutoit.
Other recent engagements include Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light in Sarasota, Beethoven's, Christ on the Mount of Olives, Evangelist in Bach's St. John Passion with Albany Pro Musica, and Robert Beaser's Songs From the Occasions with the 21st Century Consort at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
This season Mr. Bleeke will travel to China with Hudson Shad, where he will sing music of the Comedian Harmonists, Kurt Weill and American crooner classics at the Festival Internacional De Musica De Macau; a recital of Elizabethan lute songs with The Folger Consort in Washington, D.C.; Evangelist in Bach's St. Matthew Passion, Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610, Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sins with the Santa Rosa Symphony, and the title role in Benjamin Britten's Saint Nicolas, with Orchestra of St. Luke's and the St. Thomas Choir (John Scott).
His numerous recordings include the title role in Handel's Acis and Galate, with Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra (Martin Haselboeck), Dave Brubeck's To Hope: A Celebration, and Kurt Weill's The Seven Deadly Sin, with The New York Philharmonic under the direction of Kurt Masur. Mr. Bleeke has performed many times with Dennis Keene and the Voices of Ascension, including last season's Mozart Requiem.
Vinson Cole, Tenor
American tenor Vinson Cole is internationally recognized as one of the leading artists of his generation. His career has taken him to all of the major opera houses across the globe including the Metropolitan Opera, Opera National de Paris Bastille, Teatro alla Scala Milan, Theatre Royale de la Monnaie, Brussels, Berlin State Opera and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Munich State Opera, San Francisco Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Opera Australia and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Seattle Opera and many more. Equally celebrated for his concert appearances, Mr. Cole has been a frequent guest of the most prestigious orchestras throughout the world and has collaborated with the greatest conductors of this era including Christoph Eschenbach, Claudio Abbado, Carlo Maria Giulini, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, James Conlon, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Gerard Schwarz as well as Sir Georg Solti and Giuseppe Sinopoli. Mr. Cole had an especially close working relationship with the late Herbert von Karajan, who brought the artist to the Salzburg Festival to sing the Italian Tenor in Der Rosenkavalier - the first of many performances there together. Their collaboration went on to include works such as Verdi's Requiem, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis,. Mozart's Requiem, Bruckner's Te Deum. Many of these were issued on recordings on Deutsche Grammophon.
In recent seasons Vinson Cole has starred in the new production of Berlioz's Damnation de Faust at the SemperOper in Dresden, and has appeared with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Mahler's Symphony Number 8 under Christoph Eschenbach, the same work under James Conlon with the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival, Verdi's Requiem's at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Alceste with the Collegiate Chorale in New York. Highlights from other past seasons have also included La Bohème at the San Francisco Opera, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor with the Houston Grand Opera, Les Contes D'Hofmann with the Seattle Opera, Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly with the New Japan Philharmonic under the baton of Seiji Ozawa, Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the BSO at Carnegie Hall under James Levine, L'Enfance du Christ with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen, Berlioz's Romeo et Juliette with the Orchestre de Paris with Eschenbach, and a return to the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Stravinsky's Persephone.
Kevin Deas, Bass
Kevin Deas has gained international acclaim as one of America's leading basses. Lauded for his "burnished sound, clarity of diction and sincerity of expression" and "fervent intensity" by Chicago Tribune critic John von Rhein, Deas has been variously called "exemplary" (Denver Post), "especially fine" (Washington Post) and possessing "a resourceful range of expression" (The Cincinnati Enquirer). He is perhaps most acclaimed for his signature portrayal of the title role in Porgy and Bess, having sung it with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco, Atlanta, San Diego, Utah, Houston, Baltimore and Montreal symphonies and the Ravinia and Saratoga festivals.
During the 2009/10 season, Kevin appears in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Rochester and Buffalo philharmonics, Brahms Requiem with the Hartford Symphony, Messiah with the Minnesota Orchestra and Musica Sacra, and the Verdi Requiem with the Vermont Symphony.
The 2008/09 season offered a snapshot of the continued demand Kevin Deas enjoys with the major orchestras in the US. He returned to the New York Philharmonic in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges under Lorin Maazel, then sang in the world premiere of Derek Bermel's The good Life with the Pittsburgh Symphony under Leonard Slatkin and was again heard in Hannibal Lokumbe's Dear Mrs. Parks, this time with the Detroit Symphony. Other return engagements brought him to the Atlanta Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Boston Baroque, Winnipeg Symphony, Modesto Symphony, National Philharmonic, The Discovery Orchestra and an appearance at the Winter Park Festival.
Other recent highlights include Beethoven's Ninth Symphony under the baton of Daniel Barenboim with Filarmonica della Scala in Accra celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of Ghana, Copland's Old American Songs and Mozart's Marriage of Figaro as well as Elgar's Dream of Gerontius with the Chicago Symphony, Messiah with the Cleveland Orchestra and appearances at Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival and Carnegie Hall.
A strong proponent of contemporary music, Kevin Deas was heard at Italy's Spoleto Festival in a new production of Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors in honor of the composer's eighty-fifth birthday, videotaped for worldwide release. His 20-year collaboration with Dave Brubeck have taken him to Salzburg, Vienna and Moscow in To Hope!.
Kevin Deas' list of recordings is as varied as it is impressive: He has recorded for Decca/London Die Meistersinger with the Chicago Symphony under the late Sir Georg Solti and Varèse's Ecuatorial with the ASKO Ensemble under the baton of Ricardo Chailly. Other releases include Bach's B minor Mass and Handel's Acis & Galatea on Vox Classics and Dave Brubeck's To Hope! with the Cathedral Choral Society on the Telarc label.
Oren Gradus, Bass
Oren Gradus is rapidly earning recognition both in North America and in Europe as a brilliant basso cantante. He has already performed in leading theaters such as the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, L'Opera de Marseille and the Teatro all'Opera di Roma.
During the 2009-2010 Oren Gradus will be heard at Pittsburgh Opera as Gremin in Eugene Onegin as well as the title role of Le nozze di Figaro. He will also return to the Metropolitan Opera as Coline in La bohème and will also be heard in Elektra. During the summer of 2010 Oren will return to Opera Theatre of St. Louis for Gremin in Eugene Onegin as well as for the world premiere of The Golden Ticket. Engagements of recent seasons have included his debut in Bilbao as Ferrando in Il trovatore, Colline at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, for his debut at Los Angeles Opera, as well as his debut at Seattle Opera in the title role of Le nozze di Figaro. He made his debut at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna in Lucia di Lammermoor and returned to the San Francisco Opera for both Lucia di Lammermoor and Samson et Dalila. Other performances at the Metropolitan Opera have included Giorgio in I Puritani, Timur in Turandot, and Garibaldo in Rodelinda opposite Renee Fleming. He has also been heard at the Dallas Opera as Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and as Leporello at both the Houston Grand Opera and San Francisco Opera.
Oren Gradus completed his musical studies at the Oberlin Conservatory after which he was invited to join the Pittsburgh Opera Center. Among his appearances for that company are Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Don Alfonso in Così fan Tutte, and Capellio in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi. Gradus subsequently became a member of the Houston Grand Opera and appeared there in a variety of roles. Gradus made his European operatic debut as Figaro at L'Opera de Marseille in 2004 and returned there in 2005 as Leporello in Don Giovanni.. He made his Italian stage debut in the summer of 2006 as Ramfis in Aida for the Rome Opera in Caracalla.
Jennifer Larmore, Mezzo-Soprano
The American opera star Jennifer Larmore is a highly acclaimed performer in all prestigious opera houses and concert halls throughout the world thanks to her beautiful voice, excellent technique and natural contact with the audience.
Her range of roles, many of which she has performed at the Metropolitan Opera, is truly varied. This excellent, versatile, talented mezzo-soprano is considered to be one of the foremost interpreters of Rossini in the world. Her performance at the closing ceremonies of the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta was heard by an audience of over two billion viewers.
She has received a number of prestigious awards and her discography contains over 60 recordings. Her Gramophone Award winning 'Giulio Cesare' is widely considered to be one of the finest interpretations of that role ever performed.
Sharla Nafziger, soprano
"Nafziger has it all: a superb natural voice, excellent training, profound sensitivity and intelligence," sums up the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, adding she is "a real talent to follow" who is "blessed with a naturally beautifully voice." Others describe her instrument as "radiant and clear" (Edmonton Journal), "seraphic" (Calgary Herald), "sparkling and vivid" (Boston Herald), and "delightful" (Gramophone). With such accolades it is no wonder that this Canadian soprano has established herself as a premier coloratura with impressive engagements to her credit, among them her debut at Tanglewood as Nanetta in Falstaff under Seiji Ozawa, later broadcast on NPR.
Last season, Sharla Nafziger made two appearances with Houston Symphony - in Messiah and Bach's Magnificat respectively, and sang an evening of arias with the New Jersey Symphony, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass with Huntsville Symphony, Nielsen's Hymnus Amoris at Winter Park Bach Festival, Messiah with Peniel Concert Choir at Avery Fisher Hall and Handel's Esther with Amor Artis orchestra.
During the 2007/08 season, Nafziger sang Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Vancouver Symphony, appeared with the Winnipeg Symphony in Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony, and performed Messiah with the Monterey Symphony under Christoph Campestrini. Her Kennedy Center debut later in the season with John Adam's El Niño and the Choral Arts Society of Washington showcased her strong affinity for contemporary music as does the North American premiere of Beat Furrer's Invocation #6 with the Argento Ensemble at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York. A regular guest of the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, FL, she returned to sing Haydn's Creation and Bach's St. Matthew Passion and returned to Carnegie Hall to sing John Rutter's Requiem.
The 2006/07 season brought a return to the New York City Opera as Frasquita and Juliete in Die tote Stadt. She was also heard in Messiah with both the National Philharmonic Orchestra (MD) and the Pensacola Symphony, Bach's St. John Passion with Winter Park Bach Festival, Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem at the Shenadoah Valley Bach Festival, and returned to Carnegie Hall to sing Fauré's Requiem and Schubert's Mass in G. She took part in the orchestral premiere of Larry Nelson's Seven Clay Songs with Orchestra 2001 in Philadelphia, the song version of which she had recorded on Albany Records and premiered in 2004. She also recorded Scott Wheeler's opera The Contruction of Boston on the Naxos label.
In 2005, Nafziger joined the roster of New York City Opera in the role of Corinna (cover, Il Viaggio a Reims), and sang the title role in Pasatieri's opera La Divina with Opera Company of Brooklyn. Other engagements included Messiah and Mozart's Great Mass in C Minor at Carnegie Hall with the Oratorio Society of New York, Faure's Requiem with Voices of Ascension (NYC), Elijah with the Winter Park Bach Festival (FL), Les Noces at Trinity Church Wall Street (NYC) and Carmina Burana with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Her summer engagements for 2006 included the premiere of Kieren MacMillan's Drunken Moon, and Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire with the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and Bach's Christmas Oratorio and B Minor Mass with the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival (VA).
Among other highlights figure performances with the Buffalo Philharmonic, National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, El Paso Opera, and the symphonies of Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, Nova Scotia, Kitchener-Waterloo, Windsor, and the Tafelmusik Chamber Orchestra, among others.
In addition to the above mentioned recordings, Nafziger can be heard on the Naxos label in Lully's Ballet Music for the Sun King with the Aradia Ensemble, the Telarc label as Die Erste Elfe in Strauss' Die Agyptische Helena with the American Symphony Orchestra. Later this year a new release on the ERM Media label will feature her in the premiere of Boaz Tarsi's Concerto for Soprano and Orchestra, with the Kiev Philharmonic Orchestra.
Edward Parks, Baritone
Edward Parks, baritone, from Indiana, Pennsylvania, is in his second year of the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. Mr. Parks makes his Metropolitan Opera debut this season as Fiorello in Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Last season, Mr. Parks sang Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra and participated in the Ravinia Festival’s Steans Institute for Young Artists. In 2007, Mr. Parks made his Carnegie Hall debut in an evening of songs by Charles Ives. Mr. Parks received his Bachelor’s degree from Oberlin Conservatory, and his Master’s degree from Yale University. While at Oberlin, Mr. Parks sang the roles of Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro and Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore. At Yale, he performed the roles of Marcello in La Bohème, Jupiter in Orphée aux Enfers, and Gabriel von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus. A National Winner of the 2008 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Mr. Parks has received awards from the George London Foundation, the Irma M. Cooper Opera Columbus International Vocal Competition, Connecticut Opera, the Palm Beach Opera Competition and the Music Academy of the West. Last summer, he won the Marilyn Horne Competition and became a member of the Marilyn Horne Foundation. This season’s engagements include a recital with the Marilyn Horne Foundation at Carnegie Hall, a concert with other members of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program in Bryant Park, New York City, as well as his debut with Opera Theatre of St. Louis singing Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro.
Tami Petty, Soprano
Tami Petty's soaring soprano has been featured this season in Strauss's Four Last Songs with the Fort Collins Symphony, Michael Tippett's A Child of Our Time with the Manchester Choral Society, as Leonore in Fidelio with Opera Fort Collins, and as Woglinde in excerpts from Wagner's Das Rheingold at the Bard Summerscape Festival with the American Symphony Orchestra.
Critics have described her "darkly-colored soprano voice of significant amplitude" as "dignified and perfectly paced" praising her "superb vocalism." She has performed with San Francisco Opera Center, San Francisco Ballet Symphony, Riverside Choral Society, Grace Church Choral Society, Five Burroughs Music Festival, Summit Chorale, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Oratorio Society, Rochester Chamber Orchestra, Rochester Bach Festival, Finger Lakes Chamber Ensemble, and Canada's London Fanshawe Symphonic Orchestra.
Tami has received awards from the Richard Tucker Foundation, the Marilyn Horne Foundation, the Chautauqua Opera Guild, the Lotte Lenya Competition, and the Connecticut Opera Guild. A Merola Opera Program alum, she has received Career Grants from the San Francisco Opera Center, where she performed as a guest in Lotfi Mansouri's production of Albert Herring alongside the Adler Fellows. Other young artist programs include the Music Academy of the West, Cincinnati Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Central City Opera and the Cleveland Art Song Festival.
Upcoming engagements include the 2010 inaugural performance of the Lotte Lehmann Foundation concert series, the Bach B-Minor Mass at the University of North Texas, an appearance with the José Limón Dance Company, and the Brahms Requiem with the Manchester Choral Society.
Barbara Rearick, Mezzo-Soprano
"A singer…who can happily turn her talents to opera, oratorio, or cabaret," mezzo-soprano Barbara Rearick brings her intrinsic vocal beauty and empathy to a great range of musical literature. Her ability to uncover depths of emotion has garnered praise from audiences worldwide.
In high demand for orchestral performances during 2009/10, Rearick sings Messiah with the Indianapolis and Helena symphonies, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Colorado and Syracuse symphonies and Mozart's Coronation Mass with the Eugene Symphony. Overseas, she can be heard in El Amor Brujo and excerpts from Carmen with the Halle Orchestra.
Engagements during the 2008/09 season included the world premiere performance of Douglas Cuomo's opera Arjuna's Dilemma at the PepsiCo Theater in Purchase, NY, followed by performances at BAM's Next Wave Festival later in the season. She also performed Messiah with the Helena Symphony, Lord Nelson Mass with Huntsville Symphony, the Gloria Magnificat with Houston Symphony and the St. John Passion with Musica Sacra.
Ms. Rearick's 2007-08 season offered an all-Beethoven program at Carnegie Hall with the New York Oratorio Society, Bach's Mass in B minor with Voices of Ascension under Dennis Keene, Mahler's Symphony No. 3 with the Helena Symphony, Bach's St. Matthew Passion at the Northwest Bach Festival with Gunther Schuller, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 under Maestro Daniel Hege and the Amarillo Symphony, and Messiah with the Monterey Symphony with Maestro Christoph Campestrini.
Other concert appearances include Mahler's Symphony No. 8 with the Utah Symphony under the direction of Keith Lockhart; performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 and Prokofiev's The Ugly Duckling with the Baltimore Symphony; Britten's Spring Symphony under Maestro Jeffrey Kahane with Santa Rosa Symphony; Messiah with the Houston Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, and the Buffalo Symphony under JoAnne Falletta; the role of Meg Page in Verdi's Falstaff with the Brooklyn Philharmonic under Robert Spano; and, in Mexico, Bach's Christmas Oratorio with Carlos Miguel Prieto and the Xalapa Sinfonia.
Opera highlights include the role of Mary in the world-premiere performance of Allan Jaffe's The Mary Shelley Opera under Alan Johnson; Lucretia (The Rape of Lucretia) in Rio de Janeiro at Sala Cecilia Meireles; the roles of Miriam, Ruth, and the Witch of Endor for the world-premiere recording of Kurt Weill's The Eternal Road under Gerard Schwarz with the Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin; and the role of the Cook in Stravinsky's Le Rossignol with the Kansas City Symphony.
A champion of 20th-century music, Ms. Rearick has collaborated with the New York New Music Ensemble, performing the world premiere of Sunflower, composed by Mary Wright. She also gave the US premiere of Nicholas Maw's Nocturne with Leon Botstein and the American Symphony Orchestra at Bard, and last season sang A Winter's Journey, Douglas Cuomo's setting of Müller's text (found in Schubert's Winterreise).
Ms. Rearick has appeared on BBC World Service Radio, WQXR, and NPR and has recorded for Naxos, Gateway Classics, and ASV.
Kathy Theil, Soprano
Kathy Theil is one of New York's busiest vocal chamber music and solo performers. Noted for her clear tone and fiery coloratura, she is a frequent soloist with choruses and orchestras in the New York area. Ms. Theil has been a member of Voices of Ascension since its inaugural season in 1990. As a member of many other ensembles such as Pomerium, the Waverly Consort, New York Virtuoso Singers, Philip Glass Ensemble, Gregg Smith Singers, Musica Sacra, Ensemble for Early Music, New York Collegium, Concert Royale and The Western Wind Vocal Ensemble, she has performed at the Utrecht and Regensburg Early Music Festivals, the Summerscope Festival in London, The Hokutopia International Music Festival in Tokyo, and other major concert venues abroad.
Ms. Theil is a founding member of Equal Voices, a six-voice a cappella ensemble that has an expansive repertoire but enjoys specializing in contemporary music. As a member of this ensemble she is an energetic and highly skilled workshop teacher, vocal and choral coach.
Last spring Ms. Theil performed Mozart’s Requiem and Fauré’s Requiem with New York’s Music Sacra Chorus and Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. Carnegie Hall performances include Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s B Minor Mass. Other recent solo performances around the United States include Bach's St. Matthew Passion, Handel's Solomon, Messiah and Israel in Egypt, and Philip Glass's Koyaanisqatsi.
This season’s solo performances will include a performance of Bach cantatas with Orpheus Chamber Ensemble and an evening of cantatas, arias and duets with the ensemble Ridotto. Critics have described Ms. Theil's voice as "impressive," "bell-like," "pristine," and "utterly convincing." She has also enjoyed success singing leading roles in musicals and operettas including Camelot, Carousel, Ruddigore, and Pirates of Penzance. She has been recorded on the PGM, AMDG, Dorian, Decca, Western Wind and Classic Masters labels, and is a featured soloist on the critically acclaimed Voices of Ascension recording Voices of Angels: Music of Hildegard von Bingen on the Delos label.
Kathy lives in Brooklyn with her husband and three eccentric cats.