2010-2011 Bozeman Symphony Artists
Richard Dowling
Pianist
Hailed by The New York Times as an “especially impressive fine young pianist,” RICHARD DOWLING appears regularly across the United States and throughout the world in orchestral performances, solo recitals and chamber music collaborations. He has been acclaimed by audiences for his elegant and charismatic style of pianism which earns him frequent return engagements.
Highlights of Richard Dowling’s current season include solo and collaborative recitals in Mexico and throughout the United States.
In the United States, Richard Dowling has received nationwide attention for recitals seen on the PBS program Debut and has been heard on NPR’s Performance Today, while in New York City, he has performed with orchestra at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Alice Tully Hall and in Central Park and presented recitals at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, 92nd Street YM-YWHA, Steinway Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dahesh Museum, Kosciuszko Foundation, St. Bartholomew’s Church, Trinity Church, Metropolitan Club, Brooklyn Conservatory, Concordia College and The Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center. His December 2005 debut with the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra led to an immediate re-engagement to collaborate with Music Director Neal Gittleman on a rarely heard Romantic gem, the Piano Concerto in E by Moritz Moszkowski.
Richard Dowling has established himself internationally with performances in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and South Africa. In the Far East, he has performed critically acclaimed recitals at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Singapore’s Victoria Concert Hall and the Istana Auditorium in Kuala Lumpur. He has also conducted guest master classes at the LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts and Young Musicians’ Society in Singapore and Hong Kong’s Academy for the Performing Arts, as well as at the Shanghai Conservatory.
Richard Dowling enjoys a special affinity for France and its music, art and culture. He studied at the Conservatoire de Musique in Nice with the renowned French pianist Jeanne-Marie Darré, participated as a guest artist in the La Gesse Summer Festival, and received the Grand Prix from the French Piano Institute in Paris. He made his formal Paris recital debut at the Salle Cortot, and was subsequently invited to perform at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. Maurice Ravel and his music were the subjects of Mr. Dowling’s doctoral dissertation. His repertoire includes the complete solo and chamber piano music of Ravel and many works by Debussy, Fauré and Saint-Saëns. Mr. Dowling has produced his own critically-revised edition of Ravel’s Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano based on the composer’s original manuscript. He is currently preparing a new authoritative multi-volume edition of the complete solo piano works of Ravel for Masters Music Publications. In recognition of his dedication to French musical art, Mr. Dowling was officially inducted as a Chevalier of the renowned Company of Musketeers of Armagnac, a honor society originally founded in the 17th century by D’Artagnan in southwest France.
A competition veteran and frequent prizewinner, Richard Dowling has been awarded first place in, among others, the San Antonio International Keyboard Competition, New Orleans International Piano Competition, Louise D. McMahon International Music Competition (OK), Oklahoma Symphony Concerto Competition, Shreveport Symphony/Wideman Concerto Competition, Midland/Odessa National yong Artist Audition and the Brazos Valley (TX) Symphony Young Artists Competition. He was also declared National Winner of the prestigious Music Teachers National Association Collegiate Artist Competition. Mr. Dowling was the recipient of a special award from the National Federation of Music Clubs, recognizing his outstanding performances of American music.
Richard Dowling celebrated the 1998 centennial of the birth of George Gershwin by performing his complete solo and orchestral works for piano. In 2001, he released Sweet and Low-Down, a Klavier Records compact disc containing virtually all of the solo piano works by Gershwin. He has also recorded two CDs of popular piano works by Chopin for Piano Productions Recordings and, with his duo-partner, cellist Evan Drachman, three CDs of cello and piano works: A Frog He Went a-Courting, Pairs of Pieces; Infinity; Romance and Revelation. In 2004, Klavier Records released World’s Greatest Rags, followed, in 2007, by Rhapsody in Ragtime, two discs of Mr. Dowling’s favorite American ragtime, novelty, stride and jazz piano solos.
While studying at Yale University, Richard Dowling was honored with the Lockwood Award for performing the best recital and the Bruce Simonds Award for outstanding solo and ensemble playing. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in piano performance from The University of Texas and has held positions as Artist-in-Residence at Lamar University in Texas and at The Harid Conservatory of Music in Boca Raton, Florida. His principal teacher was Abbey Simon. In the fall of 2009, he was appointed to the Board of the Yale University School of Music.
In addition to his regular concert performances, Richard Dowling is frequently heard as a member of the artist roster of The Piatigorsky Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing live classical music to audiences across America. Over the past sixteen years he has performed over 800 recitals under its auspices.
Richard Dowling makes his home in Houston and New York City.
www.richard-dowling.com
www.dowlingmusic.com
Biography courtesy of Parker Artists ‘Richard Dowling’ Web Page
John Novacek
Pianist
Pianist JOHN NOVACEK regularly tours the Americas, Europe and Asia as solo recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist; in the latter capacity he has presented over thirty concerti with dozens of orchestras.
John Novacek’s major American performances have been heard in New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Avery Fisher Hall and Alice Tully Hall, 92nd Street Y, Columbia University’s Miller Theater, Merkin Concert Hall, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Symphony Space, Washington’s The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Chicago’s Symphony Center and Los Angeles’ Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Hollywood Bowl and Royce Hall, while international venues include Paris’ Theatre des Champs-Elysées, Salle Gaveau and Musée du Louvre, London’s Wigmore Hall and Barbican Centre, as well as most of the major concert halls of Japan. He is also a frequent guest artist at festivals, here and abroad, including New York City’s Mostly Mozart Festival and those of Aspen, Cape Cod, Caramoor, Chautauqua, Colorado College, Ravinia, Seattle, SummerFest La Jolla, Wolf Trap, BBC Proms (England), Braunschweig (Germany), Lucerne, Menuhin and Berbier (Switzerland), Majorca (Spain), Sorrento (Italy), Stavanger (Norway), Toulouse (France) and Sapporo (Japan).
Often heard on radio broadcasts worldwide, John Novacek has appeared on NPR’s Performance Today, St. Paul Sunday and, as both featured guest composer/performer, on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. He is also frequently seen and heard on television, including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Entertainment Tonight and CNN International.
John Novacek is a much sought-after collaborative artist and has performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, Emmanuel Pahud, Truls Mork and Leila Josefowicz, as well as the Colorado, Harrington, New Hollywood and Ying string quartets. He has also given numerous world premieres and worked closely with composers John Adams, John Harbison, Jennifer Higdon, George Rochberg, John Williams and John Zorn.
John Novacek took top prizes at both the Leschetizky and Joanna Hodges international piano competitions, among many others. He studied piano with Peter Serkin, Bruce Sutherland and Jakob Gimpel and chamber music with Jamie Laredo and Felix Galimir, and occasionally coached with Gary Graffman and Isaac Stern.
John Novacek’s own compositions and arrangements have been performed by the Pacific Symphony, The 5 Browns, Concertante, Manasse/Nakamatsu Duo, Harrington String Quartet, Ying Quartet, Millennium, Quattro Mani and The Three Tenors. He has recorded over 30 CDs, encompassing solo and chamber music by most major composers from Bach to Bartók, as well as many contemporary and original scores. Mr. Novacek records for Philips, Nonesuch, Arabesque, Warner Classics, Sony/BMG, Koch International, Universal Classics, Ambassador, Pony Canyon, Four Winds, Arkay, Virtuoso and EMI Classics. CD titles include Road Movies (2004 GRAMMY nomination as “Best Chamber Music Performance”), Great Mozart Piano Works, Spanish Rhapsody, Novarags (original ragtime compositions), Classic Romance, Hungarian Sketches, Intersection, Romances et Meditations and, with Leila Josefowicz, Americana (GRAMOPHONE: “Editor’s Choice”), For the End of Time, Shostakovich and Recital (BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE: 5 stars/June 2005’s chamber choice).
www.johnnovacek.com
Biography courtesy of Parker Artists ‘John Novacek’ Web Page
Kyle Pickett
Conductor
KYLE PICKETT is recognized as one of America’s most exciting and charismatic young conductors as well as an acclaimed orchestra builder.
Following his doctoral studies at the Peabody Conservatory with the renowned conducting teacher Frederik Prausnitz, Kyle Pickett was appointed Music Director by both the Redding and Chico symphony orchestras in Northern California. Within a year of these appointments, he spearheaded the merger of the two ensembles into the North State Symphony, creating a single professional orchestra that bridges two communities and ensures the future of symphonic music in Northern California. Now in its seventh season, this orchestra plays a full season of concerts in three cities, sells out nearly every performance and ends each season with a balanced budget.
Kyle Pickett’s talents, energy and impressive results also extend to his work with another orchestra, Alaska’s Juneau Symphony. In six seasons as Music Director, he has increased the complement of the orchestra, raised the artistic standard, double the audience, tripled the budget, instituted a popular pre-concert “Conversation with the Conductor” series and established an annual summer Pops concert. He has also created a symphonic chorus, collaborated with local opera companies and instituted live radio broadcasts and webcasts of the Sunday matinee performances. Dr. Pickett’s leadership in fundraising has lead to annual budget surpluses of more than 15% of the operating budgets.
Highlights of Kyle Pickett’s current season include the West Coast premieres of Lowell Liebermann’s Concerto for Clarinet & Orchestra, written for Jon Manasse and presented by both the North State and Juneau symphonies. He also leads the Bozeman Symphony Orchestra in holiday performances of The Nutcracker with The Montana Ballet Company.
A native of California, Kyle Pickett holds a Bachelor’s degree in music from Stanford University and a Master’s degree in choral conducting from the California State University at Chico. His Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in orchestral conducting was conferred by the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. Dr. Picket is also an accomplished flutist, having studied with Frances Blaisdell and Robert Willoughby. He also trained in voice with Wayne Connor and Judith Bettina.
Biography courtesy of Parker Artists ‘Kyle Pickett’ Web Page
Spencer Myer
Pianist
Gold Medalist of the 2008 New Orleans International Piano Competition, SPENCER MYER is garnering stellar audience and critical acclaim from around the globe, rapidly establishing himself as one of the most outstanding pianists of his generation.
Spencer Myer’s current season is highlighted by performances with the Cleveland and Louisiana philharmonic orchestras, the Baton Rouge, Glacier (MT), Richmond (IN) and San Juan symphony orchestras and the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, as well as solo and collaborative recitals throughout the United States, highlighted by a performance with the Manhattan String Quartet at New York City’s historic Park Avenue Christian Church. Summer 2010 includes a collaboration with the Miami String Quartet at Ohio’s Kent/Blossom Music and debuts at the Texas State International Piano Festival and New York’s Skaneateles Festival and The Stony Brook International Piano Festival. A highly respected chamber musician and vocal collaborator, he also devotes a month of his summer as a Staff Pianist at the Steans Institute Vocal Program of the renowned Ravinia Festival.
Spencer Myer’s orchestral, recital and chamber music performances have been heard throughout North America, Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia. He has been soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bozeman, Indianapolis, Knoxville, New Haven, Phoenix, Richmond (IN), Santa Fe, Southeast Iowa, Tucson and Wyoming symphony orchestras, Dayton and Louisiana philharmonic orchestras and Beijing’s China National Symphony Orchestra, collaborating with, among others, conductors Nicholas Cleobury, Neal Gittleman, Jacques Lacombe, Jahja Ling, Maurice Peress, Matthew Savery, Klauspeter Seibel, Arjan Tien and Victor Yampolsky. In May 2005, his recital/orchestral tour of South Africa included a performance of the five piano concerti of Beethoven with the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa. Mr. Myer made his debut at the famed festival of the Blossom Music Center during the summer of 2007.
Spencer Myer’s recital appearances have been presented in New York City’s Weill Recital Hall, 92nd Street Y and Steinway Hall, Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and London’s Wigmore Hall, as well as in Chicago, Cincinnati, Fort Worth, Knoxville, Logan and China, while many of his performances have been broadcast on WQXR (New York City), WHYY (Philadelphia), WCLV (Cleveland) and WFMT (Chicago). An avid chamber musician, he has collaborated on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chamber Music Series and at the Bard, Cape Cod Chamber and Meadowlark music festivals and performed with the Blair, Miami and Pacifica string quartets. In January 2007, Mr. Myer performed Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue at the Inaugural Festivities of Ohio’s Governor Ted Strickland and Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher.
In 2004, Spencer Myer captured First Prize in the 10th UNISA International Piano Competition in Pretoria, South Africa, as well as special prizes for the best performances of Bach, the commissioned work, the semifinal round recital and both concerto prizes in the final round. He is also a laureate in the 2007 William Kapell, 2005 Cleveland, 2005 Busoni (where he was also awarded the Audience Prize), 2004 Montréal and 2003 New Orleans International Piano Competitions. Winner of the 2006 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship from the American Pianists Association, Mr. Myer also received both of the competition’s special prizes in Chamber Music and Lieder Accompanying. He is also the winner of the 2000 Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition, and subsequently enjoys a growing reputation as a vocal collaborator. Mr. Myer has been a member of Astral Artistic Services’ performance roster from 2003-2009, a result of his having won that organization’s 2003 national auditions.
An enthusiastic supporter of the education of young musicians, Spencer Myer has been a frequent guest artist at workshops for students and teachers, including Indiana’s Goshen College Piano Workshop and the Texas Conservatory for Young Artists in Dallas, and has served on the faculty of the Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music. He is also an advocate of contemporary music and inter-arts collaboration, and has worked with the Chicago- and New York-based ICE (International Contemporary Ensemble), Indianapolis’ Dance Kaleidoscope, Ohio Dance Theatre and New York City’s New Triad for Collaborative Arts and The Juilliard School’s “Composers and Choreographers” series.
Spencer Myer is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he studied with Julian Martin. Other teachers include Peter Takács, Joseph Schwartz and Christina Dahl. He spent two summers at the Music Academy of the West, studying with Jerome Lowenthal and, later, Vocal Accompanying with Warren Jones and Marilyn Horne. During the course of his undergraduate studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, he was the recipient of numerous awards from that institution, while, in 2000, he was named a recipient of a four-year Jacob K. Javits Memorial Fellowship from the United States Department of Education. His Doctor of Musical Arts degree was conferred by Stony Brook University in 2005.
Spencer Myer can be heard on the Dimension Records label, performing music of the late Cleveland composer Frederick Koch and on a composer-conducted Naxos CD in performances of three concerti from Huang Ruo’s Chamber Concerto Cycle. His debut CD for harmonia mundi usa - music of Busoni, Copland, Debussy and Kohs - was released in the fall of 2007.
www.spencermyer.com
Biography courtesy of Parker Artists ‘Spencer Myer’ Web Page
Soyeon Lee
Pianist
Winner of the 2010 Naumburg Competition, Korean pianist SOYEON LEE has already been hailed by The New York Times as a pianist with “a huge, richly varied sound, a lively imagination and a firm sense of style,” while The Washington Post has lauded her for her “stunning command of the keyboard.”
Soyeon Lee has been rapturously received as guest soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, symphony orchestras of Columbus, Napa Valley, San Diego, Scottsdale, Shreveport and New York City’s Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, as well as the Daejeon Philharmonic Orchestra and Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional (Dominican Republic), including performances under the batons of Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Jahja Ling and Otto-Werner Mueller.
Recital appearances include New York City programs at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall and Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, The Rockefeller University and Lincoln Center for the Performing Art’s Alice Tully Hall, Washington’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, the Ravinia Festival’s “Rising Stars” series, Auditorio de Musica de Nacional in Madrid - part of a 13-city tour of Spain - and Baek-Am Art Hall in Seoul. An avid chamber musician, she has collaborated with the Afiara, Manhattan and Parker string quartets, bassist Edgar Meyer and the Edgeffect Ensemble with Mark O’Connor, and performed at the chamber music festivals of Laguna Beach, Taos and Montréal. Among Ms. Lee’s most recent collaborative projects are joint performances in Seoul with her pop-star sister, Soeun Lee.
Passionate about expanding environmental consciousness through music, Soyeon Lee gave to critical acclaim the first ever eco-awareness concert at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in February 2008. Presented by TerraCycle, Inc. and Honest Tea, Inc., Ms. Lee wore a commissioned concert gown, made of over 6000 used juice pouches, by eco-fashion designer Nina Valenti. This concert, “Re!nvented,” occasioned over 20 media features, including The New York Times, TimeOut New York, International Herald Tribune, V Magazine, Vogue.com, Miami magazine, the Korean Broadcasting System and ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Soyeon Lee was featured on the January 2006 cover of SYMPHONY magazine’s annual “Emerging Artists” issue and in the 2008 edition of Musical America’s “More Thrills of Discovery.” She has been heard in live broadcasts from New York City on WQXR’s “McGraw-Hill Young Artists Showcase” and WNYC’s “Soundcheck,” and recorded performances from Washington’s WGMS and Cleveland’s WCLV; she has also been heard throughout the United States on National Public Radio. A classical music documentary featuring Soyeon Lee, entitled Classic Club, has been aired nationally in Japan on NHK.
Soyeon Lee’s debut CD on the Naxos label, featuring sonatas of Scarlatti, was released in February 2007. In the fall of 2008, she signed with KOCH International Classics; her first album, comprised of music of Bach/Busoni, Albéniz, Ravel, Huang Ruo and Prokofiev, was released in April 2009. For this album, Ms. Lee has been named the recipient of the 2009 Young Artist Award from the Classical Recording Foundation. In August 2010, she records a second album for Naxos: opera transcriptions of Liszt.
Born in South Korea, Soyeon Lee began studying the piano at the age of five. At age nine, she moved to the United States and attended the Interlochen Arts Academy, graduating with highest honors in music. Her early teachers included Victoria Mushkatkol and Marina di Pretoro. Ms. Lee earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald. While at Juilliard, she earned the distinguished Artist Diploma, won the Rachmaninoff Concerto Competition, two consecutive Gina Bachauer Scholarship Competitions and was awarded the Helen Fay Prize, Artur Rubinstein Prize, Susan Rose Career Grant and the William Petschek Piano Debut Award.
Soyeon Lee is a winner of the 2004 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, as well as the Second and Mozart prizes of the Cleveland International Piano Competition and the Bronze Medal of the Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition.
Biography courtesy of Parker Artists ‘Soyeon Lee’ Web Page
Jon Nakamatsu
Pianist
One of the most sought-after pianists of his generation, Jon Nakamatsu is a frequent concerto soloist, chamber musician, recording artist and solo recitalist throughout the United States, Europe and Japan. He enjoys a continuously expanding career based on a deeply probing and illuminating musicality as well as a quietly charismatic performing style.
Highlights of Jon Nakamatsu’s current season include return engagements with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Annapolis, Bozeman and Greenwich symphony orchestras, Lexington and Reno philharmonics and Santa Fe Pro Musica, as well as performances with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic and the orchestras of Cape Cod, Fremont, La Crosse, Lincoln and Norwalk. He reunites with his colleagues of the Berlin Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet for performances in Berlin and Detroit, and is presented in recital from coast to coast. With his duo-recital partner, clarinetist Jon Manasse, Mr. Nakamatsu performs at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, and in New York City, Boston, Des Moines and Saratoga, CA.
Initially brought to global attention in June 1997 by being named Gold Medalist of the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, Jon Nakamatsu subsequently appeared as soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and the Boston Pops at Tanglewood, as well as with, among many others, the orchestras of Buffalo, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Dallas, Dayton, Delaware, Detroit, Fort Worth, Honolulu, Memphis, Milwaukee, Naples, New Mexico, New World, Portland, Rochester, San Antonio, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Barbara, Seattle, Syracuse, Toledo and Utah. Abroad, he has been heard as soloist with Italy’s famed Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Berlin’s Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Costa Rica, Orquestra Sinfónica Nacional de Santo Domingo and Japan’s Tokyo and Hiroshima Symphony Orchestras. In 2005, he toured Spain as soloist with the San Jose Youth Symphony, followed by a 2007 tour with the Peninsula Youth Symphony that included performances in Budapest and Prague. Mr. Nakamatsu has collaborated with many of today’s leading conductors, among them Kazuyoshi Akiyama, Peter Bay, William Boughton, George Cleve, James Conlon, Grant Cooper, Leslie B. Dunner, Philippe Entremont, Neal Gittleman, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Marek Janowski, Chosei Komatsu, Michael Lankester, Peter Leonard, Raymond Leppard, Jahja Ling, Keith Lockhart, David Lockington, Christof Perick, Larry Rachleff, Peter Rubardt, Matthew Savery, Alfred Savia, Carl St. Clair, Christopher Seaman, Stanislaw Skrowaczeski, Markand Thakar, Michael Tilson Thomas, Osmo Vänskä, David Wiley, Peter Stafford Wilson and Samuel Wong. His 1998-99 season was highlighted by a White House performance of Rhapsody in Blue, hosted by President and Mrs. Clinton.
Jon Nakamatsu’s extensive recital tours throughout the United States and Europe have featured perfromances in New York City (Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall), Washington, DC (John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts), Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Miami, Houston, San Francisco, Paris, London and Milan. The recipient of the Steven De Groote Memorial Award for his semifinal round chamber music performances at the Cliburn competition, he has subsequently collaborated with various chamber ensembles, among them the Brentano, Ives, Manhattan, Miami, St. Lawrence, Prazak, Tokyo and Ying String Quartets and the Stanford Woodwind Quintet. Mr. Nakamatsu has also made three United States tours as the guest soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic Woodwind Quintet.
Jon Nakamatsu’s festival appearances include Tanglewood, the famed summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival with Christopher Seaman and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also been a guest artist at France’s Evian and Montpellier music festivals and Germany’s Klavier Festival Ruhr, Festival Casals de Puerto Rico, performing with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Carl St. Clair, and at the Colorado Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Florida’s Brevard and Sanibel music festivals, Tacoma International Music Festival, Lincoln’s Meadowlark Music Festival, New York’s Skaneateles Festival and California’s Midsummer Mozart Festival.
Named Debut Artist of the Year (1998) by NPR’s “Performance Today,” Jon Nakamatsu has been profiled by “CBS Sunday Morning” and Reader’s Digest magazine, and is featured in “Playing with Fire,” a documentary on the Tenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, aired nationwide on PBS. Earlier, in 1995, he was named the First Prize winner of Miami’s Fifth United States Chopin Piano Competition. He records exclusively for harmonia mundi usa, which has released six CDs, including an orchestral album containing performances of Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, with Christopher Seaman and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as albums devoted to the music of Brahms, Chopin, Foss, Liszt and Wölfl. Mr. Nakamatsu’s most recent release is his second orchestral album with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring Gershwin’s Concerto in F and Rhapsody in Blue, conducted by Jeff Tyzik. Soon to be released is his first CD with clarinetist Jon Manasse, a recording of the Brahms Clarinet Sonatas.
Jon Nakamatsu has studied privately with Marina Derryberry since the age of six, has worked with Karl Ulrich Schnabel, and studied composition and orchestration with Dr. Leonard Stein of the Schoenberg Institute at the University of Southern California. In addition, he has pursued extensive studies in chamber music and musicology. A former high school German teacher, Mr. Nakamatsu is a graduate of Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in German Studies and a master’s degree in Education.
Jon Nakamatsu and his duo-partner, the renowned clarinetist Jon Manasse, serve as Artistic Directors of the Cape Cod Chamber Music Festival, an appointment announced during summer 2006.
Biography courtesy of Jon Nakamatsu Website
Meredith Hansen
Soprano
Hailed a “Standout” by Ted Medrek of the Boston Herald for her performance of Antonia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Meredith Hansen has scored many recent successes with notable competitions, both domestically and internationally. In addition to receiving Grant support from the prestigious Gerda Lissner Foundation Competition, she was named First Place Winner in both the Charles Lynam Competition and the Violetta DuPont Vocal Competition as well as both First Place Winner and Audience Favorite in the Opera Birmingham Competition.
During the 2010/11 season, Ms. Hansen makes her debut with Opera Boston as Marzelline in Fidelio before portraying Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at Commonwealth Opera. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony is planned with the Bozeman Symphony.
Her 2009/2010 season opened with the Johnstown Symphony Orchestra Opera Gala and continued with her main stage debut as Frasquita in Carmen with Boston Lyric Opera (under the baton of Keith Lockhart). She was part of the Elijah cast under Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos with the Boston Symphony at Symphony Hall and later Carnegie Hall. A performance of Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with the Plymouth Philharmonic rounded out her season.
Highlights of the 2008/2009 season included the role of Miss Silverpeal in Mozart’s The Impresario with MetroWest Opera, a concert of duets and arias with Boston Lyric Opera and the Landmarks Orchestra, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Quincy Choral Society, and Verdi’s Requiem with the Paul Madore Chorale. For her November 2008 performance of Rossini’s Petit Messe Solennelle, Matthew Guerrieri of the Boston Globe offered the following praise: “Soprano Meredith Hansen sang the surprisingly sweet “Crucifixus” with a creamy tone and soared in the “O salutaris hostia.”"
Other recent opera highlights include Gilda in Rigoletto with the Newton Symphony Orchestra (opposite New York City Opera favorite Michael Corvino in the title role), Mrs. Fiorentino in Street Scene with Maine Grand Opera, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus with Opera by the Bay. Of her performance as the Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Justin Graeber called Ms. Hansen a “Major highlight” and went on to say that “Her strong, rich voice lent a dignity to the otherwise comical plot line. Her first aria…established an immediate sympathy with the audience that carried throughout the performance.”
Ms. Hansen was also recently heard in The Messiah with Commonwealth Opera and has performed works such as Elijah, The Brahms and Mozart Requiems, the Mozart Mass in c minor and Carmina Burana with organizations such as The Newburyport Chorale, The Paul Madore Choir, Masterworks Chorale and others.
Originally from Cohasset, MA, Ms. Hansen received her undergraduate training at The Eastman School of Music and The University of Connecticut, her Master’s Degree from Boston University and spent a year of post-graduate study as an Intern at the prestigious Opera Institute at Boston University. She has also performed under the auspices of Opera Lirica a Orvieto, winning First Place in their Aria Competition and performing various concerts throughout Italy. She makes her home in Boston, MA.
Biography courtesy of Thea Dispeker, Inc. ‘Meredith Hansen’ Web Page
Daniel Weeks
Tenor
A lyric tenor with an italianate timbre and a wide vocal range, Daniel Weeks has garnered praise from critics and audiences alike. “Weeks’ voice soared through the score, always with a crystalline tone,” observed The Louisville Courier. And the Columbus Dispatch noted that he “satisfied the ears again with impeccable phrasing and intonation. He has a lovely, freely resonant tenor.” His varied career encompasses the opera stage, oratorios with orchestras, recitals and a teaching position at the University of Louisville.
During 08/09, Weeks sang Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with National Chorale, Messiah with Memphis Symphony, Lord Nelson Mass with the Columbus and Huntsville symphonies, and Rossini’s Stabat Mater at the Winter Park Bach Festival. This season, he’s returning to Kentucky Opera singing the role of Curly in Of Mice and Men and performing Messiah with the Indianapolis Symphony.
In the 2007/08 season, Daniel Weeks made his debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony in Handel’s Messiah and took part in an opera gala with the Johnstown Symphony. He returned to the Cincinnati Opera for the world-premiere of Rise for Freedom: The John P. Parker Story by composer Adolphus Hailstork and librettist David Gonzalez, commissioned by Cincinnati Opera. Later he returned to the Kentucky Opera in Dialogues of the Carmelites by Francis Poulenc and closed the season with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall.
During 2006/07, Weeks sang Normanno in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor with the Kentucky Opera and appeared with the Columbus Symphony in Schubert’s Mass in E-Flat and Haydn’s The Seasons. Engagements with the Florida Orchestra (Schubert’s Mass in E-Flat), Xalapa Symphony in Mexico (Haydn’s The Seasons), and Mozart’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall as part of MidAmerica Productions completed that season, followed by a summer 2007 portrayal of Count Almaviva in the Belleayre Music Festival’s production of Il barbiere di Siviglia.
Weeks has appeared with major symphonies across the United States, including the Houston Symphony in a Bruckner Te Deum and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Dallas Symphony, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, and the Cincinnati Symphony, respectively. Repeat performances have brought him also to the Oratorio Society of New York, the Columbus Symphony and the Louisville Orchestra. Other orchestras have included the Westchester Philharmonic, Chatauqua Symphony, Kentucky Symphony, Sioux City Symphony, Hilton Head Orchestra, and the Brevard Orchestra with Keith Lockhart.
On the operatic stage, Weeks has performed repeatedly with the Cincinnati Opera (Don Basilio in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Fourth Jew in Strauss’ Salome, and Howard Boucher in Heggie’s Dead Man Walking), Kentucky Opera (Fourth Jew in Strauss’ Salome, and Triquet in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin), Florentine Opera of Milwaukee (Flute in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Austin Lyric Opera (Pong in Puccini’s Turandot), and Nevada Opera (Almaviva in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia). In 2001, he toured the United States as Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte with San Francisco Opera’s Western Opera Theater.
A winner of the National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Competition and a national finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Daniel Weeks was invited by Marilyn Horne to give his New York recital debut under the auspices of her foundation in 2000. That success led to recitals and master classes across thirteen states as part of the Horne Foundation’s recital / residency presentations.
When not performing with orchestras or at opera houses, Daniel Weeks brings his expertise to the next generation of singers at the University of Louisville, where he is a member of the voice faculty since 1998. Frequently giving master classes as part of his concert engagements, he was selected a featured guest artist of the Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, Poland, in an exchange program between the University of Louisville and that academy.
In 2006, Weeks and pianist Naomi Oliphant received a women’s studies grant from the University of Louisville to record their recital entitled, Women of Firsts, which showcases Art Songs of women composers who were the first in their respective countries to achieve national and international recognition for their compositions. It features songs by Lili Boulanger (France), Vítezslava Kaprálová (Czech Republic), Grazyna Bacewicz (Poland), and Amy Beach (America).
Biography courtesy of Thea Dispeker, Inc. ‘Daniel Weeks’ Web Page
Jessye Wright
Mezzo
Mezzo - soprano Jessye Wright is admired for her rich, colorful voice – a rare instrument with both brilliance and depth – as well as her impeccable musicianship and striking stage presence. She was among just four mezzos earning distinction as an “Upwardly Musical Artist on the Move” in Symphony Magazine’s recent Guide to Emerging Artists.
Miss Wright’s 2007 season began with a debut performance in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall of Mozart’s Requiem with Maestro Martin Josman and the National Chorale. In 2008, Miss Wright joined both Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, and DuPage Symphony Orchestra as Hansel in Hansel and Gretel. She then sang Meg Page in Falstaff with Maestro Emmanuel Plasson and the New York Opera Society in the Théâtre municipal de Castres, France. Miss Wright also appeared as a soloist in the International Advent Singing Festival in Vienna, Austria, preceded by Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de Confessore with Maestra Jane Glover and Chicago’s Music of the Baroque in 2009. This season also includes a solo performance with Mr. Anthony Molinaro (piano) and Mr. Howard Levy (harmonica) for the Music in the Loft Chicago Concert Series, and a Handel Messiah at the Augustana College.
In the 2005-2006 season, Miss Wright received rave reviews for her portrayal of the title role in Carmen at Ravinia Music Festival with Opera Theatre North. Later that year, Jessye was heard as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Chattanooga Opera, and as Meg Page in Verdi’s Falstaff with New Jersey Opera Theatre. Other recent operatic performances for Miss Wright include Third Lady in Magic Flute with Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, and Pitti-Sing in The Mikado with Nashville Opera.
In March of 2004, Miss Wright made her Carnegie Hall debut in a performance featuring solos from the Messiah with the New England Symphonic Ensemble and MidAmerica Productions. That same year, Jessye made her European debut as a featured alto soloist in the Festival Internazionale di Musica in Tuscany, Italy. Subsequent concert performances for Miss Wright include Verdi’s Requiem with Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Ninth with Illinois Philharmonic and Mobile Symphony.
A past national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions, Miss Wright received the Ardis Krainik Memorial Prize in Voice from Chicago’s National Bel Canto Foundation, and won 2nd place in the 2005 International Classical Singer Competition.
Biography courtesy of Thea Dispeker, Inc. ‘Jessye Wright’ Web Page
Anton Belov
Baritone
Since winning the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 2002, baritone Anton Belov has expanded his career to reach major opera houses and concert halls across the United States. “Rich and mellifluous” described The New York Times his voice, and The Washington Post hailed his “voluminous sound, appealing stage presence and a tone of rich vibrancy that remained consistent at all dynamic levels,” while The New York Sun was impressed with his “authority – technical, musical, dramatic – that was almost frightening.” Opera News praised his “great emotional honesty; singing straight from the heart” and the Philadelphia Inquirer concludes that Belov “has the voice of an emerging star.”
Next season promises his return to Boston Lyric Opera as Angelotti in Tosca, before singing Messiah with the New Bedford Symphony and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Bozeman Symphony.
Highlights of the 2009/10 season included his debut with Boston Lyric Opera in Ariadne auf Naxos (Wig Maker), the title role of Eugene Onegin with Anchorage Opera, Escamillo in Carmen at Amherst College and Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with Colorado Symphony.
2008/09 brought Belov’s return to the Anchorage Opera as Escamillo in Carmen before appearing in Shostakovich’s The Nose with Opera Boston, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Tsar’s Bride with Eve Queler’s Opera Orchestra of New York and portraying the title role in a staged production of Le nozze di Figaro with the Helena Symphony. He also performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Kalamazoo and Hartford symphonies and joined the annual Johnstown Symphony gala in a program of operatic arias.
Engagements for 2007/08 included the Boston premiere of Oswaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar with Opera Boston, his portrayal of Count di Luna in Il trovatore with Anchorage Opera, excerpts from Gian Carlo Menotti’s Consul at Chicago Chamber Opera and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria with the Pioneer Valley Symphony. He also sang Messiah at Avery Fisher Hall with the Peniel Concert Choir and gave a recital under the auspices of New York Festival of Songs.
Belov’s other operatic performances include the title role in Delaware Opera’s production of Don Giovanni, Masetto with Boston Baroque, John Sorel in The Consul (Menotti) with Opera Boston and Chamber Opera of Chicago, Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro and Ping in Turandot with the New Jersey Opera Theater.
Anton Belov is the first-place winner of eight vocal competitions including the George London Competition, Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation International Competition, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Eastern Regional Winner) as well as the second-place winner of the Classical Singer Magazine Competition. As the winner of Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Belov has appeared in over 40 recitals throughout the United States.
A native of Moscow, Anton Belov holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from The New England Conservatory, an Artist’s Diploma and a Master of Music Degree from The Juilliard School. A specialist in Russian lyric diction, he is the author of Russian Opera Libretti in Word-to-Word Translation and IPA Transcription and the Anthology of Russian Arias (Leyerle Publications 2004-06).
Biography courtesy of Thea Dispeker, Inc. ‘Anton Belov’ Web Page