MARIANNA ABRAHAMYAN, PIANO
(2019 SEASON)
2018 Masterclass Alumni Artist
Armenian pianist Marianna Abrahamyan is the second prize and five special award winner at the Orléans Concours International 2016. Currently on her doctoral studies (Doctor of Performance Music) at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Marianna is a graduate from the University of Agder in Norway and the Yerevan State Conservatoire in Armenia, she began piano study at the age of 5, taught by her mother, followed by a specialised education at the Tchaikovsky Professional Music School for talented children in Armenia.
As a concert soloist, Ms. Abrahamyan has performed with the Volgograd State Symphony Orchestra in Russia, the Agder Symphony Orchestra in Norway, with the Court Circuit Ensemble in France. In recital, Marianna appeared at the Concert des lauréats d’OCI making her debut at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris. Additionally, she has been engaged at the Piano City Festival in Milan, Salle de L’institut in Orléans, Columbia Global Centre in Paris, Festival Musica Da Casa Menotti in Spoleto, Chiostro dei Teatini in Lecce, CRR Paris, Festival Internacional Encuentros in Buenos Aires, Festival Pro Arte in Córdoba, Cafesjian Center for the Arts in Yerevan, Oslo Cathedral and Kilden Performing Art Centre in Norway and performed live in La Matinale de France Musique for Radio France.
A multiple prizewinner at the Orléans Concours International, Ms. Abrahamyan’s awards include the Prix Sacem, Prix Albert Roussel, Prix Samson François, Prix des Etudiants du conservatoire d’Orléans and the Artist in Residence scholarship award by the Foundation Geneviève Joy-Henry Dutilleux at L’Abbaye de Fontevraud in France. Recently, she has also won
the first prize at the Bamber Galloway piano competition in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
An in-demand collaborative pianist, Marianna studied and worked with the Opera School of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In line with her work with singers, Ms. Abrahamyan appeared at the Kathleen Ferrier Society Bursary Competition 2016, winning the Dennis Horner Accompanist’s Prize. Marianna was a Samling Artist for 2018, and recently performed for His Royal Highness,The Prince of Wales at Dumfries House. She appeared also at the Berlin Song Festival.
A proactive exponent of contemporary music, Marianna has collaborated with living composers such as Philip Hersant, Hèctor Parra, Konrad Mikal Ørhn, Rolf Gupta, Pierre Jodlowski and Alicia Terzian.
Marianna’s teachers have included Armen Babakhanian, Sveinung Bjelland and Sinae Lee.
(2019 SEASON)
2018 Masterclass Alumni Artist
Armenian pianist Marianna Abrahamyan is the second prize and five special award winner at the Orléans Concours International 2016. Currently on her doctoral studies (Doctor of Performance Music) at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Marianna is a graduate from the University of Agder in Norway and the Yerevan State Conservatoire in Armenia, she began piano study at the age of 5, taught by her mother, followed by a specialised education at the Tchaikovsky Professional Music School for talented children in Armenia.
As a concert soloist, Ms. Abrahamyan has performed with the Volgograd State Symphony Orchestra in Russia, the Agder Symphony Orchestra in Norway, with the Court Circuit Ensemble in France. In recital, Marianna appeared at the Concert des lauréats d’OCI making her debut at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris. Additionally, she has been engaged at the Piano City Festival in Milan, Salle de L’institut in Orléans, Columbia Global Centre in Paris, Festival Musica Da Casa Menotti in Spoleto, Chiostro dei Teatini in Lecce, CRR Paris, Festival Internacional Encuentros in Buenos Aires, Festival Pro Arte in Córdoba, Cafesjian Center for the Arts in Yerevan, Oslo Cathedral and Kilden Performing Art Centre in Norway and performed live in La Matinale de France Musique for Radio France.
A multiple prizewinner at the Orléans Concours International, Ms. Abrahamyan’s awards include the Prix Sacem, Prix Albert Roussel, Prix Samson François, Prix des Etudiants du conservatoire d’Orléans and the Artist in Residence scholarship award by the Foundation Geneviève Joy-Henry Dutilleux at L’Abbaye de Fontevraud in France. Recently, she has also won
the first prize at the Bamber Galloway piano competition in the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
An in-demand collaborative pianist, Marianna studied and worked with the Opera School of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. In line with her work with singers, Ms. Abrahamyan appeared at the Kathleen Ferrier Society Bursary Competition 2016, winning the Dennis Horner Accompanist’s Prize. Marianna was a Samling Artist for 2018, and recently performed for His Royal Highness,The Prince of Wales at Dumfries House. She appeared also at the Berlin Song Festival.
A proactive exponent of contemporary music, Marianna has collaborated with living composers such as Philip Hersant, Hèctor Parra, Konrad Mikal Ørhn, Rolf Gupta, Pierre Jodlowski and Alicia Terzian.
Marianna’s teachers have included Armen Babakhanian, Sveinung Bjelland and Sinae Lee.
JULIAN ARSENAULT, BARITONE
(2019 SEASON)
The Baritone Julian Arsenault grew up in Lafayette, California. He studied at UCLA and Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he obtained his degrees in Operatic Performance. Starting in the 2013/2014 season, Arsenault was a member of the Junges Ensemble in Dresden's Semperoper. After completing the two year Junges Ensemble at Semperoper, Arsenault embarked on his freelancing career beginning with guest contracts at the Semperoper during the 2015-16 Season as Lothar Witlaff in Nachtausgabe and Antonio in Johannes Erath´s Le Nozze di Figaro. In the season of 2016-17, Arsenault made his debut at the Staatsoper Hamburg in the World Premiere of Vera Nemirova´s production of Die Katze Ivanka as well singing Morales in Carmen, Dritter Schäfer in a Christof Loy production of Daphne, and Erste Wächter der Stadt in Andreas Kriegenburg´s Die Frau Ohne Schatten under the baton of Kent Nagano. 2017-18 Arsenault made his debut at Opera National de Paris as Pritschitsch in Die Lustige Witwe. Next season, Arsenault will be back at Staatsoper Hamburg where he will sing Wotan in the World Premiere of Ring and Wrestling.
He lives in Berlin with his wife Katrin and daughter Zoe.
(2019 SEASON)
The Baritone Julian Arsenault grew up in Lafayette, California. He studied at UCLA and Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he obtained his degrees in Operatic Performance. Starting in the 2013/2014 season, Arsenault was a member of the Junges Ensemble in Dresden's Semperoper. After completing the two year Junges Ensemble at Semperoper, Arsenault embarked on his freelancing career beginning with guest contracts at the Semperoper during the 2015-16 Season as Lothar Witlaff in Nachtausgabe and Antonio in Johannes Erath´s Le Nozze di Figaro. In the season of 2016-17, Arsenault made his debut at the Staatsoper Hamburg in the World Premiere of Vera Nemirova´s production of Die Katze Ivanka as well singing Morales in Carmen, Dritter Schäfer in a Christof Loy production of Daphne, and Erste Wächter der Stadt in Andreas Kriegenburg´s Die Frau Ohne Schatten under the baton of Kent Nagano. 2017-18 Arsenault made his debut at Opera National de Paris as Pritschitsch in Die Lustige Witwe. Next season, Arsenault will be back at Staatsoper Hamburg where he will sing Wotan in the World Premiere of Ring and Wrestling.
He lives in Berlin with his wife Katrin and daughter Zoe.
ANNE BYRNE, MEZZO-SOPRANO
(2019 SEASON)
Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Mezzo soprano Anne Byrne quickly became a known presence on the Boston music scene after receiving her Masters of Music from New England Conservatory in 2011. Having moved to Berlin, Germany in 2014, Ms. Byrne gave her European debut singing the role of La Haine with the York Trust Company in their production of Gluck's Armide, Summer 2014.
In Boston Ms Byrne sang with numerous companies including Commonwealth Lyric Theater, Juventas New Music Ensemble, Opera del West, Lowell House Opera and Odyssey Opera. Ms. Byrne sang several World Premieres with Juventas New Music Ensemble, premiering the roles of Varjka and Pelageya in Moshe Shulman's one act opera Desire to Sleep and the Sun and Moon as well as the Evil Queen (cover) in the world premiere of The Magic Mirror composed by Polina Nazaykinskaya based on Pushkin's Snow White.
Other roles include the Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos, Jo in Little Women, Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Old Gypsy Woman in Aleko, Mercédès in Carmen, 2nd Lady in The Magic Flute and The Princess in Suor Angelica. Anne attended the AIMS program in Graz, Austria in the summer of 2013 where she sang with the AIMS orchestra in the Wagner gala "Weiche, Wotan! Weiche" and "Stride la vampa" in the first orchestra concert. She was a young artist at Ash Lawn Opera in the summer of 2010 performing as Meg Brockie in Brigadoon.
Anne Byrne and Sarah Ring recently founded the first international chapter of Opera on Tap in Berlin. The Berlin chapter is now performing monthly at Prachtwerk in Neukölln.
Ms Byrne is now the Mezzo Soprano with the touring group The Cast. You can see her in their show Oper Macht Spaß now touring all across Germany.
(2019 SEASON)
Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Mezzo soprano Anne Byrne quickly became a known presence on the Boston music scene after receiving her Masters of Music from New England Conservatory in 2011. Having moved to Berlin, Germany in 2014, Ms. Byrne gave her European debut singing the role of La Haine with the York Trust Company in their production of Gluck's Armide, Summer 2014.
In Boston Ms Byrne sang with numerous companies including Commonwealth Lyric Theater, Juventas New Music Ensemble, Opera del West, Lowell House Opera and Odyssey Opera. Ms. Byrne sang several World Premieres with Juventas New Music Ensemble, premiering the roles of Varjka and Pelageya in Moshe Shulman's one act opera Desire to Sleep and the Sun and Moon as well as the Evil Queen (cover) in the world premiere of The Magic Mirror composed by Polina Nazaykinskaya based on Pushkin's Snow White.
Other roles include the Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos, Jo in Little Women, Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Old Gypsy Woman in Aleko, Mercédès in Carmen, 2nd Lady in The Magic Flute and The Princess in Suor Angelica. Anne attended the AIMS program in Graz, Austria in the summer of 2013 where she sang with the AIMS orchestra in the Wagner gala "Weiche, Wotan! Weiche" and "Stride la vampa" in the first orchestra concert. She was a young artist at Ash Lawn Opera in the summer of 2010 performing as Meg Brockie in Brigadoon.
Anne Byrne and Sarah Ring recently founded the first international chapter of Opera on Tap in Berlin. The Berlin chapter is now performing monthly at Prachtwerk in Neukölln.
Ms Byrne is now the Mezzo Soprano with the touring group The Cast. You can see her in their show Oper Macht Spaß now touring all across Germany.
CAROLINE DOWDLE, PIANO
(2019 SEASON)
Artistic Advisory Board
Caroline Dowdle was born in South Africa and studied music at the University of Cape Town, where she was taught by the eminent chamber musician Lamar Crowson. There she qualified with a Masters in Music before moving to England to study at the Royal Northern College of Music as a solo pianist, under Renna Kellaway. She was awarded a fellowship in accompaniment at the college, a post which she held for 2 years, before moving to London to begin her career as a freelance pianist. For many years she was a staff pianist at the Britten Pears School in Aldeburgh, where she worked alongside many of the most eminent singers and instrumentalists of their generation, and studied many of the Britten operas.
Since then she has performed widely in Britain and in Europe, giving recitals with singers and instrumentalists at the South Bank and Wigmore Hall, London, in Paris for Radio France, in Vienna and in Moscow.
Since the summer of 2008 she has run the Opera Academy at the Verbier International Music Festival. She has also performed in the Festival itself.
Recently she has appeared in numerous recitals with the esteemed baritone, Sir Thomas Allen.
She has worked for Opera de Rouen in 2009 and 2011 as “chef de chant” and as pianist in performances of Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and Albert Herring, both in Rouen and at the Theatre Comique, in Paris.
She works regularly as a coach with the singers on the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and was appointed as a professor to the faculty of the Royal College of Music in 2015. She is the Musical Director of both the Samling Academy for young singers in the North-east of England, and the Academy of French Song and Opera, a course run in France each summer.
In 2016 Caroline worked as a vocal coach in Beijing with students from the Central Conservatoire there, and was also appointed as a regular guest.
(2019 SEASON)
Artistic Advisory Board
Caroline Dowdle was born in South Africa and studied music at the University of Cape Town, where she was taught by the eminent chamber musician Lamar Crowson. There she qualified with a Masters in Music before moving to England to study at the Royal Northern College of Music as a solo pianist, under Renna Kellaway. She was awarded a fellowship in accompaniment at the college, a post which she held for 2 years, before moving to London to begin her career as a freelance pianist. For many years she was a staff pianist at the Britten Pears School in Aldeburgh, where she worked alongside many of the most eminent singers and instrumentalists of their generation, and studied many of the Britten operas.
Since then she has performed widely in Britain and in Europe, giving recitals with singers and instrumentalists at the South Bank and Wigmore Hall, London, in Paris for Radio France, in Vienna and in Moscow.
Since the summer of 2008 she has run the Opera Academy at the Verbier International Music Festival. She has also performed in the Festival itself.
Recently she has appeared in numerous recitals with the esteemed baritone, Sir Thomas Allen.
She has worked for Opera de Rouen in 2009 and 2011 as “chef de chant” and as pianist in performances of Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and Albert Herring, both in Rouen and at the Theatre Comique, in Paris.
She works regularly as a coach with the singers on the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and was appointed as a professor to the faculty of the Royal College of Music in 2015. She is the Musical Director of both the Samling Academy for young singers in the North-east of England, and the Academy of French Song and Opera, a course run in France each summer.
In 2016 Caroline worked as a vocal coach in Beijing with students from the Central Conservatoire there, and was also appointed as a regular guest.
BYRON KNUTSON, PIANO
(2019 SEASON)
Byron Knutson studied piano, conducting, composition and acting in his hometown of Winnipeg, Canada, and in the United States. After completing the Artist Diploma in Opera Coaching at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, he was appointed Visiting Professor of Song Interpretation at Albion College in Michigan.
In 1999, Mr. Knutson moved to Germany, where until 2010 he worked in the opera houses in Kiel, Halle and Augsburg, conducting operatic repertoire from baroque to contemporary, including operetta, musicals and ballet.
In 2010, Mr. Knutson took over the musical direction of the young artist program at the Komische Oper Berlin. While at the KOB, Mr. Knutson conducted works by Handel, Mozart, Weill, Ginastera and a critically acclaimed production of Phlip Glass’ Les enfants terribles directed by Felix Seiler.
Mr. Knutson’s has worked with conductors such as Paolo Arrivabeni (Bellini’s La Straniera; Theater an der Wien), Friedemann Layer (Der Rosenkavalier) Johannes Kalitzke (World Premiere, Olga Neuwirth’s American Lulu), Patrick Lange (Rigoletto), Carl St. Clair (Aribert Reimann’s Lear), Sebastian Lang-Lessing (Der Rosenkavalier, National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing), Christian Curnyn (Castor et Pollux), Lü Jia (Tannhäuser, Beijing). Mr. Knutson has also prepared the casts of Reimann’s Lear and Die Gespenstersonate for productions at Theater an der Wien and in Tokyo.
Mr. Knutson frequently gives Masterclasses in North America, Europe and China.
In 2015 Mr. Knutson was appointed Professor of Operatic Studies at the Hanns Eisler Conservatory in Berlin. He is also currently music director of the Berliner Wagner Gruppe.
(2019 SEASON)
Byron Knutson studied piano, conducting, composition and acting in his hometown of Winnipeg, Canada, and in the United States. After completing the Artist Diploma in Opera Coaching at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, he was appointed Visiting Professor of Song Interpretation at Albion College in Michigan.
In 1999, Mr. Knutson moved to Germany, where until 2010 he worked in the opera houses in Kiel, Halle and Augsburg, conducting operatic repertoire from baroque to contemporary, including operetta, musicals and ballet.
In 2010, Mr. Knutson took over the musical direction of the young artist program at the Komische Oper Berlin. While at the KOB, Mr. Knutson conducted works by Handel, Mozart, Weill, Ginastera and a critically acclaimed production of Phlip Glass’ Les enfants terribles directed by Felix Seiler.
Mr. Knutson’s has worked with conductors such as Paolo Arrivabeni (Bellini’s La Straniera; Theater an der Wien), Friedemann Layer (Der Rosenkavalier) Johannes Kalitzke (World Premiere, Olga Neuwirth’s American Lulu), Patrick Lange (Rigoletto), Carl St. Clair (Aribert Reimann’s Lear), Sebastian Lang-Lessing (Der Rosenkavalier, National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing), Christian Curnyn (Castor et Pollux), Lü Jia (Tannhäuser, Beijing). Mr. Knutson has also prepared the casts of Reimann’s Lear and Die Gespenstersonate for productions at Theater an der Wien and in Tokyo.
Mr. Knutson frequently gives Masterclasses in North America, Europe and China.
In 2015 Mr. Knutson was appointed Professor of Operatic Studies at the Hanns Eisler Conservatory in Berlin. He is also currently music director of the Berliner Wagner Gruppe.
JENS LARSEN, BASS
(2019 SEASON)
Kammersänger Jens Larsen was born in Hamburg and studied with Prof. William Workman and Prof. Kurt Moll in Hamburg and Cologne. First engagements led to the opera houses of Darmstadt and Basel. Since 2001, Jens Larsen is part of the ensemble of the Komische Oper Berlin, where he was appointed Kammersänger in 2013.
His extensive repertoire ranges from Monteverdi to Ligeti and includes roles such as Baron Ochs on Lerchenau, King Marke, Veit Pogner, Osmin, Sarastro, Rocco, Doctor, Schigolch, Wesener, Astradamors and many other bass parts.
He has collaborated with directors such as Calixto Bieito, Barrie Kosky, Andreas Homoki, Hans Neuenfels, Peter Konwitschny, Herbert Wernicke and Christoph Marthaler. Guest engagements at the Salzburg Festival, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian National Theater, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Moscow and Santiago de Chile, where he worked with conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, Vladimir Jurowski, Ingo Metzmacher and Klaus Weise.
Jens Larsen regularly performs as a lied singer at the Komische Oper Berlin, where he also compiled and performed a semi-staged version of "Die Winterreise" with his wife Catherine Larsen-Maguire (on bassoon) and pianist Thorsten Kaldewei. In March 2018 he will give a recital together with Prof. Norbert Biermann on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Carl Loewe's death at the Komische Oper Berlin.
(2019 SEASON)
Kammersänger Jens Larsen was born in Hamburg and studied with Prof. William Workman and Prof. Kurt Moll in Hamburg and Cologne. First engagements led to the opera houses of Darmstadt and Basel. Since 2001, Jens Larsen is part of the ensemble of the Komische Oper Berlin, where he was appointed Kammersänger in 2013.
His extensive repertoire ranges from Monteverdi to Ligeti and includes roles such as Baron Ochs on Lerchenau, King Marke, Veit Pogner, Osmin, Sarastro, Rocco, Doctor, Schigolch, Wesener, Astradamors and many other bass parts.
He has collaborated with directors such as Calixto Bieito, Barrie Kosky, Andreas Homoki, Hans Neuenfels, Peter Konwitschny, Herbert Wernicke and Christoph Marthaler. Guest engagements at the Salzburg Festival, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian National Theater, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Moscow and Santiago de Chile, where he worked with conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, Vladimir Jurowski, Ingo Metzmacher and Klaus Weise.
Jens Larsen regularly performs as a lied singer at the Komische Oper Berlin, where he also compiled and performed a semi-staged version of "Die Winterreise" with his wife Catherine Larsen-Maguire (on bassoon) and pianist Thorsten Kaldewei. In March 2018 he will give a recital together with Prof. Norbert Biermann on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Carl Loewe's death at the Komische Oper Berlin.
@Susan Wilson Photography
REBECCA JO LOEB, MEZZO SOPRANO
(2019 SEASON)
Hailed as “a theatrical performer whose rise to watch” by Opera News, Rebecca Jo Loeb makes debuts with the Teatro Municipal de Santiago reprising Gymnasiast/ein Groom in Lulu and Theater Freiburg as Susan in Weill’s Love Life in the 2017-18 season. Her other engagements include her return to the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Zweite Magd in Elektra and New York Festival of Song for Arias and Barcarolles on tour to Arizona Opera and Wolf Trap. Last season, she made debuts with the Metropolitan Opera as Flora in La traviata and Oper Köln as The Fox in The Cunning Little Vixen.
Ms. Loeb spent five seasons as an ensemble member of both the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Hamburgische Staatsoper at which her performances included Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Rosina in Il barbiere di Sviglia, Siebel in Faust, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, the Fox in The Cunning Little Vixen, Oreste in La Belle Helene, Francis in Britten’s Gloriana, Mercedes in Carmen, Dryad in Ariadne auf Naxos, the Page in Salome, and Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte. Following her performances of Bellante in Händel’s Almira in Hamburg, she made her debut in the same role at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alte Musik.
Other recent engagements for the mezzo-soprano include her debuts with Dutch National Opera as Eine Theater Garderoberie/Gymnasiast/ein Groom in Berg’s Lulu, directed by William Kentridge, Festival d`Aix-en-Provence as the Second Angel and Marie in the world premiere of Benjamin’s Written on Skin, Dallas Opera as Fyodor in Boris Godunov, Teatro Regio di Torino as a Blumenmädchen in Parsifal, and at the Glimmerglass Festival as Annina in La traviata and the Sailor in Dido and Aeneas.
In concert Rebecca has performed with the Hamburg Ballet as the Alto in both Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s St. Johannes Passion, with the CPE Bach Chor as the Alto Soloist in Bach’s Markus-Passion, as a soloist in her concert series The Jenny and Johnny Project at both the Kurt Weill Festival in Dessau and the Brecht Festival in Augsburg, Germany. She has joined James Conlon in a concert performance of Mahagonny Sonspiel at the Ravinia Festival and has sung Mendelssohn ́s Midsummer Night’s Dream with the New York City Ballet, the Alto and Second Soprano Soloist in Bach ́s Mass in B minor at Carnegie Hall, and made her Alice Tully Hall debut singing Bolcom ́s acclaimed Cabaret Songs with orchestra.
Among her other operatic roles performed are Meg Page in Falstaff, Grimgerde in Die Walküre, Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor, Zweite Magd and Dritte Magd in Elektra, Jenny in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Elmire in Tartuffe, Paquette in Candide, Madame Brillante in L’italiana in Londra, Dorthée in Cendrillon, and Second Witch and the Spirit in Dido and Aeneas. Additionally, she has performed with the Mark Morris Dance Company, New York Festival of Song, New Hampshire Symphony, Tanglewood Music Center, Central City Opera, and Aspen Opera Theatre.
A champion of new music, Rebecca Jo has recorded songs of Stephan Wolpe and Ursula Monk with Bridge Records and performed songs of Wolpe in Weill Concert Hall. She performed roles in Lucrezia and Bastianello (operas commissioned for the New York Festival of Song by William Bolcom and John Musto, respectively) at the Moab Music Festival, the role of the Swiss Grandmother in John Adams’ Death of Klinghofferwith Mr. Adams conducting, as a one-woman opera in Sciarrino ́s Vanitasat the Hamburg State Opera ́s Black Box Theater, and the songs of Tom Cipullo and Ricky Ian Gordon with the composers at the piano. Equally at home in musical theater, Rebecca Jo joined the Boston Pops as Carrie in Carousel, Petra in A Little Night Music, and on their Bernstein Tour to critical acclaim. She made her Broadway debut in a benefit entitled Ladies Who Sing Sondheim starring Angela Lansbury and Patti Lupone.
Her awards include a Sullivan Educational Award, the Curt Englehorn Scholarship from the Opera Foundation, first prize in the Lotte Lenya Competition, a 2009 Career Bridges grant, and the Ginney and John Starkey Young Artist Award at Central City Opera. She is a proud graduate of the Juilliard School, The Manhattan School of Music, and especially the University of Michigan, from which she received the Stanley Medal.
(2019 SEASON)
Hailed as “a theatrical performer whose rise to watch” by Opera News, Rebecca Jo Loeb makes debuts with the Teatro Municipal de Santiago reprising Gymnasiast/ein Groom in Lulu and Theater Freiburg as Susan in Weill’s Love Life in the 2017-18 season. Her other engagements include her return to the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Zweite Magd in Elektra and New York Festival of Song for Arias and Barcarolles on tour to Arizona Opera and Wolf Trap. Last season, she made debuts with the Metropolitan Opera as Flora in La traviata and Oper Köln as The Fox in The Cunning Little Vixen.
Ms. Loeb spent five seasons as an ensemble member of both the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Hamburgische Staatsoper at which her performances included Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Rosina in Il barbiere di Sviglia, Siebel in Faust, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, the Fox in The Cunning Little Vixen, Oreste in La Belle Helene, Francis in Britten’s Gloriana, Mercedes in Carmen, Dryad in Ariadne auf Naxos, the Page in Salome, and Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte. Following her performances of Bellante in Händel’s Almira in Hamburg, she made her debut in the same role at the Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alte Musik.
Other recent engagements for the mezzo-soprano include her debuts with Dutch National Opera as Eine Theater Garderoberie/Gymnasiast/ein Groom in Berg’s Lulu, directed by William Kentridge, Festival d`Aix-en-Provence as the Second Angel and Marie in the world premiere of Benjamin’s Written on Skin, Dallas Opera as Fyodor in Boris Godunov, Teatro Regio di Torino as a Blumenmädchen in Parsifal, and at the Glimmerglass Festival as Annina in La traviata and the Sailor in Dido and Aeneas.
In concert Rebecca has performed with the Hamburg Ballet as the Alto in both Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s St. Johannes Passion, with the CPE Bach Chor as the Alto Soloist in Bach’s Markus-Passion, as a soloist in her concert series The Jenny and Johnny Project at both the Kurt Weill Festival in Dessau and the Brecht Festival in Augsburg, Germany. She has joined James Conlon in a concert performance of Mahagonny Sonspiel at the Ravinia Festival and has sung Mendelssohn ́s Midsummer Night’s Dream with the New York City Ballet, the Alto and Second Soprano Soloist in Bach ́s Mass in B minor at Carnegie Hall, and made her Alice Tully Hall debut singing Bolcom ́s acclaimed Cabaret Songs with orchestra.
Among her other operatic roles performed are Meg Page in Falstaff, Grimgerde in Die Walküre, Alisa in Lucia di Lammermoor, Zweite Magd and Dritte Magd in Elektra, Jenny in The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Elmire in Tartuffe, Paquette in Candide, Madame Brillante in L’italiana in Londra, Dorthée in Cendrillon, and Second Witch and the Spirit in Dido and Aeneas. Additionally, she has performed with the Mark Morris Dance Company, New York Festival of Song, New Hampshire Symphony, Tanglewood Music Center, Central City Opera, and Aspen Opera Theatre.
A champion of new music, Rebecca Jo has recorded songs of Stephan Wolpe and Ursula Monk with Bridge Records and performed songs of Wolpe in Weill Concert Hall. She performed roles in Lucrezia and Bastianello (operas commissioned for the New York Festival of Song by William Bolcom and John Musto, respectively) at the Moab Music Festival, the role of the Swiss Grandmother in John Adams’ Death of Klinghofferwith Mr. Adams conducting, as a one-woman opera in Sciarrino ́s Vanitasat the Hamburg State Opera ́s Black Box Theater, and the songs of Tom Cipullo and Ricky Ian Gordon with the composers at the piano. Equally at home in musical theater, Rebecca Jo joined the Boston Pops as Carrie in Carousel, Petra in A Little Night Music, and on their Bernstein Tour to critical acclaim. She made her Broadway debut in a benefit entitled Ladies Who Sing Sondheim starring Angela Lansbury and Patti Lupone.
Her awards include a Sullivan Educational Award, the Curt Englehorn Scholarship from the Opera Foundation, first prize in the Lotte Lenya Competition, a 2009 Career Bridges grant, and the Ginney and John Starkey Young Artist Award at Central City Opera. She is a proud graduate of the Juilliard School, The Manhattan School of Music, and especially the University of Michigan, from which she received the Stanley Medal.
@ Philip Arnoldt Photography
ANASTASIA NIKOLOV, SOPRANO
(2018 SEASON)
Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Soprano Anastasia Nikolova started her musical training at the age of 5, studying piano, drama and dance at the Bulgarian National Theater. She commenced her vocal training in Bulgaria and continued it at the Longy School of Music at Bard College (Cambridge, Massachusetts) as a recipient of the Janet Irving Scholarship for Vocal Studies. During the 2003-2004 season Ms. Nikolova completed an apprenticeship with Central Florida Lyric Opera and was invited to return as a Resident Artist with the company.
Opera roles include: Elsa in Lohengrin (Berlin Wagner Gruppe); Woglinde in Das Rheingold (Berlin Wagner Gruppe) Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Violetta in La Traviata (Central Florida Lyric Opera; New London Opera Players) Governess in Turn of the Screw (Opera Seria), Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (Opera Seria), Nedda in Pagliacci (Central Florida Lyric Opera), Micaëla and Frasquita in Carmen, under the directorship of late legendary soprano Licia Albanese (Central Florida Lyric Opera); Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro (Central Florida Lyric Opera), Serpina in La serva padrona (Berliner Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal, concertante), Member of the Chamber in a premiere performance of Eric Sawyer's Our American Cousin (Composers in Red Sneakers), Darling in the world premiere of Victoria Ellis' opera Darling (One of Us Foundation).
Solo concert engagements include J.S. Bach Jauchzet Gott in alles Landen (Berliner Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal), Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut (Old North Concert Series), Magnificat in D (Fine Arts Chorale), Missa brevis in A (Fine Arts Chorale); Mozart's Requiem (Fine Arts Chorale), Missa Brevis in F (Sommerville Choir), Exultate Jubilate (Berliner Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal), Vesperae solennes de confessore (Somerville Choir); Händel's Messiah (College Park Players), L'Allego, il Pensieroso, ed il Moderato (Berlin Classic Players, Berliner Philharmonie); Haydn Die Jahreszeiten (Fine Arts Chorale); Pergolesi Stabat mater (Berliner Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal); Schubert Mass in G (Highnam Choir and Orchestra); Dubois Seven Last Words of Christ (College Park Players); Vivaldi Gloria (Old North Concert Series); Vaughan Williams Dona novis pacem (Tufts University Orchestra, cover); Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream (Longy Chamber Orchestra); Berg Sieben frühe Lieder (Kirchberg Chamber Music Festival); Strauss Vier letzte Lieder (Kirchberg Chamber Music Festival, Walbrook Music Trust, Galerieforum am Meer); Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasilieras No.5 (Kirchberg Chamber Music Festival) among others. As a concert artist, Ms. Nikolova has given numerous art song recitals in the United States and in Europe. She has premiered works by prominent American and British composers such as Vartan Aghababian, Michael Djupstrom, Victoria Ellis, Heather Gilligan and Eric Sawyer; some of these works were written and dedicated to her.
(2018 SEASON)
Co-Founder & Artistic Director
Soprano Anastasia Nikolova started her musical training at the age of 5, studying piano, drama and dance at the Bulgarian National Theater. She commenced her vocal training in Bulgaria and continued it at the Longy School of Music at Bard College (Cambridge, Massachusetts) as a recipient of the Janet Irving Scholarship for Vocal Studies. During the 2003-2004 season Ms. Nikolova completed an apprenticeship with Central Florida Lyric Opera and was invited to return as a Resident Artist with the company.
Opera roles include: Elsa in Lohengrin (Berlin Wagner Gruppe); Woglinde in Das Rheingold (Berlin Wagner Gruppe) Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos (Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Violetta in La Traviata (Central Florida Lyric Opera; New London Opera Players) Governess in Turn of the Screw (Opera Seria), Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (Opera Seria), Nedda in Pagliacci (Central Florida Lyric Opera), Micaëla and Frasquita in Carmen, under the directorship of late legendary soprano Licia Albanese (Central Florida Lyric Opera); Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro (Central Florida Lyric Opera), Serpina in La serva padrona (Berliner Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal, concertante), Member of the Chamber in a premiere performance of Eric Sawyer's Our American Cousin (Composers in Red Sneakers), Darling in the world premiere of Victoria Ellis' opera Darling (One of Us Foundation).
Solo concert engagements include J.S. Bach Jauchzet Gott in alles Landen (Berliner Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal), Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut (Old North Concert Series), Magnificat in D (Fine Arts Chorale), Missa brevis in A (Fine Arts Chorale); Mozart's Requiem (Fine Arts Chorale), Missa Brevis in F (Sommerville Choir), Exultate Jubilate (Berliner Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal), Vesperae solennes de confessore (Somerville Choir); Händel's Messiah (College Park Players), L'Allego, il Pensieroso, ed il Moderato (Berlin Classic Players, Berliner Philharmonie); Haydn Die Jahreszeiten (Fine Arts Chorale); Pergolesi Stabat mater (Berliner Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal); Schubert Mass in G (Highnam Choir and Orchestra); Dubois Seven Last Words of Christ (College Park Players); Vivaldi Gloria (Old North Concert Series); Vaughan Williams Dona novis pacem (Tufts University Orchestra, cover); Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream (Longy Chamber Orchestra); Berg Sieben frühe Lieder (Kirchberg Chamber Music Festival); Strauss Vier letzte Lieder (Kirchberg Chamber Music Festival, Walbrook Music Trust, Galerieforum am Meer); Villa-Lobos Bachianas Brasilieras No.5 (Kirchberg Chamber Music Festival) among others. As a concert artist, Ms. Nikolova has given numerous art song recitals in the United States and in Europe. She has premiered works by prominent American and British composers such as Vartan Aghababian, Michael Djupstrom, Victoria Ellis, Heather Gilligan and Eric Sawyer; some of these works were written and dedicated to her.
SIMONE RIKSMAN, SOPRANO
(2019 SEASON)
The Berlin based Dutch lyric soprano Simone Riksman has performed music since the age of 9, starting in the Netherlands, than Europe and the world. An education rooted in the Dutch music tradition, (Margreet Honig, Dutch National Opera Academy, Cappella Amsterdam) she went on to one of the oldest of theaters in Switzerland, Theater St Gallen (Int. Peter Heilker) expanding her operatic repertoire to over 20 leading and middle roles, as Pamina (Magic Flute), Sandrina (Finta Giardiniera), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Vixen (Cunning little vixen), Oscar (Masqued Ball), Annina (Night in Venice) and Micaela (Carmen) working with acclaimed directors as Guy Joosten, Pierre Audi, Nicola Raab, Aron Stiehl, David Alden and conductors as Henrik Nánási, Marc Minkowski, David Stern, Robert Howarth and Otto Tausk. Guest performances include Dutch National Opera (Iphigénie en Tauride) and Dorset Opera (Carmen).
Besides opera Simone has a great love for song and concert repertoire, performing regularly at festivals and concert halls around the world, including the Smetana Hall Prague, Carnegie Hall New York, Gergiev Festival Rotterdam and the Canberra International Music Festival, Australia, working together with a.o. Doelen Quartet, Ensemble Novalis, Tamara-Anna Cislowska, Bernadette Harvey and Bengt Forsberg.
Her work for the organisation ‘Flowers of War’ commemorating the Centenary of WWI received great acclaim in France and Australia, working together with Australian composers Elena Kats-Chernin, Graeme Koehne and Ross Edwards.
On invitation of the latter she recently performed and recorded the song cycle ‘Five Senses’ for the ABC.
(2019 SEASON)
The Berlin based Dutch lyric soprano Simone Riksman has performed music since the age of 9, starting in the Netherlands, than Europe and the world. An education rooted in the Dutch music tradition, (Margreet Honig, Dutch National Opera Academy, Cappella Amsterdam) she went on to one of the oldest of theaters in Switzerland, Theater St Gallen (Int. Peter Heilker) expanding her operatic repertoire to over 20 leading and middle roles, as Pamina (Magic Flute), Sandrina (Finta Giardiniera), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Vixen (Cunning little vixen), Oscar (Masqued Ball), Annina (Night in Venice) and Micaela (Carmen) working with acclaimed directors as Guy Joosten, Pierre Audi, Nicola Raab, Aron Stiehl, David Alden and conductors as Henrik Nánási, Marc Minkowski, David Stern, Robert Howarth and Otto Tausk. Guest performances include Dutch National Opera (Iphigénie en Tauride) and Dorset Opera (Carmen).
Besides opera Simone has a great love for song and concert repertoire, performing regularly at festivals and concert halls around the world, including the Smetana Hall Prague, Carnegie Hall New York, Gergiev Festival Rotterdam and the Canberra International Music Festival, Australia, working together with a.o. Doelen Quartet, Ensemble Novalis, Tamara-Anna Cislowska, Bernadette Harvey and Bengt Forsberg.
Her work for the organisation ‘Flowers of War’ commemorating the Centenary of WWI received great acclaim in France and Australia, working together with Australian composers Elena Kats-Chernin, Graeme Koehne and Ross Edwards.
On invitation of the latter she recently performed and recorded the song cycle ‘Five Senses’ for the ABC.
JESSICA RUCINSKI, PIANO
(2019 SEASON)
Pianist Jess Rucinski has taken part in 20 opera productions in her home city of Boston (USA) and at festivals including the Aspen Music Festival and Music Academy of the West. As a Vocal Piano Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, she was a pianist and coach for the American premiere of George Benjamin’s Written on Skin in 2013. Also in 2013, she served as President of the Harvard Early Music Society in Cambridge, Massachusetts, producing and music directing performances of Bach’s “Coffee Cantata” and Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. She returned to Harvard to music direct Acis and Galatea in 2014.
Other musical activities in Boston included collaborations with the Boston Opera Collaborative, the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, the Juventas New Music Ensemble, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, as both pianist and singer. Jess was also interim organist and music director at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral until moving to Berlin in 2016.
(2019 SEASON)
Pianist Jess Rucinski has taken part in 20 opera productions in her home city of Boston (USA) and at festivals including the Aspen Music Festival and Music Academy of the West. As a Vocal Piano Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, she was a pianist and coach for the American premiere of George Benjamin’s Written on Skin in 2013. Also in 2013, she served as President of the Harvard Early Music Society in Cambridge, Massachusetts, producing and music directing performances of Bach’s “Coffee Cantata” and Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. She returned to Harvard to music direct Acis and Galatea in 2014.
Other musical activities in Boston included collaborations with the Boston Opera Collaborative, the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras, the Juventas New Music Ensemble, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, as both pianist and singer. Jess was also interim organist and music director at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral until moving to Berlin in 2016.
POPPY SHOTTS, SOPRANO
(2019 SEASON)
2018 Masterclass Alumni Artist
Poppy Shotts, soprano, graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2017 with a Bachelor of Music with Honours of the First Class, where she studied with Clare Shearer and Julia Lynch as an RCS Trust Scholar. She is now completing her Masters at the Royal College of Music with Alison Wells and Gary Matthewman as a Derek Butler scholar, supported by a Countess of Munster Award and the Henry Wood Accommodation Trust.
During her time in Scotland, Poppy was involved in the launch of the RCS ‘Coffee Concert Series’ and sang full-time with the RCS Voices Consort, with whom she recorded for BBC Radio 3 and appeared as a soloist at Scottish festivals including the St. Magnus International Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe. Highlights of her studies in Scotland included a series of performances of Messiaen’s Cinq Rechants for twelve solo voices, and winning the Governor’s Recital Prize for Chamber Music as part of a vocal octet. Poppy is an Artist with Live Music Now, with whom she gave her first performance at the National Galleries of Scotland in March 2017.
Poppy’s 2018 highlights include being awarded Highly Commended in the Royal College of Music Lieder Competition adjudicated by Nicky Spence, and being a finalist in the RCM Lies Askonas Competition, adjudicated by John Gilhooly and Sophie Bevan, where she was commended for her performance of music by Britten and Liszt. Opera roles at RCM include Barbarina, (RCM International Opera School, directed by Sir Thomas Allen),Cleopatra (RCM Opera Scenes, directed by Stuart Barker, Fancy Cake and Embryo 2 (RCM Contemporary Opera Scenes with Tête a Tête Opera, directed by Bill Bankes-Jones). Concert highlights include performing with Roger Vignoles in a recital of semi staged French song in the Britten Theatre, RCM, and making her solo debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Cadogan Hall in a performance of Grieg's Peer Gynt. Hull-born, Poppy is excited to be involved in the recent launch of the Hull Urban Opera Collective, and performed music by northern, female composers in venues across Hull in July 2018. Poppy first came to Berlin as a Masterclass Artist and Cover Artist at the Berlin Song Festival 2018 and is thrilled to return this year with duo partner Marianna Abrahamyan.
(2019 SEASON)
2018 Masterclass Alumni Artist
Poppy Shotts, soprano, graduated from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2017 with a Bachelor of Music with Honours of the First Class, where she studied with Clare Shearer and Julia Lynch as an RCS Trust Scholar. She is now completing her Masters at the Royal College of Music with Alison Wells and Gary Matthewman as a Derek Butler scholar, supported by a Countess of Munster Award and the Henry Wood Accommodation Trust.
During her time in Scotland, Poppy was involved in the launch of the RCS ‘Coffee Concert Series’ and sang full-time with the RCS Voices Consort, with whom she recorded for BBC Radio 3 and appeared as a soloist at Scottish festivals including the St. Magnus International Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe. Highlights of her studies in Scotland included a series of performances of Messiaen’s Cinq Rechants for twelve solo voices, and winning the Governor’s Recital Prize for Chamber Music as part of a vocal octet. Poppy is an Artist with Live Music Now, with whom she gave her first performance at the National Galleries of Scotland in March 2017.
Poppy’s 2018 highlights include being awarded Highly Commended in the Royal College of Music Lieder Competition adjudicated by Nicky Spence, and being a finalist in the RCM Lies Askonas Competition, adjudicated by John Gilhooly and Sophie Bevan, where she was commended for her performance of music by Britten and Liszt. Opera roles at RCM include Barbarina, (RCM International Opera School, directed by Sir Thomas Allen),Cleopatra (RCM Opera Scenes, directed by Stuart Barker, Fancy Cake and Embryo 2 (RCM Contemporary Opera Scenes with Tête a Tête Opera, directed by Bill Bankes-Jones). Concert highlights include performing with Roger Vignoles in a recital of semi staged French song in the Britten Theatre, RCM, and making her solo debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Cadogan Hall in a performance of Grieg's Peer Gynt. Hull-born, Poppy is excited to be involved in the recent launch of the Hull Urban Opera Collective, and performed music by northern, female composers in venues across Hull in July 2018. Poppy first came to Berlin as a Masterclass Artist and Cover Artist at the Berlin Song Festival 2018 and is thrilled to return this year with duo partner Marianna Abrahamyan.
BONNIE WAGNER, PIANO
(2019 SEASON)
Artistic Advisory Board
Bonnie Wagner has been a solo korrepetitorin at the Komische Oper Berlin since 2012, where she enjoys working on a diverse and award-winning repertoire under the direction of Barrie Kosky. She has toured internationally with the Komische Oper’s cult hit Die Zauberflöte (2012), as well as played 20th century pillars such as Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten and Schönberg’s Moses und Aron. The Komische Oper has also afforded her experience in baroque style, with the opportunity to play harpsichord under the direction of Christian Curnyn on Rameau’s Castor et Pollux. Ever eager to play art song, she has performed in the Berlin Art Song Festival where she is also Artistic Advisor, and has made recital appearances in Berlin with Kiez Oper and other projects.
Before moving to Berlin, Bonnie worked as a vocal coach and chamber musician in Philadelphia. For seven years, she was a vocal coach at the Curtis Institute of Music. She also cultivated a relationship with Opera Philadelphia, playing for the chorus and then regularly as Rehearsal Accompanist/Assistant Conductor under Corrado Rovaris. A favorite job in Philly was her work with the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Sound All Around program, concocting programs for small children with musicians from the orchestra and professional story-teller Charlotte Blake Alston. At every opportunity, Bonnie performed in art song recitals with Philadelphia artists such as Randall Scarlata and Elizabeth Weigle. She founded a chamber music festival in Philly in the summer of 2005 called Center City Chamber Recitals. Other work experiences in Philadelphia included teaching an art song class at Westminster Choir College, coaching and playing student recitals at West Chester University, teaching piano at Settlement Music School, and accompanying the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus under Joseph Buches for three years, where she played every conceivable kind of repertoire, including “It’s Raining Men”.
Bonnie holds a Master of Music in Accompanying and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan under the tutelage of Martin Katz. Her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance is from the same institution, where she studied with Logan Skelton, Katherine Collier, Anton Nel, and Louis Nagel. She spent summer of 2008 studying German Lieder with Helmut Deutsch in Munich.
In the summer, Bonnie has worked at festivals including Brancaleoni International Music Festival in Piobbico, Italy, Chautauqua, NY, and Belle-Île-en-Mer in France. She also spent summers as a student at Tanglewood, Brevard, and Music Academy of the West.
(2019 SEASON)
Artistic Advisory Board
Bonnie Wagner has been a solo korrepetitorin at the Komische Oper Berlin since 2012, where she enjoys working on a diverse and award-winning repertoire under the direction of Barrie Kosky. She has toured internationally with the Komische Oper’s cult hit Die Zauberflöte (2012), as well as played 20th century pillars such as Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten and Schönberg’s Moses und Aron. The Komische Oper has also afforded her experience in baroque style, with the opportunity to play harpsichord under the direction of Christian Curnyn on Rameau’s Castor et Pollux. Ever eager to play art song, she has performed in the Berlin Art Song Festival where she is also Artistic Advisor, and has made recital appearances in Berlin with Kiez Oper and other projects.
Before moving to Berlin, Bonnie worked as a vocal coach and chamber musician in Philadelphia. For seven years, she was a vocal coach at the Curtis Institute of Music. She also cultivated a relationship with Opera Philadelphia, playing for the chorus and then regularly as Rehearsal Accompanist/Assistant Conductor under Corrado Rovaris. A favorite job in Philly was her work with the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Sound All Around program, concocting programs for small children with musicians from the orchestra and professional story-teller Charlotte Blake Alston. At every opportunity, Bonnie performed in art song recitals with Philadelphia artists such as Randall Scarlata and Elizabeth Weigle. She founded a chamber music festival in Philly in the summer of 2005 called Center City Chamber Recitals. Other work experiences in Philadelphia included teaching an art song class at Westminster Choir College, coaching and playing student recitals at West Chester University, teaching piano at Settlement Music School, and accompanying the Philadelphia Gay Men’s Chorus under Joseph Buches for three years, where she played every conceivable kind of repertoire, including “It’s Raining Men”.
Bonnie holds a Master of Music in Accompanying and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan under the tutelage of Martin Katz. Her Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance is from the same institution, where she studied with Logan Skelton, Katherine Collier, Anton Nel, and Louis Nagel. She spent summer of 2008 studying German Lieder with Helmut Deutsch in Munich.
In the summer, Bonnie has worked at festivals including Brancaleoni International Music Festival in Piobbico, Italy, Chautauqua, NY, and Belle-Île-en-Mer in France. She also spent summers as a student at Tanglewood, Brevard, and Music Academy of the West.
CHRISTOPHER WHITE, PIANO
(2019 SEASON)
Christopher White is Associate Head of Music at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he has been working as a pianist, coach and assistant conductor since 2014. Prior to that Christopher worked in the same capacity for the English National Opera, and also enjoys a freelance career at many of the great opera houses of the world, including the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and the Bavarian State Opera, Munich. As a soloist he has performed concertos by Beethoven and Rachmaninov with the London-based Orchestra of the City, and Saint-Saens at the Philharmonie, Berlin with the Berliner Ärtzteorchester.
His academic work, in London at the Royal Academy of Music, is based on the music of Gustav Mahler, whose complete songs he performed on the centenary of the composer’s death. His recording of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony remains available on the Divine Arts label.
(2019 SEASON)
Christopher White is Associate Head of Music at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he has been working as a pianist, coach and assistant conductor since 2014. Prior to that Christopher worked in the same capacity for the English National Opera, and also enjoys a freelance career at many of the great opera houses of the world, including the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and the Bavarian State Opera, Munich. As a soloist he has performed concertos by Beethoven and Rachmaninov with the London-based Orchestra of the City, and Saint-Saens at the Philharmonie, Berlin with the Berliner Ärtzteorchester.
His academic work, in London at the Royal Academy of Music, is based on the music of Gustav Mahler, whose complete songs he performed on the centenary of the composer’s death. His recording of Mahler’s Tenth Symphony remains available on the Divine Arts label.
