David Michael Schuster
David Michael Schuster, tenor, originally from Indianapolis, has a career which spans 25 years, from his debut with the Albany Symphony Orchestra and recital debut at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1981, to the stages of Spoleto, Italy and the Bavarian State Theater in Munich, Germany, where he was a lead tenor from 1989-1995 singing Radames (Aida), The King (Love of Three Oranges) and the world premiere of Ubu Rex by Panderewcki where he was double-cast with Robert Tear as King Ubu. The New York Times said of Mr. Schuster’s recital debut, “[He] shows a young tenor voice not only unusually rich and full in the lower register, but unforced and brilliant in the upper register as well.” Mr. Schuster was tenor soloist with the RTSI Orchestra in Lugano, Switzerland, where he performed many different operatic roles as well as many oratorios. Mr. Schuster also toured throughout Europe with the Compagnie d’Opera di Milano (La Scala’s touring company) with Manrico (Il Trovatore) and Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly). The German television program Westfalische Rundschau commented on his portrayal of Manrico, saying “David Schuster was an equal to all the Italians on stage and has a resonantly strong voice ... full of temperament and solid on stage.” And the French press Liberation noted on the performance of Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots, “[t]he last tenor who could negotiate the tricky tessitura of this role (Raoul) was Franco Corelli. David Schuster follows quite unhindered in Mr. Corelli’s footsteps.”
Timothy Linwood
Le Figaro writes of counter-tenor Timothy Linwood, “[h]is voice filled the hall with great ease . . . and with great flexibility.” Mr. Linwood, best known for his recitals and concerts throughout France, Germany, England and the United States, is, according to the classical music magazine, Music & Vision, “a truly astonishing countertenor, an intellectual among singers.” Equally at home performing art songs by Fauré and Ravel, he has given recitals at the Château de la Muette, the Trocadero, and the Théâtre Mirabeau and concert versions of Scarlatti’s La principessa fedele and Purcell’s Dido and Aneas at the Château de Milon. Purcell’s love poems invoked from Le Monde de la Musique that “the sweet and velvety quality of Mr. Linwood’s voice left the audience spellbound.” Mr. Linwood appeared as a guest artist at the first gala fundraiser for the reconstruction of the Dresdener Frauenkirche (now complete), a favorite performance for the singer, in the vaulted chambers of the French Historic Society, as well as numerous oratorios and cantatas at the American Cathedral in Paris, including Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Handel’s Messiah, and works by Monteverdi, Vivaldi, and Schütz. Operatic roles include the lead in Gluck’s Orfeo, Nerone in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazzione de Poppea, Idamante in Mozart’s Idomeneo, and Anténor in Rameau’s Dardanus.
Marilyn Vondra
Marilyn Vondra, soprano, is a frequent visitor to the concert stage. Her Alice Tully Hall debut recital was called “An Impressive Debut” by The New York Times. She recently made her concert debut at Weil Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) and has performed on the concert series of Trinity Church, Rockefeller University, Carleton College and the University of Bridgeport’s Tuesday Evening Series. Ms. Vondra founded and produced “Celebration of Song,” a classical art song series at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Manhattan. Ms. Vondra is equally at home on the operatic stage. She has performed leading roles with regional and Manhattan opera companies. These performances have been critically acclaimed by The New York Times, New York Magazine and Opera News. Ms. Vondra recently completed a mid-western recital tour, performing an original program titled “Edvard Grieg in Story and Song,” consisting of 17 songs sung in the original Norwegian. Next season she will be bringing this concert to Nordic organizations on the west coast.
Debra Patchell
Known for her “powerful, yet warm sound,” Debra Patchell possesses a “rare grand voice remarkable for its seamless transitions, perfectly controlled fortes and pianissimos, and a stage presence that stills her audiences into spellbound silence.” Performing with opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States and Europe, Ms. Patchell specializes in dramatic mezzo roles such as Amneris, Azucena, and Adalgisa. She has sung Verdi’s Requiem with the Hamburg Camarata in Germany, Mario Lavista’s Hacia El Comienzo and Manuel de Falla’s Siete Canciones Populares Españolas and El Amor Brujo with New York City’s Prism Chamber Orchestra under the baton of Jeannine Wagar, and Ralph Vaughn Williams’ Riders to the Sea with conductor John Moriarty. In January 2005, she appeared in concert at the Ortiz Tirado Music Festival in Mexico as one of the “Three American Sopranos” -- garnering superlative reviews. An original cast member of Baz Luhrmann’s Tony Award winning La Bohème both on Broadway and in Los Angeles, Ms. Patchell won the Los Angeles Stage Alliance’s Ovation Award for her performance. Ms. Patchell has made solo appearances with the Dallas Symphony, the New Jersey Symphony, the Carmel Bach Festival, and the Minnesota Bach Society, and has performed roles with the Opera Company of Boston, the Boston Lyric Opera, the New Jersey State Opera, and the West End Opera.
Carla Thelen Hanson
American soprano Carla Thelen Hanson is garnering attention for exciting and vocally thrilling performances of opera's leading heroines throughout the country. Of her New York City Opera debut as Puccini's Tosca, The New York Times noted, "Ms. Hanson made a strong debut as Tosca, by turns fiery and vulnerable, her voice agreeably dark in its middle range and sufficiently full on top" and the New Yorker exclaims "her dark-grained, strongly felt "Vissi d'arte" sailed right up to the uppermost balcony." She received equal praise for portrayals of Maddalena de Coigny in Andrea Chenier for Mobile Opera, as well as the title roles of Ariadne auf Naxos and Norma, both with Union Ave Opera Theatre. Other roles in her repertoire include Verdi's Aida, Leonora (Il Trovatore and Beethoven's Fidelio), and Amelia (Simon Boccanegra and Un Ballo in Maschera), as well as the recent additions of Strauss' Salome, Puccini's Turandot, Wagner's Senta and Sieglinde.
