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| Gioachino Rossini |
The
American Prize is pleased to announce the four winners of the Chicago
Oratorio Award for 2018. These artists have been selected to perform as
soloists with the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra and CBA
Chorus in Rossini's Stabat Mater on Wednesday, May 16,
2018 at 7:30pm, in St James Epsicopal Cathedral, Chicago. The
performance will be under the baton of the orchestra's founding music
director, David Katz. Stephen Blackwelder is the chorus director.
Christine Steyer, soprano
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| Christine Steyer, soprano |
Soprano
Christine Steyer has distinguished herself as artist of great
versatility and is the recipient of numerous performances awards.
Christine received critical acclaim for her operatic portrayals of the
Marschallin, Madama Butterfly and Violetta. A frequent recitalist,
Christine sang concerts of Russian and American music with pianist
Philip Morehead and Spanish music with classical guitarist Brandon
Acker. Recently Steyer sang for the Cuban Ambassador, the American Opera
Society of Chicago, Beethoven's 9th at the University of Chicago, Lady
Liberty in Kurt Weill’s Johnny Johnson with Chicago Folks Operetta, Mrs.
Croft in Persuasion with Chamber Opera Chicago and a recital of
Schubert at Unity Temple, Oak Park. She has commissioned and premiered
several new works for soprano by composer David Shenton set to
contemporary American poetry. As Artistic Director of Bellissima Opera,
she is heading the creation of the new opera Future Perfect with a
libretto by Chicagoland youth. Christine is an Adjunct Professor of
Voice at Concordia University in River Forest, IL.
Anna Tonna, mezzo-soprano
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| Anna Tonna, mezzo-soprano |
“A
born star who effectively stole the show” is how the press describes
mezzo-soprano ANNA TONNA. Well known for her commitment to the music of
Spain and Latin America, her performances have been depicted as
“...full of charm and magnetism with her dark, compact lyric
mezzo-soprano, ideally suited for the flamenco-like vocal flourishes of
Spanish music”. In the role of Ernestina in the North American premiere
of Gioachino Rossini's L'equivoco stravagante, she was described as "a
mezzo heroine who knows how to sing Rossini" by the Rossini
Gessellschaft and as "showing off her warm, secure mezzo-soprano to
maximum advantage" by the New York Magazine. Her combination of a
highly developed coloratura with a full, balanced, flexible lower
register have guaranteed her acclaim as a lyric mezzo, both in familiar
roles of Rosina, Carmen, Dorabella, as well as in the more rare
repertoire by Paisiello, Vivaldi, Mascagni, Zandonai and Giordano. She
has sung leading roles with Teatro Grattacielo in Lincoln Center, New
Jersey State Opera, Opera Illinois State Opera of Brno (Czech Republic),
Opera de Santo Domingo among others. As a solo recitalist she has
presented at The Casals Festival of Puerto Rico, Festival Iberoamericano
de las Artes in Puerto Rico, Música de Cámara of New York, Festival de
Segovia (Spain) among many others. She can be heard on her new disc
release Espana alla Rossini with iTinerant Classics. www.annatonna.com
Emanuel-Cristian Caraman, tenor
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| Emanuel-Cristian Caraman, tenor |
Romanian
tenor Emanuel-Cristian Caraman has appeared with opera companies,
symphony orchestras and on the recital stage in Europe, South America
and North America. Mr. Caraman has performed with Los Angeles Opera,
George Enescu International Music Festival in Bucharest, Miami Lyric
Opera, South Bend Lyric Opera, Union Avenue Opera in St. Louis, Opera in
the Heights in Houston, Die Deutsche Kammerphilarmonie, New England
Chamber Orchestra, South Bend Symphony Orchestra and New Philharmonic
Orchestra. Operatic highlights include Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor,
Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Rodolfo in La Boheme, Alfredo in La
Traviata, Don José in Carmen, Fritz in L’Amico Fritz, Riccardo in Un
Ballo in Maschera, Nemorino in L'elisir D'amore, and Ernesto in Don
Pasquale. Lawrence Budmen of South Florida Classical Review: “In the
title role, Emanuel-Cristian Caraman displayed a well-schooled lyric
tenor that scaled the opera’s peaks impressively. He brought passionate
lyricism to Fritz’s melodic outbursts. His aria of despair at losing his
beloved Suzel was imbued with real vocal drama, Emanuel-Cristian
Caraman’s high notes ringing through the house.”
Benjamin Howard, baritone
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| Benjamin Howard, baritone |
Previously
based in Chicago, baritone Benjamin Howard was marked as a “standout in
the huge cast” (Chicago Tribune) as Connie Rivers in the Chicago
premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath at Northwestern
University. Howard has sung roles with Chicago’s Main Street Opera in
Serrano’s La Dolorosa and Rodrigo’s Ausencias de Dulcinea. Recent roles
include Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro at Opera in the Ozarks and
the title role in Don Giovanni at the University of North Texas. As a
soloist, Howard most recently sang with the Abilene Philharmonic,
performing Broadway love songs. This summer Howard will be a Young
Artist at Utah Festival Opera, singing the roles of Rapunzel’s Prince
in Into the Woods and the Sergeant in The Barber of Seville. A Los
Angeles native, Howard received his BM at Northwestern and currently
pursues an Artist Certificate at UNT, where he completed his MM.
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