Monday, April 8, 2013

AWARD-WINNING VOCAL SOLOISTS for May concert announced

The American Prize is pleased to announce the 2013 winners of the Chicago Oratorio Award. These four individuals will appear under the baton of Maestro David Katz in concert with the Chicago Bar Association Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, performing Bruckner's Te Deum on May 15, 2013 at St James Episcopal Cathedral, Chicago.

This is the second year that the CBASO has used TAP to help select its vocal soloists. You can read more about The American Prize, the national nonprofit competitions in the performing arts, by following this link.

Tickets for the concert may be purchased online here.

*** 

CHICAGO ORATORIO AWARD WINNERS, 2013

Josefien Stoppelenburg, soprano

Josefien Stoppelenburg, soprano, performs frequently as soloist in the United States, the Netherlands, and Germany. In Chicago she has performed with Baroque Band, the Apollo Chorus, the Newberry Consort, Handel Week Festival, Fulcrum Point, Ars Musica and Music of the Baroque. From 2005 until 2007 Josefien was part of the Young Opera Ensemble of Cologne. Her operatic roles include Serpina (La Serva Padrona), Amor (Orfeo ed Euridice) and Belinda (Dido and Aeneas), and Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine. She sang Aci in the Haymarket Opera Company’s acclaimed premiere of Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo and Tirsi in Clori, Tirsi e Fileno. Recent engagements include Bach/Pergolesi Stabat Mater (with Camerata Amsterdam), Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Stabat Mater, Handel's La Resurrezione and Dixit Dominus (Baroque Band), the Faure Requiem with Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra, and the world premiere of Jacob TV’s The News, a multi-media reality opera, in Pittsburgh. See also www.josefienstoppelenburg.com

Emily Marvosh, contralto

Emily Marvosh, contralto, is gaining recognition as a skilled performer of oratorio and opera, with a “flexible technique and ripe color,” and “smooth, apparently effortless vocal display.” She has recently appeared as a soloist with the Handel and Haydn Society, Opera Boston, Boston Lyric Opera, and Longwood Opera; she is also a frequent soloist with the Marsh Chapel Bach Cantata Series. Forays into new music include world premieres with Juventas New Music and Intermezzo Chamber Opera.  She is a founding member of the Lorelei Ensemble, promoting new music for women.  Of a recent Lorelei world premiere, one critic wrote, “Marvosh, whose stage presence was a joy to behold, offered a tone that had the velvety soulfulness of a cello…” Solo appearances in 2012-2013 include the Charlotte Symphony (Messiah), Handel and Haydn Society (Magnificat), Brookline Symphony (Sea Pictures), and the Chorus of Westerly (Mozart’s Requiem).  She holds degrees from Central Michigan University and Boston University.  www.emilymarvosh.com

Christian Ketter, tenor

Tenor, Christian Ketter returns in summer 2013 to Music By The Lake for a staged gala concert as Prince Karl Franz in Sigmund Romberg’s The Student Prince. This past year’s performances included tenor soloist in DuBois’ Les sept paroles du Christ and Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël; Willy Loman in Rizzer’s operatic adaptation of Death of a Salesman at the Chicago Cultural Center. In addition, Mr. Ketter was privileged this past year to be musically coached and staged by American composer Carlisle Floyd in a concert celebrating his operatic works. Mr. Ketter was an International Finalist in the Kurt Weill Foundation’s Lotte Lenya Competition. 2012, National Winner of the American Prize in Opera; Shirley Rabb Winston Scholarships in Voice Grand Prize Winner; National Finalist in the Shreveport Opera Competition; Harold Haugh finalist-young artist award; 3rd National Finalist for Hal Leonard Vocal Competition. Mr. Ketter has studied under and sung in masterclasses with renowned artists: legendary stage director Tito Capobianco; soprano, Diana Soviero; baritone, Nathan Gunn; Maestro Enrique Patrón de Rueda; the Metropolitan Opera’s Joan Dornemann; film conductor David Friedman; Verdi Baritone Sherrill Milnes; and heldentenor Carl Lawrenz.

Conor Angell, baritone

Born and reared in Ireland, baritone Conor Angell recently completed his doctoral degree in voice at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. This fall, he joined the faculty of the Greatbatch School of Music, Houghton College, where he teaches voice and directs the lyric theater. With IU Opera Theater, he appeared in performances of A View from the Bridge, Il barbiere di Siviglia, The Tale of Lady Thi Kinh and Gianni Schicchi. Previously, Angell was a studio artist at Kentucky Opera, singing roles in Werther, Pirates of Penzance, Verdi’s Otello, Telemann's Don Quichotte and Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta. Other operatic credits include roles in Le nozze di Figaro, Così fan tutte, La bohème, Rigoletto, Susannah, Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, Madama Butterfly, and La vida breve. Angell has sung at the Opera North and Brevard Music Center summer festivals. He completed his master’s degree at UNC-Greensboro and his bachelor’s degree at Taylor University. Angell has performed as a soloist with orchestras in Indiana and North Carolina in oratorio and concert works.

***