New York based soprano Rachel Duval has made a name for herself as an unconventional classical performer. A former trapeze artist and internationally acclaimed performance poet, Ms. Duval performed on Spanish National Television singing Puccini, German local television as the featured poet at the German National Slam, and was honored to be part of the world premier of the hip-hopera Stomping Grounds at The Glimmerglass Festival in 2017. Rachel sings both lyric soprano and baroque mezzo soprano roles, including: Damon in Acis and Galatea (Westchester Baroque Festival), Rosalba in Florencia en el Amazonas (Opera Steamboat), Angelica in Händel’s Orlando (Cantanti Project), and Sarah in Kamala Snkaram’s virtual reality opera The Parksville Murders (Opera On Tap). Last spring, Rachel made her off-Broadway debut singing Queen Vashti in The Queen’s Dilemma at the prestigious Center for Jewish History. Ms. Duval also works as an Executive Speaker Coach and voice teacher, and is a full time mother of two.
Read moreMarisa Karchin
A recent graduate of Mannes School of Music and Yale University, New York-based soprano Marisa Karchin is establishing herself as a compelling and versatile performer of art song, opera and concert works. To begin the 2018-19 Season, she joins Dayton Opera as an Artist in Residence, and makes her Weill Recital Hall debut in recital as winner of the 2018 Joy in Singing International Art Song Competition. Last season, Marisa was featured in a new production of Moto Osada’s Four Nights of Dream in NYC and Tokyo, and also performed with the Light Opera of NY, the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute, and the Chelsea Music Festival’s “Bach 333” series. Other recent roles include Angelica in Orlando (Cantanti Project), Shirley Temple in Robert Ashley’s DUST (Mannes), and Nanetta (cover) in Falstaff (Opera Saratoga). An avid interpreter of new music, Marisa has recently been featured with the Washington Square Contemporary Music Society, Lehigh University’s Very Modern Ensemble, and Venice’s Plurimo Ensemble.
Marisa Karchin, soprano de Nueva York y recién graduada de la Mannes School of Music y la Universidad de Yale, se está convirtiendo en una intérprete versátil y convincente de obras de arte, ópera y conciertos. Para comenzar la temporada 2018-19, se une a Dayton Opera como artista residente, y hace su debut en el Weill Recital Hall en un recital como ganadora de la competencia de 2018 Joy in Singing International Art Song. La temporada pasada, Marisa apareció en una nueva producción de Four Nights of Dream en Nueva York y Tokio compuesta por Moto Osada, y también actuó con la Light Opera de NY, el Instituto de Artes Vocales de Canadá y la serie "Bach 333" del Chelsea Music Festival. Otros papeles recientes incluyen Angélica en Orlando (Proyecto Cantanti), Shirley Temple en DUST (Mannes) de Robert Ashley y Nanetta (suplente) en Falstaff (Opera Saratoga). Una ávida intérprete de la nueva música, Marisa ha sido presentada recientemente con la Washington Square Contemporary Music Society, Very Modern Ensemble de Lehigh University y Plurimo Ensemble de Venice.
Read moreLydia Dahling
Soprano Lydia Dahling is an emerging singer known for her dynamic and intimate performances and her wide range of vocal colors. This season she sings Melinda in selections from Bánk bán and Proserpina in Caccini's L'Euridice with The Cantanti Project, for which she also served as dramaturg. Last season, she sang Dorinda (Orlando) and the title role of Dido and Aeneas, and joined the Academy of Sacred Drama as Obbedienza in Bassani's 1689 oratorio Giona. Her interpretation of Zerlina (Don Giovanni) with Mannes Opera was called “sweet voiced” by Opera News. Other credits include Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) with Sugar Creek Opera, Pamina (The Magic Flute) and the title role of Alcina. Also a performer of chamber music, she has performed works by Shostakovich, Berg, and Respighi. Dahling holds degrees from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and Mannes College. She is also the co-host of the podcast “Straight From the Wolf’s Mouth”. A native of Indiana, she currently resides in New York City.
Read moreDorian Baroque
Dorian Baroque is one of New York’s most exciting early music ensembles performing orchestral, chamber, and operatic music on period instruments. The ensemble was founded as a means for musicians of diverse musical paths to come together and push the boundaries of historical performance. The organization’s unique philosophy to music making focuses on exploring the versatility of historical instruments while adhering to the principles of baroque artistry – opulence, exuberance, dissonance, and ornate grandeur. Since its debut in 2012, Dorian Baroque has collaborated with some of the most distinguished early music specialists in the field and continues to flourish in the growing movement of historical performance practice that has taken New York City by storm.
Dorian Baroque es uno de los conjuntos de música antigua más emocionantes de Nueva York. Música orquestal, de cámara y operística en instrumentos de época. El conjunto fue Fundado como un medio para que músicos de diversos caminos musicales se unan y empujen Los límites del desempeño histórico. La filosofía de la organización es la creación musical y se centra en explorar la versatilidad de los instrumentos históricos, mientras que Adhiriéndose a los principios del arte barroco: opulencia, exuberancia, disonancia y grandeza adornada. Desde su debut en 2012, Dorian Baroque ha colaborado con algunos de los más distinguidos especialistas en música antigua en el campo y continúa floreciendo en El creciente movimiento de prácticas de rendimiento histórico que ha tomado la ciudad de Nueva York como una tormenta.
Read moreKirsti Esch
Mezzo-Soprano Kirsti Esch is a versatile musician garnering notice for her interpretations of Baroque and Wagnerian repertoire. Roles include: Arnalta (L'Incoronazione di Poppea, Trentino Music Festival), Gerhilde (Opera Company of Brooklyn) and Waltraute (NYLOT) in Die Walkure, The Mother (Hansel and Gretel, Opera Oggi), Nireno (Giulio Cesare, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival), Laura (Iolanta, Opera Slavica), King Ajax I (La Belle Hélène, Opéra du Périgord), Mae Jones (Street Scene, Mittelsächisches Theater). Miss Esch has also been seen in concert in NYC (with Lauren Flanigan), Minneapolis (Minnesota Opera), London (Royal College of Music), Boston (Symphony Hall), Germany, France, and Iceland. Miss Esch is a graduate of Boston University. She currently studies with Bill Neill, and resides in Brooklyn.
Read moreAllison Gish
Praised for her "agile and stylish" coloratura (Entertainment Hour), Allison Gish is a mezzo-soprano based in NYC. She has made a number of role and company debuts this season, including Zita in Gianni Schicchi with ARE Opera and as Kathleen O’Fallin in Ricky Ian Gordon’s Morning Star with Onsite Opera, and she will join Cantanti Project for a second season as Mrs. Prin/Wine Mom in the world premiere of Felix Jarrar’s Tabula Rasa. She will also debut with Ars Musica as alto soloist in Rachmaninov’s All Night Vigil and Bach’s Mass in B Minor. This summer, she will sing Lisotta in the American premiere of Salieri’s La Cifra (dell’Arte Opera Ensemble), the title role in Cavalli’s La Didone (Haymarket Opera Company) and Junon in Lully’s Cadmus et Hermione (Amherst Early Music Festival). Ms. Gish is a recent graduate of the Professional Studies Diploma program at Mannes College and completed her Bachelor of Music at Louisiana State University.
Read moreAlexandria Hoffman
Alexandria Hoffman has been the Millinery Assistant to Corrina Griffin for Radio City’s Christmas Spectacular since 2011, and the Costume Administrator at Glimmerglass Theater Festival since 2012. Alex hold an MA from NYU in Visual Culture: Costume Studies and a BA from UCSB in History and Theater, emphasis Costume Design. The Seafarer, (Floriday Repertory Theater); Anoush, Roudolf Kharatian (Ballet 2021); The Grass is Greenest at the Houston Astrodome, Brandon Stock (Outside Inside at NYCFringe); “Cross”, Gerry Maravilla (Isosceles Media). Assistant Costume Design- Off Broadway: That Poor Dream, Kate Fry (The Assemly); The Architecture of Becoming, Kate Fry (Women’s Project Theater); Philosophy for Gangsters, Sarah Cogan (Rotten Apples Theatrical); One Night, Jessica Jahn (Rattlestick at Cherry Lane Productions); F#%ng Up Everything, Melissa Trn; Totally Tubular Time Machine, Sarah Cogan. Other: “The Story of Vice”, Kama Royz (National Geographic Productions); “Cop Show”, Michael Bevins (M.E.G.A. Films); “How You Look at It”, Stefanie Genda (How You Look at It LLC); Marry Harry, Stefanie Genda (American Theater Group); The Cripple of Inishmaan, Stefanie Genda (Hartt School). www.ahcostumedesign.com
Read moreBea (Brittány) Goodwin
Bea (Brittány) Goodwin made her opera stage directing debut in 2015 with Jarrar’s Fall of the House of Usher at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music. Since then, she has been fortunate enough to work with dell’Arte Opera Ensemble as a stage director (La Rondine, 2016; La Calisto, 2017) and Gramery Opera as a librettist and stage director (The Fairy Queen, 2017; A Christmas Carol, 2017). Goodwin’s lyrics are featured in Jarrar’s newest song cycle, Songs of the Soul Beams, with premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2017, and her play, The Wonders of Alice, has been nominated for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. For more on this artist: begoodwin.com, on media: @be_goodwin.
Read moreLaura Mitchell
Operations Director Laura Mitchell holds a B.A. in Music and minor in Mathematics from UC San Diego and an Artist Diploma from the prestigious University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music. Her administrative background includes IT Project Management, Business Analysis and Systems Analysis & Integration. Her personal mission as an administrator of an arts organization is to create a space that celebrates the singer as much as the company; to create a space where singer’s opinions matter and where they can learn to make their own decisions as musicians. Laura is passionate about leveraging the booming market of free technologies to enhance the experience for both singers and productions in a cost-effective way.
At CCM, she performed the roles of Fiordiligi, Musetta, Susanna, and the title roles in Alcina and Manon. Laura has worked with Lyric Opera Virginia, Sarasota Opera, San Diego Opera, New York Lyric Opera Theater, along with programs in several other countries. Her performances are often praised for “captivating” performances (Classical Singer Magazine), and “nuanced delivery” (Oberon’s Grove).
Core Artist and Operations Director
Read moreDylan Sauerwald
Photo credit: Lucas Godlewski
Dylan Sauerwald is a distinctive historical keyboardist and conductor. At the keyboard, he has been praised for his “fleet fingers” and “sophisticated playing,” (Capriccio) and as a conductor, his productions have been called “heart-wrenching and self-reflecting” (OperaWire). Mr. Sauerwald performs widely with early music ensembles across the US and Canada, and his playing is featured in the BBC historical drama Poldark. As a recording artist, he can be heard on the New Focus, Coro, and Urtext labels, as soloist and continuo player on the harpsichord, organ, fortepiano, and lautenwerck, performing works from the 16th century to the 21st. A champion of early opera, he has led productions acclaimed as “refined and flexible,” (Boston Globe) and “a remarkable musical experience” (OperaWire). He is in demand as a guest conductor, appearing with Sunshine City Opera, Miryam Baroque Ensemble, Dorian Baroque, and many others. Mr. Sauerwald directs Polyphemus Early Music, and is Director of Music at New Dorp Moravian Church.
Read moreJoyce Yin
Soprano Joyce Yin, praised by New York Concert Review for singing with an “otherworldly quality,” brings a committed physicality and depth of emotional connection to the stage. This season, Joyce sings the Pergolesi Stabat Mater, Libby Larsen’s Try Me Good King, and Clara Schumann’s Sechs Lieder. A performer whose “deft characterization” is “matched by her fearless singing” (Entertainment Hour), Joyce particularly enjoys exploring the nuances of determined women such as Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Morgana (Alcina), and Gilda (Rigoletto). Recent highlights include Ines in Donizetti’s La Zingara with Amore Opera, Linfea in La Calisto with dell’Arte Opera Ensemble, the title role in Caccini’s Euridice with Cantanti Project, and her debut with the Buffalo Philharmonic as the soprano soloist in the Messiah. Joyce is a winner of the Met Auditions Audience Choice Award and the Musical Merit Foundation of San Diego. She graduated with her M.M. in Opera Performance from Arizona State University. Please visit www.joyceyin.com and @joycesings for updates.
Core Artist and Artistic Director
Read moreSara Lin Yoder
Soprano Sara Lin Yoder’s midwestern work ethic coupled with 37 years of combined performance experience across 4 different instruments makes her an impeccable musician and a dynamic storyteller. Sara Lin’s “arresting dignity and presence that grips both the eye and the ear” entranced audiences in her performances in the title role of L’incoronazione di Poppea. Her knack for comedy in the roles of Despina (Cosi fan tutte), Clorinda (La Cenerentola), and Ida (Die Fledermaus) left audiences roaring with laughter, while heart-warming renditions of Nanetta (Falstaff), Constance (Dialogues of the Carmelites), and Laurie (The Tender Land) brought them to tears. Sara Lin’s interest in new music was discovered in 2012 while workshopping the role of Jessica in Aldridge/Garfein’s production of Sister Carrie. Since then, she has workshopped Aschera in Kerer/Mazzola’s Apocalypse: Now and Then, Susan in Redler/Campbell’s A Song for Susan Smith, and Mary in Heggie/Scheer’s It’s a Wonderful Life. Sara Lin lives in New York City.
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