Jennifer Zetlan recently sang Laoula in Chabrier’s Étoile at New York City Opera, and made her Nashville Opera debut as Madeline Usher in Glass’s Fall of the House of Usher. Also at New York City Opera, she performed Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Second French Actress in Prokofiev’s War and Peace and will sing the role of Xenia in Mussorgsky’sBoris Godunov next season. Zetlan is a graduate of the Juilliard School, where she performed Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff and Emily in Ned Rorem’s Our Town, among others. Other roles include Lisa in Bellini’s Sonnambula at Florida Grand Opera, the title role in Janácek’s Cunning Little Vixen with the Aspen Music Festival, Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème, Gretel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, and Monica in Menotti’s Medium.

In September 2010 countertenor Matthew Shaw appeared as Athamas in Handel’s Semele in a new production of Robert Carsen at Theater an der Wien under the baton of William Christie alongside Cecilia Bartoli. In November he appeared as Ottone and Nutrice in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (NP), with performances through April 2011. In December he sings Händel’s Messiah with Musica Sacra and the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Shaw will also appear as Ottone in Poppea at the Semperoper Dresden in a new production in spring 2011 and in the revival in fall 2011.

In January 2010 Mr. Shaw made his debut in the title role of Handel’s Giulio Cesare at Theater Dortmund and sang 15 performances. He was also invited to sing the same role in Kiel in June 2010. In June 2011 he appears as Tolomeo in Giulio Cesare with the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and in July performs the role of the Israelitish Messenger/Priest in Händel’s Judas Maccabaeus with the Berkshire Choral Festival.

Since transitioning from baritone to countertenor, Mr. Shaw’s first big success was his appearance in spring 2009 as Endimione in Cavalli’s La Calisto at the Landestheater Linz, where he received much praise from the press. He appeared in the same role in April 2010 at the Grand Theatre de Geneve, conducted by Andreas Stoehr and directed by Philipp Himmelmann.

Mr. Shaw was a finalist in the Chimay International Baroque Singing Competition, and he was a Young Artist with Pittsburgh Opera, where he sang such roles as Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, Falke in Die Fledermaus, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, and Nerone in Poppea. He received his Bachelor of Music from Penn State University and his Master’s Degree from Manhattan School of Music.

With assured musicality and the varied tonal palette of a lieder specialist, Canadian lyric Colin Balzer‘s 2009-2010 season included a debut on the distinguished Philadelphia Chamber Music Society series, his Atlanta Symphony debut in the Mozart Coronation Mass under Roberto Abbado; Mozart’s Idomeneo and Mass in C in Salzburg under Marc Minkowski; Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Cantatas with Philippe Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent and Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with Louis Langree conducting at France’s Aix-en-Provence Festival.  In 2010-11 New York hears his solo recital debut at the Frick Collection, as well as Messiah with Kent Tritle conducting both Musica Sacra and the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall.  In addition he participates in the Boston Early Music Festival performances and recording of Steffani’s Niobe.

Recent seasons included the title role of Monteverdi’s Orfeo in Edmonton, Haydn’s Die Schoepfung with Yoav Talmi and the Quebec Symphony, the Mozart Requiem with the National Philharmonic, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Purcell’s The Fairy Queen with Early Music Vancouver, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass throughout Belgium with Philippe Herregweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent.

Particularly esteemed as a recitalist, he has been welcomed at London’s Wigmore Hall, the Britten Festival in Aldeburgh, the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival, the Wratislavia Cantans in Poland, and at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden.  A prizewinner of Holland’s Hertogenbosch Competition, the U.K.’s Wigmore Hall Song Competition, Stuttgart’s Hugo Wolf Competition and Munich’s 55th International ARD Competition, Mr. Balzer also holds the rare distinction of earning the Gold Medal at the Robert Schumann Competition in Zwickau with the highest score in 25 years.

British-Columbia-born and New York-based baritone Tyler Duncan enjoys international renown for bringing consummate musicianship, vocal beauty and interpretive insight to recital, concert and–increasingly–operatic literature.  In spring 2010 he debuted at the American Spoleto Festival in the role of Friendly in the 18th-century ballad opera Flora.  He has sung Demetrius in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Princeton Festival; roles in Lully’s Armide with Houston’s Mercury Baroque; Purcell’s The Faerie Queen with Early Music Vancouver; Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in Rotterdam and Utrecht; and the title role of Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro on a Swiss tour with the Munich Chamber Orchestra under Christoph Poppen.

An excellent oratorio singer performing a remarkable range of repertoire, Mr. Duncan’s concerts include Haydn’s Die Schöpfung with the Québec and Winnipeg Symphonies; Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten with the Calgary Philharmonic; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Munich, Berlin, Stuttgart and Frankfurt with the Philharmonie der Nationen under Justus Frantz; and Händel’s Messiah with the Toronto Symphony, San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque and Portland Baroque.

Mr. Duncan’s considerable gifts in the realm of art song have earned him prizes from the Naumburg, Wigmore Hall (London) and ARD (Munich) Competitions.  Frequently accompanied by pianist Erika Switzer, he has given acclaimed recitals in New York, Boston, Paris and Montreal, as well as throughout Canada, Germany, Sweden, France and South Africa.   He was also winner of the 2010 Joy in Singing competition, the 2008 New York Oratorio Society Competition, 2007 Prix International Pro Musicis Award and the Bernard Diamant Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts.