Soprano Leslie Fagan’s exceptional artistry and talent continue to garner much attention on international stages. Having performed under the batons of such noted conductors as Hans Graf, Sir David Willcocks, Jukke Pekke Saraste, Kent Tritle and Daniel Lipton, Ms. Fagan has delighted audiences and critics alike at Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Bordeaux Opera House, Roy Thomson Hall and Massey Hall.
Recent performances include return engagements to both Lincoln Center, Brahms Requiem, and Carnegie Hall, Messiah and B Minor Mass, Bach. Also included in this years season are performances of Carmina Burana, Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, Mahler’s2nd Symphony, and Mozart’s Requiem.
On the opera stage, Ms. Fagan has sung the title role in Donizetti’s Linda di Chamounix, Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Sophie in Massenet’s Werther, Musetta in Verdi’s La Boheme and Nanetta in Verdi’s Falstaff. At the Aldeburgh Festival in England Ms. Fagan performed the roles of Tytania in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
Alto Virginia Warnken has performed regularly with renowned early music groups such as Vox Vocal Ensemble, Clarion Music Society, Musica Sacra, Trinity Wall Street Choir, Tiffany Consort, Elision, Trio Eos, and others. Virginia also has a profound passion for solo work, and has recently appeared at Carnegie Hall as the alto soloist in JS Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Oratorio Society of New York, and previously as the alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah. She has also appeared as a soloist and chorister in Merkin Hall, Miller Theater, St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Mary the Virgin, St. John the Divine, Trinity Wall Street, and Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, among others. Virginia is also an advocate for Contemporary Music, and has premiered works by many prominent composers, namely Steve Reich, John Zorn, Martin Bresnick, Caleb Burhans, and others.
Matthew Garrett has attracted the attention of opera companies and orchestras as a young tenor “to watch.” In recent seasons, he has appeared as Belmonte in The Abduction from the Seraglio with the Israel Chamber Orchestra and the Connecticut Opera, Pedrillo in the same work with Chicago Opera Theater and for the Cincinnati May Festival, and the roles of The Leader and The Sailer in a double bill of The Padlock and Dido and Aeneas for Chicago Opera Theatre. During the past two seasons, he has made debuts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and New World Symphony, performing Soldat in Der Kaiser von Atlantis under James Conlon, and the Opera Orchestra of New York as Harry in La Fanciulla del West, the latter engagement marking his Carnegie Hall debut. This season includes his European stage debut with the Scottish Opera as Paulino in Il Matrimonio Segreto.
On the concert stage, Mr. Garrett has appeared in recital at New York’s Merkin Concert Hall this past October in a program that included Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings. He returned to New York’s Church of St. Ignatius Loyola and the Brooklyn Friends of Chamber Music to solo in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the Las Vegas Philharmonic and the Monmouth Symphony of New Jersey as tenor soloist in Carmina Burana, and in recital with the New York Festival of Song.
Past awards include First Prize in the NYSTA David Adams Art Song Competition, Second Prize in the 2004 Young Concert Artists International Competition, and Second Prize in the Eastern Regional Finals of the 2004 National Council Auditions for the Metropolitan Opera. He was also a 2005 National Semifinalist at the Houston Grand Opera Starquest Competition, and a finalist at the Oratorio Society of New York solo competition.
Kevin Deas has gained international acclaim as one of America ’s leading basses. He is perhaps most acclaimed for his signature portrayal of the title role in Porgy and Bess, having sung it with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco, Atlanta, San Diego, Utah, Houston, Baltimore and Montreal symphonies and the Ravinia and Saratoga festivals. During the 2009/10 season, Kevin appears in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Rochester and Buffalo philharmonics, Brahms’ Requiem with the Hartford Symphony, Messiah with the Minnesota Orchestra and Musica Sacra, and the Verdi Requiem with the Vermont Symphony.
The 2008/09 season saw his return to the New York Philharmonic under Lorin Maazel, after which he sang in the world premiere of Derek Bermel’s The Good Life with the Pittsburgh Symphony under Leonard Slatkin and in Hannibal Lokumbe’s Dear Mrs. Parks , this time with the Detroit Symphony. Other return engagements brought him to the Atlanta Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Boston Baroque, Winnipeg Symphony, and an appearance at the Winter Park Festival.
Other recent highlights include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under Daniel Barenboim with Filarmonica della Scala, several performances with the Chicago Symphony, Messiah with the Cleveland Orchestra and appearances at Lincoln Center ’s Mostly Mozart Festival and Carnegie Hall.
A strong proponent of contemporary music, Kevin Deas was heard at Italy ’s Spoleto Festival in a new production of Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors in honor of the composer’s eighty-fifth birthday, videotaped for worldwide release. His 20-year collaboration with Dave Brubeck has taken him to Salzburg , Vienna and Moscow in To Hope!.
Having been hailed by critics as the “female reincarnation of Liszt” and a “piano lioness,” Ukrainian-born pianist Anna Shelest made her international debut at age eleven at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris as the youngest winner of the Milosz Magin International Piano Competition. At twelve she appeared with the Kharkiv Symphony Orchestra, playing Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Since then she has been a soloist with some of the world’s most renown orchestras, including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, and the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic.
Ms. Shelest is a 2009 first prize winner of the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition. She has also won first prizes in the Louisiana International Piano Competition, the Kawai American Recording Contest, The Third Netherlands International Piano Competition for Young Musicians, and The Corpus Christi International Competition for Piano and Strings.
Her discography includes an all-Rachmaninoff CD featuring Études-Tableaux Op. 39 and Moments-Musicaux Op. 16, as well as a collaborative recording with Cristian Ganicenco, principal trombonist of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on the CD, “Beyond Oblivion” featuring music for trombone and piano.
Currently living in New York, Ms. Shelest is a graduate student at The Juilliard School, where she studies with Jerome Lowenthal.