roster of singers
PAUL CHWE MINCHUL AN
Paul Chwe MinChul An is a Korean-American muti-disciplinary bass singer. Critically acclaimed by The New York Times, Opera News, San Francisco Chronicle, LA Times, and others, he has originated 20 operatic, theatrical, film, and concert roles, in addition to performing 50 roles in the canon in a career spanning two decades. Paul followed the advice of his teacher W. Stephen Smith at Juilliard, who told him to study and perform everything under the sun while achieving a specialist’s facility and depth in each discipline and genre.
As an operatic Basso Cantante, he has performed works from Monteverdi, Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, to Meredith Monk with local, regional, and national companies such as LA Opera, San Diego Opera, Nashville Opera, Orlando Opera, PROTOTYPE Festival, and Long Beach Opera.
As an Oratorio soloist and chamber musician, he has performed the works of early to contemporary masters with such groups as NY Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Ensemble VIII, and Tenet in venues ranging from school gyms to Carnegie Hall.
Although Paul does not consider himself fixed to one discipline or genre, he particularly revels in the collaborative process of originating roles. He is lucky to call giants like Meredith Monk, Kamala Sankaram, Ellen Reid, Yuval Sharon, James Darrah, Julian Wachner, Beth Morrison, Kristin Marting, and Alex Gedeon, his friends and collaborators.
Adjacent to the stage, Paul Chwe MinChul An is working to carve out space for underrepresented artists. As a consultant to performing arts organizations, as well as member of the Queens Voice Lab, he is joining other beautiful and powerful voices to decolonize, abolish, build, and raise up institutions and communities.
Ryland Angel
Born on St Cecilia’s day, the Grammy-nominated British countertenor Ryland Angel has built an international reputation on both the opera and concert stage, in repertoire ranging from the Baroque to new operatic commissions at major opera houses, concert halls and festivals throughout Europe and the USA.
He has performed in Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Gavin Bryars’s Doctor Ox’s Experiment (English National Opera), Fairy Queen (Barcelona), Gluck’s Orfeo (Koblenz), Amadigi (Karlsruhe), Venus and Adonis (Flanders Opera), Dido and Aeneas (Opera Comique), The Play of Daniel (Spoleto), and Ballet Comique de La Royne (Geneva). Angel has sung on over 80 recordings including music of Buxtehude, Charpentier, Scarlatti, Stradella, Spears, O’Regan, Handel, Monteverdi, Purcell, Bach, and on the film soundtracks of Jack Reacher, Zoolander 2, Freedom, Le Petit Prince, La Peau, Henry 4th, Machete, The Mystery of Dante, Gemini Man and the PBS TV special Heavenly Voices. Recent engagements include Doux Mensonges (Opera National de Paris), Agrippina (NYCO), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Florentine and Kansas Opera), Julius Caesar (Utah and Colorado Opera), Sant Alessio with William Christie (Paris, London, New York), Carmina Burana (Lincoln Center/Prague Proms), St. John Passion (Saint Thomas Church and Mechanics Hall), Classics and Rock (Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra) and Messiah (Boston Symphony Hall & Carnegie Hall). Recent and upcoming recordings include The Flaming Fire (MSR), Heart and Soul (Centaur) and Now Fatal Change (NMC), La Sposa (Solo Luminus), Le Nozze in Baviera (Naxos), Archivo de Guatemala (Naxos), Chant Electronique (Chesky), Justinian Intonations (Neuma), Bleed for the throne (SXSW) and a recital at the National Gallery with Parthenia Viol consort. Recent creations include Tesla, Fantini Futuro, The Call, Including Words and The Chant Project.
PAUL D'ARCY
Paul D’Arcy (tenor) is in demand nationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and music educator. Recent solo appearances include Handel’s Messiah with the Austin Symphony, Tucson Symphony, True Concord, and Ensemble viii; Mozart’s Requiem with the Austin Symphony; Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Concordia University; Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Advent Choir of Boston; Monteverdi’s Vespers with ensemble viii; Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien with the Texas Early Music Project and ensemble viii; Vaughan Williams Mass in G Minor with Spire; the Brahms Liebeslieder; and the world premiere of Mozart Requiem Undead at the Fusebox Festival in Austin, TX.
D’Arcy is an avid chamber musician and choral singer. As a New York City based freelance musician, D’Arcy has had the opportunity to work with many of the city’s most celebrated ensembles and conductors. Concert performances include the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Jap van Zweden, Musica Sacra and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine under Kent Tritle, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s under Pablo Heras-Casado, the American Classical Orchestra under Thomas Crawford, the choir of Trinity Wall Street under Julian Wachner, Musica Viva under Alejandro Hernandez-Valdez, the St. Andrew’s Music Society under Andrew Henderson, the Trident Ensemble, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra under Gustavo Dudamel. Other projects include performances with the New York City Ballet under Andrew Litton, National Sawdust, the Worldless Music Series at BAM, Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity Lutheran under Donald Meineke, recordings with Essential Voices under Judith Clurman, and the premiere of David Lang’s Mile Long Opera.
D’Arcy also travels nationally, performing with the Grammy® winning Conspirare in Austin, True Concord in Tucson, Skylark in the greater Boston area, Ensemble viii in Austin, the San Diego Bach Collegium, Ensemble Origo in Hartford and Boston, Seraphic Fire in Miami, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, the Cape Cod Symphony, Vox Humana in Dallas, the Apollo Master Chorale in Minnesota, Spire in Kansas City, the Advent Choir in Boston, and the Victoria Bach Festival. He has performed on numerous recordings for Harmonia Mundi, Reference Recordings, Naxos, and PBS, including the 2015 Grammy winning album, The Sacred Spirit of Russia with Conspirare. D’Arcy maintains an active voice studio of approximately twenty students in New York City, and is a vocal coach for the New York City Children’s Chorus.
JOLLE GREENLEAF
Soprano Jolle Greenleaf is one of today’s foremost figures in the field of early music. She has been hailed by The New York Times as a “golden soprano” and “a major force in the New York early music-scene.” Ms. Greenleaf was named the artistic director of TENET Vocal Artists in 2009, where she sings and directs the ensemble in repertoire spanning the Middle Ages to the present day. Her flair for imaginative programming has been lauded as “adventurous and expressive,” and “smart, varied and not entirely early” (The New York Times). She is a celebrated interpreter of the music of Bach, Buxtehude, Handel, Purcell and, most notably, Claudio Monteverdi. Ms. Greenleaf has performed as a soloist in venues throughout the U.S., Scandinavia, Europe, and Central America for exceptional presenters including Vancouver Early Music Festival, Denmark’s Vendsyssel Festival, Cambridge Early Music Festival, Costa Rica International Music Festival, Puerto Rico’s Festival Casals, Utrecht Festival, at Panama’s National Theater, and San Cristobal, the Cathedral in Havana, Cuba.
NATHAN HODGSON
Nathan Hodgson is a New York based tenor specializing in early and chamber music. He sings with the Bach Vespers program at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City and performs regularly with ensembles across the nation. Recent performances include appearances with Ensemble VIII in Austin, Texas; with The Thirteen Chamber Choir in Washington, D.C., Skylark Vocal Ensemble, and with Bricolage Ensemble in a series of workshops and performances in San Juan, Puerto Rico. A recent graduate of the University of North Texas, Nathan sang with the school’s prestigious A Cappella Choir for their tour to South Korea and performance at the 2013 ACDA National Conference in Dallas, Texas, and with the school’s early music ensemble, Collegium. Before moving to New York, Nathan sang in the Dallas area with the Orpheus Chamber Singers, Dallas Bach Society, and Denton Bach Society.
Jonathan May
Jonathan May, countertenor, performs regularly with ensembles such as Ensemble VIII, The Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street. He was featured as an alto soloist in Handel’s Messiah and in Bach cantatas 64, 150, 165 and 167 at Trinity Wall Street. He most recently appeared as alto soloist in performances of Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion with the Saint Thomas Choir and the Choir of Trinity Wall Street in New York City, and with Bach Roots Festival in Minneapolis. He sang as soloist in cantatas BWV 70, 147 and Bach’s Magnificat with Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity, and was one of the countertenors featured in Gotham Early Music Scene’s Open Gates Project: Countertenors, a Consort, and Continuo.
Later this season, Jonathan will be featured in Huang Ruo’s Angel Island at the Prototype Festival, produced by Beth Morrison Projects in association with Brooklyn Academy of Music. Inspired by Chinese poems carved on the walls of the Angel Island detention center in San Francisco, this is a story of immigration, discrimination, and confinement, woven into a haunting oratorio.
Additionally, Jonathan has performed with Ekmeles, The New Consort, Early Music New York and American Classical Orchestra, among others. He holds a degree in music from Dartmouth College.
CLIFTON MASSEY
Clifton Massey, countertenor, was raised on a steady diet of country & western, bluegrass, and other close-harmony singing in Dallas, TX. These early influences instilled a love of pure tone and ensemble work, leading to rich musical experiences in a variety of styles. He has participated in the Ojai Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, and the early-music festivals of Berkeley, Boston, and Utrecht. He collaborates frequently with notable early-music ensembles such as the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, and the American Classical Orchestra. He is an alumnus of the Grammy-award-winning group Chanticleer. Highlights of recent seasons include performing with pop icon Madonna at the Met Gala, modern premieres of Bassani’s Giona and Stradella’s La Susanna with the Academy of Sacred Music, and performing in the inaugural two month installation of Reich Richter Pärt at The Shed, a vibrant new venue in NYC. Upcoming projects include Bach in Montreal and Leipzig, as well as collaborations on ornamented polyphony with Artek.
Clifton is based in Brooklyn, NY, and sings full-time with the professional choir of Trinity Church Wall Street under the direction of Julian Wachner. He holds degrees from TCU and the Indiana University Historical Performance Institute, where he studied with Paul Hillier and Paul Elliott.
Gitanjali Mathur
Grammy-winning artist Gitanjali Mathur is hailed as having “skyrocketing coloratura,” “fluid and dexterous voice,” “piercingly clear soprano,” and being a “natural and convincing comedic actress.” Originally from India, she grew up learning North Indian Classical music with her guru N.G Kelkar. Once she moved to the states as a young girl, Mathur started singing Western Classical Music in choirs, and also studied South Indian (Carnatic) music. After completing her Bachelor, Masters and Performer Diploma Degrees in Vocal Performance along with minors in Computer Science and Mathematics from Indiana University, she moved to Austin, TX and started pursuing her career from there.
She performs regularly with Texas Early Music Project, Ensemble viii, True Concord, the Victoria Bach Festival, Texas Bach Festival, GRAMMY®-nominated ensemble Seraphic Fire and the GRAMMY®-winning ensemble Conspirare. Mathur was nominated in 2018 in the Austin Critics Table Awards for “Classical Best Singer.” She made her solo Carnegie Hall debut with Helmuth Rilling in J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and fondly remembers her time singing with Maestro Rilling at the Oregon Bach Festival. Mathur enjoys being a soloist with Panoramic Voices, The Concordia University Choir, and La Follia Baroque. She performed the lead female roles in Pergolesi’s staged Intermezzo “La Serva Padrona” in 2009, and in Telemann’s staged comic Opera “Pimpinone” in 2018. In 2020, she birthed the idea, performed in, and helped to produce a talk-show style mini-series featuring lullabies and songs of comfort from around the world called “Night Music!”. Artistic Director of Texas Early Music Project Daniel Johnson and Mathur co-hosted and performed in this show that streamed monthly online during the 2020-2021 Pandemic. Mathur is very excited to be performing live this season!
Joseph Beutel
“An imposing bass-baritone,” as reviewed by Opera News, Joseph Beutel is often praised for his “deep well-rounded tone,” and overall richness of voice and versatility on stage. Making his career across five continents, Beutel enjoys performing traditional operas and originating new roles in new operas on the cutting edge, along with many oratorios and other concert works. Some roles of note include originating the role of the “British Major” in Silent Night, Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s Pulitzer Prize winning opera, and most recently originating the role of “Sir” in Mila, an opera commissioned by Asia Society Hong Kong most recently performed in New York and San Francisco. Beutel has performed with many prestigious companies across the country and world, including Santa Fe Opera, NYCO, NY Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, English Concert, Seattle Opera, Minnesota Opera, and Sarasota Opera, to name a few. Beutel also enjoys performing musical theater with credits from Encores! at City Center in New York and Live at Lincoln Center featured on PBS. Recordings include Grammy-nominated Alexander Kastalsky’s Requiem, Memory Eternal to the Fallen Heroes, performed live on the 100th anniversary of the Armistice to WWI in the National Cathedral, Washington D.C., on the Naxos label.
Elizabeth McGee
Elizabeth Ann McGee, originally from Houston and currently living in Dallas, holds her Bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the University of North Texas. McGee has been on three European tours as a featured soloist, and most recently has premiered a new choral work in Ireland. Recently she has been featured as a soloist on BBC Radio with The Incarnation Choir’s album Choral Evensong for Eastertide, after which she completed a week-long residency at York Minster Cathedral. Next to her solo activities, Elizabeth has performed with Orpheus Chamber Singers, Verdigris Ensemble, Denton Bach Society, Dallas Chamber Choir, Lake Houston Chamber Singers, Lumedia Musicworks, Incarnatus, Boston Early Music Festival, Victoria Bach Festival, and Ensemble VIII. Elizabeth currently works as a soprano staff singer at Church of the Incarnation in Dallas under the direction of Scott Dettra.
PAUL MAX TIPTON
Described by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as “a dignified and beautiful singer,” Paul Max Tipton, Bass-Baritone, enjoys an active career in opera, oratorio, and chamber music. He solos under such notable figures as Masaaki Suzuki, Matthias Pintscher, Nicholas McGegan, Leonard Slatkin, Ton Koopman, Helmuth Rilling and Martin Katz, and with such organizations as the Bach Collegium Japan, New York Philharmonic, Apollo’s Fire, Seraphic Fire, Conspirare (Austin) and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. His repertoire ranges from Schütz and Monteverdi to Britten and Bolcom, and recent engagements include Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum, Rameau’s La Lyre Enchantée, and a recording of Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op. 45 which earned a 2012 Grammy nomination. His singing of the Bach Passions are noted in particular for their strength and sensitivity. Mr. Tipton studied at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Yale University, and is a Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellow at Emmanuel Music in Boston.
Brenna Wells
With a voice described as “fresh,” “ethereal,” “captivating,” “radiant”, and “angelic,” soprano Brenna Wells is garnering attention for her varied operatic and concert performances. Ms. Wells has sung and recorded with such acclaimed ensembles as the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Blue Heron Choir, Britten-Pears Baroque Orchestra, Boston Baroque, Opera Boston, Lorelei Ensemble, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, L’Académie, Yale Choral Artists, Ensemble VIII, Seraphic Fire, Pacific MusicWorks Underground, Collage New Music and the Handel and Haydn Society, among others. She has appeared in many festivals and programs worldwide including the London Handel Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Connecticut Early Music Festival, Amherst Early Music Festival, BBC Proms, and the Early Music Seminars at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, Italy. She also had the unexpected dream debut of singing back up vocals on “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” with the Rolling Stones and their 50th Anniversary Tour. In 2014-2015, she was chosen as the the Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellow at Emmanuel Music in Boston where she performed as soloist in Bach’s St. John Passion. Ms. Wells recently became a resident of Seattle, WA and held the post of Interim Program Director and Professor of Music at Trinity Lutheran College. Highlights from recent seasons include appearances with Seraphic Fire, Ensemble VIII, Lorelei Ensemble, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Handel and Haydn Society, New World Symphony, Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Sammamish Symphony Orchestra, the Brookings Harbor Friends of Music series, Cleveland Orchestra Miami, Vancouver Early Music Festival, Pacific MusicWorks Underground, Early Music Guild of Seattle, Emerald Ensemble, Blue Heron Choir and Pacific Musicworks’ production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and the Beethoven Festival in Warsaw, Poland.
Highlights from the 2018-2019 season included her soloist debut with the Aspen Symphony Orchestra in Mozart’s Requiem as a Participating Artist with the Professional Choral Institute at the Aspen Music Festival and School with Seraphic Fire. She also debuted with Capella Romana in Seattle and Portland and performed with Ensemble VIII in Austin, Texas, Blue Heron Choir in Boston and New York, Seraphic Fire in Miami, Pacific MusicWorks’ performances of Monteverdi’s Selve Morale, and recorded John Luther Adams’ Becoming Desert with the Seattle Symphony Chorale and Orchestra. She also made her debut with Emerald City Music performing Steve Reich’s rarely staged Music for Eighteen Musicians. During the 2019-2020 season, Brenna will return as a Participating Artist with Seraphic Fire at the Professional Choral Institute at the Aspen Music Festival and School, and she can also be seen singing with Blue Heron Choir in Boston for the 20th Anniversary Season and Ensemble VIII in Austin, Texas and Portland’s Capella Romana, among other ensembles.