St. Matthew Passion

The 2016 recipient of the prestigious Richard Tucker Award, soprano Tamara Wilson is quickly gaining international recognition for her interpretations of Verdi, Mozart, Strauss and Wagner. Other recent honors include a 2016 Olivier Award nomination and receipt of the "Revelation Prize" by the Argentine Musical Critics Association. Ms. Wilson is also a Grand Prize Winner of the Annual Francisco Viñas Competition held at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona.

Her 2019/20 season includes performances with the Canadian Opera Company, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oper Frankfurt and the Santa Fe Opera. In concert, she will sing Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in a special Christmas performance and television broadcast with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and debut the role of Isolde with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

Opera performance highlights in Tamara Wilson's 2018/19 season included a return to the Metropolitan Opera as the title role in Aida, the role of Leonora in Il Trovatore at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Desdemona in Otello at the Canadian Opera Company, the title role in Ariadne auf Naxos at Teatro alla Scala, and Chrysothemis in Elektra at Opernhaus Zurich. In concert Ms. Wilson presented Mahler's Symphony No. 8 at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall and at the Edinburgh International Festival, as well as with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She also sang Bruckner's Te Deum at Teatro alla Scala, and Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Cleveland Orchestra. She performed her signature role of Aida at Arena di Verona followed by a special guest performance at the Santa Fe Opera's summer gala and a recital at the Song Source Festival.

Tamara Wilson opened the the 2017/18 season as the title role in Aida at the Washington National Opera in a production by Francesca Zambello. She then returned to her home company of Houston Grand Opera for her role debut as Chrysothemis in Elektra. She also made her New York Philharmonic debut in Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony (Symphony No. 3) with Leonard Slatkin in celebration of Bernstein's Centennial.

Ms. Wilson made her acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut in Aida and London debut in Calixto Bieto’s new production of La Forza del Destino at the English National Opera, for which she received an Olivier Award nomination. She also inaugurated the new opera house in Kyoto, Japan with Seiji Ozawa as Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus.

She made her LA Opera debut in 2009 as the First Lady in The Magic Flute, returning in 2011 as Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw .

Learn more at TamaraWilsonSoprano.com.

"A VOICE OF STEELY BEAUTY AND GREAT POWER"

—The Houston Chronicle

She was heard at Oper Frankfurt for her first performances as the Empress in Die Frau ohne Schatten conducted by Sebastian Weigle and subsequently released by Oehms Classics. She recently debuted at the Bayerische Staatsoper and Opernhaus Zürich conducted by Fabio Luisi, both as Elisabetta di Valois in Don Carlo. She debuted at the Deutsche Oper Berlin as Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, triumphed in Act 3 of Die Walküre as Brünnhilde with Mark Wiggleworth and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at Royal Albert Hall, and debuted with the Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev in Act 3 of Die Walküre as Sieglinde.

A noted interpreter of Verdi roles, she has been seen as Elisabeth de Valois in the five-act French Don Carlos (Houston Grand Opera); Amelia in Un ballo in maschera (Washington National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Florida Grand Opera, and Teatre Principal de Maó in Menorca); Elvira in Ernani (Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse); Elisabetta in Don Carlo (Bayerische Staatsoper, Zurich Oper, and Oper Frankfurt); Lucrezia Contarini in I due Foscari (Théâtre du Capitole, Teatro Municipal de Santiago and Netherlands Radio Orchestra); Leonora in Il trovatore (Gran Teatre del Liceu, Houston Grand Opera, Théâtre du Capitole under Daniel Oren and Palma de Mallorca); Desdemona in Otello (Cincinnati Symphony and James Conlon); Alice Ford in Falstaff (Washington National Opera debut); Amelia Grimaldi in Simon Boccanegra (Canadian Opera Company); the title role in Aida (Opera Australia, Teatro de la Maestranza, and Teatro Municipal de Santiago); Marchesa del Poggio in Un giorno di regno (Wolf Trap Opera); and Gulnara in Il corsaro (Washington Concert Opera). Other notable performances include her debut in Norma at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona; Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus at the Canadian Opera Company; her German debut at Oper Frankfurt in concert performances of Wagner’s early opera Die Feen as Ada under Sebastian Weigle; Elettra in Idomeneo under Harry Bicket at the Canadian Opera Company and under James Conlon at the Ravinia Festival; Donna Anna in Don Giovanni under James Conlon and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, as well as with Edo de Waart and the Milwaukee Symphony.

On the concert stage, Ms. Wilson debuted with the Cleveland Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 under Franz Welser-Möst, the National Symphony in Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2 (“Lobgesang”) with Matthew Halls and with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in Verdi’s Messa da Requiem conducted by Marin Alsop at the BBC Proms, which was recorded for commercial release.

American tenor Ben Bliss, whom the New York Classical Review called “one of the leading Mozartian tenors,” has gained a reputation as one of the most valuable and versatile performers of his generation. 

In the 2021/22 season, he will return to the Metropolitan Opera as Tom Rakewell in The Rake's Progress and as Pylade in Iphigénie en Tauride. 

In the fall of 2021, he performed Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. In the 2020/21 season, Mr. Bliss sang Handel’s Messiah at the United States Naval Academy, as well as Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Handel & Haydn Society in Boston. He had also been scheduled to return to the Metropolitan Opera to sing Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and to make his house debut at Opernhaus Zürich as Flamand in Capriccio. 

In the 2019/20 season, Mr. Bliss returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Ferrando in Così fan tutte, conducted by Harry Bicket, and made his debut at Lyric Opera of Chicago as Don Ottavio. He also sang Tom Rakewell in The Rake’s Progress at the Glyndebourne Festival and Belmonte in The Abduction from the Seraglio at his hometown Lyric Opera of Kansas City. In concert, he sang Handel’s Messiah in debuts with the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He also sang Carmina Burana for his debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alain Altinoglu, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, featuring performances both in Atlanta and New York City at Carnegie Hall, Bernstein’s Songfest with the Seattle Symphony, and the Steersman in The Flying Dutchman, again with the San Francisco Symphony.

Mr. Colclough began the 2019/20 season with his Metropolitan Opera debut as the title role in Macbeth, a role he performed with Belgium’s Opera Vlaanderen in Antwerp in the summer of 2019. He reprises the role of Macbeth with the company again this season, with performances in both Ghent and in Luxembourg, and he returns to Arizona Opera for a role debut as Bishop Dyer in Riders of the Purple Sage. Engagements originally scheduled before the COVID-19 shortened season included a return to LA Opera as Figaro in The Marriage of Figaro, and a tour with Gustavo Dudamel and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra to Barcelona, Dortmund, and Luxembourg. The 2020/21 season includes performances with Washington National Opera in the role of Henry Kissinger in Nixon in China and as Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde with Opera Vlaanderen.

His engagements for the 2018/19 season included debuts with Opera Vlaanderen in Belgium as Count Telramund with Lohengrin and with the Frankfurt Opera as Fra Melitone in La Forza del Destino. In July 2018, he debuted at Covent Garden as Pistola in Falstaff. 

Highlights of the previous season include the title role of Falstaff in a new Christoph Waltz production in Belgium, the title role of Don Pasquale for Minnesota Opera, The Ring of Polykrates for Dallas Opera, Donner in Das Rheingold for Arizona Opera and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the LA Philharmonic.

Other recent appearances include Scarpia in Tosca with English National Opera and Canadian Opera Company; Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde with ENO; Falstaff with Minnesota Opera, Opera Saratoga and Arizona Opera; and Timur in Turandot with Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra. He debuted with the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl as Doctor Grenvil in La Traviata.

Craig Colclough began his career at LA Opera. After two seasons appearing with the company in various roles, he joined Florida Grand Opera’s Young Artist Studio, and in 2012, became a Filene Young Artist at the Wolf Trap Opera Company. (CraigColclough.com)

The Hamburg Ballet is famous far beyond the city of Hamburg. International tours have made it not only a highlight of the international ballet scene, but also one of Germany's most important cultural ambassadors. The heart of the company is artistic director and chief choreographer John Neumeier, who has directed the company since 1973. Mr. Neumeier is a master at combining classical ballet tradition with contemporary forms in his works, while developing a unique personal choreographic language. John Neumeier's lecture demonstrations (Ballett-Werkstatt) are a special feature of the Hamburg Ballet's tradition. During these matinees, which have taken place on the stage of the Hamburg State Opera several times per season since 1973, Mr. Neumeier, with his company, explains specific aspects of ballet history: information concerning current repertoire or the technical and historical background of traditional ballets. Since 1975, the dance festival "Hamburg Ballet Days" has provided the high point and finale of every season. The festival traditionally opens with a premiere of a new work and ends with the Nijinsky Gala, featuring international guest stars as well as the entire Hamburg Ballet ensemble.

Although the company performs at the Hamburg State Opera, its creative home, rehearsal venue and educational centre is a separate building, the Hamburg Ballet Center, which opened in 1989. Founded in 1978, the ballet school with its integrated boarding facilities, a pre-ballet department, eight professional classes including a final two-year "Theatre Class" program, trains the next generation of dancers. The Ballet Center is also the home of the National Youth Ballet, founded by John Neumeier in 2011.

Learn more at HamburgBallet.de.

Since his debut that year with La Traviata, he has conducted 61 different operas and 403 performances to date with the company. Most recently, he conducted the 2020 company premiere of The Anonymous Lover (L'Amant Anonyme) by Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges.

One of today’s most versatile and respected conductors, he has cultivated a vast symphonic, operatic and choral repertoire. He has conducted virtually every major American and European symphony orchestra since his debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1974. He has conducted more than 270 performances at the Metropolitan Opera. Through worldwide touring, an extensive discography and videography, numerous essays and commentaries, frequent television appearances and guest speaking engagements, Mr. Conlon is one of classical music’s most recognized interpreters.

In 2016, he became Principal Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of the RAI in Torino. He previously was Music Director of the Ravinia Festival, summer home of the Chicago Symphony (2005-2015), Principal Conductor of the Paris National Opera (1995-2004), General Music Director of the City of Cologne (1989-2002), Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic (1983-91) and Music Director of the Cincinnati May Festival (1979-2016). He has won three Grammy Awards and was awarded France’s Légion d’Honneur.

John Neumeier was born in 1939 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he received his first dance training. He continued his dance studies in Chicago as well as at Marquette University in Milwaukee where he created his first choreographic works. After further ballet study both in Copenhagen and at the Royal Ballet School in London, John Cranko invited him in 1963 to join the Stuttgart Ballet, where he progressed to soloist and continued his choreographic development.

In 1969, Ulrich Erfurth appointed Mr. Neumeier as the director of Ballet Frankfurt, where he soon caused a sensation with his new interpretations of such well-known ballets as The Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet. In 1973, August Everding invited him to become director and chief choreographer of the Hamburg Ballet. Under his direction, the Hamburg Ballet became one of the leading ballet companies on the German dance scene and soon received international recognition. As a choreographer, Mr. Neumeier has continually focused on the preservation of ballet tradition, while giving his works a modern dramatic framework. His ballets range from new versions of full-length story ballets to musicals and to his symphonic ballets, especially those based on Gustav Mahler's compositions, as well as his choreographies to sacred music. His latest creations for the Hamburg Ballet include Anna Karenina in 2017, Beethoven Project in 2018 and The Glass Menagerie in 2019. In 1975, Neumeier conceived the Hamburg Ballet Festival as a climax and end to each season.

In 1978, he founded the School of the Hamburg Ballet. In 1989 the school, together with the company, moved into its own "Ballettzentrum" (ballet center) provided by the city of Hamburg. Its facilities include nine studios and a boarding school for over 30 students. Today more than 80% of the company's dancers are graduates from the school.

Mr. Neumeier has worked as guest choreographer with many companies, including the Royal Ballet in London; the Vienna, Munich and Dresden State Operas; the Stuttgart Ballet (for which he has created several works); the Royal Danish Ballet; the Ballet of the Paris Opera; the Tokyo Ballet; American Ballet Theatre in New York; San Francisco Ballet; Joffrey Ballet; Boston Ballet; the National Ballet of Canada; the Ballet of the Mariinsky Theater; Moscow Bolshoi and Stanislavsky Ballet; and the National Ballet of China, among others.

Mr. Neumeier holds the Dance Magazine Award (1983), Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and French Order of Arts and Letters and the Legion of Honour. In 2006, he was awarded the prestigious Nijinsky Award for Lifetime Achievement. He received the Herbert von Karajan Musikpreis in 2007 and the Deutscher Jubiläums Tanzpreis in 2008. In 2007, he was made an honorary citizen of the city of Hamburg. In November 2012, he accepted the Order of Friendship of the Russian Federation. In 2015, the Inamori Foundation presented Mr. Neumeier with the Kyoto Prize for his contributions to the Arts and Philosophy; in 2016 he received the renowned Prix Benois de la Danse for Lifetime Achievement. Among his recent awards are the Livetime Achievement Award of the Prix de Lausanne 2017, the Erich Fromm Prize 2017 and in 2019 the People's Republic of China Friendship Award.

Mr. Neumeier established the John Neumeier Foundation in February 2006 with the aim of preserving and eventually making available to the public his collection of dance and ballet-related objects. The Foundation will maintain and secure his repertoire and related materials for the city of Hamburg. In 2011, he founded Germany's National Youth Ballet. The young company of eight dancers is based at the Ballettzentrum in Hamburg but finds its performing spaces away from the Hamburg Opera. In addition to international touring this creative young company dances in schools, retirement homes and prisons.

He has additionally conducted LA Opera performances of Handel's L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato and Lee Holdridge's Dulce Rosa, as well as Madama Butterfly, Carmen, Florencia en el Amazonas, Gianni Schicchi, Wonderful Town, The Tales of Hoffmann, Tosca, The Pearl Fishers and Satyagraha.

Grant Gershon is hailed for his adventurous and bold artistic leadership and for eliciting technically precise and expressive performances from musicians. He has conducted Rigoletto, Tosca, La Bohème, La Traviata, Carmen and Madama Butterfly at Wolf Trap Opera with the National Symphony Orchestra; John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary at the San Francisco Symphony and Ravinia Festival; Vivaldi’s Griselda at Santa Fe Opera; and many concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

The 2019/20 season marks his 19th season as the Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The Los Angeles Times has said the Master Chorale "has become the most exciting chorus in the country under Grant Gershon,” a reflection on both his programming and performances. During his tenure, he has led more than 200 Master Chorale performances at Walt Disney Concert Hall in programs encompassing choral music from the earliest writings and pillars of the repertoire through to contemporary compositions. He has led world premiere performances of major works by John Adams, Esa-Pekka Salonen, David Lang, Louis Andriessen, Christopher Rouse, Steve Reich, Morten Lauridsen, Ricky Ian Gordon, Gabriela Lena Frank, Shawn Kirchner, Ellen Reid, and Chinary Ung, among many others.