BIOGRAPHIES — Poulenc, Boulez, Stravinsky

Grammy Award winning soprano Susan Narucki has been hailed in the world's major concert halls by colleagues, critics, and audiences for her commanding and evocative performances of both new and more familiar works. Recent appearances include performances with Pierre Boulez and the Cleveland Orchestra, Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony, John Adams and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Schoenberg and Asko Ensembles on Great Performers at Lincoln Center , and at the Netherlands Opera. A distinguished chamber musician, Ms. Narucki has been a recent guest with the Orion String Quartet, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, most recently with pianist Joseph Kalichstein. Nominated in the Best Classical Vocal Performance category for a 2002 Grammy (Carter: Tempo e Tempi), her extensive discography reflects the exceptional range of her activities. In addition to her 2001 Grammy Award winning disc of George Crumb's Star-Child with the Warsaw Philharmonic, and her Cannes Award-winning CD for Best Recording of Works by a Living Composer, she may be heard on SONY Classical, Philips, Angel, Chandos, Nonesuch, Decca, Bridge, and many other labels. Current season highlights include appearances with the Royal Flemish Orchestra ( Brussels ) with Sian Edwards conducting John Adams’ El Nino, the New York Festival of Song, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, a recording of the song cycles of Aaron Jay Kernis for Koch Recordings and the Dutch premiere of Scriabin's orchestral masterwork Mysterium.

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Gloria Raymond has been associated with Cantata Singers since 1985, having performed as alto soloist, recording artist, chorister, diction coach, and section leader. She has extensive experience in a broad range of oratorio, opera, song recital, and contemporary music performances in which she has premiered works by John Harbison, Peter Child, Earl Kim, Donald Sur, Charles Fussell, Robert Kyr, and Stephen Paulus. She holds music degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Maine , and she was the winner of the first Maine NATS vocal competition. She has been a soloist with many ensembles throughout New England , including the Boston Symphony, Boston POPS, the Cantata Singers, Collage Contemporary Music Ensemble, Boston Musica Viva, the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, the Bangor Symphony, the Portland Symphony Chamber Orchestra, Music Worcester, Indian Hill Music, the Masterworks Choral, the Manchester Choral Society, and the Boston Aria Guild. She has participated in music festivals with the L.A. Philharmonic Institute, the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood, the North Conway Bach Festival, the Saco River Festival, the Berkshire Choral Institute, and the Northwest Bach Festival in Spokane , Washington . For many years Ms. Raymond has been a soloist with Emmanuel Music of Boston , performing in their weekly Bach Cantata liturgical service, the Brahms and Schubert recital series, and in concerts of works by Schutz, Handel, and Mozart. Recent performances include Rossini’s Stabat Mater at Colby College , Handel’s Israel in Egypt with Emmanuel Music, and Honeggar’s King David with the Masterworks Choral. Upcoming performances include Handel’s Messiah at Colby College , Mozart’s Magic Flute with Emmanuel Music, and Haydn’s Salve Regina with the Chatham Chorale. Her most recent appearance with Cantata Singers was last season in Schubert’s Scenes from Goethe’s Faust.

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Tenor Rockland Osgood has distinguished himself in a wide variety of musical idioms from the baroque to contemporary compositions. He is frequently praised for his exemplary musicianship, eloquence of expression and immaculate diction. This year he can be heard at Avery Fisher Hall in Bach’s Mass in b-minor and Mozart’s Requiem and with the Northwest Bach Festival in Messiah, in addition to performances ranging from Beethoven’s Mass in C to Carmina Burana. Highlights of previous seasons have included Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Berlioz’ L’Enfance du Christ with Chorus pro musica, Verdi’s Requiem, Britten’s War Requiem, Carmina Burana at Mechanics Hall, and, at the Northwest Bach Festival, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Bach’s Mass in b minor with Gunther Schuller conducting. He has appeared at New York ’s Lincoln Center in Vivaldi's L'Olimpiad and Arsilda, Regina di Ponto , and Carmina Burana as well as Mozart's Mass in c-minor. Carnegie Hall performances have included Haydn's The Creation and Messiah. Mr. Osgood has been a featured soloist with the Monterey County Symphony, Berkshire Choral Festival, Spectrum Singers, Voices of Ascension, North Carolina Symphony, Hartford Symphony, Back Bay Chorale, West Virginia Symphony, Boston Cecilia, Sioux City Symphony, Fredonia Chamber Players, Jacksonville Symphony, New York Choral Society, Masterworks Choral, Oregon Symphony, Brevard Music Festival, Newport Music Festival, and the Spoleto Festival USA. His operatic roles include Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte with opera companies including Anchorage Opera, Mobile Opera, and Syracuse Opera. He was a member of Cantata Singers for nine years and has appeared with them as a soloist in over thirty performances.

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Baritone Anton Belov was praised by the Washington Post for his Kennedy Center debut as. He is a winner of eight vocal competitions, including the George London Foundation, Marian Andersen Competition, Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation, Sullivan Foundation and the Metropolitan Opera Eastern Regional Auditions. As the 2002 winner of the Young Concert Artists competition Mr. Belov has appeared in over 40 recitals throughout the United States . His operatic portrayals include Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva, Figaro, Marcello, Eugene Onegin, John Sorel as well as the roles of Dandini and Escamillo with such companies as Opera Boston, Opera North, Washington National Opera, Opera Providence and the New Jersey Opera Theater. His upcoming engagements include the title role in the Delaware Opera’s production of Don Giovanni. A native of Moscow , Anton Belov holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from The New England Conservatory, an Artist’s Diploma and a Master of Music Degree from The Juilliard School. As a specialist in Russian lyric diction, he is the author of Russian Opera Libretti in Word-to-Word Translation and IPA Transcription (Leyerle Publications 2004). This volume continues a series of opera texts translated and transcribed by Nico Castel of the Metropolitan Opera. Mr. Belov’s future publishing contracts include an anthology of Russian Opera Arias. He teaches voice at the University of Massachusetts , Dartmouth .

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