BIOGRAPHIES — Verdi: Messa da Requiem

American soprano Barbara Quintiliani’s debut at Washington National Opera in 2002 as Elettra in Mozart’s Idomeneo was heralded as the “start of a significant operatic career.” She returned to Washington National Opera in 2003 as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni under the direction of Placido Domingo, sang Gulnara in Verdi’s Il Corsaro with Sarasota Opera, the title role in Luisa Miller for Opera Boston, and Liù in Turandot with Opera Madison , all to critical acclaim. For her performance in Luisa Miller, The Boston Globe called Ms. Quintiliani “the Verdi soprano the world has been waiting for.” Among her engagements for the 2005-2006 season are Leonora in Il Trovatore for Austin Lyric Opera and Lucrezia in Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia for Opera Boston. She also appeared on the televised Washington Opera Gala in the sextet from Don Giovanni under the direction of Valery Gergiev. Equally at home in the concert repertoire, Ms. Quintiliani has appeared in concert with leading orchestras across the country. Recent appearances include Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Madison Symphony, her Carnegie Hall debut with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra’s New Years’ Eve gala, and the Verdi Requiem with the Virginia Symphony. Ms. Quintiliani’s debut recording of the Three Poems of Fiona McLeod by Charles Griffes with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of JoAnne Faletta was recently released on the Naxos label. She has worked under such notable conductors as Heinz Fricke, Valery Gergiev, Claire Gibault, Stephen Lord, Edoardo Müller, Jose Serebrier, Patrick Summers, and Anthony Walker. As a frequent recitalist, Ms. Quintiliani is currently on the roster of the Marilyn Horne Foundation. Under the auspices of the Foundation, she made her Weill Recital Hall debut as part of The Song Continues… 2004 and recently appeared in recital for the On Wings of Song series and the Bank of America Celebrity Series. Ms. Quintiliani has also appeared in recital for Artsong of Williamsburg, the Dame Myra Hess Recital Series, the Phillips Collection, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and the Virginia Waterfront Arts Festival. In 1999, Ms. Quintiliani was one of the five national grand-prize winners for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In addition, she was the first place winner of the 1999 Marian Anderson International Vocal Arts Competition, the first place winner of the 2000 Eleanor McCollum Competition for Young Singers, and in 2001 was awarded a Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation. A native of Quincy , Massachusetts , Ms. Quintiliani is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music where her teachers included Kathleen Kaun and Anna Gabrieli. She has since apprenticed with the prestigious young artist programs of the Washington National Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, and the Santa Fe Opera. The Boston Globe described Ms. Quintiliani’s voice as “…drop-dead gorgeous, with pearly-lustrous timbre, supple cantilena and high notes that open out into the hall with real glamour”.

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Praised by the London Financial Times for her “eloquent dignity and vibrant tone”, and by the Boston Globe for “sumptuous tone and a vivid theatrical presence”, mezzo soprano Janna Baty enjoys an unusually versatile career. Recent engagements include appearances with the Hamburgische Staatsoper, the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Royal Philharmonic, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Yale Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony, Tuscaloosa Symphony, Hartford Symphony, the Orquesta Filarmonica de Bogota (Colombia), Eugene Opera, Opera North, Carnegie Hall, and Boston Lyric Opera. She has sung under conductors Seiji Ozawa, Michel Plasson, Carl Davis, Robert Spano, Steuart Bedford, David Hoose, and Stephen Lord, among others. She has appeared with the Aldeburgh and Britten Festivals in England , the “Semanas Musicales de Frutillar” Festival in Chile , the Varna Summer Festival in Bulgaria , and the Tanglewood, Norfolk , Rockport, and Coastal Carolina festivals in the U.S. Her opera roles run the gamut from dramatic soprano to dramatic mezzo, ranging from the Duchess in Thomas Ades’ Powder Her Face, to Alice Ford in Falstaff, to Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti. She appears regularly with such noted contemporary ensembles as Collage New Music, Auros Group for New Music, and Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and has worked alongside many composers including Bernard Rands, Eric Salzman, and John Harbison. Winner of several international competitions, most notably the XXI Concurso Internacional de Ejecucion Musical “Dr. Luis Sigall” in Vina del Mar, Chile, she has given concerts across Europe, the U.S. and South America, in the company of violist Nobuko Imai, pianists Claude Frank, Peter Frankl, and Christopher Lyndon Gee, and guitarist Stephen Marchionda. She can be heard on the critically acclaimed recordings Griffelkin (by Lukas Foss, Chandos, 2003); and Vali: Flute Concerto/Deylaman/Folk Songs No. 10 ( Naxos , 2004), on which she sings orchestral songs in Persian by Iranian composer, Reza Vali.

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Tenor Yeghishe Manucharyan’s Carnegie Hall debut with Eve Queler as Percy in Anna Bolena was an outstanding success. As a result, he had his debut with the New York City Opera in 2004-05 as Nadir in Pearl Fishers. Other appearances in the 2004-5 season included Lenski in Eugene Onegin with the Tulsa Opera, Verdi’s Requiem with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis in Carnegie Hall and in Eugene, Oregon. In 2005-6 he will begin the season by debuting the role of Riccardo in Maria di Rohan by Donizetti at the Wexford Festival, followed by Lakme with the Opera Orchestra of New York at Carnegie Hall, Don Ottavio in the New York City Opera’s production of Don Giovanni, and Argirio in Tancredi at the Caramoor Festival. He will also perform in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis in Boston. In recent years, Manucharyan was unreservedly lauded for his dazzling debut as Nadir in Les Pêcheurs de Perles with Maestra Eve Queler conducting the Orquesta Sinfónicadel Estado de Mexico in Mexico City. He then returned to Baltimore Opera tossing a highly acclaimed Duke in Rigoletto with Mark Delavan. He returned to The Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de Mexico as Puccini's Rodolfo, and recently appeared as special guest soloist in a gala concert celebrating the 100th Anniversary of composer Aram Khachaturian's birth in Boston. In July 2003 he performed with the Caramoor International Music Festival to debut the role of Potoski in the world premiere of Donizetti's opera Élisabeth. He also reprised the role of Alfredo in his company debut with Tulsa Opera in October 2003.  

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Honored as 1995 “Musician of the Year" by The Boston Globe critic Richard Dyer, baritone Robert Honeysucker is recognized internationally for his brilliant opera, concert and recital performances. He has also been a winner of the National Opera Association Artists Competition and a recipient of the New England Opera Club Jacopo Peri Award.

Robert Honeysucker's opera performances throughout the United States have included the roles of Count di Luna, Germont, Iago, Ford, Renato, Scarpia, Amonasro, Escamilio, Miller and Rigoletto. He has appeared with Opera Company of Boston, Connecticut Opera, Sacramento Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Utah Opera, Delaware Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Tulsa Opera, Eugene Opera and Opera Boston.

Overseas, Mr. Honeysucker has performed such roles as Don Giovanni, Figaro, Sharpless and Porgy in Auckland, New Zealand; Jake in Berlin, Germany; and Daedalus in the world premiere of Icarus, by Paul Earls at Brucknerfest in Linz, Austria. Additionally, he has appeared in opera concerts in the Persian Gulf directed by Cesare Alfieri, as well as numerous concerts in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Mr. Honeysucker’s numerous performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra have included: the role of Keeper in Rakes Progress; bass soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, conducted by Seiji Ozawa; and recently, baritone soloist in All Rise (Winton Marsalis), conducted by Kurt Masur, which wasrepeated during the Tanglewood 2004 season. He has also sung with the Pittsburgh Symphony, under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, the Utah Symphony and Mormon Tabernacle Choir, conducted by Keith Lockhart, in performance of Hodie (Vaughn Williams), which was televised on PBS; and Missa Solemnis with the Northwest Bach Festival, directed by Gunther Schuller.

Other solo engagements with orchestra include performances with Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra, Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, as well as with Omaha Symphony Orchestra, and Springfield Symphony (Massachusetts). Mr. Honeysucker has also performed with St. Louis Symphony, Portland Symphony Orchestra (Maine) and Sacramento Symphony Orchestra. Solo engagements in Japan have included Handel's Messiah with the Tokyo Symphony and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Sapporo Symphony and Osaka Philharmonic.

Robert Honeysucker has been the featured soloist with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra under the direction of John Williams, Keith Lockhart and Harry Ellis Dickson. He has recorded with Northeastern Records, New World, Koch International, Cambria, Centaur, Ongaku and Titanic labels. Highway 1, USA (Wm. Grant Still) recently released by Albany Records in fall of 2004.

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