The Russian-French Connection

Chamber Series
Allison Voth, Music Director & Piano

Season Sponsor:
Kathryn Kravitz

Friday, March 27, 2026 | 7 PM
Follen Church
Lexington, MA 02420

Meet the Chamber Series Music Director

Allison Voth, piano

Allison Voth is an associate professor of music at Boston University’s School of Music, and principal coach at Boston University’s Opera Institute. She widely concertized with Lucine Amara of the Metropolitan Opera. She is widely known as a diction coach in Boston and throughout the U.S. She has worked as diction coach and/or répétiteur with such companies as Opera Boston, Boston Lyric Opera, Emmanuel Music, Chautauqua Opera, Providence Opera, Granite State Opera, the Verismo Opera of New Jersey and Opera North. Festivals include Opera Unlimited, The Florence Vocal Seminar and the Athens Music Festival. Ms. Voth is well recognized for her supertitles, which have been used in both national and international opera productions including Washington Opera, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Barbicon Festival in London, Opera Boston, Palm Beach Opera among many others. For several years she had a unique, ongoing collaboration with John Conklin as supertitle co-writer and designer for Boston Lyric Opera. Since 2023, Ms. Voth has been the pre-performance lecturer for Boston Lyric Opera. As a champion of new music, she has performed and assisted in many premieres with ALEA III, Collage New Music, The New Music Consort, The Group for Contemporary Players and The National Orchestra Association New Music Project. She is a specialist in the music of Paul Bowles and was on the cutting edge of the Paul Bowles revival movement in the 1990’s when she produced and performed in a multi-media production of music and readings entitled Paul Bowles: One Man, Two Minds at Merkin Hall in New York. The EOS Ensemble consequently invited her to participate in its Paul Bowles Festival in New York where she premiered a set of piano preludes. In 2011 as part of the Boston University Fringe Festival, she co-produced and music directed a Paul and Jane Bowles centennial celebration which included a multi-media performance entitled Two Stars in the Desert (also performed at BU’s yearly Incite Festival in New York), as well as a fully staged Boston premiere of his theatre work Yerma. Ms. Voth, recognized for her innovative programming, is the Chamber Series Music Director for the well-known Cantata Singers in Boston. She can be heard on CRI recordings.

Meet the Singers

Kayleigh Bennett, mezzo-soprano

Kayleigh Bennett is a Boston-based mezzo-soprano and music instructor with degrees in Music Performance and Music Education from Moravian University and a master’s in Vocal Performance from the New England Conservatory. She is a staff singer and soloist at St. Cecilia’s Church, teaches voice and piano privately, and serves on the faculty at Concord Conservatory and Onset School of Music. 

Kayleigh performs across the East Coast, and regularly collaborates with Berkshire Opera Festival, Cantata Singers, Tutti Music Collective, Continuo Music Foundation, Cambridge Chamber Ensemble, and the Mount Washington Valley Choral Society. Recent highlights include performing the role of Lucille in Jason Robert Brown's “Parade” (Lowell House Opera) and as the alto soloist in the Vivaldi “Gloria” and Durante “Magnificat” (Mount Washington Valley Choral Society).

Erica Brookhyser, mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano, Erica Brookhyser, has performed extensively on operatic stages throughout the US and Europe. Known for her portrayal of Carmen, Brookhyser was the winner of ARTE-TV’s Open Opera: Who will become Carmen?”—a reality talent-search television show that aired in Germany and France. Her other roles include Suzuki/Madama Butterfly, Brangäne/Tristan und Isolde, Preziosilla/La Forza del Destino, Nicklausse-Muse/Tales of Hoffmann, Didon/Les Troyens, and Lola/Cavalleria Rusticana

As a concert soloist she has performed Das Lied von der Erde and Wesendonck Lieder with Orchester Staatstheater Darmstadt under the baton of Elias Grandy, Mahler’s Rückert Lieder with the Newport Symphony Orchestra conducted by Adam Flatt, and Bach St. Matthew Passion and Mozart Mass in C-minor with the Cincinnati May Festival conducted by James Conlon.

James Liu, baritone

Baritone James Liu is a physician with varied musical interests. He has announced and produced classical music programming at WHRB. He has sung with Cantata Singers and other choruses, with solos in Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Messiah, Duruflé’s Requiem, Bach’s Cantata 1 and St. Matthew Passion, and Monteverdi’s Vespers.  Operatic roles include The Magic Flute (Second Man in Armour, Papageno), The Marriage of Figaro (Antonio, Bartolo, Almaviva, Figaro), Don Giovanni (Leporello), Così fan tutte (Guglielmo, Alfonso), Fledermaus (Dr. Falke), Gounod's Faust (Valentin) and Roméo et Juliette (Capulet), Ariadne auf Naxos (Music Teacher), Hansel and Gretel (The Father), Fidelio (Don Fernando), Tosca (Scarpia), Turandot (Ping), Sweeney Todd (Todd), Verdi’s Otello (Montano) and Falstaff (Pistola), and will sing the title role in Falstaff in June.  He is indebted to his voice teacher, Frank Kelley, and to his infinitely patient wife who makes all of this possible.  http://jamescsliu.com

Ryan Mewhorter, baritone

Ryan Mewhorter is a Boston based Baritone originally from Clifton Park, NY. Ryan has been singing with the Cantata Singers for four years and this is his third time singing on the Chamber Series program. Aside from Cantata Singers, Ryan has been seen singing with other groups such as the All Saints Parish Choir, where he serves as the Baritone section leader, as well as the Copley Singers and Boston University’s Opera Institute. Sample Opera credits include Don Alfonso in Così fan Tutte, Johnathon in If I were You, and Charles Babbage in The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace

In addition to his work as a singer, Ryan is also heavily involved in supporting young musicians in the Boston metro area. Ryan serves as the Managing Director of Entrepreneurship at New England Conservatory and also serves as the Executive Director of Boston Singers’ Resource, a local nonprofit dedicated to furthering the professional and artistic goals of Boston based singers. Ryan has supported musicians receiving Fulbright grants to France and Mexico, as well as supporting various music education programs and local concert series, ensuring that all neighborhoods have equal access to music.


Kay Patterson, soprano

Kay Patterson is a classical soprano based in Boston. Equally comfortable on operatic and concert stages, with a specialty in early music, Patterson has been praised as being a "delight" (Boston Musical Intelligencer) and hailed as "a soulful highlight" (Boston Classical Review). She currently performs with Boston Lyric Opera, Odyssey Opera, Emmanuel Music and the Cantata Singers. Past engagements include appearances with Boston Ballet, Connecticut Early Music Festival, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Andover Choral Society, North End Music & Performing Arts Center, Opera Providence, Masterworks Chorale and  Back Bay Chorale. She is also creator and host of the YouTube channel, The Organized Soprano which produces short films about home organizing, homemaking, and life as a classical singer. Her home organizing advice has appeared in publications, daytime television and conferences including Better Homes & Gardens, Consumer Reports, Real Simple, The Wall Street Journal & BuzzFeed. www.theorganizedsoprano.com

Danielle Pribyl, soprano

Danielle Pribyl is a young, up-and-coming soprano from San Clemente, California. Currently based in Boston, she completed her Masters Degree under the tutelage of Dr. Lynn Eustis at Boston University. Danielle made her international debut as Zerlina in the Stavoské Divadlo in Prague in July of 2022. Since her time at BU, Danielle has performed in the greater Boston area with Harvard’s Music and Theatre program, West End Lyric, Boston Opera Collaborative, Somerville Family Opera, White Snake Opera, Boston Ballet, Olde Towne Carolers, Ted and Togo Productions and Cantata Singers. She is the main call cantor and sole soprano section leader for St.Paul’s Parish in Harvard Square. Outside of music she has performed in plays and historical interpretation in the greater Boston area and has been featured dancing with Boston Ballet.  In 2022-2023, Danielle was a Studio Artist with Mystic Side Opera in Malden. See her website www.daniellepribyl.com to see what she is up to this season! 

Felicity Salmon, soprano

Soprano Felicity Salmon has been praised for her “brightly focused” sound and her ability to perform with “just enough passion and innocence to walk the line between humanity and divinity” (Boston Musical Intelligencer). A versatile artist with a love for collaborative storytelling, she has been a member of Cantata Singers since 2013, frequently appearing as a soloist in both the Concert and Chamber Series. Her repertoire spans from early music to contemporary works, always grounded in emotional nuance and clarity.

In addition to performing, Ms. Salmon serves as Music Program and Concert Manager at Wellesley College, where she oversees the planning and execution of over 70 events annually. Her work supports student and faculty performances, guest artist residencies, and interdisciplinary projects, fostering a vibrant and inclusive musical community on campus.

A dedicated educator and arts advocate, she taught privately for nearly a decade and was a longtime teaching artist with the Classroom Cantatas program, guiding Boston Public School students in songwriting and performance. She currently serves as the Chorus Manager for Cantata Singers and is a former president of the chorus.

In all aspects of her work, Ms. Salmon values collaboration, thoughtful preparation, and connecting people through music.

Jennifer Webb, mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Webb appears regularly as a soloist and chorister in the Boston area. She joined Cantata Singers in 2011 and has been featured as a soloist with the ensemble on many occasions, including Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Bach cantatas, the Magnificat and B Minor Mass, Handel’s Israel in Egypt and Solomon, the world premiere of Peter Child's Lamentations, and Osvaldo Golijov’s Oceana. Other notable performances include Hildegard von Bingen’sOrdo Virtutum and the first staged performance of Elena Ruehr’s Cassandra In the Temples with Cappella Clausura, and Handel's Esther and Alexander's Feast with the King's Chapel choir. Ms. Webb has worked with composer Larry Thomas Bell on several recent projects including the premiere of his song cycle Parables of Love and Death. She appears on his album Thoughts and Prayers from Albany Records. For more, visit www.jenniferrachelwebb.com.