The Chattanooga Bach Choir welcomes  the following artists, who will perform with the choir in the Mendelssohn and Haydn Bicentennial Concert on March 29, 2009:

Desiree Earl Soteres  

Soprano Desirée Earl Soteres, a Chattanooga native, began her professional career as an apprentice with the Portland Opera in Oregon. Since then she has appeared with opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States and abroad. Recent appearances include Home for the Holidays with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra and The Mystery of Edwin Drood with the Chattanooga Theatre Center. She has sung the roles of Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte with West Bay Opera, Stockton Opera and Opera San Jose, as well as Despina in Così fan tutte with Mission City Opera, Blonde in Abduction from the Seraglio and Yvette in La Rondine with Pocket Opera, Cunegonde in Candide in with Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., and Pamina in The Magic Flute with Opera Nova. Other roles include Abigail in The Crucible, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Madame Herz in The Impresario, Lucy in Threepenny Opera and Monica in The Medium. She has been a featured performer in a series of concerts in Europe, South America, and Australia aboard Cunard’s Vistafjord and Royal Viking Sun and was named a world finalist in the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition, a regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, a semi-finalist in the Jenny Lind Competition and a regional winner in the MacAllister Competition. Educated at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, she has also studied in Austria and has served as an Artist-in-Residence at the Portland Opera in Oregon.

Penny Tullock

Lyric contralto Penny Downs Tullock is a frequent guest soloist in the Chattanooga area. Ms Tullock has performed Bach’s St John’s Passion and Christmas Oratorio, Vaughn Williams’ Mass in G Minor, Michael Haydn’s Requiem, Joseph Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, and Saint-Seans’ Christmas Oratorio, as well as numerous cantatas and chamber works. Guest appearances include Handel’s Messiah with Carson-Newman College and renowned choral conductor Donald Neuen, Haydn’s Mass in Time of War, Mozart’s Requiem, and Bach’s Magnificat with Southern Adventist University, Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Rome Symphony, and Mozart’s Requiem with the Huntsville Symphony. Ms Tullock teaches voice and piano at the School of Fine Arts of First Baptist Church of Chattanooga and is an accompanist at UTC, Baylor School, and with the Chattanooga Girls Choir.

Darrin Hassevoort

Darrin James Hassevoort made his operatic debut in the role of Borsa from Verdi’s Rigoletto and has sung roles in Madama Butterfly, The Barber of Seville, Lucia di Lammermoor, Faust, La Boheme and Turandot with the Bob Jones University Opera, The Classic Players of South Carolina, Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, The Chattanooga Theatre Centre, and Cartersville Opera. He was a featured soloist in the Chattanooga Symphony’s It’s a Wonderful Night and was a soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with conductor Kenneth Kiesler. He has sung Mozart’s Requiem with conductor Joseph Flummerfelt at the Sewanee Summer Music Festival and worked with Maestro Donald Pippin of Radio City Music Hall. Working with Choral Arts of Chattanooga and with the Atlanta Sacred Chorale, he has performed Schubert’s Mass in G Major, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s Cantata 12, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Bach’s Coffee Cantata, Dubois’ The Seven Last Words of Christ, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Creation, Puccini’s Messa di Gloria, and Nelson/Ferrell’s modern oratorio Savior. He has conducted performances of Offenbach’s L’ile de Tulipatan, Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore, and Patience for the Chattanooga Opera Theater as well as performances of H.M.S. Pinafore for the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera’s educational outreach program. An extremely versatile musician, he has also conducted The BoyFriend, Stephen Schwartz’s Working, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Eric Rockwell’s Musical of Musicals: The Musical, and Mary Rodgers’ Once Upon A Mattress. He currently serves as the Chorus Master for the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera Association and is an Assistant Professor of Music at Chattanooga State, where he also serves as the Department Head of Fine Arts.

Brett Hyberger

Acclaimed for his commanding stage presence and powerful baritone voice, baritone Brett Hyberger made his Carnegie Hall debut as bass soloist for Schubert's Mass in G Major with MidAmerica Productions. He has performed with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra and Opera in productions of Le Nozze di Figaro, Rigoletto, and Turandot as well as Handel's Messiah. Brett performed the role of Assan in Gian Carlo Menotti's The Consul with Portland Opera . A finalist in the 2001 Eleanor Lieber Awards, he participated in Portland Opera Works, the education and outreach program of Portland Opera. As Regional Soloist Winner for the Bel Canto Chorus of Milwaukee, Brett worked with Pennsylvanian composer Richard Wargo, performing the role of the Mayor in Wargo's The Pied Piper of Hamelin under the direction of Richard Hynson. Brett was chosen as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performing Schoenberg's Moses und Aron in Berlin, Germany, under the baton of Pierre Boulez. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Austin Peay State University, a Masters of Music degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a Certificate in Performance from Northwestern University.