The Chattanooga Bach Choir welcomes the following artists, who will perform Haydn's The Creation with the Bach Choir and Choral Arts of Chattanooga on May 2, 2010:
Stella Zambalis
Stella Zambalisis a regular guest of leading opera companies, including the Metropolitan Opera (Cherubino in The Ghosts of Versailles), New York City Opera (Magda in La Rondine, Micaela in Carmen, and Mimi in La Boheme), Houston Grand Opera (Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte, Musetta in La Boheme and Nedda in I Pagliacci), Seattle Opera (Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte and Sophie in Prokofieff’s War and Peace), Florida Grand Opera (Adalgisa in Norma), Austin Lyric Opera (Violetta in La Traviata and Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro), Baltimore Opera (Mimi in La Boheme), Florentine Opera (Angelina in La Cenerentola and Liu in Turandot), Michigan Opera (Mimi, Micaela), Minnesota Opera (Micaela and Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Kentucky Opera (Hermia, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte), Opera Company of Philadelphia (Pamina in The Magic Flute, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, and Mimi in La Boheme and Nedda in I Pagliacci) Opera Pacific (Mimi), Portland Opera (a double-bill of Nedda in I Pagliacci and “soprano” in Carmina Burana and Marguerite in Faust), Arizona Opera (Nedda), Tulsa Opera (Giulietta in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Micaela, Liu and Mimi) and New Orleans Opera (Nedda). In Europe, she has performed with the Deutsche Oper Berlin (Mimi) and the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy (Countess).
Other performances include Liu in a co-production of Turandot with the Indianapolis and Nashville Opera companies and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, Madama Butterfly with Opera Naples, Tosca with Fargo-Moorhead Opera, Norma with Mercury Opera in Rochester, a concert version of Philip Glass’ Juniper Tree with Collegiate Chorale in New York with Robert Best conducting, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Schubert’s Mass in C in Dalton, GA, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Fargo Moorhead Symphony, and Verdi’s Requiem in Sarasota.
Ms. Zambalis has appeared with Opera Columbus (the three heroines in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Mimi in La Boheme and Floria Tosca in Tosca), Opera Hamilton (Adalgisa and the Countess), Opera Omaha (Inez in Maria Padilla, Zerlina, Donna Elvira, the Stepmother in Philip Glass’ and Robert Moran’s The Juniper Tree, and the double-bill of Pagliacci and Carmina Burana), Indianapolis Opera (Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Zerlina, Euridice in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, Giovanna Seymour in Anna Bolena, Hanna in The Merry Widow and Donna Elvira), Madison Opera (Violetta), Chautauqua Opera (the three heroines in Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Opera Theater of Saint Louis (Rosina, Lucy Lockett in The Beggar’s Opera, Angelina, Tessa in The Gondoliers and Valencienne in The Merry Widow), Tacoma Opera (Rosalinde in DieFledermaus and Tosca), Knoxville Opera (the three heroines in Les Contes d’Hoffmann and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni), San Antonio Symphony (Countess and Hanna), Arkansas Symphony (Mimi and Tosca), and with Opera Orchestra of New York in Carnegie Hall (Sara in Roberto Devereux and Walter in La Wally).
On the concert stage, Ms. Zambalis has performed in Santiago, Chile for Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, in Houston, Pittsburgh and San Francisco Ballet for Strauss’ Four Last Songs, with the Houston Symphony in solo quartet of Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes with Mischa and Cipa Dichter, and in New York with the Little Orchestra Society, with the late Robert Shaw in Verdi’s Requiem. She has also appeared with the Youngstown Symphony in the Mozart Requiem, New Bedford Symphony as guest soloist with an ‘opera’ venue and again with a ‘Christmas’ venue, Erie Symphony for a New Year’s Day concert, Greenville Symphony in Verdi’s Requiem, Houston Masterworks for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Vaughan Williams’ Benedicite, Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, as soprano soloist in Menotti’s Mass and his Cantata to St. Teresa of Avila: Muero, Porque no Muero, which she also performed with the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin. Later in Berlin, she appeared as featured soloist under the baton of Raphael Frubech de Burgos once again in Rossini’s Stabat Mater with the Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra. In April, she performed Vaughan Williams’ The Sea with the Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra.
Ms. Zambalis has created several new roles, including Cherubino in The Ghosts of Versailles for the Metropolitan Opera; the Stepmother in Philip Glass’ and Robert Moran’s The Juniper Tree; The Woman in Robert Moran’s Desert of Roses for the Houston Grand Opera; and the title role in the world premiere of Rachel for the Knoxville Opera, with additional performances in Nashville with Nashville Opera.
On recordings, Ms. Zambalis may be heard as Juliet in Tchaikovsky’s unfinished work: Romeo and Juliet:Overture Fantasy (completed by Taneyev) with the Moscow Radio and Television Orchestra for Bridge Records (a division of Koch International), and a solo album featuring three complete solo song cycles by Dvorak for the Opus label.
Ron Brendel
After taking his undergraduate degree from Evangel College and Master’s and
Doctoral degrees from Temple University, Ron Brendel has been heralded for
performances that are “effortlessly professional… strongly lyric” and extremely
memorable in opera, oratorio, and recital. Mozart is a special forte in opera,
and he had sung tenor roles in Cosi fan
tutte, Das Zauberflote, and Der Shauspieldirektor. He is equally at
home in the operas of Benjamin Britten, most notably The Turn of the Screw and Owen
Wingrave He has also performed the roles of Tamini, Goro, Aldred, Ernesto,
Frederic, Nanki-Poo, and Cajus. He has appeared with the Treasure Coast Opera,
South Florida Opera, Asheville Lyric, Natchez Festival, Springfield Regional
Opera, Opera in the Ozarks, and many others. He made his debut at Carnegie Hall
in 2006 as tenor soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass. In oratorio, he sings
Handel, Bach, Mozart and Haydn. His academic specialty is the vocal music of
Benjamin Britten. This performance is his first with these Chattanooga choirs.
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. A frequent performer with the Chattanooga Bach Choir, he is currently on the vocal music staff at Chattanooga State Technical Community College.