KIMBERLY GIORDANO, Soprano
Lauded for her "polished", "sterling" and "honest performance" (Seattle Times), soprano Kimberly Giordano delights audiences with her consummate blend of elegance and emotion. Recent season highlights include her Seattle Opera debut in Elektra (Die Vertraute), directed by Chris Alexander and conducted by Lawrence Renes, and Marguerite in Faust with Tacoma Opera. Her 2011-12 season includes Elettra in Idomeneo with Puget Sound Concert Opera, Nedda in I Pagliacci with Tacoma Opera, Strauss' Vier letzte Lieder with the Thalia Symphony Orchestra, and Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana with Whatcom Symphony. Her previous seasons included song recitals in Seattle and New York, with works by Bellini, Canteloube, Schubert, Hundley and Sondheim; her first foray into Verdi, appearing as la Voce di Cielo in Don Carlo with Bellevue Opera; and her Benaroya Hall debut singing Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Seattle Youth Symphony. Looking ahead, Ms. Giordano's future seasons include her role debut as Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte and the soprano solo in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
Ms. Giordano's operatic roles typify her skill of combining accomplished musicianship with nuanced dramatic portrayals, including the principal roles of Micaela in Carmen, Pamina in Die Zauberflote, Rose in Street Scene and the title role in Hansel and Gretel. She has appeared with a wide range of companies, including Tacoma Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Aspen Opera Theater Center, Bellevue Opera and NOISE.
Equally compelling on the concert stage, Ms. Giordano made her Carnegie Hall debut in Vaughan Williams' Dona nobis pacem with the New England Symphonic Ensemble. She has sung Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra, Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Helena Symphony, and Mozart's C minor Mass with the Bremerton Symphony Association. A gifted performer of contemporary music, Ms. Giordano sang the role of Kelly in the West Coast premiere of Black Water, with music by John Duffy and libretto by Joyce Carol Oates. She has sung Madame Altina in Pasatieri's La Divina, and appeared with the Affinity Chamber Ensemble, performing Elizabeth Alexander's My Aunt Gives Me a Clarinet Lesson.
Ms. Giordano was a finalist in the inaugural Irene Dalis Competition, The American Prize (Art Song Division), the Vera Scammon SOS Competition, the Ladies Musical Club of Seattle Award-Tour Competition and a semi-finalist in the Joy in Singing Competition. She holds a Master of Music degree in Voice from the University of Washington and a BFA in Music Theatre from Illinois Wesleyan University.
SARAH MATTOX, Mezzo-soprano
Sarah Mattox has appeared in principal roles with many companies nationally, including Seattle Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Chicago Opera Theatre, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Eugene Opera, Tacoma Opera and many others. Favorite roles include the title characters in Carmen and Cendrillon, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte and Suzuki in Madama Butterfly. She received special acclaim for her professional debut as Feodor in Seattle Opera's Boris Godunov and was a recent First Prize winner in the Belle Voci national competition. Also at home on the concert stage, Ms. Mattox has made several appearances at Benaroya Hall with the Seattle Symphony and has also been a soloist with the Northwest Sinfonietta, Cascade Festival of Music, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Eugene Concert Choir, Sunriver Music Festival and many others. April 2010 marked her fourth appearance as a concert soloist at Carnegie Hall in New York. Also an advocate for new music, Ms. Mattox is a founding member and composer for TangleTown Trio, a group specializing in accessible new music in a chamber setting, as well as classical crossover music. Their first album, 'Song Nouveau,' has been broadcast internationally to critical acclaim.
ANTHONY KALIL, tenor
Anthony Kalil sang in his first opera at the age of 17, singing the role of Thomas in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe at Interlochen Center for The Arts. While at Interlochen, Anthony also performed the role of Nanki-Poo in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado. In 2000, he began studying at Wartburg College in Waverly, IA, where he studied Vocal Performance and Math Education, sang with the Wartburg Choir, and was selected as a soloist for Wartburg's annual Winter Concert. He has also performed in a variety of musicals, including Grease, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof and Bye Bye Birdie. In 2002, he left Wartburg College and began a career in the Paint Industry, and has continued in this vocation ever since. In the summer of 2009, he resumed his vocal studies in Yakima, WA. In October of 2009, he took first place in the Spokane NATS Competition. Since then, he has performed with many opera groups across the Northwest as well as several Orchestra's, performing roles such as, Rodolfo in Puccini's La Boheme, Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca, The Count of Lerma in Verdi's Don Carlo, Gabriel Von Eisenstein in Strauss's Die Fledermaus, Canio in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, and will be performing his first Messiah with the Federal Way Symphony at Town Hall in Seattle, WA. In 2010, Anthony entered the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and won first prize in the first round and the award for Audience Favorite. In January of 2011, he won second place in the second round of the MONC, and once again won the award for Audience Favorite. Anthony is continuing to take additional roles and concert engagements.
BENJAMIN HARRIS, Baritone
Benjamin Harris has been seen all across the Pacific Northwest on both opera and concert stages. Recent engagements include Sharpless in Madama Butterfly with Kitsap Opera, Marcello in La Boheme with Bellevue Opera, Angelotti in Tosca with Skagit Opera, and Bonze in Madama Butterfly with Vashon Opera. Benjamin has been seen frequently with Tacoma Opera where his credits include Biscroma in Viva la Mamma, Baron Douphol in La Traviata, Marullo in Rigoletto, Antonio in Le Nozze di Figaro, The Bonze and Yamadori in Madama Butterfly, and the Jailor in Tosca OSCA. Other opera roles include Giorgio Germont in La Traviata, Sam in Trouble in Tahiti, Sarastro and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Caronte in L'Orfeo, Betto in Gianni Schicchi, Ben in The Telephone, the Cold Genius in King Arthur, Grandpa Moss in The Tender Land, the Friar in Don Carlo, and the Sergeant of Police in Pirates of Penzance. Equally at home on the concert stage, Mr. Harris has appeared as a soloist in Orff's Carmina Burana, Verdi's Requiem, Faure's Requiem, Durufle's Requiem, and Handel's Messiah. Upcoming engagements include Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore with Skagit Opera, Messiah with Tacoma Symphony, and Carmina Burana with Seattle Choral Company.
Allan Dameron
Allan Dameron is a graduate of North Carolina School of the Arts where he was a National Merit Scholar. It was there that he fell in love with chamber music, vocal accompanying, and ballet, and it is these collaborative arts which have inspired him ever since. Later, when working as a vocal coach at Chicago Lyric Opera he was assigned to play for ballet rehearsals for Gounod's Faust under Maestro Georges Pretre's direction, and thus renewed his affinity for the choreography of Balanchine, who had designed the dances for the Walpurgisnacht Scene. Shortly after he was invited to join Maria Tallchief's Chicago City Ballet as solo pianist and later Music Director. He came to the attention of Kent Stowell and Francia Russell at Pacific Northwest Ballet, who engaged him as Pianist and Conductor, in which post he has performed most of the active Balanchine repertory on four Continents.
As a chamber pianist Allan has performed at numerous chamber music venues such as the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Gardner Museum in Boston, The National Gallery in Washington, D.C., the Chicago Symphony Chamber Music Concerts, the Colorado Music Festival, The Seattle International Music Festival, Second City Chamber Music in Tacoma, and the Vashon Island Chamber Music Series.
Allan writes, "I am thrilled to be performing with Stephen and the Thalia Symphony a piece I have adored since I was twelve years old and which, despite being one of The Three Most Famous Piano Concertos, has never lost its freshness: keyboard writing which makes the piano speak in so many varied voices - noble declamation, delicate filigree, striding power, heartfelt singing, Chopinesque veiled moods, dancing ebullience - and a sense that every note follows inevitably from the note before."
Lauren Roth
Lauren Roth is twenty four years old and a native of Seattle, Washington. Shortly before her third birthday, she informed her parents that she wanted a violin and private lessons. They complied and her musical career began. She studied the Suzuki method with Yuko Honda and later with Professor Ronald Patterson at the University of Washington. Lauren graduated from the University of Washington in 2010 with a Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Italian studies. While there, she won the University's concerto competition and soloed with the UW Symphony and Bremerton Symphony. She also served as the concertmaster of the UW Symphony, Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Northwest, Bellevue Opera Orchestra, Marrowstone Festival Orchestra and the Thalia Symphony Orchestra, the last two with Maestro Stephen Radcliffe. In July 2011, Lauren was the concertmaster of the 5th Avenue Theater's premiere of Disney's "Aladdin: The New Stage Musical." An active teacher, Lauren was an adjunct faculty member at Holy Names Academy in Seattle from 2006–2010, and she maintained a private studio. Last August, Lauren moved to Cleveland to pursue a Master of Music degree with William Preucil at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Alongside her studies, she was recently appointed concertmaster of the Canton Symphony in Ohio and plays with the Cleveland Pops orchestra. In her spare time, Lauren enjoys reading, playing and watching sports, and spending time with her two nieces.