DAVID DANIELS, Voice Judge - Chairman 2007, 2008, 2010
“To say that he is the most acclaimed countertenor of the day, perhaps the best ever, is to understate his achievement. He is simply a great singer.” - The New York Times David DanielsDavid Daniels, Chairman of the Voice Jury for our inaugural year, is returning as a member of the Voice Jury. He is known for his superlative artistry, magnetic stage presence and a voice of singular warmth and surpassing beauty, which have helped him redefine his voice category for the modern public. The American countertenor has appeared with the world’s major opera companies and on its main concert and recital stages. He made history as the first countertenor to give a solo recital in the main auditorium of Carnegie Hall. The Chicago Tribune has called Daniels “today’s gold standard among countertenors.” Gramophone magazine acknowledged his contribution to recorded excellence as well as his expansion of the repertoire for his voice type by naming him one of the “Top Ten Trailblazers” in classical music today. Two highly anticipated European recital tours highlight David Daniels’s 2009-10 season, taking him to Frankfurt, Tampere, Finland, Paris, Belgrade, Berlin, London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Prinzregententheater in Munich. He returns to Houston Grand Opera as Arsamene in Nicholas Hytner’s renowned production of Handel’s Serse opposite Susan Graham and makes his debut with Atlanta Opera in the title role of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice conducted by long-time collaborator Harry Bicket. Concert engagements include a special tour of Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the celebrated Canadian orchestra Les Violons du Roy conducted by Bernard Labadie in Montreal, Quebec City, New York City at Carnegie Hall, and Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall. Mr. Daniels collaborates with Maestrio Labadie again later in the season in Bach’s St. John Passion for his Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut. Mr. Daniels was born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the son of two singing teachers. He began to sing as a boy soprano, moving to tenor as his voice matured, and earned an undergraduate degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Dissatisfied with his achievements as a tenor, David Daniels made the daring switch to the countertenor range during graduate studies with George Shirley at the University of Michigan.
Matthew Epstein, Voice Judge - Chairman 2009, 2010
Matthew A. Epstein, Chairman of the Voice Jury for the second consecutive year, currently serves as the Director of Columbia Artists Vocal, LLC, continuing a long tradition with Columbia Artists Management, LLC, which began in 1972. Mr. Epstein served as Artistic Director of Lyric Opera of Chicago from May 1999 to April 2005. Since 1980, he has served as artistic consultant and later artistic advisor to general directors Carol Fox, Ardis Krainik, and Lyric’s first artistic director, Bruno Bartoletti. As general director of the Welsh National Opera (1991-94), Mr. Epstein was the first American to run an opera company in Great Britain. From 1988 until 1990, he was Artistic Director of BAM Opera at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. As an artistic consultant, he has also worked with San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Carnegie Hall, Sony Classical, and BMG/RCA Records. He has managed the careers of many celebrated artists, including Kathleen Battle, Rockwell Blake, Ileana Cotrubas, Mark Delavan, Reneé Fleming, Susan Graham, Marjana Lipovsek, Catherine Malfitano, James Morris, Madga Olivero, Felicity Palmer, Ruggiero Raimondi, Samuel Ramey, Neil Shicoff, Elisabeth Söderström, Tatiana Troyanos, and Frederica von Stade. Throughout his career, Mr. Epstein has been especially interested in and identified with the career development of American singers, conductors, and stage directors. He has been a member of the Music Academy of the West faculty since 1997.
Marvelle Cariaga, Voice Judge - 2008, 2009
“It was impossible to take one’s eyes off of her. She made the Narrative electrifying.” Time Magazine Marvelle CariagaDuring Marvellee Cariaga’s long career spanning 40 years, she was universally acclaimed as an exceptional artist who repeatedly demonstrated her vocal and dramatic expertise throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and South and Central America. She was a regular member of leading opera companies of the Netherlands, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Rio de Janeiro, Bogota, Colombia, Hawaii, Portland, and many others where she sang Wagner and Verdi heroines such as Brunnhilde, Ortrud, Venus, Kundry, Fricka, Waltraute, Amneris, Azucena, Lady Macbeth, and Mascagni’s Santuzza. She became legendary for her performances of Magda Sorel in Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera The Consul which was broadcast on PBS-TV for the Spoleto Festival and other venues throughout the US and Europe. Washington Post: “a singing actress worthy of the highest accolades.”, Opera World: “It was impossible to take one’s eyes off of her. She made the Narrative electrifying.” Time Magazine: "A lustrous mezzo voice. Her ability to convey Magda’s growing agony is harrowing.” Opera Review: “ a voice of stabbing beauty." New York Times: “quite simply superb.” Baltimore Sun: “ She is endowed with a beautiful voice. Her tone color was radiant." She has been directed by many of the world’s leading authorities, including Wolf-Siegfried Wagner, (great grandson of Richard Wagner), Gian Carlo Menotti, Stephen Wadsworth, Jonathan Miller, Sir Peter Hall, Fabrizio Melano in collaboration with Franco Zefferelli, George London, and Norman Ayrton. She has triumphed in her performances as guest soloist with such leading orchestras as Philadelphia (Verdi Requiem in Carnegie Hall with Eugene Ormandy), New York Daily News: ”The best solo singing by far was from Marvellee Cariaga.” Pittsburgh (Bluebeards Castle), Denver, Hawaii, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Antonio, Buffalo, Rochester (David Zinman), San Diego, Virginia Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, etc, and various European orchestras. Repertoire included Mahler Cycles, Lied von der Erde, Beethoven, Mozart, Prokofieff, Bartok, Schoenberg, and 20th century works.
Vladimir Chernov, Voice Judge - 2008
Vladimir Chernov, internationally renowned Russian baritone, has sung over 40 leading roles and has appeared at nearly every major international theater including the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, La Scala, Teatro Colon, Paris Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera and Vienna State Opera, under many of today’s great conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Valery Gergiev, James Levine and Seiji Ozawa. His U.S. debut was at Los Angeles Opera in the 1989-90 season as Posa in Verdi’s Don Carlo, opposite Plácido Domingo. Mr Chernov’s most requested roles include Germont in La Traviata, the title roles in Simon Boccanegra, Nabucco and Eugene Onegin, Miller in Luisa Miller, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Prince Yeletsky in The Queen of Spades. Recent appearances include Eugene Onegin in Seattle and at the Paris Opera, Barbiere in Los Angeles, Il Trovatore at Covent Garden, The Queen of Spades in Dallas and Lyon, Vespri Siciliani in Athens and Eugene Onegin at Opera Australia. Upcoming engagements include Prince Yeletsky in The Queen of Spades at the Met and Tebaldo in Zandonai’s Giuletta e Romeo in Munich. Mr Chernov’s recordings include Il Trovatore, Luisa Miller and Don Carlo for Sony Classical, Rigoletto for Deutsche Grammophon, Un Ballo in Maschera for Teldec, Pique Dame for Philips as well as video recordings of Simon Boccanegra and Stiffelio for Deutsche Grammophon. Mr. Chernov recently was appointed Professor of Vocal Studies at UCLA.
Sharon Daniels , Voice Judge - 2009
Sharon Daniels enjoyed a 25-year singing career, debuting at San Francisco Opera and singing many principal soprano roles at the Sills-Rudel New York City Opera and other American companies. While performing most standard lyric coloratura soprano roles, she was known as singing actress and for performing American works, including a PBS Great Performances and Broadway run of The Most Happy Fella opposite Georgio Tozzi. She performed at Kennedy Center in a run of Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men as Curley’s Wife, and in several productions of his Susannah, once with Sam Ramey as Blitch, and twice with the composer as stage director. Other favorite roles were Birdie in Regina, Baby Doe in The Ballad of Baby Doe, and Pat Nixon in Nixon in China. She served as stage director for The Ballad of Baby Doe at Boston Lyric Opera and Lyric Opera of Kansas City, The Medium at PortOpera, Le Nozze di Figaro at Granite State Opera, Heggie’s Three Decembers for IVAI, Virginia, and Susannah for IVAI Tel Aviv. She recently produced and directed Three Decembers at Boston Playwrights Theater. Daniels teaches Voice and Performance Techniques at Boston University, where she previously served as Director of the Opera Institute. She developed its performance-based curriculum and produced and/or stage directed 25 mainstage and Fringe Festival productions. La Boheme, Street Scene, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, La clemenza di Tito, Idomeneo, Le nozze di Figaro, Lucia di Lammermoor, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Dialogues of the Carmelites and Susannah are among her favorites. She served National Endowment for the Arts as on-site evaluator, and as funding and composer review panelists for Opera-Music Theater/New American Works. A sought-after master teacher and adjudicator, her voice students sing regularly in professional venues and have won major competitions. She enjoys following the careers of previous voice students and alumni of the Opera Institute as they perform in international venues.
Rodney Gilfry , Voice Judge - 2007
Rod Gilfry, baritone, has established himself as one of today's most sought-after and compelling baritones. His artistry has been seen in all the world's music capitals, including Vienna, Paris, London, Munich, Zurich, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Best-known as an opera singer, he also has extensive experience as a Master of Ceremonies, a cabaret artist, and as a voice-over artist. He is equally acclaimed as a distinguished recitalist and concert artist. This Grammy-nominated singer has 23 audio and video recordings to his credit, and the DVD and CD of his one-man show My Heart is So Full of You has just been released. His radio show Opera Notes on Air (with co-host Suzanna Guzmán), aired on Los Angeles’ largest Classical station, K-Mozart 105.1 FM, for over three years. With a 40-role repertoire, Mr. Gilfry sings music from the Baroque to that composed expressly for him. He was brought to worldwide attention when he created the role of Stanley Kowalski in the 1998 premiere of André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire with the San Francisco Opera. This Fall, he created his 5th world premiere role as Jack London in the new Libby Larsen/Philip Littell opera Every Man Jack in Sonoma, California. Other appearances this year include Lionel in the San Francisco Opera production of Tchaikovsky’s Joan of Arc, Prospero in the American premiere of Thomas Ades’ The Tempest at the Santa Fe Opera, and as Nathan in the American premiere of Nicholas Maw’s Sophie’s Choice in Washington D.C, a role he created in London in 2002. In February he sang De Guiche in Alfano’s Cyrano de Bergerac in Valencia, Spain, opposite Placido Domingo, and in May appeared with the Los Angeles Opera as Count Danilo in Lehar’s operetta The Merry Widow. He also performed his one-man show Rodgers to Rossini in Stevens Point, Wisconsin in March, and will appear with the Chicago Symphony as Joe in Frank Loesser’s musical The Most Happy Fella at the Ravinia Festival in July. Rod has been recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of both Cal State Fullerton, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in 1981, and the University of Southern California, where he earned a Master’s degree in Vocal Performance in 1983. www.rodgilfry.com
Julianna Gondek, Voice Judge - 2007
Juliana Gondek is a renowned vocal pedagogue whose success with students has been informed by a more than 40-year performance and recording career on the world’s most celebrated opera, symphony, festival, and recital stages. She has starred in both soprano and mezzo-soprano roles with renowned conductors, including Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, James Levine, Carlos Kleiber, Nello Santi, Eduardo Müller, and Nicholas McGegan in such celebrated venues as the Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Teatro La Fenice, La Scala, Edinburgh Festival, Salzburg Festival, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. Her performances of over 150 operatic, symphonic, and oratorio solo roles include appearances with the world’s great orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and the symphonies of San Francisco, Seattle, Montreal, Dallas, and Detroit.
Marilyn Horne, Voice Judge - 2010
The highly celebrated American mezzo-soprano, Marilyn Horne, has been called the “Star-Spangled Singer” and “the Heifetz of singers.” In 2002, following a career that had seen her dominate her field for more than four decades, Opera News declared, “Marilyn Horne – may be the most influential singer in American history.” Miss Horne has received numerous accolades and honors in the arts as well as academia. President Clinton named her a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1995. In 1992, she received the National Medal of the Arts from President Bush and the Endowment for the Arts. Miss Horne sang at the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton White Houses and at President Clinton’s inauguration in 1993. Miss Horne’s distinguished career has garnered her numerous honors, including a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Gramophone magazine. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1995, received the National Medal of Arts in 1992, and was inducted into the American Classical Music and Hollywood Bowl halls of fame. Among her worldwide prizes are the Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters from France’s Ministry of Culture, Commendatore al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, Fidelio Gold Medal from the International Association of Opera Directors, and Covent Garden Silver Medal for Outstanding Service. In an unprecedented move, Miss Horne received Italy’s first Rossini Medaglia d’Oro, created especially for her. Her international success in the most difficult of coloratura mezzo- soprano roles led to the revival of many of Rossini’s and Handel’s greatest operas. Miss Horne began her music studies with her father and first sang in public at age 2. She studied voice and song/recital works at the University of Southern California, the latter with longtime Music Academy vocal accompaniment director Gwendolyn Koldofsky (her accompanist thereafter for 10 years). From age 17, she participated in many opera and song repertoire master classes conducted by Lotte Lehmann in Los Angeles and at the Music Academy. With her 60th birthday gala at Carnegie Hall in 1994, Miss Horne launched the Marilyn Horne Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted exclusively to the art of the vocal recital in the United States. Miss Horne has performed in more than 1,300 recitals, made well over 100 recordings, and received three Grammy Awards. Her most recent release, Marilyn Horne – Just for the Record: The Golden Voice, is a retrospective of her career and includes classical songs, opera, and American standards. Her autobiography, Marilyn Horne: The Song Continues, written with Jane Scovell, was published in 2004. Miss Horne has been a visiting professor at the University of Oklahoma for nine years, and holds similar positions at Manhattan School of Music, Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the University of Maryland at College Park. She has been a member of the Music Academy of the West faculty since 1995, and in 1997 was appointed Voice Program director.
Peter Kazaras, Voice Judge - 2010
The Director of Opera at UCLA, Peter Kazaras is also Artistic Director of the Seattle Opera Young Artists Program, a position he has held since 2006. As a tenor, he has performed worldwide, appearing at the Metropolitan, La Scala, Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Seattle, Geneva, Genova, Nice, Houston and Dallas, among other places. World premieres include Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles at the Met, Bernstein’s A Quiet Place and Tippett’s New Year (Houston), and Picker’s Thérèse Raquin (Dallas Opera). Conductors he has worked with include Leonard Bernstein, James Levine, Daniel Barenboim, James Conlon, John Nelson, Armin Jordan, Asher Fisch and Robert Spano. Over the past decade, he also worked with great success as a stage director, with productions including Norma, Le nozze di Figaro and Falstaff for Seattle Opera. Recent productions include Le nozze di Figaro and new productions of Falstaff and Norma for Seattle Opera where he will also direct a new production of Tristan und Isolde in summer 2010 and Il barbiere di Siviglia in the fall. Each summer over the past several years, he has returned to the Chautauqua Institution for master classes and individual coaching in Marlena Malas’s Vocal Program. In summer 2007 he made his Wolf Trap debut directing a revival of Musto’s Volpone that was nominated for a Grammy, and in 2008 he returned to San Francisco Opera Center’s Merola Program for a new production of Albert Herring. A regular panelist on the Toll Brothers Metropolitan Opera Radio Quiz, Mr. Kazaras has also served on the panel of the first and second International Wagner Competitions at Seattle Opera, the first Elardo International Competition in New York, the Les Azuriales Competition in Saint-Jean Cap Ferrat in France and Marilyn Horne’s competition at Music Academy of the West. He has adjudicated twice at The Juilliard School, and has also served as a judge for the Metropolitan Opera National Council District Auditions.
Gianna Rolandi, Voice Judge - 2008
Gianna Rolandi, Director of The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, is an internationally renowned soprano who enjoyed considerable success on opera, concert, and recital stages. She graduated from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia in 1975, and made her operatic debut that year (Olympia/The Tales of Hoffmann and Zerbinetta/Ariadne auf Naxos) with the New York City Opera, where she went on to sing more than 30 roles. Metropolitan Opera roles include Sophie/Der Rosenkavalier (debut, 1979), Olympia, Zerbinetta, and the title role/Stravinsky’s Le Rossignol. At Lyric Opera of Chicago she debuted as Dorinda in Handel’s Orlando (1986), and returned to sing Despina/Così fan tutte (1993-1994), which marked her retirement from the stage. Rolandi has also performed with San Francisco Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Washington National Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and the Spoleto Festival in Charleston. She made her European debut in 1981 at Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Zerbinetta, followed by major European engagements in Geneva, Lyon, Paris, and at the Pesaro Festival in Italy. Orchestral engagements include appearances with the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, and London Philharmonic with conductors including Leonard Bernstein, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir Bernard Haitink, Erich Leinsdorf, and James Levine.
Robin Thompson, Voice Judge - 2008, 2009
Robin Thompson has been named artistic consultant to the American Symphony Orchestra in New York City. He comes to the ASO after serving for many years as producing artistic director at New York City Opera. Thompson has also played a role in the growth and development of the Los Angeles Opera.
Carol Vaness, Voice Judge - 2009
Carol Vaness, returning for her second year on the Voice Jury, was born in San Diego, California. Her professional singing career as a lyric soprano was launched in San Francisco and at the New York City Opera where she appeared regularly from 1979 to 1983. She has sung on all the stages of the world and participated in all the premiere music festivals. Based mainly at the Metropolitan Opera since 1984, Miss Vaness has collaborated with today’s foremost conductors and directors on numerous television broadcasts throughout North America, Europe, and Japan and compiled a distinguished catalog of recordings. Miss Vaness’ interpretations of Mozart’s dramatic heroines, including Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Countess Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Elektra in Idomeneo, and Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito, have been hailed as definitive. She has recorded them all. Miss Vaness made her professional debut with San Francisco Opera and has been acknowledged as the world’s leading interpreter of all the Mozart and Verdi heroines. In 1997, she became the soprano with the distinction of opening San Francisco Opera with Tosca more than any soprano in the company’s history. She has appeared as Vitellia, Donna Anna, Desdemona and Violetta at the Met Opera, Paris Opera, Royal Opera, Covent Garden for Queen ELizabeth, Chicago Lyric Opera, Gran Teatro del Liceo, and the Salzburg and Glyndebourne festivals with Sir Bernard Haitink, Sir Jeffrey Tate and Sir Colin Davis among many others. Among her many celebrated television appearances, she has been featured with Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Alfredo Kraus, and chosen by James Levine, Riccardo Muti, George Solti, Christoff Eschenbach, James Conlon and Erich Leinsdorf in “Live from Lincoln Center” telecasts at the MET and Avery Fisher Hall. The Richard Tucker Gala was recorded live with Maestro James Conlon and baritone Sherrill Milnes. She was chosen to perform at the White House with members of the New York City Opera and ten years later in a COMMAND PERFORMANCE for President Boris Yeltsin and President George Bush on the night of the famed arms agreement between Russia and the United States. Having become a spirited interpreter of Puccini’s Floria Tosca, she performed the role at the Metropolitan Opera in 2004 opposite Luciano Pavarotti and had the honor of being chosen by him to be his TOSCA for his last performance at the Met in 2006. She is currently a full professor (PHD) of Voice and Opera at the exclusive Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.