Known for her vibrant and engaging storytelling and the “rich beauty of her voice,” mezzo-soprano Sarah Nelson Craft has been hailed by Opera News as “exquisite… glowing… and genuine.” As a song recitalist she has been presented by Carnegie Hall, Five Boroughs Music Festival, Brooklyn Art Song Society, and Music Academy of the West, collaborating with renowned pianists including Warren Jones and Martin Katz. Seen and Heard International noted that she “cast a spell over the audience” and is “one of those singers for whom words and tone combine to create a beautiful, bubbling musical flow of emotion.”
She brought her passion for early music to the title role in Handel’s Solomon with Amor Artis and New York Baroque, Inc., as well as the role of Piramo in Hasse’s Piramo e Tisbe with The Little Opera Theatre of NY. Concert highlights include Bach’s Mass in B minor at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, Mozart’s Coronation Mass at Alice Tully Hall, Vivaldi’s Gloria at Carnegie Hall, Mahler’s Symphony No.2 with the New Jersey Festival Orchestra, Debussy's Trois ballades de François Villon with New York Repertory Orchestra, Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne with the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra, and Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody with Princeton Pro Musica.
Favorite operatic roles include the title role in Rossini’s La Cenerentola and Massenet’s Cendrillon, as well as Cherubino, Hansel, Dido, and Hermia in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ms. Craft has performed with companies including the Caramoor International Music Festival, New York City Opera, Death of Classical, ChamberQUEER, and the Macau International Music Festival.
Her 2023-2024 season includes a performance of Berlioz’s La mort de Cléopâtre with New York Repertory Orchestra, several concerts with Amor Artis Chamber Choir, and a return to Brooklyn Art Song Society's New Voices Festival where she will perform works by Caroline Shaw and premiere a new song cycle by Jessica Meyer. www.sarahnelsoncraft.com
Soprano Sonya Headlam performs music that spans centuries, from the Baroque era to the present. As a soloist, she has garnered acclaim on prestigious stages across the United States. Recent highlights include her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Handel's Messiah, her Severance Hall debut with Apollo's Fire, and joining the North Carolina Symphony for Handel’s Messiah and Beethoven's Symphony no. 9. She has collaborated with other esteemed ensembles, such as the New World Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, TENET Vocal Artists, and others. Upcoming highlights include her solo debuts with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Canada.
In 2023, Sonya was appointed as the Rohde Family Artist-in-Residence at the Chelsea Music Festival, where she performed Sung Jin Hong’s Kennst du das Land in a world premiere string arrangement conducted by Ken-David Masur. In 2021, she performed the premiere of Patricio Molina's song Kecha Tregulfe at Carnegie Hall. Other contemporary pieces she has helped bring to life include Yaz Lancaster's song cycle ouroboros, produced by Beth Morrison Projects; Tyshawn Sorey’s Monochromatic Light (afterlight), directed by Peter Sellars; and Julia Wolfe's Steel Hammer, performed with the Bang on a Can All-Stars at Carnegie Hall.
Sonya also performs a wide range of art songs, from early to new music, popular standards, and lesser-known and hidden gems. Her Jamaican heritage has inspired her to perform the works of celebrated Jamaican composers like Peter Ashbourne and Andrew Marshall. She is featured on the Raritan Players recording In the Salon of Madame Brillon: Music and Friendship in Benjamin Franklin’s Paris, directed by historical keyboardist and musicologist Dr. Rebecca Cypess, and is working with them on the soon-to-be-released album featuring the music of Ignatius Sancho and new compositions by Trevor Weston. Equally comfortable on the opera stage, Sonya’s favorite role portrayals include le Feu in Ravel’s L'enfant et les sortilèges, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte, and Musetta in Puccini’s La bohème.
From her critically acclaimed Jamaican debut in 2009 to her Doctor of Musical Arts from Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts, Sonya's musical journey has been characterized by dedication and a variety of accomplishments. Consistently praised by critics for her sincere artistry, Sonya believes in the transformative power of music and its capacity to resonate with our deepest emotions, offer insights into ourselves and others, and foster connections that profoundly enrich our lives.
Hailed by South Florida Classical Review as a “opulent soprano" possessing “rich tones, expressive phrasing," and a "soaring top range,” Elisse Albian finds delight in presenting oratorios, opera, choral compositions, and all that resonates in between. An ardent advocate for the collaborative essence of musical creation, Elisse places immense value on versatility and the inherent instrumental qualities of the human voice.
A crowning achievement in Elisse's journey was securing first place at the Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition hosted by the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall. Their artistic collaborations extend to prestigious groups like the GRAMMY®-nominated Seraphic Fire, Voices of Ascension, The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Musica Sacra, and The Benedict XVI Choir. The 2022-2023 season showcased Elisse as the soprano soloist in performances of Bach's St. John Passion, BWV 245 alongside Voices of Ascension, Bach's Christmas Oratorio, BWV 248, and Handel's Messiah with Seraphic Fire. Additionally, Elisse was a soloists for Mozart's Coronation Mass, K. 317, and Vesperes Solennes di Confessore, K. 339, with Kollective366.
Their season also included Telemann's cantatas from the Harmonischer Gottesdienst in collaboration with Theotokos ensemble, presented through Gotham Early Music Scene's Midtown Concert series.
In the upcoming season, Elisse eagerly anticipates performing as the first soprano soloist for Handel's Dixit Dominus with Musica Sacra. They will also perform Benjamin Britten’s thrilling song cycle, Les Illuminations.
Elisse completed a Bachelor’s of Music at the University of California, Los Angeles and recently graduated with a Master of Music in Voice at Mannes (The New School).
Gregório Taniguchi, tenor, crafts compelling performances that draw listeners to hear illuminated historical works and classics for a modern audience. Contemporary vocal music and new works by emerging composers likewise come alive through his communicative artistry.
Gregório has empowered narratives with an intuitive sense for storytelling as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion and Christmas Oratorio, Æneas in Cavalli’s La Didone, Miles Zegner in Missy Mazzoli's Proving Up, and Septimius in Handel's Theodora. He has toured Ecuador with the emerging ensemble Las Aves and presented historically-informed 17th-century Italian and Spanish sacred repertoire in the cathedrals of Quito during Holy Week. He advocates for the intimate connections created by chamber music and regularly presents recitals of classic and contemporary art song. He has worked closely with pioneers of the early music movement as well as the next generation of scholar-interpreters, such as Peter Sellars, John Butt, Maria Guinand, Dana Marsh, Jane Glover, and Matthew Halls. Gregório enjoys the alchemy of collaborative ensemble singing, especially with Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Clarion Vocal Ensemble, Seraphic Fire, Cantus, Washington Bach Consort, Oregon Bach Festival, and Staunton Music Festival.
Gregório is passionate about being an active part of the community of artists, supporting composers in recording new works as a studio singer and faith communities as a choral scholar. He also serves as a language coach, especially in his native Portuguese. Additionally, he prioritizes being part of his ecological community, germinating seeds and raising native wildflower seedlings of the places he calls home.
“Sonorous” (Opera News) and “Suave” (parterre box) baritone Harrison Hintzsche is a recitalist, concert singer, and ensemble musician. He has been praised for his warm lyric tone, musical subtlety, and dedication to text. His interpretation of Schubert at London’s Wigmore Hall with pianist Graham Johnson was noted by Opera Today for a “strong sense of narrative” and “gentle poignancy.” Hintzsche won first prize at the 2021 Colorado Bach Ensemble Young Artist Competition and the 2018 Edvard Grieg Society of Minnesota Voice Competition, and was the 2020 recipient of the Yale Institute of Sacred Music’s Margot Fassler Prize in the Performance of Sacred Music.
Recent performance highlights include performances of Bach’s Magnificat with Jos van Veldhoven and the Oregon Bach Festival, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Colorado Bach Ensemble (bass arias), Handel’s Messiah with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, a semi-staged version of John Blow’s opera Venus & Adonis (“Adonis”) with Early Music Access Project, a tour of South Korea with the American Soloists Ensemble and conductor Euijoong Yoon, and Finzi’s In Terra Pax and Vaughn Williams’s Fantasia on Christmas Carols with the Choral Society of the Hamptons. His discography credits include songs by Luise Greger on New Muses Project’s inaugural self-titled album, released in 2022, as well as the bass arias and role of Pilate on Cantata Collective’s live performance recording of Bach’s St. John Passion, led by Nicholas McGegan and released by AVIE Records in June 2023.
Hintzsche sings regularly with the nation’s leading choral ensembles, including the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, Yale Choral Artists, True Concord Voices & Orchestra, and Ensemble Altera, among others. Hintzsche holds degrees in music from Yale University and St. Olaf College. He currently resides in New York City, and is a native of DeKalb, Illinois. harrisonhintzsche.com
