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Soprano
Susan Montgomery is
thrilled to be a featured soloist with the Angeles Chorale
again this November, singing
the roles of Gabriel and Eve in Haydn’s majestic Creation.
Miss Montgomery was recently reviewed by the Los Angeles
Times for her performance of the Creation with the Los Angeles
Master Chorale at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion: “…a
spirited singer, soaring with fluid purity and point…an
exuberantly communicative performance that promises to linger
in the audiences memory.” This past season, the soprano
appeared with the Angeles Chorale in the B minor mass of
J.S. Bach and in Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Other concerts
this season include the Beethoven Mass in C with the Santa
Barbara Symphony, a concert performance Rossini’s The
Barber of Seville with the Palisades Symphony, and in the
role of Shepherdess in The Glory of Christmas at the Crystal
Cathedral in Garden Grove.
As a recording artist, Miss Montgomery is a soloist on the newly released CD
soundtrack of the HBO movie Angels in America and also recorded on the soundtracks
of three other films released this year, Matrix Revolutions, Scooby-Doo II and
Around the World in Eighty Days. Other commercial and film recording projects
include soundtracks to Snow Falling on Cedars, Galaxy Quest and as soprano soloist
in a live CD recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra entitled Frames for
a FairyTale by French composer Alain Amouyal.
Miss Montgomery has performed in many local concerts and festivals including
the Carmel Bach Festival, the Los Angeles Bach Festival, the Corona del Mar Baroque
Festival, the Long Beach Bach Festival with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the
Orange County Master Chorale and Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra. Of special note,
Susan sang the soprano roles in Carmina Burana with the Beijing Symphony at the
Forbidden City Concert Hall in China conducted by Dr. William Hall.
While
in New York, the soprano made her Carnegie Hall debut singing in L’enfance du Christ with the American Symphony
Orchestra and performed with such notable companies as the
New Jersey Chorale Society, St. Luke’s Orchestra,
the New York Virtuoso Singers and the Long Island Baroque
Ensemble,
to name only a few.
Miss Montgomery earned a Bachelor of Music degree from
Chapman University and Masters Degree in Vocal Performance
at California State University, Fullerton.
She resides with her family in Southern California
Tenor
Rodell Aure Rosel was
a Los Angeles District winner and placed fourth at the 2003-2004
Metropolitan Opera National Council Western Regional Auditions.
He won first place in
The Palm Springs Opera guild vocal Competition in 2001 and the Rio Hondo Symphony
Young Artists Competition in 2000, and was a winner of the Los Angeles Young
Artists of the Future Vocal Competition in 1999. In addition, he has been awarded
scholarships from The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Opera
Buffs, Mu Phi Epsilon Music Society, the Léni FéBland Foundation,
Pasadena Opera Guild, Los Angeles Southeast Symphony Association, Atwater Kent,
Gluck Foundation and the Opera Reading Club of Hollywood. He is a cantor and
the choir director of the Filipino Community Choir at St. Gerard Majella Catholic
Church in West Los Angeles. Mr. Rosel has studied with Tim Mussard, William Trabold
and Gail Gordon. He has coached with Marilyn Horne, Julius Rudel, Peter Schreier,
Warren Jones, William Vendice, Randall Behr, John Churchwell, Heinz Blankenburg,
Donald Neuen, James Smith, Judith Palance-Hansen and Mona Lands. Mr. Rosel currently
studies privately with Dennis Parnell and Marilyn Horne.
He is currently attending UCLA where he
recently sang the title role in Benjamin Britten’s “Albert
Herring”. Other roles with Opera UCLA include Cavaliere
Belfiore (Il Viaggio a Rheims), Teapot/Arithmetic/Frog (L’enfant
et les Sortilège), Il Podesta (La Finta Giardiniera),
as well as Chino (West Side Story). Mr. Rosel was also heard
in Handel’s Messiah, Mozart Requiem and Vaughan-Williams’ Serenade
to Music with the UCLA Philharmonia Orchestra. In summer
2003, he appeared in the role of Basilio in Mozart’s
Le Nozze di Figaro at the Music Academy of the West in Santa
Barbara. His other full productions include Tinca/Venditore
(Il Tabarro), Monostatos (Die Zauberflöte), Kaspar (Amahl
and the Night Visitors) and First Officer (Dialogues of the
Carmelites |
Bass-Baritone
Louis Lebherz has
been an international level opera singer and concert artist for
more than thirty years.
Since 1987 he has been the principal bass with the Los Angeles,
appearing in more than 50 productions including the roles of Zaccaria
in Verdi’s Nabucco, Daland in Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman,
Rocco in Beethoven’s Fidelio, Don Basilio in Rossini’s
The Barber of Seville, Sarastro in Mozart’s The Magic Flute,
and Colline in Puccini’s La Boheme. His international appearances
have included leading roles with such notable companies as Royal
Opera House Covent Garden, Le Grand Theatre Geneva, Teatro Massimo
Palermo, L’Opera de Monte Carlo, San Carlo Opera Lisbon,
L’Opera de Montreal, and Opera Caracas. As
a concert artist he has been heard with many national and international
orchestras including the
Barcelona Symphony, The
Boston Symphony and L’Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, the
Los Angeles Philharmonic, the American Symphony, the Los Angeles
Master Chorale, the Florida Philharmonic, the Beijing Symphony,
and most recently with the Tokyo Symphony as Daland in a concert
version of The Flying Dutchman. Mr. Lebherz is a frequent recitalist
and concert artist in Southern California.
Mr. Lebherz is the Director of Music Liturgy at Corpus Christi
Catholic Church in Pacific Palisades, and a former artist in
residence and professor of voice at Chapman University in Orange,
California. He is also the new Executive Director of the Westchester/Culver
City Symphony.
Organist John West received
his Master of Music degree with Honors from the New England Conservatory
of Music, Boston Massachusetts. His initial studies of the organ
began at the age of 13 under the tutelage of Richard Purvis at
Grace Cathedral San Francisco. Throughout high school and college
years he won numerous awards as keyboard artist and vocalist. Mr.
West’s performances credits include solo appearances with
the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and featured artist of American
Guild of Organists Region X Convention 2002. He has performed at
all of the major houses in Southern California including the Dorothy
Chandler Pavilion, and the Hollywood Bowl. His organ performances
have been heard on the major instruments in Southern California
including the Hazel Wright Organ at the Crystal Cathedral and the
Great Organ of the First Congregational Church Los Angeles. As
a clinician and workshop advisor he will hold a workshop for the
American Guild of Organists National Convention 2004 titled “The
Organ In Contemporary Worship and Contemporary Times”. In
the traditional popular genre he performs on the theater Organ
and has been featured by the Los Angeles Theater Organ Society.
John’s successful career is exceptionally varied. After arriving
in Los Angeles he became a songwriter/producer for the legendary
recording company, MOTOWN. His songs have been heard in film and
recorded by world renowned artists such as jazz legend Nancy Wilson,
and Jennifer Holiday. John is also in demand as a vocalist for
movies, television, commercials and recordings and has performed
and recorded with such artists as Bette Midler, Ricky Martin, Celine
Dion and many others. Films he worked on include “Matrix
II”, “Terminator III”, “Spider Man”, “Brother
Where Art Thou”, and “Meet the Parents”. Animated
feature films include “Legend of Mulan”, “Anastasia”,
and “The Lion King”. Television appearances include “Frasier”,
and “Ally McBeal” and the Academy Awards. In fall of
1995 he performed as a featured vocalist in New York with “Patti
LuPone on Broadway” and as Guest Organist at the Famed Trinity
Church, Wall Street. Mr. West has toured throughout the world with
performances spanning distances from the Republic of Soviet States
to the far northern reaches of Alaska, throughout the entire United
States including Puerto Rico, and countries in South America. Most
recently, Mr. West was Artist In Residence/Organist at Bel Air
Presbyterian Church, Los Angeles. In February 2000 he was featured
solo artist for the longest running radio show for the organ,”Pipedream” with
Michael Barone. He has many published works out of New York, Los
Angeles and most recently has 2 pieces published by Augsburg Fortress –Fanfare
on “Sine Nomine and “ Now Thank We All Our God”.
His first solo organ compact disc, “Rev’d Up Organ!” is
already in its second pressing. Mr. West’s most recent CD
was just released in July 2004 “the Roar of The Furies & The
Sounds of Sirens” It includes unusual mixing of voices traditional
and MIDI on standard literature as well as Symphonie IV of Charles
Marie Widor performed on the Casavant/Rogers organ at the Bel Air
Presbyterian Church.
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