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NEXT
CONCERT: Magnificat & More ... |
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Soprano
Katija Rothfuss was
born and raised in Northern Germany. She made her operatic
debut at the age of nine in the title role of The Cunning
Little
Vixen by Janacek. After completing her Abitur, she moved
to the United States and began studying at Westminster Choir
College in Princeton, NJ. From there she graduated cum laude
with a Bachelor’s Degree in Vocal Performance and Music
Education. She is currently a master student at the University
of Southern California.
Ms. Rothfuss made her American debut singing Mendelssohn’s
Lobgesan Symphony #2 with the Savannah Symphony. She has
toured the southeastern states performing in numerous concerts
and has been seen frequently in recitals in New York and
Philadelphia area.
Her early operatic roles include Belinda in Dido and Aeneas,
Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and Aennchen in Der Freischutz.
Miss Rothfuss recently sang Donna Elvira in scenes from Don
Giovanni at the Fairbanks Summer Festival in Alaska and Rosalinde
in scenes from Die Fledermaus.
Katja, her parents and two siblings are currently under contract
with Columbia Artists Management singing concerts across
the nation as an opera singing family.
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Alto
Minna Edel's competition successes
include the Metropolitan Opera Competition (Regional Finalist),
the
Rosa Ponselle
International Vocal Competition (Semi-Finalist), and the
Léni Fé Bland Foundation’s 2002 and 2003
annual vocal competitions (Award Recipient). Much-lauded
recent performances include the Verdi Requiem, the St. John
Passion, and Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Regina Coeli
with the St. Alban’s Orchestra in Los Angeles, and
upcoming appearances include the Bach Magnificat and the
Brahms Alto Rhapsody with St. Alban’s as well as the
Duruflé Requiem and Haydn’s Mass in Time of
War with the Angeles Chorale. Ms. Edel has in addition performed
concert solos with the Masterwork Orchestra, the Sarasota
Opera, the OMTI Orchestra at Newark Symphony Hall, Komische
Kammer Oper München, and Dicapo Opera Theater.
On the operatic stage, Ms. Edel has performed the roles of
Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), the Mother/Grandmother (Little
Red Riding Hood) and Spectre (The Nightingale) with Illinois
Opera Theatre, Madama Brillante (L’Italiana in Londra)
and Elisetta (Il Matrimonio Segreto) with Komische Kammer
Oper München, Echo (Ariadne auf Naxos) with the dell’Arte
Opera Ensemble in New York City, La Prima Sorella Cercatrice
(Suor Angelica) with the Sarasota Opera, and Mrs. Hayes (Susannah)
and Kate Pinkerton
(Madama Butterfly) with New York City’s
Dicapo Opera Theatre.
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Tenor
Steven Kronauer is experienced
as a voice teacher, tenor, and conductor, and is well-versed
in the areas of opera, oratorio, musical theater, and vocal
pedagogy. After completing two Master’s degrees at
the University of Michigan, one in Voice Performance and
the other in Choral Conducting, Mr. Kronauer began his professional
career in the chorus of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich,
Germany, as its youngest member ever. During his ten year
engagement with the chorus, he had the privilege of meeting
and studying with many noted singers of the highest echelon,
including world famous Verdi tenor, Dennis O’Neill
and Wagnerian baritone Donald MacIntyre. After extensive
vocal study, Mr. Kronauer was employed as a soloist with
the Bavarian State Opera for television broadcasts, CD recordings,
and live radio performances, appearing with Renee Fleming,
Kurt Mohl, and many others, in secondary tenor roles. Mr.
Kronauer performed the role of Smy in a world premiere of
the German opera Peter Pan, by Willfried Hiller, directed
by the world famous stage director August Everding. This
performance was recorded at the Prinz-Regenten Theatre in
Munich, Germany, and distributed by Deutche Gramaphone.
Mr.Kronauer has studied oratorio with the finest of the field,
including Ernst Haefliger and Peter Schreier, in Germany(while
being a guest observer at the Deutche Stats Oper in Berlin,Germany).
He also studied with tenor John McCollum in the United States.
Since then, he established a career in Europe singing oratorio
under such noted conductors as Karl Anton Richenbacher and
Peter Schneider. Additionally, Mr. Kronauer has sung as a
soloist at the Cologne Philharmonic, and with the Munich
Philharmonic in Germany. He has sung more than 100 performances
of Carmina Burana, internationally. Mr. Kronauer’s
interest in opera conducting was enhanced upon becoming acquainted
with Zubin Mehta and Wolfgang Sawalisch at the Munich Opera.
Mr. Kronauer is in his final year of completing a doctorate
degree at the University of California, Los Angeles in choral
and opera conducting under the direction of Donald Neuen
and William Vendice, respectively. He has worked with Donald
Neuen as an assistant conductor with the UCLA Chorale and
with Maestro Vendice as the assistant conductor of the UCLA
Opera, where Mr. Kronauer conducted performances of Ravels
opera L’enfent et les Sortileges in January of 2003.
The University of Michigan offered Mr. Kronauer the opportunity
of completing two Masters Degrees in Vocal Performance (under
Lorna Haywood) and Choral Conducting (under Theodore Morrison).
There, he was the Assistant Conductor for Jerry Blackstone
and the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club. He
has also led a choral workshop at the University of Munich.
Mr. Kronauer’s expertise focused on performance practice
of American and British chorale music. While in Munich he
formed The Munich Opera Chamber Chorus, which sang some of
the great chamber music of the Germanic tradition, including
the complete Liebeslieder waltzes. Recently, Mr Kronauer
taught on the voice faculty of the Interlochen Arts Camp.
Mr. Kronauer will be on the voice faculty of the University
of California, Irvine in the fall of 2003.
Steven Kronauer’s fluency in the German language and
mastery of Italian and French diction make him an asset as
a vocal coach. As a voice teacher, Mr. Kronauer has had success
with students of practically every genre, demonstrating an
ability to teach beginning singers, Musical Theater performers
(some of international standing), and highly successful opera
singers who perform regularly at the Munich Opera and Covant
Garden opera houses, among others. Being an accomplished
professional singer since the age of nine, Mr. Kronouer’s
musical interests extend over several different genres and
his understanding of the many different styles of music,
including classical, jazz, pop, and musical theater, is deep.
Mr. Kronauer will always be interested in all aspects of
vocal music and in finding talent, and in helping to aid
students as they strive to express themselves so they may
thrive in the musical world.
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Bass
Patrick Bell is
currently a Doctoral Candidate in the UCLA Voice Department,
studing under Professor
Juliana Gondek.
His concentration is classical opera and art song, although
he got his start in and still loves singing Broadway repertoire.
His opera roles include Masetto in Don Giovanni, Don Andres
in La Perichole, Nardo in La Finta Glardiniera and Don Inigo
Gomez in L’Huere Espagnola. His musical theater experience
includes: Oklahoma, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, ThePajama
Game, Into The Woods, and Flora The Red Menace. He has been
a finalist and winner of several classical vocal competitions. |
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