Blythe Gaissert
Mezzo-Soprano Blythe Gaissert has established herself as a young artist in great demand in the United States for opera, concert and recital engagements. This Texas native has received great praise from critics for her rich sound and
intense, dramatic interpretations of operatic roles. Of her performance of in Transformations with San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, the San Francisco Philistine said: “The cannibalism aria of mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert whetted our appetite with her soft-edged voice.”
Ms. Gaissert has performed Hansel in Hansel and Gretel Tulsa Opera, The Isrealitish Man in a staged version of Handel’s Judas Maccabeus with Los Angeles Opera under the baton of James Conlon, the title role in the Rape of Lucretia with the Aldeburgh Festival in England, Carmen at the Aspen Music Festival under the baton of Julius Rudel and also in a semistaged concert version for Lake George Opera, Mere Marie in Dialogues of the Carmelites (also with Maestro Conlon),Maddelena in Rigoletto under the baton of Julius Rudel, (with the Aspen Opera Theatre Center) as well as with Sarasota Opera, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Opera Plus! in Coeur DAlene, ID, Rose in Dinner and Delusion with the Cell Theatre/Center for Contemporary Opera, Lady Angela in Patience (Sorg Opera), Suzy in La Rondine with Sarasota Opera, Augusta Tabor in The Ballad of Baby Doe, Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible (Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music). Ms. Gaissert has also performed with the Cincinnati Opera and the Opera Teatro di Lucca. She has participated in many of the countrys major young artist programs such as the Merola Program at San Francisco Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Lake George Opera and Sarasota Opera.
Equally at home on the concert stage, Ms. Gaissert has appeared in a premiere of a new production of Manuel de Falla’s El Amor Brujo with the Asheville Symphony, the American premiere of Gyorgy Ligeti’s Sippal, Dobbal, Nadihegiduvel, as well as the American premiere Louis Andriessen’s Y Despues with the Aspen Music Festival. She has also established herself as a favorite with many American composers leading to an ongoing relationship with the Foundation for Modern Music in Houston Texas, Americana Arts Foundation Productions and the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble. Other concert performances include Alto Soloist in Zemlinsky’s Psalm 83 with James Conlon and the Cincinnati Symphony as well as multiple performances of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
In 2010, Ms. Gaissert was named the 1st prize winner in the National Opera Association’s Artist Awards. She was also a finalist in the Giulio Gari Competition in NYC. In 2009 Ms. Gaissert was selected as one of the winners of the NYC round of the Mezzo TV competition which continued in Szeged, Hungary. In 2008 Ms. Gaissert was a Finalist in the Bel Canto Competition as well as Portland Opera’s Eleanor Lieber Competition. She was also the Recipient of the Mandelker Award for returning Studio Artists in 2008 at Sarasota Opera. In 2006, Ms. Gaissert was recognized as a Finalist in Fort Worth Opera’s Marguerite McCammon Competition, Shreveport Opera’s Singer of the Year Competition with the Gretchen Crow Award, and as a semi-finalist with the Elardo Competition.
Jo Ellen Miller
Jo Ellen Miller sang with Maestro Burkot last summer as “Micaela” in Carmen at Opera North. This fall, she covered the role of “Mimi” in La Boheme with Virginia Opera, and she was most recently heard at Carnegie Hall singing the soprano solo of Pierre Boulez’s “Improvisations sur Mallarmé” with the Met Chamber Ensemble conducted by James Levine. Jo Ellen has also performed with Sarasota Opera as “Giannetta” in L’Elisir d’amore, Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh as “Barbarina” in Le Nozze di Figaro, Tanglewood Music Center, Ravinia Music Festival, Dell’Arte Opera, Opera Company of Brooklyn and Opera New Jersey. Roles include Gilda, Juliette, Susanna, Musetta, Zerlina, Oscar, Genovieffa, Rosalinde and Lauretta.
An enthusiast of contemporary music, Jo Ellen recently debuted with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as the soloist in Elliott Carter’s “A Mirror on Which to Dwell,” conducted by Boulez. Previously she has collaborated with composers Charles Wuorinen, Heinz Holliger, Ulrich Kreppein, John Aylward, Milton Babbitt, Betsy Jolas, Jorge Muniz, and Mathew Rosenblum. She holds degrees from University of Michigan and Carnegie Mellon.
Injoon Yang, D. M. A.
Dr. Yang is a native of Seoul, Korea, and began his voice studies at the age of fifteen. In 1994, he entered Seoul National University as a voice student. In 2001, he debuted as a professional singer in Korea as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte at the Seoul Art Center. Upon graduation, he came directly to the United States to earn a master of music degree in opera at Temple University. In 2008, he has earned his doctorate (Doctor of Musical Arts) at the university. While earning his doctorate in music at Temple University, Dr. Yang was a district winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Roles he has performed include Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, title role in Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz, Alfred in Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Fenton in Verdi’s Falstaff, Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and title role in Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann which was the American premiere of Michael Kaye’s new version. His Fritz, Fenton and Hoffmann won a first-place award in the National Opera Association’s opera production competition, the only national competition of its kind. He recently sang Don José in a semi-staged performance of Carmen for Lake George Opera, and Rodolfo in La Bohème for Opera Delaware.
As a concert soloist, Dr. Yang has performed numerous oratorios and masses both in United States and in Korea. Works that he has performed include Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s The Creation, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, and J. S. Bach’s Matthew’s Passion. Recently, he sang Bruckner’s Te Deum and Mozart’s Requiem with Temple University orchestra, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with West Chester University orchestra.
Jonathan Yates
Jonathan Yates has earned high praise as a conductor, solo pianist, and collaborative artist for his musicianship, intellect and the remarkable variety of his musical endeavors. He made his professional orchestral conducting debut at 23, leading the National Symphony Orchestra in a Millennium Stages Concert. The following year he made his Carnegie Hall debut as a pianist in the Isaac Stern Chamber Music Concerts. A graduate of The Juilliard School’s conducting program, he has conducted on several occasions at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. He currently serves as Music Director of the Camerata Notturna, a vibrant young chamber orchestra comprised of professional and exceptional amateur instrumentalists, and as conductor of the Sarah Lawrence College Orchestra.
He has also been heard as a chamber musician at most major New York City venues, including Stern Auditorium and Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y, Miller Theater, Bargemusic and Merkin Hall, as well as at the Caramoor Festival, and on the Ravinia Festival Rising Stars Series. He has performed as a concerto soloist with orchestras in North America, Europe and Asia, and has given solo recitals for the La Jolla Music Society, at the National Museum of American History (on fortepiano), and on the University of Chicago Concert Series. As a past and founding member of the Amelia Piano Trio, he was presented by Isaac Stern at the Harvard Club of New York City and at Hill Auditorium at the University of Michigan, and was a finalist for the Walter F. Naumburg Chamber Music Prize.
His conducting career began when he served for two years as Music Director of the Harvard University Bach Society Orchestra, followed by two years as Apprentice Conductor of the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras. He is also becoming increasingly sought after for his operatic work. He has conducted the world premiere of Michael Webster’s Hell at Performance Space 122, and Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice and Paride ed Elena at the California Music Festival. He led the world premiere of the first act of Adam Silverman’s Korczak’s Orphans at the Austrian Cultural Forum, and worked for two years as an accompanist at the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists. As an ardent devotee of new music, he has been involved in the premieres of such composers as Chen Yi, Augusta Read Thomas and Joan Tower, was the recipient of an ASCAP award for adventurous programming, and participated as a pianist and conductor in Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble Tanglewood Workshops. He can be heard in chamber music of Hindemith on Cedille Records.
Yates received his Graduate Diploma in conducting from the Juilliard School, where he studied with James DePreist and Otto-Werner Mueller, as the holder of the Bruno Walter Memorial Scholarship. He received a Masters’ of Music in piano performance from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he worked with Gilbert Kalish. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, magna cum laude, where he studied with Robert Levin and was the recipient of the John Knowles Paine Fellowship.
Nanae Iwata
Japanese violinist, Nanae Iwata has been a veteran of the stage since the age of three and has gone on to give performances across four continents to venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Paul Hall, Jordan Hall, Amadeo Roldand Hall in Cuba, Old University Auditorium in Austria, and Denki Bunka- Kaikan in Japan. Praised by critic, Anthony Aibel, “Iwata performed with the ideal contrast of rhythmical bite and expansive lyricism. The opening cadenza of Ravel’s Tzigane was riveting and exquisitely done, with lovely nuances of sound and phrasing.†(New York Concert Review)
Ms. Iwata has also made appearances at festivals such as the Aspen Music Festival, the Mozarteum Acadamie, and the Saito Kinen Music Festival. In 2005, by personal invitation of Seiji Ozawa, Ms. Iwata played in the Tokyo Opera no Mori Orchestra receiving recognition as its youngest member. During the 2008 season, Ms. Iwata gave her Carnegie Hall debut recital, performed Mozart’s D Major Violin Concerto with the Ichinomiya Chamber Orchestra (JAPAN) and was a guest soloist with the Lake George Chamber Orchestra performing Bach’s Concerto for Oboe and Violin.
Ms. Iwata earned both her BM and MM at The Juilliard School where she was a full-scholarship student under the tutelage of Masao Kawasaki and Ronald Copes. She has coached with world-renowned teachers such as Jacob Lateiner, Igor Ozim, Robert Mann, Earl Carlyss, Sadao Harada, Bonnie Hampton, and Jonathon Feldman. Currently, she is on faculty at Columbia College/Sherwood Conservatory of Music in Chicago.
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