Esther & Jonah

Friday, February 16 at 7:30 pm

Zilkha Hall / Hobby Center For The Performing Arts

Produced in collaboration with Bach Society Houston as part of the 2018 Houston Early Music Festival, this program comprises two concise music dramas from opposite ends of the 18th century: G. F. Handel’s Esther (1718) and Samuel Felsted’s Jonah (1775). With gorgeous arias and stirring choruses, Handel’s first English-language oratorio celebrates an Old Testament heroine’s ultimate victory over the forces of evil. Such works provided valuable models for Samuel Felsted, a composer born to an English family in Jamaica in the early 1740s. His concise setting of the story of Jonah and the whale is the first American oratorio.

SOLOISTS & FEATURED ARTISTS

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Maine native soprano Jennifer Bates enjoys a multifaceted career in the opera, concert and recital worlds. Recent engagements include the role Pepik in the NY Philharmonic production of The Cunning Little Vixen, multiple appearances with NY City Opera, Zem- linsky’s Der Zwerg with the American Symphony Orchestra, and was the featured soloist at the Bach Vespers Cantata Series just steps from Lincoln Center for ten years.

Highlights of previous seasons have included performances at Carnegie Hall, singing Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the New England Symphonic Ensemble, and many Eu- ropean engagements, including Elgar’s The Kingdom with Maestro Leonard Slatkin and the Philharmonia in the prestigious Three Choirs Festival, Haydn’s Creation with Robert Tear at the Dartington International Summer Festival, Fauré’s Requiem with Sir David Willcocks at Royal Albert Hall, and Verdi’s Requiem at Windsor Castle.

She has also appeared with the Masterworks Chorale in Boston, the Orchestra of Lon- don and the London Pro Arte Orchestra. Her repertoire spans the gamut, ranging from Bach, Monteverdi and Couperin to the more avant-garde works of Schönberg, Eisler, and Berg. As a recitalist, she has performed in multiple venues in the US and abroad, including a tour of Great Britain performing Britten’s Holy Sonnets of John Donne, and a recital at the French Embassy in Washington D.C. Jennifer is a strong advocate of late 20th and 21st century music, singing numerous premiers of new works and revamping classics of the contemporary repertoire, including Lukas Foss’ Time Cycle, and Miss Donnithorne’s Maggot by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. She appears regularly on NY City Opera’s VOX series and has sung on the ALEA III se- ries in Boston.

Ms. Bates was a multi-year Chamber Music Fellow at the Aspen Festival, and a Scholar at the Steans Institute for Singers at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago.

Tenor, Eduardo Alberto Tercero - A native of Panama City, Republica de Panama, is described as a “dashing” performer by the Houston Chronicle and was also listed in Symphony Magazine’s Guide to Emerging Artists.  As a concert artist his credits include the World Premiere of Nicholas of Myra by Robert Nelson in the role of Marcus, Piacere in the Houston Premiere production of Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo e della Verita, Adamo in the Houston Premiere production of Il Primo Omicidio by Scarlatti, Messiah by G. F. Handel with the Des Moines and La Cross Symphony Orchetras, Houston Chamber Choir and Bethany (KS) and Augustana (IL) Colleges, Montiverdi’s Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610 with Ars Lyrica Houston in conjunction with both the Houston Chamber Choir and Orpheus Chamber Singers of Dallas and his Houston Symphony debut as the Narrator in Copeland’s The Lincoln Portrait. Most recently he has appeared in the World Premier production of O Columbia with the Houston Grand Opera,  Music Box's production of Godspell in the role of John the Baptist/Judas, the Houston Premiere production of Adam Guettel's Myths and Hymns with A Bit of a Stretch productions and as lead ensemble member of the Premier production of Defy Gravity: A Stephen Schwartz Songbook with Standing Room Only productions. A longtime member of the Houston Chamber Choir under the direction of Robert Simpson, he will be making his season debut with Cantare Houston under the baton of Amy Solberg this coming season. He is a frequent soloist for Ars Lyrica Houston under the baton of Dr. Matthew Dirst and Mercury Baroque under the baton of Antoine Plante.  He can also be heard in the Newport Classics' recording of Cassanova’s Homecoming by one of America’s leading composers, Dominick Argento, and is the tenor soloist for the World Premiere recording of Giovanni Paolo Colonna's Psalmi ad Vesperas (1694) now available from MSR Classics. He can be seen next in the role of Franky in Forever Plaid.

Countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen has quickly been identified as one of opera and early music’s most promising rising stars. In 2017, he was named a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, First Prize Winner of the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum Competition, a Sara Tucker Study Grand recipient from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, and numerous other prizes. This season, he is a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio – the first countertenor in the Studio's history – and next season, he will continue his training by joining the San Francisco Opera as an Adler Fellow. This season at HGO, he performed in productions of Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Strauss’ Elektra. Additional performances of the season include engagements with American Bach Soloists, The Dallas Opera, Cincinnati Opera, and recitals around the United States. In summer 2018, his first commercial recording will be released- the world premiere recording of Kenneth Fuchs' "Poems of Life" with the London Symphony Orchestra (Naxos). www.aryehnussbaumcohen.com