With “a gorgeous, profoundly expressive instrument,” and as “a bejeweled lyric soprano with an exquisite top register,” American soprano Teresa Wakim is perhaps best known as “a perfect early music voice.” The last several seasons have seen her make solo debuts at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Boston Symphony Hall and Grand Théâtre de Provence. Ms. Wakim has appeared with many of the nation’s premier orchestras. She has sung Bach’s Wedding Cantata Weichet nur betrübte Schatten and Mendelssohn’s Hear My Prayer with The Cleveland Orchestra and Handel’s Messiah with the Charlotte, Tucson, Alabama and San Antonio Symphonies. In addition, Wakim’s affinity for the Baroque has brought her much success as a frequent soloist with many of the world’s best period instrument ensembles, including the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Wiener Akademie, the Handel & Haydn Society and the Boston Early Music Festival. She has portrayed and recorded multiple operas from Monteverdi to Mozart, specializing in operas of the French Baroque with the Boston Early Music Festival, and sang the roles of Flore, Aréthuse, and Daphne on their 2015 Grammy-winning Best Opera Recording of Charpentier’s La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers and La Couronne de Fleurs. She can also be heard on numerous recordings with the Handel & Haydn Society, Boston Early Music Festival, Musik Ekklesia, and Seraphic Fire.
Clare McNamara • Alto
Praised for her “lushly evocative mezzo” and “attentive and precise” musicianship, Clare McNamara is a soloist and chamber musician with a passion for early and new music. Recent solo engagements include her critically-acclaimed Jordan Hall debut in Bach’s Mass in B Minor with The Boston Cecilia; Vivaldi’s Gloria, BWV 6, and Handel’s Messiah with the New England Classical Singers; and Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien with Newton Choral Society. In the recording studio, Clare most recently provided solo vocals for “On the Nature of Things,” commissioned by the internationally-recognized modern dance troupe Pilobolus Dance Theatre from composers Michelle DiBucci and Ed Bilous. Clare’s ensemble and chamber affiliations include Handel and Haydn Society, Lorelei Ensemble, Skylark Vocal Ensemble, Cut Circle, Apollo Master Chorale, and Vox Humana. Clare earned her Masters of Music in Early Music (Vocal Performance) from Longy School of Music of Bard College and her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Princeton University. She currently resides in Boston.
Stefan Reed • Tenor
Stefan Reed, originally from Glasgow, Virginia, is currently based in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. Mr. Reed received his Bachelor of Arts in music from George Mason University, and while there he was awarded the Best Overall Performer Award at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Regional Competition held in South Carolina. He completed his master’s degree in vocal performance at the New England Conservatory. Mr. Reed spent two summers as a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival, where he had the opportunity to work closely with such scholars and artists as Stefan Asbury, Phyllis Curtin, Kayo Iwama, James Levine, William Sharp, Lucy Shelton, Bright Sheng, and Dawn Upshaw. Mr. Reed is currently performing as a tenor soloist with many organizations throughout the country. Recent engagements include several performances with the Handel & Haydn Society, including the Evangelist in Part V of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and soloist for Bach’s Cantata 140 and Handel’s Israel in Egypt, as well as Purcell’s King Arthur with the Miami-based ensemble Seraphic Fire and the Firebird Chamber Orchestra. Other solo performances include Rachmaninov’s Vespers and Schumann’s Paradise and the Peri with the Back Bay Chorale and numerous performances with the the Mount Vernon Symphony, Marsh Chapel Choir and Collegium, the Tanglewood Chamber Music Ensemble, and both the Boston and Maryland Masterworks Chorales.
Thomas Jones • Baritone
Thomas Jones has appeared with orchestras, opera companies, choral ensembles and on recital series throughout North America, Europe and the West Indies. Richard Buell of The Boston Globe calls the vocal and stage presence of Thomas Jones “irresistible.” Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times proclaims that Mr. Jones sings “with plush sounds and musical vigor.” Solo engagements include Santa Fe Symphony, The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco’s Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Boston’s Handel & Haydn Society, The Apollo Chorus of Chicago, The San Francisco City Chorus and Orchestra, The Vancouver Chamber Choir and The Canadian Broadcast Orchestra and The Phoenix Bach Choir. Festival appearances include Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Berkshire Choral Festival and The Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival. Opera company appearances include Boston Lyric Opera, The Harrisburg Opera Company of Pennsylvania and Opera New England. In the Boston area, appearances include The Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, Boston Civic Orchestra and The Back Bay Chorale. Mr. Jones has appeared with well over 150 choruses throughout the United States, under the baton of notable maestros such as Christopher Hogwood, Nicholas McGegan and Thomas Dunn. Thomas Jones was a semifinalist in the International Bel Canto Foundation Vocal Competition and a semifinalist in the New York Oratorio Competition.
