Countertenor Reginald Mobley fully intended to speak his art through watercolors and oil pastels until circumstance demanded that his own voice should speak for itself. Since reducing his visual color palette to the black and white of a score, he has endeavored to open a wider spectrum onstage. Particularly noted for his "crystalline diction and pure, evenly produced tone" (Miami Herald), as well as "elaborate and inventive ornamentation" (South Florida Classical Review), Reggie is rapidly making a name for himself as soloist in Baroque, Classical, and modern repertoire. His natural and preferred habitat as a soloist is within the works of Bach, Charpentier, Handel, Purcell, as well as other known Baroque Period mainstays. Not to be undone by a strict diet of cantatas, odes, and oratorios, Reggie finds himself equally comfortable in rep of later periods and genres. Such works as Haydn's Theresienmesse, Mozart's Requiem, Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, and Orff's Carmina Burana. A longtime member of the twice GRAMMY-nominated Miami based professional vocal ensemble, Seraphic Fire, Reggie has had the privilege to also lend his talents to other ensembles in the U.S. and abroad. Such as the Dartmouth Handel Society, Apollo's Fire and Vox Early Music. Not to be held to conventional countertenor repertoire, the "barn-burning, [...]phenomenal" male alto has a fair amount of non-classical work under his belt. Not long after becoming a countertenor, he was engaged in several musical theatre productions as a principal or secondary role. Most notable among them was the titular role in Rupert Holmes' Mystery of Edwin Drood, and "Jacey Squires" in Meredith Willson’s The Music Man. In addition to his work in musical theatre, he performed many cabaret shows and sets of jazz standards and torch songs in jazz clubs in and around Tokyo, Japan. Reggie studied voice at the University of Florida with Jean Ronald LaFond, and Florida State University with Roy Delp.
Philip Lima • Baritone
Philip Lima's performances regularly are marked by critical praise: "His singing was glorious" (The Boston Globe) – "vibrant baritone and a commanding presence" (Cleveland Plain Dealer) – "keen musicianship along with total dramatic intention." (Opera News ONLINE). He has sung a wide array of leading operatic roles, including world premieres, for the international Kurt Weill Festival in Dessau, Germany; Lyric Opera Cleveland; Opera Theater of Pittsburgh; Opera Columbus; El Paso Opera; Boston Academy of Music and Opera Boston; Handel & Haydn Society; Granite State Opera; Cape Cod Opera; and Boston’s Prism Opera and Opera-by-the-Bay. In concert, Mr. Lima has appeared as soloist with the Daejeon (Korea) Philharmonic Orchestra; the National Philharmonic of Ukraine; Boston Ballet; Boston Landmarks Orchestra; and more than fifty orchestras and concert series across the United States. Mr. Lima's performance of Schubert’s Winterreise with pianist Beverly Orlove was described by The Boston Phoenix as one of Boston's "Unforgettable Classical Events of 2005." Mr. Lima is a native of New Bedford, MA, and an alumnus of Yale University. He studied at the Tanglewood Music Center and with Richard Conrad. More information about Mr. Lima is available at www.philiplima.com.
Eric Banks • Composer
Eric Banks earned his BA in Composition (1990) at Yale University, and his Master's and Doctoral degrees in Music Theory and Choral Studies at the University of Washington. In 1997, Banks was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Stockholm; there Eric performed with several groups, including the Swedish Radio Choir and the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir. In 1992, while still in graduate school, Banks founded the professional-caliber chamber chorus, The Esoterics. Now in its twenty-third season, Seattle's most innovative chorus has drawn local, national, and international praise for performing rarely-heard compositions of contemporary music for unaccompanied voices, for infusing elements of the literary, theatrical, and visual arts into the typical concert experience, and for performing settings of poetry, philosophy, and spiritual writings from around the world. In his music, Eric is drawn to ideas that are more 'esoteric' in origin, and chooses to express and elucidate concepts that have been undiscovered, under-represented, or are not easily decipherable by a wider audience. As a composer, Banks has harnessed his passions for poetry, foreign language, classical civilization, comparative religion, social justice, and the history of science – to create choral works that reach far beyond the scope of the established a cappella canon. In 2010, Eric was granted the prestigious Dale Warland Singers Commission Award from Chorus America and the American Composers Forum to compose a concert-length choral cycle, This delicate universe, for Conspirare in Austin. In 2011, Eric was awarded Conductor of the year from the Washington State chapter of the American Choral Directors Association: for his ground-breaking work with The Esoterics over the last two decades. Eric has been commissioned by the Atlanta Young Singers, the Boston Children’s Chorus , Conspirare and the Seattle Men’s Chorus; his upcoming commissions include works for Cantori New York, Volti, and the Yale Alumni Chorus.
