AMANDA CRIDER

Mezzo-soprano Amanda Crider has been recognized for her “gleaming vocalism” (Boston Globe), “star acting” (Urban Milwaukee), and “superbly clear diction and warmly burnished timbre” (South Florida Classical Review). In demand for performances of classical and contemporary opera alike, Ms. Crider created the role of Alma in Keeril Makan and Jay Scheib’s Persona in its world premiere with the Beth Morrison Projects and later at LA Opera, about which the New York Times remarked, “Amanda Crider made a winsome, vulnerable, and when the story turns dark, wildly volatile Alma,” and San Francisco Classical Voice declared, “Crider’s performance was a tour-de-force for its sustained vocal luster, dramatic variation, and sheer amount of singing.”

Performances in the 2021-22 season included the role of Penelope in a new opera by composer Mary Prescott, A Survivor’s Odyssey with White Snake Projects, soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with Elgin Symphony and Amarillo Symphony, and multiple appearances with the GRAMMY® nominated ensemble Seraphic Fire, including Hildegard von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum in a new staging by Francesca Zambello.

Most recently, Crider performed with Apollo’s Fire in Allure: The Three Amandas with sopranos Amanda Forsythe and Amanda Powell. Additional recent appearances included a debut with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Jacksonville Symphony and a duo recital with countertenor, Reginald Mobley.

Crider has been seen as the title character in L’incoronazione di Poppea at Florentine Opera, a role that she “wielded with beauty and charisma” (Voix des arts). Boston University News Service declared her “the true star” for her leading role in Boston Lyric Opera’s production of Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Greek, and Opera News lauded her “beautiful work” and “agility” playing the English Teacher in Gregory Spears and Kathryn Walat’s 2019 recording of Paul’s Case, a role which Crider premiered with the Prototype Festival and Urban Arias in 2013.

A busy soloist and recitalist, Crider has appeared regularly with Seraphic Fire, Apollo’s Fire, the Bach Festival Society of Florida, the International Contemporary Ensemble, the Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival, the Symphony Orchestras of Eugene, Savannah, Charlotte, Syracuse, Charleston, Amarillo, Southwest Michigan and Jacksonville; and Philharmonic Orchestras of Louisiana, Carnegie Mellon and Greeley. She made her Carnegie Hall debut in the fall of 2007 singing as mezzo soloist in Messiah with the New England Symphonic Ensemble, and returned the following season as soloist in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass. She has performed as a soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Bach’s B minor Mass, Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem and Mass in C minor, Britten’s Phaedra, Bach’s St. John Passion, Bernstein’s Jeremiah Symphony and Ravel’s Chansons Madécasses, and has been a featured recitalist on the Trinity Church Concerts at One Series and with Five Boroughs Music Festival. Of her New World Symphony performance of de Falla’s El Amor Brujo in 2014, South Florida Classical Review wrote, “Amanda Crider’s smoky mezzo-soprano assayed the flamenco vocal solos with gutsy abandon.”

Ms. Crider’s first foray into the operatic world as L’Enfant in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges at the Tanglewood Music Center was hailed by Opera News as “delightful,” with the Boston Globe stating she sang with “ineffable tenderness.” Since then, she has delighted audiences in the roles of Angelina (La Cenerentola), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Sesto (Handel Giulio Cesare), the title role in Carmen, Nellie Forbush (South Pacific), Diana (Orpheus in the Underworld), Speranza/Pastore #3 (Monteverdi L’Orfeo), Siébel (Faust), Olga (Eugene Onegin), Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Laurey (Oklahoma) and Mallika (Lakmé) at companies including the Dallas Opera, Orlando Opera, Florida Grand Opera, Knoxville Opera, Opera Omaha, Nevada Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera and Eugene Opera, Anchorage Opera and Opera Boston, New York City Opera, Castleton Festival and Glimmerglass Opera.

Ms. Crider was a grant recipient from the Pittsburgh Concert Society, and a finalist in both the Joy in Singing Debut Artist Competition and the Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition. She was a finalist in the José Iturbi International Voice Competition, the 2nd Place Winner in the Shreveport Opera Singer of the Year Competition, Recipient of the Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition David and Ingrid Kosowsky Award, Finalist in the Oratorio Society of New York Vocal Competition and Center for Contemporary Opera Competition, and a Recipient of a Richard F. Gold Career Grant from the Shoshana Foundation. Crider is also the Founder and Artistic Director of Miami’s Art Song concert series, IlluminArts.

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SONYA HEADLAM

Born of Jamaican parentage, soprano SONYA HEADLAM has been praised as “an entrancing soloist… with elan, flawless intonation, a velvety middle voice, and on-the-mark coloratura” (South Florida Classical Review).  Engagements in 2022 include her Philadelphia Orchestra debut in Handel’s Messiah; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Handel’s Messiah with the North Carolina Symphony; Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Grand Rapids Symphony; a much praised debut with the New World Symphony (Miami) in Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate; and her Severance Hall debut with Apollo’s Fire, with critics calling her “the highlight of the concert… she sang flawlessly and with seeming abandon” (ClevelandClassical.com).  

Sonya’s previous solo performances include Carnegie Hall, Trinity Wall Street, Bang on a Can All-Stars, and venues in South America, Europe, and Asia, as well as a Caribbean tour with members of the Cuban Philharmonic. On the opera stage, her favorite roles have included Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Così fan tutte with Light Opera of New Jersey. Sonya holds a Doctorate in Vocal Performance from Rutgers University, where she has also held a visiting scholar appointment.

KIM LEEDS

With her “vivid, deeply satisfying sound” and “rich, smooth mezzo soprano”, Kim Leeds engages audiences in her exploration of life’s essence through music. As a soloist, she has appeared with the Bach Akademie Charlotte, Ad Astra Musical Festival, Les Délices, American Bach Soloists Academy, L’Akadémie du Roi Soleil, Handel Society of Dartmouth, Bach Society of St. Louis, the Tafelmusik Baroque Chamber Orchestra and Choir, the Oregon Bach Festival Discovery Series, GRAMMY® nominated True Concord Voices and Orchestra, and Gramophone award winning ensemble Blue Heron. Over the years, Ms. Leeds has garnered multiple accolades including winning the Tafelmusik Vocal Competition in 2016, attending the Carmel Bach Festival as a Virginia Best Adams Fellow in 2017, was a finalist for the American Prize in Art Song in 2019, and that summer worked with Philippe Herreweghe as a Britten-Pears Young Artist in their Bach Cantata programme.

Ms. Leeds enjoys performing a wide range of repertoire from Zelenka and Barbara Strozzi, to Janacek, Irving Fine, and Poulenc as well as sung premieres of works by James MacMillan, Richard Danielpour, James Kallembach, and Julia Wolfe. As a choral artist, Ms. Leeds has toured with Helmuth Rilling in Eastern Germany as a member of the Weimar Bach Academy and toured Northern Italy and Southern Germany with the Junges Stuttgart Bach Ensemble under the direction of Hans Christoph Rademann. In the US, she has performed with the Oregon Bach Festival, Handel and Haydn Society, GRAMMY® nominated ensemble Seraphic Fire, GRAMMY® winning ensemble the Crossing, and this season joins Musica Sacra, the GRAMMY® nominated Clarion choir and GRAMMY® winning ensemble Apollo’s Fire.

In her hometown of Boston, Ms. Leeds has appeared as a soloist with the Commonwealth Chorale, Cantata Singers, Music at Marsh Chapel, and can be heard on the 2017 Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s recording of Jeremy Gill’s “Before the Wresting Tides”. Ms. Leeds holds degrees from Mannes College of Music and the Boston Conservatory

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ERICA SCHULLER

ERICA SCHULLER, soprano, brings vocal artistry, theatricality, and panache to baroque opera and concert performances across North America. She is a frequent soloist with Haymarket Opera in Chicago, the Boston Early Music Festival, Ars Lyrica in Houston, and New Trinity Baroque Orchestra, as well as Apollo’s Fire. Much admired for her comic acting, she won high kudos for two productions of Telemann’s Pimpinone with Haymarket Opera, where she played the lead female character, Vespetta. Her performance was described as “show stealing” by CHICAGO CLASSICAL REVIEW.

Erica was featured in Apollo’s Fire’s national touring production of Monteverdi’s Orfeo in 2018, singing the roles of La Musica and Euridice. She recently made her debut with Chicago’s Third Coast Baroque Ensemble in Handel’s Lucrezia. Upcoming engagements include the role of Poppea with Haymarket Opera in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea.

 

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EDWARD VOGEL

Described by Opera News as “accomplished, stylistically informed,” and “sonorous,” baritone Edward Vogel finds his passion in performing early music, oratorio, and art song. Possessing a diverse solo repertoire spanning nearly ten centuries, his sensitive interpretations have been heard onstage with such orchestras as the New Haven Symphony Orchestra; the Yale Philharmonia; Juilliard415; and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, as well as in intimate recital settings across the eastern United States. He has sung as a soloist under the baton of conductors including Masaaki Suzuki, David Hill, Nicholas McGegan, and Gemma New.

An avid choral singer who began his musical training as a boy soprano, Vogel has appeared with international ensembles such as Theatre of Voices, Bach Collegium Japan, and the Yale Schola Cantorum, with whom he has participated in recordings on the Hyperion label.

Edward recently completed his Master of Music degree at the Yale School of Music, where he studied under tenor James Taylor, and was a member of the Yale Voxtet program. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame.

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STEVEN CALDICOTT WILSON

Stephen Caldicott Wilson

Stephen Caldicott WilsonA member of the twice GRAMMY-nominated quartet New York Polyphony since 2011, tenor Steven Caldicott Wilson is thrilled to be making his debut with Apollo’s Fire in 2022 (Monteverdi Vespers and Handel Messiah). He was an inaugural member of The Leonids with Chor Leoni Vancouver in May 2022, where he will return in 2023, and he will return to engagements with Schola Antiqua in Chicago and Milwaukee in 2022. Past solo appearances include Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Hall Boston, multiple Evangelist roles and Bach cantata recitals with Trinity Baroque Orchestra NYC, Chatham Baroque, TENET Vocal Artists, Clarion Orchestra NYC.

Founded in 2006, New York Polyphony is dedicated to historical performance of medieval and renaissance repertoire as well as modern commissions and educational outreach. Noteworthy engagements include the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Boston, 2013 Taipei International Choral Festival, Heidelberger Frühling, Wigmore and Cadogan Halls London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Tage Alter Musik Regensburg (Germany), Festival Internacional de Música Abvlensis (Spain), Stavanger Kammermusikkfestival (Norway), Cartagena Festival International de Música (Colombia), Early Music Vancouver.

A native of Virginia and now based in Chicago, Steven is an enlisted veteran of the United States Air Force Band Singing Sergeants (2001-2005) and a graduate of Ithaca College (BM) and Yale University (MM).

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“The U.S.A.’s hottest baroque band.” –CLASSICAL MUSIC MAGAZINE (UK)