Stefan Jackiw is one of America’s foremost violinists, captivating audiences with playing that combines poetry and purity with an impeccable technique. Hailed for playing of “uncommon musical substance” that is “striking for its intelligence and sensitivity” (Boston Globe), Jackiw has appeared as soloist with the Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco symphony orchestras, among others.
This season, highlights include performances of the Mendelssohn Concerto with the Dallas Symphony, under Juraj Valčuha, and the Minnesota Orchestra, under Ilyich Rivas. He also returns to the Utah, Omaha, and Kansas City Symphonies, and in Europe, tours with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, and performs with the Residentie Orkest, Copenhagen Philharmonic, and the Helsinki Philharmonic. Further afield, he appears with the Singapore Symphony and Tasmanian Symphony and returns to Korea to perform with the KBS Symphony Orchestra.
In recital, Jackiw performs the complete Ives Violin Sonatas with Jeremy Denk at the Tanglewood Festival, ahead of their upcoming recording of the works for Nonesuch Records. He also joins the acclaimed pianist alongside Benjamin Beilman, and Pamela Frank, in performances of the Mozart Violin Sonatas both at Carnegie Hall and Philadelphia Chamber Music Society. Jackiw will also appear in recital with Conrad Tao playing works by Stravinsky, Lutoslawski, Saariaho, and Brahms.
Last season, following their performance of Korngold with the Cleveland Orchestra, Jackiw reunited with Valčuha for performances with the Detroit Symphony and Luxembourg Philharmonic. He also made his debut with the National Symphony in Washington, DC, performing Bruch’s Violin Concerto with Marek Janowski. In recital, he appeared on tour throughout the US, with performances in Baltimore, Houston, Philadelphia, and with the Boston Celebrity Series. Abroad, Stefan appeared on tour performing the Tchaikovsky Concerto with l’Orchestre National d’Île-de-France in Europe and Asia, which included his debut at the Philharmonie de Paris. He also returned to the Bournemouth Symphony playing Korngold with Andrew Litton, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, performing Tchaikovsky with Residentie Orkest.
Highlights of recent seasons include a performance of Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto at Carnegie Hall with Mikhail Pletnev, as part of a multi-city tour with the Russian National Orchestra; as well as performances with the St. Louis Symphony under Nicholas McGegan, the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Indianapolis Symphony under Krzysztof Urbanski, and the Pittsburgh Symphony under Valčuha. Other highlights in Europe included his performances Netherland Radio Symphony and Ludovic Morlot at the Concertgebouw. In Asia, Stefan recently appeared for the first time with the Tokyo Symphony at Suntory Hall under the direction of Krzysztof Urbanski and returned to the Seoul Philharmonic under Venzago. He also toured Korea, playing chamber music with Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica. In Australia, Stefan toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra play-directing Mendelssohn. He also gave the world premiere of American composer David Fulmer’s Violin Concerto No 2 “Jubilant Arcs”, written for him and commissioned by the Heidelberg Festival with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie under Matthias Pintscher. Recitals included his performance of the complete Brahms violin sonatas at the Aspen Festival, which he has recorded for Sony. He also recorded the Beethoven Triple with Inon Barnatan, Alisa Weilerstein, Alan Gilbert and Academy St. Martin in the Fields.
Jackiw is also an active recitalist and chamber musician. He has performed in numerous important festivals and concert series, including the Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, and Caramoor International Music Festival, the Celebrity Series of Boston, New York’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Washington Performing Arts Society and the Louvre Recital Series in Paris. As a chamber musician, Jackiw has collaborated with such artists as Jeremy Denk, Steven Isserlis, Yo-Yo Ma, and Gil Shaham, and forms a trio with Jay Campbell and Conrad Tao. At the opening night of Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall in New York, Jackiw was the only young artist invited to perform, playing alongside such artists as Emanuel Ax, Renée Fleming, Evgeny Kissin, and James Levine.
Born to physicist parents of Korean and German descent, Stefan Jackiw began playing the violin at the age of four. His teachers have included Zinaida Gilels, Michèle Auclair, and Donald Weilerstein. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, as well as an Artist Diploma from the New England Conservatory, and is the recipient of a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant. He lives in New York City.
Yolanda KondonassisYolanda Kondonassis is celebrated as one of the world’s premier solo harpists and is widely regarded as today’s most recorded classical harpist. With “a range of color that’s breathtaking”(Gramophone Magazine), she has been hailed as“a brilliant and expressive player” (Dallas Morning News), with “a dazzling technique unfailingly governed by impeccable musical judgment” (Detroit News). She has appeared around the globe as a concerto soloist and in recital, bringing her unique brand of musicianship and warm artistry to an ever-increasing audience. Also a published author, speaker, professor of harp, and environmental activist, her many passions are woven into a vibrant and multi-faceted career.
Since making her debut at age 18 with the New York Philharmonic and Zubin Mehta, Kondonassis has brought new audiences to the harp and has appeared as soloist with numerous major orchestras in the United States and abroad such as The Cleveland Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Dallas Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Houston Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de Puerto Rico, Phoenix Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Odessa Philharmonic (Ukraine), New World Symphony, and Florida Orchestra, to name a few. Other appearances include engagements at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, the 92nd Street Y, and Taiwan’s National Concert Hall.
Kondonassis’ performances have been a feature at renowned festivals throughout the United States including the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Marlboro Music Festival, Minnesota Beethoven Festival, Spoleto Festival, Strings Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, Bravo! Vail, Bay Chamber Concerts, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, Mainly Mozart Festival, and more. She has been featured on CNN and PBS as well as Sirius XM Radio’s Symphony Hall, NPR’s All Things Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts, St. Paul Sunday Morning, and Performance Today.
The first harpist to receive the Darius Milhaud Prize, Kondonassis is committed to the advancement of contemporary music through both the performance and commissioning of new works for the harp. She has premiered works by composers such as Bright Sheng, Donald Erb, Hannah Lash, Keith Fitch, Lauren Keiser, and Gary Schocker, among others. Current projects include a new Harp Concerto by Jennifer Higdon, a consortium commission from the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra, Lansing Symphony Orchestra, and the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra, with performances scheduled throughout the 2018-2019 season.
Kondonassis has also earned a reputation as a world-class chamber musician, collaborating with artists such as the Shanghai, Jupiter, Rossetti, JACK, Biava, and Vermeer string quartets, pianist Jeremy Denk, guitarist Jason Vieaux, violist Cynthia Phelps, and flutists Marina Piccinini, Joshua Smith, and Eugenia Zukerman. The Kondonassis/Vieaux duo released their debut album, Together, in January 2015 on Azica Records; Gramophone Magazine praised their “almost rapturous sense of cohesion.” The duo’s next recording will feature several world premieres and is slated for release in 2019.
Universally praised for her extensive discography, Kondonassis’ “sheer luminescence at the harp” (American Record Guide), and“perfect technique with a pure, limpid tone that consistently seduces theater”(Classics Today), have placed her at the top of her generation of recording artists. With hundreds of thousands of discs and downloads sold worldwide, Kondonassis’ twenty releases on the Telarc, Azica, Oberlin, New World, and Channel Classics labels include her latest album, Ginastera: One Hundred (Oberlin Music, 2016), celebrating Ginastera’s 2016 centennial with performances of his music by Kondonassis, guitarist Jason Vieaux, violinist Gil Shaham, and pianist Orli Shaham. Her 2008 album of music by Takemitsu and Debussy, Air (Telarc), was nominated for a Grammy Award. Other lauded releases include American Harp (Azica 2013); Solo Harp: The Best of Yolanda Kondonassis (Azica 2012); Ravel: Intimate Masterpieces, Music of Bright Sheng, including the world premiere recording of Sheng’s Concerto for Harp and Orchestra, written for Kondonassis; Salzedo’s Harp; Debussy’s Harp; TheRomantic Harp; Music of Hovhaness; the first-ever harp recording of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons; Quietude; A New Baroque; Pictures of the Floating World; Sky Music; and Scintillation. Her many albums have earned universal critical praise as she continues to be a pioneering force in the harp world, striving to push the boundaries of what listeners expect of the harp.
As an author, composer, and arranger, Kondonassis has published three books to date: On Playing the Harp, a comprehensive guide to harp technique and methodology that has quickly become a standard in the harp pedagogy literature; The Yolanda Kondonassis Collection, a compilation of her many original transcriptions, arrangements and compositions for the harp; and The Yolanda Kondonassis Christmas Collection,featuring Kondonassis’ most popular arrangements from her acclaimed disc, Dream Season: The Christmas Harp. Her newest book, A Composer’s Guide to Writing Well for the Harp, will be released in 2019. Carl Fischer Music publishes all of her works. Kondonassis carries her passionate artistic commitment to issues regarding the protection of natural resources, air quality, and climate change. Royalties from several of her projects are donated to earth causes and she is the founder and director of Earth at Heart, a non-profit organization devoted to earth literacy and inspiration through the arts. Her first children’s book, entitled Our House is Round: A Kid’s Book About Why Protecting Our Earth Matters, was published in 2012 by Skyhorse Publishing and praised as “the perfect children’s introduction to environmental issues” by The Environmental Defense Fund. It was recently selected as a featured title by Scholastic Australia.
Born in Norman, Oklahoma, Kondonassis attended high school at Interlochen Arts Academy. She continued her education at The Cleveland Institute of Music, where she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees as a student of Alice Chalifoux. Kondonassis’ long list of national and international honors includes top prizes in the Affiliate Artists National Auditions in New York, the Maria Korchinska International Harp Competition in Great Britain, two Solo Recitalists Grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a 2011 Cleveland Arts Prize. In addition to her active performing and recording schedule, she heads the harp departments at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and The Cleveland Institute of Music and has presented masterclasses around the world. Yolanda Kondonassisplays a Lyon & Healy Salzedo Model harp.
Paul HuangRecipient of the prestigious 2015 Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2017 Lincoln Center Award for Emerging Artists, violinist Paul Huang is quickly gaining attention for his eloquent music making, distinctive sound, and effortless virtuosity. The Washington Post proclaimed Mr. Huang as “an artist with the goods for a significant career” following his recital debut at the Kennedy Center.
His recent and forthcoming engagements include his recital debut at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland as well as solo appearances with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev (St. Petersburg’s White Nights Festival), Berliner Symphoniker with Lior Shambadal (Philharmonie Berlin debut), Detroit Symphony with Leonard Slatkin, Houston Symphony with Andres Orozco-Estrada, Orchestra of St. Luke’s with Carlos Miguel Prieto, Seoul Philharmonic with Markus Stenz, and Taipei Symphony with Gilbert Varga (both in Taipei and on a U.S. tour). This season, he will also be making his Chicago orchestral debut at the Grant Park Music Festival, as well as appearances with the Buffalo Philharmonic and with the Long Beach, Baltimore, Alabama, Pacific, Santa Barbara, Charlotte, and Taiwan’s National Symphony Orchestras.
During the 2018-19 season, Mr. Huang will make debuts at the Hong Kong Bear’s Premiere Music Festival, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, and return to the Palm Beach Chamber Music Society with the Emerson String Quartet and pianist Gilles Vonsattel for a performance of the Chausson Concerto for Violin, Piano, and String Quartet. In addition, Mr. Huang continues his association with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Camerata Pacifica where he will present all three violin sonatas by Johannes Brahms.
Mr. Huang’s recent recital engagements included Lincoln Center’s “Great Performers” series and return engagement at the Kennedy Center where he premiered Conrad Tao’s “Threads of Contact” for Violin and Piano during his recital evening with pianist Orion Weiss. He also stepped in for Midori with Leonard Slatkin and the Detroit Symphony to critical acclaim. Mr. Huang has also made debuts at the Wigmore Hall, Seoul Arts Center, and the Louvre in Paris.
His first solo CD, Intimate Inspiration, is a collection of favorite virtuoso and romantic encore pieces released on the CHIMEI label. In association with Camerata Pacifica, he recorded “Four Songs of Solitude” for solo violin on their album of John Harbison works. The album was released on the Harmonia Mundi label in fall 2014.
A frequent guest artist at music festivals worldwide, he has performed at the Seattle, Music@Menlo, Caramoor, Bridgehampton, La Jolla, Moritzburg, Kissinger Sommer, Sion, Orford Musique, and the Great Mountains Music Festival in Korea. His collaborators have included Gil Shaham, Cho-Liang Lin, Nobuko Imai, Lawrence Power, Maxim Rysanov, Mischa Maisky, Jian Wang, Frans Helmerson, Lynn Harrell, Yefim Bronfman, and Marc-Andre Hamelin.
Winner of the 2011 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Mr. Huang made critically acclaimed recital debuts in New York and in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center. Other honors include First Prize at the 2009 International Violin Competition Sion-Valais (Tibor Varga) in Switzerland, the 2009 Chi-Mei Cultural Foundation Arts Award for Taiwan’s Most Promising Young Artists, the 2013 Salon de Virtuosi Career Grant, and the 2014 Classical Recording Foundation Young Artist Award.
Born in Taiwan, Mr. Huang began violin lessons at the age of seven. He is a proud recipient of the inaugural Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School, where he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees under Hyo Kang and I-Hao Lee. He plays on the 1742 ex-Wieniawski Guarneri del Gesù on loan through the generous efforts of the Stradivari Society of Chicago.
Lori WilshireLori grew up in Houston, Texas and began singing at the age of 5. She nurtured her love for music by singing in church and school choirs, then moved to Nashville, Tennessee to attend Belmont University as a music major. During her second year at Belmont, she was offered a recording contract and began recording professionally and also touring as a back-up singer for Gospel artist, Michael W. Smith. Lori also worked as a session singer in Nashville, lending her voice to numerous artists’ albums.
Later on, Lori became a one half of the pop duo “Wilshire” and the band moved to Los Angeles. Wilshire’s unique sound quickly caught on, landing them a record deal with Columbia Records and Warner-Chappell Publishing. The duo wrote their hit single, “Special,” which climbed the Billboard Top 20 chart. They toured with artists like Train and Seal, as well as performing live on Late Night, The Sharon Osbourne Show, the Wayne Brady Show, and Pepsi Smash.
Today, Lori continues to write, record, and perform. She has written and recorded songs for CBS and other Networks, as well as films. Her voice can be heard on national commercials for brands such as Mercedes-Benz and Claritin.
Micah WilshireHailing from Roanoke Virginia, Micah Wilshire began playing in his family’s band by the age of 3. Under his father’s eye, Micah then focused on playing and crafting his knowledge of a variety of instruments throughout his childhood. Once finishing high school, Micah relocated to Nashville with the intent of becoming a session guitarist and singer.
In under two years, Micah became a first call session vocalist and guitarist appearing on countless recordings and jingles leading him to be featured on multiple Gold and Platinum albums.
While in Nashville, and as a member of the band “Wilshire”, Micah again relocated to Los Angeles and signed with Columbia Records and Warner-Chappell Publishing. Wilshire then went on to have their hit single “Special” shoot up the U.S. Top 20 Billboard chart leading to tours with Seal (nationally and internationally) and Train. During that time “Wilshire” performed on Late Night, the Sharon Osbourne Show, the Wayne Brady Show, and Pepsi Smash.
Recently, Micah has taken the position of VP of TV/Film for Young Guns Publishing where he is focused on songwriting and production.
Exciting things ahead as Young Guns Publishing is now partnered with the incredibly innovative, world-renowned Kobalt Music Publishing.
Shem von SchroeckSymphony & Opera
Shem made his professional opera debut in Germany with the Döbeln-Freiberg Mittelsächsisches Theatre as Spoletta in Puccini’s Tosca. His operatic repertoire includes Parsifal, Siegmund, Florestan, Peter Grimes, and Canio. He is a regular tenor soloist with the Atlanta Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Houston Symphony Orchestra, the Philly Pops, and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. He has also conducted several pops concerts with The Columbus Symphony, The Oklahoma Symphony, The Dallas Symphony, The Little Rock Symphony, The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and The Boston Pops Orchestra.
Rock & Pop
Shem von Schroeck has been entertaining audiences since he was 3 years old. A veteran of the stage and recording studio, he has performed in all 50 United States and 55 countries around the world as a singer, multi-instrumentalist, and music director in a diverse range of genres. Currently the bassist and principal backing vocalist for the legendary band TOTO, Shem has additionally toured and recorded with several international and Grammy Award-winning artists, including Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, David Foster, Christopher Cross, Richard Marx, Don Felder (The Eagles), Al Stewart, Patti Austin, Stephen Stills, Tom Jones, Loggins & Messina, Gary Wright, Spooky Tooth, and many others.
Scarlett StrallenScarlett Strallen has starred in productions on Broadway, London’s West End, and is a frequent soloist on the concert stage. She is currently starring on Broadway as Gwendolyn in Travesties and has appeared in the title role of Mary Poppins, a role she also played in the West End and as Sibella Hallward in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.
Additional theater credits include Mabel in Pirates of Penzance at Barrington Stage Company, Lady Macduff in Macbeth at the Armory in New York, Cunegonde in Candide at the Menier Chocolate Factory, Cassie in A Chorus Line at The London Palladium, Kathy Selden in Singin’ in the Rain at Chichester Festival Theatre and The Palace Theatre London (Olivier Award Nomination for Best Actress in a Musical), Amalia in She Loves Me at the Chocolate Factory, and Clara in Passion at Donmar Warehouse. Prior to this, she played Marian in The Music Man at Chichester Festival Theatre and at the Royal Shakespeare Company playing Anne Page in Merry Wives of Windsor. Her performance of Josephine at Regents Park Open Air Theatre in HMS Pinafore won her an Olivier nomination. Other productions at Regents Park include Cymbeline and Twelfth Night, Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (London Palladium), and original casts of Mamma Mia! (Prince Edward), The Witches of Eastwick (Theatre Royal, Drury Lane) and Peggy Sue Got Married (Shaftesbury). In 2014, Scarlett received the ‘Whatsonstage’ awards for best actress in a musical for A Chorus Line at the London Palladium and Candide at the Menier.
A frequent soloist with orchestras around the world, Scarlett made her German debut at the Philharmonie in Berlin with the John Wilson Orchestra in “A Celebration of the MGM Film Musicals”. Recent concerts include “Disney on Broadway” at the Royal Albert Hall, “I Love Musicals” arena tour of Sweden with Peter Joback, “Cole Porter in Hollywood” UK tour with the John Wilson Orchestra, a broadcast on Sky television from the Royal Albert Hall in London and “Bernstein Stage and Screen” at the BBC Proms with the John Wilson Orchestra which was broadcast on BBC television.
Scarlett has recorded with Simon Keenleyside “Something’s Gotta Give” for Chandos conducted by David Charles Abel. Film and television credits include Beyond The Sea, the title role in the BBC production of Mary Poppins celebrating HM Queen Elizabeth’s 80th birthday.
Debbie GravitteOne of Broadway’s biggest personalities, Debbie Gravitte has found herself in demand from the Broadway Stage to the concert stage and beyond. She won the prestigious Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, along with a Drama Desk Award Nomination and New York Showstopper Award. After making her Broadway debut in the original cast of They’re Playing Our Song, she went on to appear in: Perfectly Frank (Drama Desk Nomination), Blues In The Night, Ain’t Broadway Grand, Zorba, Chicago, and Les Miserables. Debbie has appeared in the Encore’s series productions of The Boys From Syracuse, Tenderloin, and Carnival at New York’s City Center.
Debbie has performed her nightclub act worldwide, from New York’s Rainbow and Stars, 54 Below, to London’s Pizza on the Park, and back home again to Atlantic City, where she’s had the honor of performing with Jay Leno, Harry Anderson, and the legendary George Burns. A favorite with Symphony audiences, she has sung with over 100 Orchestras around the world. She has toured with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops, appeared with Lang Lang and the Chinese Philharmonic in Beijing, along with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops, National Symphony (with Marvin Hamlisch), The New York Pops with the legendary Skitch Henderson, Atlanta Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Utah Symphony and Opera, St. Louis Symphony, Houston Symphony, Dallas Symphony, and San Diego Symphony.
Overseas, Debbie has sung with the London, Aalborg, and Birmingham Symphony Orchestras, Stockholm Philharmonic, the Gotesborg and Jerusalem Symphonies, Munich Philharmonic, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Orchestra Massimo del Palermo, and Symphonica of Brazil.
On television, Debbie co-starred on the CBS series Trial and Error, was seen on NBC’s Pursuit of Happiness, and has starred in several specials for PBS, including Live from the Kennedy Center, The Boston Pops Celebrate Bernstein, Podgers and Hart for Great Performances, and Ira Gershwin’s 100th Birthday Celebration.
Debbie has 4 solo CD’s to her credit, including her latest release: Big Band Broadway, along with Defying Gravity, The MGM Album, and Part of Your World: The Music of Alan Menken. Her other recordings include Calamity Jane, Unsung Sondheim, Lucky Stiff, Miss Spectacular, Louisiana Purchase, A Broadway Christmas, as well as Mack and Mable in Concert: Live from the Drury Lane Theatre among others. Debbie has sung with the New York City Ballet in Peter Martin’s “Thou Swell” at Lincoln Center, appeared with Bette Midler in the Universal Feature, Isn’t She Great?, and can be heard as one of the voices in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Debbie is the proud mother of three beautiful children.
For more info, please visit www.debbiegravitte.com or buy music at www.debbietunes.com
Hugh PanaroLeading man Hugh Panaro has made his mark as both the title character and his rival Raoul in Broadway’s The Phantom of the Opera. Panaro has also played dual roles in Les Miserables on Broadway (Marius) and in Philadelphia (Jean Valjean). His Broadway credits include the title role in Lestat and Buddy in Side Show, plus the title role in the American premiere of Martin Guerre and Ravenal in a London revival of Show Boat.
James BassJames K. Bass, GRAMMY® award winning conductor and singer, is Professor and Director of Choral Studies at the Herb Alpert School of Music at UCLA. James is on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and serves as the Program Director for the Professional Choral Institute. He is the Associate Conductor for the Miami based ensemble Seraphic Fire and is the Artistic Director of the Long Beach Camerata Singers. Bass received his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Miami–Florida, Master of Music and Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of South Florida and is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy.
Bass has appeared with numerous professional vocal ensembles including Seraphic Fire, Conspirare, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Trinity Wall Street, Apollo Master Chorale, Vox Humanae, True Concord and Spire. He was the featured baritone soloist on the GRAMMY® nominated recording Pablo Neruda: The Poet Sings with fellow singer Lauren Snouffer, conductor Craig Hella-Johnson and the GRAMMY® winning ensemble Conspirare. He is one of 13 singers on the GRAMMY®-nominated disc, A Seraphic Fire Christmas and appears on CD recordings on the Harmonia Mundi, Naxos, Albany, and Seraphic Fire Media labels.
Bass was selected by the master conductor of the Amsterdam Baroque Soloists, Ton Koopman, to be one of only 20 singers for a presentation of Cantatas by J. S. Bach in Carnegie Hall and was an auditioned member of Robert Shaw’s workshop choir at Carnegie. During his tenure as Artistic Director for the Master Chorale of Tampa Bay, the official chorus of the Florida Orchestra, he was responsible for five recordings and multiple world premieres. In 2012 he served as chorusmaster and co-editor for the Naxos recording entitled Delius: Sea Drift and Appalachia featuring the Florida Orchestra and conducted by Stefan Sanderling. In 2014 he was the preparer for the recording, “Holiday Pops Live!” conducted by the Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik.
His professional career has coincided with the development of Seraphic Fire as one of the premier vocal ensembles in the United States. He has been actively involved as soloist, ensemble artist, editor, producer and preparer for 14 of the Ensemble’s recordings and routinely conducts the Ensemble in Miami and on tour. During the summer of 2011 he co-founded the Professional Choral Institute. In its inaugural year of recording, Seraphic Fire and PCI received the GRAMMY® nomination for Best Choral Performance for their recording of Johannes Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem. In 2017 Seraphic Fire and UCLA launched a new educational initiative entitled the Ensemble Artist Program that aims to identify and train the next generation of high-level ensemble singers. In 2021, Bass won the Grammy for Best Choral Performance for his work as director of the UCLA Chamber Choir in partnership with the Buffalo Symphony Orchestra and Chorus for “The Passion of Yeshua.”