Jennifer Zetlan

Jennifer Zetlan

Soprano Jennifer Zetlan is internationally recognized for her artistry and captivating stage presence, known for being “persuasive and powerful”, “flawless” (The New York Times), and a “tour de force” (Wall Street Journal) . Last season, Ms. Zeltan joined the American Lyric Theater for workshops of Tevye’s Daughters and Working for the Macbeths and Opera Saratoga for a workshop of The Other Side of Silence in the role of Helen. In concert, Ms. Zetlan presented Bach's Cantata #63, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, and selections of Bernstein’s MASS with the Cecilia Chorus of New York (Carnegie Hall). She also presented Libby Larsen’s The Magdalene with Brooklyn Art Song Society. Last summer, Ms. Zetlan sang as Chava in Fiddler on the Roof with Cincinnati Opera. Upcoming engagements include singing as the soloist in Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s C Minor Mass with the Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall. She will also play the role of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Scalia/Ginsburg with Kentucky Opera.

Ms. Zetlan has performed with The Metropolitan Opera for many years, having most recently covered roles in Akhnaten and Eurydice. She has also appeared in War and Peace, Boris Godunov, Le nozze di Figaro, Macbeth, and Two Boys. She's also been a frequent featured artist at Seattle Opera, in Rigoletto, La bohème, and The Ring Cycle. Favorite productions elsewhere include Die Zauberflöte (Charlottesville Opera, Nashville Opera), The Last Savage (Santa Fe Opera), The Fairy Queen (Staatstheater Stuttgart), and L’étoile (New York City Opera). She has also appeared on Broadway in the 2015 Fiddler on the Roof.

Known for her passion for contemporary music, Ms. Zetlan has been featured in numerous American opera premieres. She has originated title roles in Ellen West, Rhoda and the Fossil Hunt (On Site Opera), and Louis Karchin’s Jane Eyre (Center for Contemporary Opera). Other notable premieres include Rorem’s Our Town (NYC premiere with Juilliard Opera Center), Aucoin’s Crossing (ART in Boston, BAM), The Classical Style (Ojai Festival, Carnegie Hall), Morning Star (On Site Opera, Cincinnati Opera), Dark Sisters (Gotham Chamber Opera, Opera Philadelphia), and Amelia (Seattle Opera).

Ms. Zetlan is a committed performer of orchestral works and song repertoire. On the concert stage, she has performed Kaija Saariaho’s Lonh with the New York Philharmonic at the Park Avenue Armory, Woglinde in Das Rheingold with the New York Philharmonic, soprano soloist in Bruckner’s Te Deum and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with Oratorio Society of New York at Carnegie Hall and on tour in Uruguay, and was heard at Carnegie Hall as a celebrated alumna of Mannes College of Music in their Centennial Celebration concert. Recognized as a unique recitalist, Ms. Zetlan was selected as a Marilyn Horne Foundation artist and was awarded The Juilliard School’s 2012 Vocal Arts Honors Recital in Alice Tully Hall. She has given recitals with pianists David Shimoni, Martin Katz, and Ricky Ian Gordon and released her first solo album in collaboration with Mr. Gordon at the piano. Ms. Zetlan is on the voice faculty of the Mannes College of Music and is also the Director of Programs and Operations for American Lyric Theater.

Blake Friedman

Blake Friedman

Tenor Blake Friedman has been cited by The New York Times for the “plummy fullness and dusky hue” of his voice and by New York Classical Review for his voice’s “buttery top.”  His “talent for a wide range of musical needs” (Chicago Reader) has appeared on concert, operatic and musical theater stages across the United States. As a regular soloist with Canterbury Choral Society, Blake has sung a wide range of musical offerings, from baroque masterpieces to newly rediscovered works. His Canterbury Choral Society highlights include: tenor soloist in Bach’s B-minor Mass, Christmas Oratorio, and St. Matthew Passion, the title role in Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus, as well as Jonathan in Saul, Nicolas in Benjamin Britten’s St. Nicolas, and the title role in the rediscovered Oratorio di San Francesco by Adriano Ariani. His most recent performance with Canterbury was last fall, in Verdi’s masterful Messa da Requiem.

Other notable concert performances include tenor soloist in Liebeslieder Walzer with New York City Ballet, which was also featured on the New York City Ballet 2021 Spring Gala Film directed by Academy Award-winning director Sofia Coppola; tenor soloist in Bruckner’s Te Deum and Beethoven’s Mass in C with Key Chorale; tenor soloist in Carmina Burana and Hayden’s Lord Nelson Mass with York Symphony; tenor soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with Concert Artists of Sarasota; and featured soloist for the world premiere of A Nation of Others by Grammy Award-winning composer/librettist duo Paul Moravec and Mark  Campbell at Carnegie Hall.

Notable operatic roles include Marc in the World Premiere of Freedom Ride by Dan Shore with Chicago Opera Theater, Irving Tashman in the New York City Premiere of Morning Star by Ricky Ian Gordon, Iago in Rossini’s Otello with LoftOpera, and Almaviva in both Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini and The Ghosts of Versailles by John Corigliano with Chautauqua Opera where his “romantic and funny” portrayal “proved a highlight.” Other companies Blake has performed with include Dallas Opera, Anchorage Opera, St. Pete Opera, American Opera Projects where he served as resident tenor for the Composer’s and the Voice Symposium from 2015-2018, Bel Canto at Caramoor, Ash Lawn Opera, Bronx Opera and others.

On the musical theater stage he has performed Dr. Gordon in the National Tour of Saw: The Unauthorized Musical Parody, Tony Candolino in Masterclass with The Human Race Theater, The Magistrate/Man 3 in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder with Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater, understudy of Tony in West Side Story Suite with New York City Ballet, and understudy of Marcellus Washburn in The Music Man with Ash Lawn Opera.

 https://www.blakefriedmantenor.com


Christopher Tefft

Christopher Tefft, Bass-Baritone, has toured as a singer to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China, Mexico, and all across the US and Europe. Christopher frequently sings as a soloist and section leader with Canterbury Choral Society. He recently appeared with the Bard Festival Chorale in Carnegie Hall.

As a member of the New York Philharmonic Chorus, he has performed at Lincoln Center, on PBS, and on tour. Last summer, Christopher sang La Damnation de Faust by Berlioz as part of the Bard Music Festival. Other appearances include with the Metropolitan Opera, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, and Ember Chamber Choir. World Premieres: Voices of the Holocaust (Michael Shapiro); Emigre (Aaron Zigmen); In the Name of the Earth (John Luther Adams); Festival of Psalms (David & Kerensa Briggs).

Christopher studied the arts at Millikin University in Illinois and Interlochen Arts Academy Michigan. 

www.ChristopherTefft.net 

Christopher Tefft

Anna Willson

Anna Willson is a vocalist and pianist from Yakima, WA. Anna Willson is a vocalist and pianist from Yakima, WA. In addition to singing with Canterbury Choral Society, both as a soloist and section leader, Anna sings regularly with Polyhymnia of St. Ignatius and St. Bartholomew’s Choir.

She is a regular member of the New York Continuo Collective, a chamber group of early musicians that present concerts at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. Anna also has a lute song duo “Good Pennyworths” that performs 16th century English Lute song. 

Anna Willson

Hannah Spierman

Hannah Spierman

Soprano and multi-faceted artist Hannah Spierman has garnered consistent praise, both for her vocal beauty and for her compelling stage presence. Her solo appearances with Canterbury Choral Society include Orff’s Carmina Burana, Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël, Bach’s Magnificat, Mozart’s Requiem, Vaughan Williams’s Dona nobis pacem, Brahms's Ein deutsches Requiem, Ariani's Oratorio di San Francesco, and Handel's Saul. She has been honored to serve as the Soprano 1 Section Leader since 2017.

With Oswego Opera Theater, Hannah recently created the role of Mrs. Aron in the world premiere of Charles Abeles' The Golden Cage, which was written in 1945 during the composer's internment at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter, America's only such shelter for refugees of the Holocaust. A frequent performer with the Bronx Opera, her roles with the company include the New Prioress in Dialogues of the Carmelites, Agathe in Der Freischütz, Alice Ford in both Verdi’s Falstaff and Vaughan Williams’s Sir John in Love, Birdie Hubbard in Marc Blitzstein’s Regina, Countess Almaviva, Musetta, both Donna Anna and Donna Elvira, and many others. Hannah's other roles, performed both in the New York area and regionally throughout the United States, include Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Mimì (La bohème), Echo (Ariadne auf Naxos), Giorgetta (Il tabarro), First Lady (The Magic Flute), Maria Boccanegra (Simon Boccanegra), and Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus).

On the concert stage, recent highlights include appearances with Death of Classical's Crypt Sessions in the New York City premiere of Nico Muhly's The Street, and soloing in the world premiere of A Festival of Psalms by David and Kerensa Briggs. Hannah has performed as a soloist with such ensembles as the New York Choral Society, Litha Symphony, and Garden State Philharmonic. A graduate of the New England Conservatory, Hannah resides in The Bronx with her husband and frequent artistic collaborator, stage director Benjamin Spierman.