Bonnie Scarpelli, soprano
Acclaimed as a “versatile and gifted singer” and “a singer of
exceptional beauty of tone and security of technique" (Boston
Globe), Bonnie Scarpelli is well known throughout Maine and in the
Boston area. She has performed as featured soloist with the Boston
Academy of Music, The Bostonians,
Boston
Philharmonic Orchestra, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Portland Opera
Repertory Theater, Bangor Symphony Orchestra, Bowdoin Summer Music
Festival, Choral Arts Society, Maine Music Society and numerous
community and collegiate choirs.
She
has been a much-beloved soloist with the Oratorio Chorale on several
occasions, singing among other works, Beethoven’s 9th
Symphony, Berlioz' L’Enfance du Christ, Ronald Perrera's
The Outermost House, and most recently, last
year’s Schubert's Mass in Bb.
Bonnie continues an active career in singing, performing as soprano
soloist in another pair of concerts this spring --
Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass with the Androscoggin Chorale in
April
and the Beethoven Mass in C at
Colby
College
in May.
She
continues to teach voice at Bowdoin and
Bates colleges,
as well as at her home voice studio in Portland, where she lives
with her husband Tony.
Sara Sturdivant, mezzo soprano
Sara
Sturdivant is a young mezzo-soprano working her way towards a
promising career as a singer. A USM alumna, Sara graduated magna cum
laude in 2003 with a bachelor's degree in vocal performance, and in
2006 was the first person to receive a master's degree from USM in vocal
performance.
She
was a student of Margaret Yauger. Currently a resident of New York
City, Sara studies with Ruth Falcon, and attends the Mannes College
of Music, pursuing a professional studies diploma in voice.
While in Maine, Sara sang many concert and oratorio performances,
including those with Maine Music Society and Oratorio Chorale. She
was also a featured performer with the Portland Youth Symphony, the
Penobscot Bay Singers, the Lincoln Festival Chorus, and Southern
Maine Symphony Orchestra. She was a 2005 winner of the advanced
division of the Maine chapter of the National Association of
Teachers of Singing (NATS), and 2nd place winner of the Portland
Rossini Club's Emily K. Rand Award. In 2006, she placed 2nd in the
Advanced division of Maine NATS, and the 2006 Emily K. Rand Award,
and won the Kotszchmar Organ Award, the USM Concerto Competition,
and the Bay Chamber Concert's Rachlin Award.
Her opera credits include: "Marcellina" in USM's 2001 production of
Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, "Sorceress" in USM's 2003 concert
performance of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, "3rd Lady" in USM's 2005
production of Mozart's 'The Magic Flute,' 'Marcellina' in the Bay
Area Summer Opera Theater Institute's 2005 production of Le Nozze
di Figaro, "Lavina" in Maine's Emerging Artists' 2006 production of
Mozart's The Goose of Cairo, and chorus/Elvira's maid in Portland
Opera Repertory Theater's 2006 production of Mozart's' Don
Giovanni, "2nd Bridesmaid" in Mannes Opera's 2007 performance of
Le Nozze di Figaro, as well as several performances of opera
scenes at USM and through the Mannes Opera Young Artist Program.
This summer, Sara will join the Chautauqua Opera Studio Artist
Program, performing chorus roles in Bizet's Carmen, Donizetti's
The Elixir of Love, and the musical Once upon a Mattress.
She will also sing the cameo role of "Kaettchen" in Massenet's Werther,
as well as an evening of opera scenes and a joint art song recital.
Timothy Neill Johnson, tenor
Timothy Neill Johnson, tenor, was born and raised in Southern
California. He received a Bachelor of Music Degree from Cal State
Los Angeles and continued his studies at the Conservatory of Music
in Antwerp, Belgium. As a specialist of baroque and classical
chamber music and art songs, his voice
combines
the flexibility and subtleties of an early music singer, with the
color and pathos of a singer of German lieder and French chansons.
This allows him to sing a vast repertoire spanning from the
Renaissance to the modern.
Major works he has performed include many of Handel’s oratorios, the
works of J.S. Bach, the masses of Mozart, Haydn’s The Seasons
and The Creation, Beethoven’s Mass in C, Dvorak’s
Requiem, and Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb. As a
recitalist, he has performed song cycles of Schubert, Schumann,
Finzi, Britten and Vaughan Williams, as well as the songs of Faure,
Debussy, Duparc, and the masters of the early baroque.
Mr. Johnson has performed and recorded with many
ensembles here and abroad. These include the Roger Wagner Chorale,
Los Angeles Baroque Ensemble, La Petite Bande, Collegium Vocale and
Il Fondamento of Belgium, Boston Cecilia, Handel Society of
Dartmouth, Handel Society of Baltimore, Le Concert Spirituel of
Paris, Portland Symphony, Vermont Symphony, Apollo’s Fire of
Cleveland, Maine Music Society and the Oratorio Chorale. As a
member of the duo Music’s Quill, Mr. Johnson and lutenist,
Tim Burris, have recently released their first CD, The Songs of
Philip Rosseter. He is presently on the faculty at Bowdoin
College and in the jazz department at the
University of
Maine in
Augusta.
Peter Allen, Baritone
Peter is honored
to be singing again with the Oratorio Chorale. His past performances
with the Chorale have included Bach’s St. John Passion,
Gounod’s
Mors et Vita,
Handel’s Samson, Mozart’s
Requiem, among others. Last
spring, he joined in the Chorale’s performance of Schubert’s
Missa Solemnis in A-flat.
He has also been guest
soloist with the Portland Choral Art Society, Portland Symphony
Orchestra, Saengerfest and Masterworks Chorale of Lexington,
Massachusetts, Acadia Chorale, Maine Baroque Ensemble, Maine Music
Society, Androscoggin Chorale, Opera Works, Maine Mid-Coast
Orchestra and Downeast Singers, Colby-Kennebec Chorale, and the
Chorales of Harvard-Radcliffe, Bowdoin and Bates College, his alma
mater. He is a recipient of the Lillian Nordica Award.
With Portland Opera Repertory Theatre
he has sung solo roles in Bizet’s Carmen and Puccini’s Madama
Butterfly. He has also sung the roles of Rocco in Fidelio,
Pimen in Boris Godunov, Papageno in Die Zauberfloete,
Benedic in Evangeline, Don Alfonso in Cosi fan Tutte
and Germont in La Traviata.
Peter has sung numerous recitals. In
the popular music vein, he has collaborated on several recitals of
Gershwin and has performed the roles of Cervantes in Man of
LaMancha and Fagin in Oliver!.
