San Francisco Bach Choir: Musicians

The San Francisco Bach Choir also performs with many renowned vocal soloists and instrumentalists, as well as with its own orchestra and chamber consort (managed by John Thiessen) selected from internationally acclaimed instrumentalists.

Kittinant Chinsamran, Thai bass-baritone, joined the San Francisco Bach Choir as a bass soloist in the performance of J.S.Bach's sacred cantatas under the baton of new director Corey Jamason last fall. Chinsamran received his Music Education degree from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand with First Class Honors. He has been an active singer in Thailand, performing in numerous operas, concerts and recitals after his graduation. His voice has been heard in several Thai commercials, animations and movie soundtracks. Since his arrival at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music to pursue his Master's Degree in Vocal Performance, he has twice been awarded the scholarship to study under the renowned tenor and voice teacher, César Ulloa. His opera roles include Papageno (The Magic Flute), Theseus (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Mandarino (Turandot), Father (Hansel and Gretel), Le Fauteuil (L'Enfant et les Sortilèges), and this coming April he will appear as La Notte and Ipparco in Cavalli's L'Egisto with the Conservatory Opera Theatre. On the concert stage, Chinsamran has sung bass and baritone solos in various performances such as Bach's Magnificat, Mozart's Coronation Mass, Faure's Requiem, Britten's Rejoice for the Lamb and has made his Davies Symphony Hall debut as a bass soloist in the "Sing It Yourself Messiah" with the San Francisco Sinfonietta. This summer he will make his European debut in a recital at the Estoril Music Festival in Portugal.

Katherine
Growdon In this concert Katherine Growdon, alto, makes her debut with the San Francisco Bach Choir. Since moving to the Bay Area to pursue a Master of Music at the San Francisco Conservatory she has performed with a variety of its music ensembles and opera companies, among them the American Bach Soloists, the New Music Ensemble, Berkeley Opera, Pocket Opera, and Oakland Opera Theater. Operatic roles performed include Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Nicklausse (Les contes d'Hoffman), Idamante (Idomeneo), Fragoletto (Les Brigands), Baba the Turk (Rake's Progress), Nefertiti (Akhnaten), Count Orsini (Lucrezia Borgia), Meg Page (Falstaff), Third Lady (The Magic Flute), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel), Juno (Semele), and La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi). This past summer Ms. Growdon participated as one of four Virginia Best Adams Fellows at the Carmel Bach Festival. Upcoming performances feature her as a soloist with the San Francisco Bach Choir in the St. John Passion, with the American Bach Soloists in the Christmas Oratorio, and in the première of Learning the Elements for Composers, Inc.

A native of Zimbabwe, tenor Craig Lemming is pursuing a Master's Degree in Early Music at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as a student of Paul Elliott. In the title role of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo presented at the 2007 Bloomington Early Music Festival the Herald Times reported, "Craig Lemming offered a tour de force as Orfeo, dispatching every ornate melody with ease, while imbuing the musical and theatrical aspects of his role with endearing passion." Mr. Lemming has also appeared in the title role of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and as the tenor soloist in J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion, Haydn's Paukenmesse, Mozart's Krönungsmesse, Beethoven's Mass in C Major, and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. As a recitalist, Mr. Lemming has performed at the annual Roland Hayes Memorial Concert Series, and has been invited to perform as a guest artist with the Catacoustic Consort. As a member of Pro Arte Singers under John Poole, he has sung the tenor solos in their performances of Haydn's Harmoniemesse, Telemann's Die Tageszeiten, and Padilla's St. Matthew Passion. Mr. Lemming was a member of King's Chapel Choir in Boston under Heinrich Christensen and the late Daniel Pinkham. He is currently a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church Choir in Bloomington under Dr. Marilyn Keiser, and has performed as a member of Apollo's Voice under Raymond Leppard. Mr. Lemming has toured the United Kingdom and the Eastern United States performing vigorous traditional Southern African works with the ensemble Tabatana. Craig Lemming holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance from New England Conservatory where he studied with Helen Hodam and Delores Ziegler.

Paul Murray has made the Bay Area his home for the last five years. In 2005, he received his Master's Degree in Vocal Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Prior to moving to San Francisco, he received his BA in Music at Rhodes College in his hometown of Memphis, TN. Favorite roles of the last few years include Gianni Schicchi (Gianni Schicchi, SFCM), Pandolphe (Cendrillon, SFCM), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro, BASOTI, SFCM), Bottom the Weaver (A Midsummer Night's Dream, SFCM), Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte, Bangkok Opera), and Schaunard (La Boheme, Livermore Valley Opera). Concert engagements include the roles of Paul (St. Paul, Ft. Wayne Bach Collegium), Adam (in the premiere of Henry Mollicone's Beatitude Mass), as well as Schubert's Winterreise and Die Schöne Müllerin in recital. In May 2008 he will sing the role of Bluebeard (Bluebeard's Castle, in Hungarian) with Berkeley Opera. In addition to his performing schedule, Mr. Murray commutes weekly to CSU Fresno to teach voice, and loves riding Mt. Tam on his mountain bike.

Milwaukee, WI native Erica Schuller (soprano) is currently pursuing graduate studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Pamela Fry. She received her B.M. from The Eastman School of Music in 2006, earning degrees in both vocal performance and music education. She was also awarded one of Eastman's prestigious performer's certificates, indicating highest achievement in performance. Miss Schuller's credits include Lazuli in the comic opera L'Étoile (Chabrier), Belinda in Dido and Aeneas (Purcell), and Noémie in Cendrillon (Massenet). She has also performed several roles at The Eastman School of Music with renowned lutenist and scholar Paul O'Dette, including Psyché in Psyché (J.B. Lully), Euridice in L'Orfeo (Luigi Rossi) and Axinia in Boris Goudenow (Johann Mattheson). In 2007, she participated in the Boston Early Music Festival's opera production of Psyché. Miss Schuller has studied Baroque performance practice with Ellen Hargis, Paul O'dette, Stephen Stubbs, and Corey Jamason. Tonight's concert marks her San Francisco debut. Other upcoming engagements include Amor in San Francisco Conservatory's production of Cavalli's L'Egisto.

Originally from Canada, Eric Thériault is a young upcoming tenor, equally at ease on the opera and concert scenes. Recently, he was part of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Singer Program, where he was awarded The Campbell Wachter Memorial Award. Mr. Theriault also studied at the International Vocal Arts Institute, the Vermont International Opera Festival, and the Nice International Summer Academy. Amongst his numerous concert and opera engagements, he created the role of Gnyphos, in the final version of Lou Harrison's opera Young Ceasar, was soloist for the North American Premiere of Telemann's oratorio Jauchzet, Jubiliert und Singet, and is recipient of a 2005 Opus Award (Québec, Canada), for his participation in the concert-event "Bach To Tango." Mr. Thériault was fortunate to work with numerous great musical organizations and conductors, such as L'Orchestre de la Garde républicaine de Paris (André Bernard), the Lamèque International Baroque Festival (Japp Ter Linden), the Sherbrooke Romantic Music Festival (Bernard Tétu), the Ensemble Parallèle (Nicole Paiement), the Orford Festival, the Lanaudière Festival, the Domaine Forget Festival, and the Montreal International Chamber Music Festival (Yannick Nézet-Séguin). In 2005, he portrayed both Alfred and Eisenstein in an appraised Canadian tour of Die Fledermaus, with Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. Mr. Thériault received numerous awards and scholarships such as the Baxter & Alma Ricard Foundation scholarship, the France-Acadie Grant, the Jeunesses musicales du Canada scholarship and the Best Performance Award of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition in Montreal, Canada. Apart from completing a Master of Music Degree in vocal performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music this year, Mr. Thériault was soloist with the San Francisco Bach Choir in October under the baton of maestro Corey Jamason. Next season he will take part in the creation of an opera based on Kafka's Metamorphosis, to be performed at the Congrès Mondial Acadien, in New-Brunswick, Canada.



		Musicians Guest Artists The San Francisco Bach Choir also performs with many renowned vocal soloists and instrumentalists, as well as with its own orchestra and chamber consort (managed by John Thiessen) selected from internationally acclaimed instrumentalists. Kittinant Chinsamran, Thai bass-baritone, joined the San Francisco Bach Choir as a bass soloist in the performance of J.S.Bach's sacred cantatas under the baton of new director Corey Jamason last fall. Chinsamran received his Music Education degree from Chulalongkorn University in Thailand with First Class Honors. He has been an active singer in Thailand, performing in numerous operas, concerts and recitals after his graduation. His voice has been heard in several Thai commercials, animations and movie soundtracks. Since his arrival at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music to pursue his Master's Degree in Vocal Performance, he has twice been awarded the scholarship to study under the renowned tenor and voice teacher, César Ulloa. His opera roles include Papageno (The Magic Flute), Theseus (A Midsummer Night's Dream), Mandarino (Turandot), Father (Hansel and Gretel), Le Fauteuil (L'Enfant et les Sortilèges), and this coming April he will appear as La Notte and Ipparco in Cavalli's L'Egisto with the Conservatory Opera Theatre. On the concert stage, Chinsamran has sung bass and baritone solos in various performances such as Bach's Magnificat, Mozart's Coronation Mass, Faure's Requiem, Britten's Rejoice for the Lamb and has made his Davies Symphony Hall debut as a bass soloist in the "Sing It Yourself Messiah" with the San Francisco Sinfonietta. This summer he will make his European debut in a recital at the Estoril Music Festival in Portugal. In this concert Katherine Growdon, alto, makes her debut with the San Francisco Bach Choir. Since moving to the Bay Area to pursue a Master of Music at the San Francisco Conservatory she has performed with a variety of its music ensembles and opera companies, among them the American Bach Soloists, the New Music Ensemble, Berkeley Opera, Pocket Opera, and Oakland Opera Theater. Operatic roles performed include Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Nicklausse (Les contes d'Hoffman), Idamante (Idomeneo), Fragoletto (Les Brigands), Baba the Turk (Rake's Progress), Nefertiti (Akhnaten), Count Orsini (Lucrezia Borgia), Meg Page (Falstaff), Third Lady (The Magic Flute), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel), Juno (Semele), and La Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi). This past summer Ms. Growdon participated as one of four Virginia Best Adams Fellows at the Carmel Bach Festival. Upcoming performances feature her as a soloist with the San Francisco Bach Choir in the St. John Passion, with the American Bach Soloists in the Christmas Oratorio, and in the première of Learning the Elements for Composers, Inc. A native of Zimbabwe, tenor Craig Lemming is pursuing a Master's Degree in Early Music at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as a student of Paul Elliott. In the title role of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo presented at the 2007 Bloomington Early Music Festival the Herald Times reported, "Craig Lemming offered a tour de force as Orfeo, dispatching every ornate melody with ease, while imbuing the musical and theatrical aspects of his role with endearing passion." Mr. Lemming has also appeared in the title role of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas and as the tenor soloist in J.S. Bach's Johannes-Passion, Haydn's Paukenmesse, Mozart's Krönungsmesse, Beethoven's Mass in C Major, and Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. As a recitalist, Mr. Lemming has performed at the annual Roland Hayes Memorial Concert Series, and has been invited to perform as a guest artist with the Catacoustic Consort. As a member of Pro Arte Singers under John Poole, he has sung the tenor solos in their performances of Haydn's Harmoniemesse, Telemann's Die Tageszeiten, and Padilla's St. Matthew Passion. Mr. Lemming was a member of King's Chapel Choir in Boston under Heinrich Christensen and the late Daniel Pinkham. He is currently a member of the Trinity Episcopal Church Choir in Bloomington under Dr. Marilyn Keiser, and has performed as a member of Apollo's Voice under Raymond Leppard. Mr. Lemming has toured the United Kingdom and the Eastern United States performing vigorous traditional Southern African works with the ensemble Tabatana. Craig Lemming holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance from New England Conservatory where he studied with Helen Hodam and Delores Ziegler. Paul Murray has made the Bay Area his home for the last five years. In 2005, he received his Master's Degree in Vocal Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Prior to moving to San Francisco, he received his BA in Music at Rhodes College in his hometown of Memphis, TN. Favorite roles of the last few years include Gianni Schicchi (Gianni Schicchi, SFCM), Pandolphe (Cendrillon, SFCM), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro, BASOTI, SFCM), Bottom the Weaver (A Midsummer Night's Dream, SFCM), Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte, Bangkok Opera), and Schaunard (La Boheme, Livermore Valley Opera). Concert engagements include the roles of Paul (St. Paul, Ft. Wayne Bach Collegium), Adam (in the premiere of Henry Mollicone's Beatitude Mass), as well as Schubert's Winterreise and Die Schöne Müllerin in recital. In May 2008 he will sing the role of Bluebeard (Bluebeard's Castle, in Hungarian) with Berkeley Opera. In addition to his performing schedule, Mr. Murray commutes weekly to CSU Fresno to teach voice, and loves riding Mt. Tam on his mountain bike. Milwaukee, WI native Erica Schuller (soprano) is currently pursuing graduate studies at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under the tutelage of Pamela Fry. She received her B.M. from The Eastman School of Music in 2006, earning degrees in both vocal performance and music education. She was also awarded one of Eastman's prestigious performer's certificates, indicating highest achievement in performance. Miss Schuller's credits include Lazuli in the comic opera L'Étoile (Chabrier), Belinda in Dido and Aeneas (Purcell), and Noémie in Cendrillon (Massenet). She has also performed several roles at The Eastman School of Music with renowned lutenist and scholar Paul O'Dette, including Psyché in Psyché (J.B. Lully), Euridice in L'Orfeo (Luigi Rossi) and Axinia in Boris Goudenow (Johann Mattheson). In 2007, she participated in the Boston Early Music Festival's opera production of Psyché. Miss Schuller has studied Baroque performance practice with Ellen Hargis, Paul O'dette, Stephen Stubbs, and Corey Jamason. Tonight's concert marks her San Francisco debut. Other upcoming engagements include Amor in San Francisco Conservatory's production of Cavalli's L'Egisto. Originally from Canada, Eric Thériault is a young upcoming tenor, equally at ease on the opera and concert scenes. Recently, he was part of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Singer Program, where he was awarded The Campbell Wachter Memorial Award. Mr. Theriault also studied at the International Vocal Arts Institute, the Vermont International Opera Festival, and the Nice International Summer Academy. Amongst his numerous concert and opera engagements, he created the role of Gnyphos, in the final version of Lou Harrison's opera Young Ceasar, was soloist for the North American Premiere of Telemann's oratorio Jauchzet, Jubiliert und Singet, and is recipient of a 2005 Opus Award (Québec, Canada), for his participation in the concert-event "Bach To Tango." Mr. Thériault was fortunate to work with numerous great musical organizations and conductors, such as L'Orchestre de la Garde républicaine de Paris (André Bernard), the Lamèque International Baroque Festival (Japp Ter Linden), the Sherbrooke Romantic Music Festival (Bernard Tétu), the Ensemble Parallèle (Nicole Paiement), the Orford Festival, the Lanaudière Festival, the Domaine Forget Festival, and the Montreal International Chamber Music Festival (Yannick Nézet-Séguin). In 2005, he portrayed both Alfred and Eisenstein in an appraised Canadian tour of Die Fledermaus, with Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. Mr. Thériault received numerous awards and scholarships such as the Baxter & Alma Ricard Foundation scholarship, the France-Acadie Grant, the Jeunesses musicales du Canada scholarship and the Best Performance Award of the National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition in Montreal, Canada. Apart from completing a Master of Music Degree in vocal performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music this year, Mr. Thériault was soloist with the San Francisco Bach Choir in October under the baton of maestro Corey Jamason. Next season he will take part in the creation of an opera based on Kafka's Metamorphosis, to be performed at the Congrès Mondial Acadien, in New-Brunswick, Canada.

Musicians

Guest Artists