Featuring:

Jessica Siena, soprano
Lisa van der Ploeg, mezzo-soprano
Daniel Ebbers, tenor
Matt Hanscom, baritone
Steven Bailey, pianist
Mai -Linh Pham, pianist
Alexandra Amati-Camperi, pre-concert talk

The SF Bach Choir takes you to the opera! Step into this magical world where tragic queens, solemn priests, homesick slaves, California settlers, and clever witches whisk you to ancient Egypt, peasant villages, Russian courts, and even Heaven and Hell.

An afternoon of unforgettable drama.

Program

Guest Artists

Jessica Siena, soprano

The Los Angeles Times hailed soprano Jessica Siena as “…extravagantly gifted….” Her portrayal of Marie in New York City Opera’s national tour of Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment earned her critical acclaim throughout the country. The late jazz legend Dave Brubeck chose her for the role of Dora in his operatic suite “Cannery Row” at an annual Brubeck Festival. Ms. Siena was a national finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and she has performed as a soloist with the Sacramento Choral Society, Fresno Philharmonic, University of the Pacific’s Symphony Orchestra, Stockton Symphony, Auburn Symphony, and Folsom Symphony, as well as at the Bear Valley Music Festival and Music in the Mountains. Since debuting with the Stockton Opera Association as Rosina in The Barber of Seville, she has gone on to sing the roles of Donna Anna, Musetta, Nedda, and Rosalinde with that company. Born and raised in New York City, she lives in Stockton with her husband and twelve-year-old son.

Lisa van der Ploeg, mezzo-soprano

Mezzo-soprano Lisa van der Ploeg’s rich, lustrous sound and electrifying stage presence have captivated audiences, displaying a remarkable variety in over 45 roles such as Santuzza (Cavalleria Rusticana), Azucena (Il Trovatore), Mother (Amahl and the Night Visitors), Amneris (Aida), and the Witch and Mother in Hansel and Gretel. Her extensive concert repertoire is equally diverse, highlights of which include the Bach Mass in B Minor, Handel’s Messiah, Symphony No. 2 and Symphony No. 3 of Mahler, the Verdi Requiem, and Dvorak’s Stabat Mater. A favorite of the West and Midwest regions, Lisa has performed with Utah Festival Opera, Tulsa Symphony, Dayton Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Stockton Symphony, San Francisco Opera Center, and Intermountain Opera among many others, working with conductors including Raymond Leppard, Neal Gittleman, Daniel Hege, and Benjamin Zander, which whom she recently performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 2.  In addition to performing, Lisa maintains a voice studio at San Jose State University.

Daniel Ebbers, tenor

Daniel Ebbers, interim Dean and Professor of Voice, joined the faculty of the University of the Pacific in the fall 0f 2004.  He holds the B.M. in voice from University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and the M.M. in voice from the University of Southern California.  In the Conservatory of Music, Professor Ebbers teaches vocal performance and has been the Managing Director and Instructor at the Pacific Opera Institute.

Highlights of Daniel Ebbers’ performances include a critically acclaimed appearance as Sir Bedivere with baritone, Thomas Hampson at the Washington National Cathedral, in Elinor Remick Warren’s The Legend of King Arthur.  As an artist in residence with the Los Angeles Opera, Mr. Ebbers has performed as Gastone in La Traviata, and covered leading roles including Don Ottavio, Albert Herring, Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Ernesto,and Lindoro in L’Italiana in Algeri.  An accomplished concert artist, he has appeared with Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony performing Stravinsky’s Mass, and has appeared twice at both Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall.  Mr. Ebbers has performed at both Chicago’s new Orchestra Hall and the Chicago Lyric Opera in Handel’s Messiah.  A distinguished Mozart interpreter, he has appeared as Don Ottavio with Opera Theater of Connecticut, Belmonte in San Diego Comic Opera’s production of Abduction from the Seraglio, as tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, at the Ruldophinum in Prague.

Matt Hanscom, baritone

Praised for his “rich baritone” and for singing with “power, insight, and flawless delivery,” Matt Hanscom is enjoying success across the continent.  He will be heard during Opera San Jose’s 2016-2017 season as Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, and Marcello in La Bohème, as well as performing in the West Coast premiere of Kevin Puts’ Pulitzer Prize winning Silent Night.  He will join the Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra for Mozart’s Requiem, and the Sacramento Choral Society and Orchestra for Home for the Holidays. Matt has both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from Northwestern University, and is an alumnus of many of the nation’s premier training programs, including Wolf Trap Opera’s Filene Young Artist Program, Santa Fe Opera, the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis’ Gerdine Young Artist Program.

Steven Bailey and Mai-Linh Pham

Pianist Steven Bailey has been accompanist for the Bach Choir since 1992, and he  regularly performs in and outside the San Francisco Bay Area as soloist, chamber, and collaborative keyboardist. Steven has appeared as concerto soloist with Symphony Parnassus, Diablo Symphony, UC-Davis Symphony, San Francisco Concerto Orchestra, and Magnificat Baroque Orchestra. He has performed with American Bach Soloists as guest soloist and continuo organist. He has collaborated in chamber performances with members of the Alexander, Arlekin, and Sausalito quartets, and he is a founding member of the new vocal chamber music repertory group CMASH.  Drawing on his extensive experience in vocal repertoire, Steven was San Francisco Parlor Opera’s musical director in several of their productions of major repertory operas. He teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Mai-Linh Pham has been a vocal coach and pianist at San Francisco Conservatory of Music since 2000. As a collaborative pianist, she is equally at home working with instrumentalists and vocalists and has performed throughout the United States and abroad, including recent concerts at the Presidential Palace in Honduras and at the Kennedy Center as part of the “Conservatory Project.”  Ms. Pham has been a faculty member at the Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute, Classical Singing in New York, music director of the opera workshop program at Notre Dame de Namur University, and a part of the accompanying staff at Oberlin Conservatory and the Aspen Music Festival.  Ms. Pham holds a B.M. from Oberlin Conservatory, a M.M. from San Francisco Conservatory, and a D.M.A. from the University of Minnesota in the Accompanying and Coaching program, where she studied with Margo Garrett and Karl Paulnack.

Alexandra Amati-Camperi, pre-concert talk

Alexandra Amati-Camperi, originally from Italy, holds a BA/MA in Slavic Studies and Philology from the Università degli Studi di Pisa (Italy), and both an MA and a Ph.D. in Musicology from Harvard University. She is a Professor of Music at the University of San Francisco.