Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Kingwood High School Choir & Lone Star College-Kingwood Concert Choir. Dr. Todd Miller, conductor
Soprano Blair Doerge has worked with many prominent professional choirs and chamber ensembles in the Houston area, including Ars Lyrica of Houston and Cantare Houston. Highlights include the role of Galatea in Ars Lyrica’s production of Händel’s Acis and Galatea as part of the inaugural Texas Early Music Festival, featured soloist with Ars Lyrica for their annual New Year’s Eve Gala and soprano soloist for Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requiem with Cantare Houston, and soprano soloist in Händel’s Messiah with the Kingwood Chorale and Orchestra. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Edward Baird Singer of the Year Award for the National Association of Teachers’ of Singing Convention and Competition and a National Finalist for the San Antonio Opera Vocal Competition. On the operatic stage, she has portrayed lead roles in various productions with the Kingwood Summer Opera Program including Puccini’s Suor Angelica, Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, Ward’s The Crucible, and Mozart’s Cosí fan Tutte. An avid recitalist, Blair recently presented Aaron Copland’s Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson as part of the Phil Kramer Recital Series. Blair studies with soprano Anne Heath-Welch and is currently on staff at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. An alumna of the Lone Star College – Kingwood music program, Blair is thrilled to return to present these beautiful works alongside Dr. Todd Miller and the Kingwood Chorale and Orchestra.
Mezzo-soprano Megan Berti sings “with flawless technique, perfect diction, absolute pitch and fearless attack” (Houston Press). This spring she is thrilled to sing Mendelssohn’s Elijah with The Kingwood Chorale & Chamber Orchestra and is looking forward to performing Dorabella “Dawsynne” in HOPERA’s Così fan tutte “Cozy” and debuting with Loop38 and Aperio in Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians. Praised for her “warm and plush” tone and coloratura that “sparkles” (South Florida Classical Review), Megan recently performed Sister Osmina in Houston Grand Opera’s Suor Angelica and Handel’s Messiah with Christ Church Sugar Land. Ms Berti has also appeared with Opera in the Heights, Miami Lyric Opera, Painted Sky Opera, Musiqa, Lone Star Lyric, HOPERA, and Operativo and has performed Carmen, Angelina, Rosina, Isabella, Hänsel, Flora, Dinah, Orlovsky, Maddalena, Hannah Older (Kaminsky), Mrs. Wintry (Schwartz), Concepción (Ravel), Amelia (Hagen), Magali (Catán), Sesto (Mozart), and more. Megan has sung Duruflé’s Requiem, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Verdi’s Requiem, Bach’s Mass in B minor and St John Passion, Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor and Requiem, Dvořák’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa solemnis and 9th Symphony, Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, and Vivaldi’s Gloria. Ms Berti recently made her directorial debut in The Producer, based on Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor, and is the Artistic Director and Founder of HOPERA in Houston. www.MeganBerti.com
Brian Ross Yeakley, Houston based tenor originally from Wichita, Kansas, is honored to return to Lonestar College Kingwood as a soloist! Education: Wichita State University (Bachelors), and University of Houston (Masters and Artist Diploma) under the tutelage of Melanie Sonnenberg. Professional opera company highlights: Wolf Trap Opera, Glimmerglass Opera Festival, Opera Saratoga, Virginia Opera, Austin Opera. Concert performance highlights: Austin Symphony, Valley Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, Mercury Houston. Yeakley is also founder and CEO of small local opera company Operativo Houston (2016-present) (www.operativohouston.com). Recent performances: Lord Tolloller, Iolanthe, G&S Society Houston; The Witch/Die Hexe, Wichita Grand Opera; Tenor Soloist, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Sam Houston State University; Mr. Clayton, Stephen Schwartz’ Seance on a Wet Afternoon, Lonestar Lyric Opera.
American Bass-Baritone Timothy Jones enjoys a reputation as a charismatic presence on operatic and concert stages throughout the United States, Europe and South America. The Boston Globe hailed his voice as “stentorian and honeyed” and the Chicago Tribune called his “complete connection with the text extraordinary.” The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review praised him for his theatricality, noting that he “relished the dramatic possibilities of the songs’ text and music.”
Mr. Jones has soloed with the Cleveland Orchestra singing Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. He has also performed with Boston Baroque, Baltimore Symphony, St. Petersburg Chamber Orchestra, Austin Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, New Mexico Symphony, New Haven Symphony, Portland Symphony, Saginaw Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Utah Symphony, Wichita Symphony Orchestra and the Virginia Symphony. His repertoire includes the Bach’s St. John Passion, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Verdi’s Requiem and “A Sea Symphony” by Vaughn Williams. He has commissioned and premiered numerous compositions by composers Derek Beryl, Robert Avalon, James Balentine, Laura Carmichael, John Vasconcelos Costa, Kevin Puts, Marcus Maroney, Pierre Jalbert, Karim Al-Zand, Anthony Brandt, Kieren MacMillian, David Passmore, David Cutler, Jeffrey Goldberg, David Heuser, Doug Opel, and Jeffrey Nytch. Mr. Jones is an alumnus of Centenary College and the University of Michigan. He is currently a professor of voice at the University of Houston Moores School of Music.
