University of Missouri
School of Music

2013 Guest Performing Artists

Kirsten Sollek

Called " ...an appealingly rich alto" by The New York Times and "...an ideal Bach alto" with "elemental tone quality" by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Kirsten Sollek is maintaining an increasingly busy performance schedule on the concert and opera stage.  She made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2004 with André Thomas and the New York City Chamber Orchestra in Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass. Concert appearances include Matthäus-passion and several Bach cantatas with Masaaki Suzuki and Bach Collegium Japan, Haydn Masses (Thereseinmesse, Schöpfungsmesse and Harmoniemesse) performed and recorded with Jane Glover and Trinity Wall Street for Naxos, Bach's Matthäus-passion and cantatas with Andrew Parrott and the New York Collegium, an all-Bach program with Helmuth Rilling and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Vivaldi's Gloria with the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Mozart's Coronation Mass with Tafelmusik, Bach's Weinachts-Oratorium with Eric Milnes and the Trinity Consort, Vivaldi's Stabat Mater with Kent Tritle and Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, Duruflé's Requiem with John Scott at St. Thomas Fifth Avenue, Handel's Messiah with Bach Collegium Japan, Minnesota Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, and the Dallas Bach Society.  Festival performances include the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, Boston Early Music Festival, Lufthansa Festival of Baroque Music, the Virginia Arts Festival, and the Carmel Bach Festival.

Very active in new music as well, she has appeared at the June in Buffalo and Ojai Music Festivals performing works by Steve Reich, and has recorded Reich's The Desert Music and Tehillim with Alarm Will Sound and Music for 18 Musicians with Signal. She can also be seen on Alarm Will Sound's Reich at the Roxy, a DVD featuring live performances of Reich's music.  She has worked extensively with composer John Zorn, premiering his music in New York, Milan and Paris.  She has collaborated with Carnegie Hall's Ensemble ACJW for performances of John Adams' Grand Pianola Music, Jeffrey Milarsky conducting; and Louis Andriessen's De Staat, John Adams conducting. She is a founding member of Open Gate, who made their debut at Weill Hall at Carnegie in 2007, with chamber music by Gregory Mertl.

Upcoming highlights in 2012/2013 include Messiah with the Kansas City Symphony and at Carnegie Hall with Musica Sacra, John Zorn's new work The Holy Visions with New York City Opera's Vox series, and the premiere of Hannah Lash's Requiem For Extinct Birds.
Ms. Sollek holds performance degrees from Indiana University and the Eastman School of Music.

 For more information, visit www.kirstensollek.com.

Jay Carter

American countertenor Jay Carter is quickly gaining recognition as one of the nation’s finest, lauded for his luminous tone and stylish interpretations especially in the music of Bach, Bernstein, Handel, Purcell and Vivaldi. Equally at home in the modern recital repertoire, he has gained acclaim for programs of modern classics typically outside the standard countertenor repertory by composers such as Quilter, Brahms, Britten, and Hahn. Carter is a featured soloist on recordings of Bach’s Magnificat in D, Mendelssohn’s Magnificat with the Yale Schola Cantorum, on Le Stagioni: Italian Virtuoso Madrigals with Gravitacion, and on Handel and Caldara Cantatas with the Kingsbury Ensemble.
  
Carter made his Carnegie Hall debut in Messiah with Musica Sacra/Kent Tritle and also sang the North American Premiere of Tavener’s Lament for Jerusalem with the Choral Arts Society of Washington/Norman Scribner.  In the 2010-2011 season Carter will appear with  the Houston Symphony (Messiah), the Louisville Bach Society (Joshua), and the Choir of St. Thomas Church, NY (Bach's B minor Mass). 

Other recent repertoire includes Handel’s Saul, Bach’s Weinachts Oratorium and numerous cantatas, Bernstein’s Missa Brevis and Chichester Psalms, Caldara’s Medea in Corino, Vivaldi’s Nisi Dominus.  Carter has also appeared in a number of operatic roles, including Phoebus in Purcell's The Faerie Queene  and as the title role in Cavalli's Giasone.   He has worked with noted conductors including Simon Carrington, Arnold Epley, Paul Goodwin, Stephen Layton, Sir Philip Ledger CBE, Nicholas McGegan and Helmuth Rilling.

In addition to concert performances and recitals, Mr. Carter is also increasingly in demand as a guest lecturer on countertenor technique and repertory, frequently offering unique interactive lecture-recitals and masterclasses. Mr. Carter received a Masters in Music from the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music, where he studied with James Taylor, Simon Carrington, and Judith Malafronte and was singled out for the Louise E. McClain scholarship. He received his undergraduate degree from William Jewell College where he studied voice with Arnold Epley. He was a 2008 regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He lives in Liberty, Missouri with his wife and two children, and enjoys fine cuisine and reading short stories as well as serving as Artist-in-residence at William Jewell College.

The programs of the Mizzou New Music Initiative have been made possible
through the generous support of the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation.

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Last modified: 16-May-2013