Classical Vocal Performance

Versatile mezzo-soprano Teresa Buchholz enjoys success in the realms of opera, art song, and oratorio. She was recently heard in the role of Anne in Virgil Thomson’s The Mother of Us All in a highly acclaimed production that took place in Hudson, N.Y. This fall she was also heard in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with The Orchestra Now at Bard College and performed the role of Berta in a New York City concert version of the rarely heard opera Il Grillo del Focolare by Riccardo Zandonai. Other recent performances include the role of Zofia in Monuiskzo’s opera Halka at the Bard Music Festival, the mezzo soloist in Verdi’s Requiem at the Lake Como Music Festival and with the Spokane Symphony, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 at Lincoln Center with the National Chorale, a staged version of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Gulfshore Opera, Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Berkshire Bach Society and the Stamford Symphony, and Bach’s Magnificat with Voices of Ascension. Some other recent performances have included the role of Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd with Opera Roanoke; Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus with the Asheville Lyric Opera; the title role in Giulio Cesare in Egitto with Opera Roanoke; Verdi’s Requiem with the New Jersey Choral Society; Mozart’s Requiem with the Tulsa Symphony, the Stamford Symphony, and Voices of Ascension; Brahms’s Alto Rhapsody at the Bard Music Festival; Berio’s Folk Songs at the Gateway Chamber Orchestra, where she had previously performed Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde; and Handel’s Messiah at Lincoln Center with Distinguished Concerts International New York. In 2013 she was the winner of the female division in the Nico Castel International Master Singer Competition. Buccholz holds a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Northern Iowa, a master’s degree in vocal performance from Indiana University, and an Artist Diploma from Yale University.

Ilka LoMonaco was born in Germany and studied at the Hochschule für Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Hamburg, where she won first prize in one of Germany’s most important voice competitions: the VdMK Wettbewerb. During that time she established a flourishing career in oratorio, and also began her pedagogic career by teaching at two music schools in Hamburg. In 1991 she moved to New York to continue studying with renowned teacher Thomas LoMonaco and expanded her repertoire to include more opera. Some of the roles she has performed are Composer (Ariadne auf Naxos), Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera), and Elvira (Don Giovanni). While running a thriving private vocal studio in Manhattan, in 2000 LoMonaco began teaching at the Lee Strasberg Institute as well as New York University. In 2006 she completed her training as a certified Feldenkrais practitioner, and the method has been informing her vocal teaching ever since. In 2007 LoMonaco joined the vocal faculty at Bard College and moved to the Hudson Valley, while maintaining her vocal studio in Manhattan. At Bard, besides individual voice lessons, she coproduces the Opera Workshop, which is taught jointly with the other vocal faculty and culminates annually in a fully staged production with orchestra. Her other classes include Feldenkrais and the Voice, and Vocal Pedagogy, for undergraduate students and graduate choral conductors.

The British/German tenor Rufus Müller was acclaimed by the New York Times following a performance in Carnegie Hall as “easily the best tenor I have heard in a live Messiah.” He is celebrated as the Evangelist in Bach’s Passions, his unique dramatic interpretation of this role confirming his status as one of the world’s most sought-after performers. He gave the world premiere of Jonathan Miller’s acclaimed production of the St. Matthew Passion in London, which was broadcast on BBC TV and which he also recorded for the United label; he repeated the role in three revivals of the production at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York (“a sensational Evangelist” —New York Times). Müller is also a leading recitalist, performing worldwide with pianist Maria João Pires, notably in an extended Schubertiade in the Wigmore Hall, and on tour in Spain, Germany, and Japan with Schubert’s Winterreise; they are to perform together again in Spain in the summer of 2018. Müller’s 2017/18 season includes Bach’s Passions and Handel’s Messiah in New York, Princeton, Toronto, Montreal, Washington, D.C., the Carmel Bach Festival, the Royal Albert Hall, and Canterbury Cathdedral; Monteverdi’s Vespers, Schubert’s Winterreise, and Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Ottavio) in Tokyo; Beethoven’s Choral Symphony in Pennsylvania; the title role in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Haydn’s Creation in London, as well as recitals and master classes in Japan, Germany, and the United States.

Müller was born in Kent and was a choral scholar at New College, Oxford. He studied in New York with the late Thomas LoMonaco and now with Ilka LoMonaco. In 1985 he won first prize in the English Song Award in Brighton, and in 1999 was a prize winner in the Oratorio Society of New York Competition. He is associate professor of music at Bard College.

“Erika Switzer is one of the best collaborative pianists I have ever heard; her sound is deep, her interpretation intelligent, refined, and captivating.” – Le Monde

“… precise and lucid” – New York Times

” Switzer is an extremely expressive pianist with a face that emotes just as often and as effectively as the vocalists. I was sitting there this evening thinking that she is the epitome of the term “collaborative pianist”. She contributed to every performance in such a way that the evening would be dramatically altered had she not been there encouraging, supporting, and listening to each performer at every note. Switzer was an absolute star, albeit a humble star, on the stage this evening.” – Chamberfest Blog
“Erika Switzer definitely doesn’t believe Song Interpretation to be a decorative accompaniment; rather, as an independent, commentating voice, which she plays with specificity and well-accentuated phrasing. Musically on one wavelength, the duo produced captivating and addictive music.” – Westfalen-Blatt

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BM, University of Wisconsin–Madison. David Sytkowski is a New York–based vocal coach and pianist who has taught workshops and master classes at the University of Wisconsin campuses in Madison and Milwaukee and at Opera America in New York. His operatic experience, as a rehearsal pianist, music coach, and arranger, includes productions by the Syracuse Opera, American Symphony Orchestra, Prototype Festival, Bard Music Festival, Berkshire Opera Festival, and Bard SummerScape, where he served as principal music coach for the 2018 production of Anton Rubinstein’s The Demon and for previous productions of Dimitrij (Dvorák), Iris (Mascagni), The Wreckers (Smyth), and Euryanthe (Weber). He has also performed with The Orchestra Now at Bard’s Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall. Additional recent recitals and performances at the Ukrainian Institute of New York, Bard Music Festival, Madison Opera Center, and Manhattan School of Music, among other venues. At Bard since 2018.