Besides countertenor Nicholas Tamagna, three other soloists will perform on Dec. 22 in two performances of the Messiah at St. Mary’s Church in Cold Spring. Ticket are available at brownpapertickets.com.
Steven Brennfleck, Tenor
Brennfleck has received recognition from some of the country’s top vocal competitions: The American Bach Society Vocal Competition (Honorable Mention ’12), Classical Singer Magazine’s AudComps (2nd Place ‘08), the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (District Winner ‘06, ‘09, and ’10), and the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition (Honorable Mention ’13).
His operatic credits include Laurie in Adamo’s Little Women, Dr. Binch in Aldridge’s Elmer Gantry, El Remendado in Carmen, Cégeste in Glass’ Orphée, Beppe in I Pagliacci, Testo in Monteverdi’s Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, Don Curzio in Le Nozze di Figaro, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Parpignol in La Boheme, Pang in Turandot, and Gonsalve in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnol with companies including the Caramoor Festival, Glimmerglass Opera, New York Lyric Opera Theatre, Portland Opera, Spoleto Festival USA, The Tanglewood Festival, and the Westminster Opera Theatre.
During the 2012-13 season, Brennfleck was among the first singers chosen as a Fellow for the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar under the direction of Stephanie Blythe. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in Handel’s Messiah with The Masterwork Chorus & Orchestra in addition to performances with American Opera Projects, LA International New Music Festival, the Temple Symphony Orchestra, and the June in Buffalo Festival. Brennfleck is a native of Ewing, N.J., and holds degrees from Westminster Choir College.
Dashon Burton, Bass-Baritone
Burton recently brought home a 2nd prize (no 1st prizes awarded) from the 2012 ARD International Music Competition in Munich, plus the first prize in Oratorio from the 49th International Vocal Competition in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands. These awards follow his First Place wins last spring in both the 2012 Oratorio Society of New York Competition and the Bach Choir of Bethlehem’s Competition for Young American Singers.
The 2013-2014 season will find him making his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra in Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen led by Franz Welser-Möst; returning to the Charlotte Symphony for the St. Matthew Passion which he also sings on tour in the Netherlands; debuting with Boston’s Handel & Haydn Society in Handel’s Samson; and returning to Carnegie Hall twice with the Oratorio Society of New York for Handel’s Messiah, as well as Arvo Pärt’s Passion with Ensemble ACJW.
Among his highlights in the 2012-2013 season, Burton sang performances of Handel’s Messiah with Philharmonia Baroque, Maasaki Suzuki conducting; Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 with the Charlotte Symphony; Bach’s St. John Passion with Le Concert Lorrain in Copenhagen and Budapest with Christoph Prégardien; and the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Burton appears frequently with Trinity Church Wall Street and music director Julian Wachner, with whom he has sung Bach’s St. John Passion and Handel’s Messiah at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall.
He also sang the Fauré Requiem in a Trinity Wall Street 9/11 Memorial Concert and, with the Yale Schola Cantorum, the St. Matthew Passion with Maasaki Suzuki in New York and Rome.
Burton began his professional studies at Case Western Reserve University and graduated from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. Immediately upon graduation, he was invited to join Cantus, a professional men’s classical vocal ensemble based in Minneapolis. After his tenure with Cantus ended in 2009, Burton entered Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music, where he studied vocal literature. He received his Master of Music degree in 2011.
In addition to his work in early music, Burton is an avid performer of new music. He is a founding member of Roomful of Teeth, an ensemble devoted to new compositions using the fullest possible range of vocal techniques.
Gabriela Mikova, Soprano
Mikova is a graduate of the Janacek Conservatory in Ostrava, Czech Republic, where she performed her senior concert with the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Georg Kughi. She has also performed Leonard Bernstein’s Mass with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Milan Machek, concerts with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Teplice under the direction of both Tomas Koutnik and Charles O. Munroe, and a concert tour through Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium and Austria with the Municipal Theatre of Brno. She has also sung at Ostrava’s Festival of Contemporary Music and at the Janackovy Hukvaldy Festival.
Mikova has performed as soloist at the Jiří Myron Theatre in Ostrava, the Moravian Theatre of Olomouc, and the Municipal Theatre of Brno, and for six years was engaged as soloist with the J.K. Tyl Theatre in Plzen.
Locally she has performed in solo concerts at the Chapel Restoration and at Boscobel, as well as appearing last winter in John Gay’s The Beggars’ Opera at the Depot Theatre.
