Conductor

Kirk Trevor is an Internationally known conductor and teacher. Kirk is a regular guest conductor in the world's concert halls. Music Director of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra since 1985, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra since 1988, and the Missouri Symphony since 2000 he is forging a strong musical partnership with two of America's leading regional orchestras. In Knoxville, he has broadened the musical spectrum of the Knoxville Symphony during his tenure, adding Pops, Family and Chamber Music series to the orchestra's season as well as the highly-acclaimed Clayton Holiday Concerts. He conducts more than 55 concerts every season with the Knoxville Symphony and the Knoxville Chamber Orchestra throughout East Tennessee. He has been recognized statewide as having brought a new awareness of classical music to the region. He won the Governor's Award for the Arts as well as numerous local awards during his tenure. In Indianapolis, Trevor has created a strong community identity for one of America's busiest Chamber orchestras. In addition to its 9 concert subscription series, the orchestra partners with nearly all of Indianapolis' major cultural institutions in the field of opera, ballet, chorus and the visual arts. Trevor was recognized for his outstanding contribution to the arts in the state of Indiana in 1997 in the House of Representatives.

Born and educated in England, Trevor trained at London's Guildhall School of Music where he graduated cum laude in cello performance and conducting. He was a conducting student of the late Sir Adrian Boult and Vilem Tausky. He went on to pursue cello studies in France with Paul Tortelier under a British Council Scholorship and came to the U.S. on a Fulbright Exchange Grant. It was in the U.S. that his conducting skills led him to positions as Assistant Conductor at the North Carolina School of the Arts, Associate Conductor of the Charlotte Symphony and finally in 1982 the Exxon Arts Endowment Conductor position with the Dallas Symphony. He conducted the Dallas Symphony in a wide range of concerts in the U.S. and abroad, working closely on recordings and musical projects with the late Eduardo Mata. He was subsequently named Resident Conductor through the 1987-1988 season. In 1990 he was again recognized as one of America's outstanding young conductors, winning the American Symphony Orchestra League's Leonard Bernstein Conducting Competition.

It has been Trevor's devotion to music education and his involvement in the training and development of new generations of listeners, players and conductors that he has developed a national following. He has been an innovator in developing concerts for young people that have an energy and relevance. With the Knoxville Symphony he has developed and piloted an STV (Symphony-TV) concert series for junior high school students. He has conducted numerous summer festivals for young musicians, including Sewanee, Dallas Summer Conservatory, Music in the Mountains and Litomysl in the Czech Republic. From 1990 until 1999 Trevor served as Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Tennessee, conducting the Civic Orchestra, the UT Opera and teaching Graduate Conducting.

Trevor is becoming widely recognized as one of the leading conducting teachers in the world. He has been a master teacher for the American Symphony Orchestra League as well as the Conductor's Guild. In 1991 Trevor co-founded and has been Artistic Director of the International Workshop for Conductors held in the Czech Republic for a month every summer. IWC is the world's largest conducting school, each year training over 80 conductors from 20 countries. He is a frequent guest teacher at Northwestern University and in Switzerland, annually giving a week of master classes at the Zurich and Basel Conservatories.

Trevor's relationship with the Czech and Slovak Republics continued, when in 1994 he was named Chief Conductor of the Martinu Philharmonic in Zlin and continues this season in the position of Principal Conductor. During his tenure he has made 10 recordings for Koch, Albany, Fatra, Crystal and Carlton Classics. He is committed to bringing American composers to disc, recording works by Joan Tower, David Ott, Victoria Bond, Gian Carlo Menotti, and Karel Husa, among others. In 2000 he added to his discography with a complete recording of Copland's opera "The Tender Land" for the composer's 100th anniversary, as well as the Duke Ellington piano concerto, concertos by Niblock and Chihara, and a new miscellany by the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra.

In 2000 Trevor forged a new relationship with the famed Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra in Bratislava. With the SRSO he began a series of recordings of American music for the consortium of independent record companies. To date, he has made 7 albums of new American music as part of this ongoing project. Trevor was recently named Principal Guest Conductor of the SRSO, and in that capacity will lead the orchestra in 4 subscription programs and 6 recordings.

As a guest conductor he has appeared with over 40 Orchestras in 12 countries. Recent appearances included the Kosice Philharmonic, Estonian National Symphony, Slovak Radio Orchestra, Pardubice Chamber Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon, Virginia Symphony, Riverside Sinfonia in New Jersey, Missouri Symphony, Sofia Philharmonic and Bern Chamber Orchestra.

In the 2001-2002 season, Trevor leads the Knoxville Symphony in 24 weeks of subscription, Pops and educational programs, conducting numerous subscription programs in Indianapolis as well as four weeks with the Martinu Philharmonic. In January he made his London debut with the London Symphony Orchestra. He will also guest conduct the Dayton Philharmonic, the Kosice Philharmonic, the Slovak Sinfonietta and the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra.

Soloists

Voice of God - Huw Priday - Tenor ( Sang 'Voice of God' in Toronto, Europe, Israel and New York, US)

Huw Priday was born in Brecon, Wales and is a winner of the 'Princeps Cantorum' at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod. He studied in London at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and at the Royal College of Music.

Huw has appeared with most of the major British Opera Companies. He recently understudied the role of 'Carlo' in Masnadieri for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, sang 'Second Shepherd' Orfeo and 'Jove' Return of Ulysees for English National Opera, Lehar's Pagannini for Den Jyske Opera, Denmark, Rachmaninov's The Bells at the Royal Opera House, Stockholm. 'Orfeo' in Valencia and at the Granada Festival. 'Alfredo' La Traviata for Stowe Opera . For Wexford Festival Opera he has sung 'Edmondo' L'Assedio di Calais and 'the Sultan' in Gluck's Pilgrims to Mecca, Gounod's Faust and Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana in Ireland.
Other roles include 'Jack' The Midsummer Marriage Scottish Opera, 'Rodolfo' La Boheme; WNO, 'Don Jose' Carmen; 'Apollo' Orfeo. 'Ishmael' Nabucco; 'Nadir' The Pearl Fishers; '; 'The Novice' Billy Budd; 'Lensky' Eugene Onegin, a role in Janacek's House of the Dead, 'David' and 'Senior Civil Servant' in the World premier of Alun Hoddinott's new opera 'Tower' for which Huw received high critical acclaim in the National press. Also 'Piangi' in Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End.

Huw Priday is highly acclaimed as a concert artist both in the UK and abroad. His performances of Verdi's Requiem have received high critical acclaim and he is a regular interpreter of the works of Elgar. Recent performances have included 'The Kingdom' and 'The Dream of Gerontius' with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Huw made his debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a performance of Handel's Messiah and has recently recorded a duet album with the R.P.O. He made his American concert and television debut in the spring of 2000 which has led to future engagements in North America and Canada and a major recording in 2002.

Voice of the Prophet - Daniel Lichti - Baritone ( Sang 'Voice of the Prophet' at premiere in Toronto)

Daniel Lichti is acclaimed as one of Canada's finest concert and oratorio singers. Daniel Lichti is a frequent guest soloist with major North American symphonic, choral, and concert organizations, and has also taken the stage in Europe, Japan, and Argentina. Active in opera as well, he has performed most recently at Teatro dell' Opera di Roma in "Giulio Cesare" by Handel, and just this past season with L'Opera de Montreal in Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte" as Don Alfonso, as well as with Toronto's Opera in Concert as the King in Handel's "Ariodante".

Mr. Lichti's past season included: an appearance with the Vancouver Chambre Choir in Brahms' Requiem, Handel's "Messiah" with Seattle Baroque, Bach's B Minor Mass at the Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festival in Berea, Ohio, Mendelssohn's "Elijah" in Regina, Saskatchewan, Haydn's "Die Jahreszeiten" in Fulda, Germany, and a featured performance in a Gala Benefit Night at the Elora Festival.

A popular recitalist and Lieder singer, Lichti has sung Schubert's "Winterreise" at Washington's National Gallery, for Festival Canada in Ottawa, at the Shenandoah Bach Festival in Virginia, for Temple Square Concerts in Salt Lake City, and, he is slated to record this masterpiece for ATMA Classique next spring. Recently he has appeared in recital with Catherine Robbin in their duo recital "Songs from Venus and Mars", recorded and aired nationally by the C.B.C. This spring he presented an all Beethoven program at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, where he is Associate Professor and Coordinator of Voice for the Faculty of Music , and, made his recital debut in Germany for the Insel Klassik concert series on the Island of Reichenau near Konstanz.

Other highlights of Mr. Lichti's past performances include Carnegie Hall appearances in Bach's St. Matthew Passion with St. Luke's Orchestra under Blanche Moise, and in Bach's Mass in B minor, celebrating it's centenary in North America with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem under Greg Funfgeld, as well as a performance of the Mass in B Minor in the Thomas Kirche in Leipzig with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem on tour in Europe. Concerts with Helmuth Rilling and the Bachakademie of Stuttgart, and appearances with the Bach Aria Group are also among his credits. He is a regular guest artist at many North American Bach Festivals. Mr. Lichti has been heard with the orchestras of San Francisco, Toronto, Calgary, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Montreal, Vancouver, Cleveland, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Boston's Handel & Haydn Society, Quebec's Les Violons du Roy, and is a frequent soloist with Tafelmusik.

Mr. Lichti's discography includes SONGS OF HUGO WOLF, nominated for a Juno in 1992, two discs of Bach cantatas and the Mass in B Minor with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem (all on the Dorian label), Sony's "The Gift of Messiah" and recordings of Lieder by Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms with pianist Janina Fialkowska on the Opening Day label. This fall he will record Baroque gems with the American early music ensemble "Olde Friends".

NATHANIEL WATSON - baritone (Sang Voice of the Prophet in Europe, Israel and New York )

Baritone Nathaniel Watson is a versatile artist who has performed successfully in a wide variety of musical styles. He has sung with most of the leading Early Music ensembles of North America as well as more mainstream symphony orchestras, and has some thirty-five operatic roles in his repertoire. Highlights include Der Freischütz with the New York Philharmonic under Sir Colin Davis, Beethoven’s Ninth under Kurt Masur and in Carnegie Hall with Sir Roger Norrington in the conductor’s debut concert in America. He appeared in the title role in the Boston Early Music Festival production of Cavalli’s Ercole amante in Boston, at Tanglewood, and at the Utrecht Festival in Holland in 1999, and in the 1998 Salzburg Festival in the Brecht/Weill Mahagonny. He has sung as a guest soloist with the Symphony Orchestras of Boston, Baltimore, San Francisco, Houston, Tokyo, Santiago, Montreal, Toronto and Quebec. Mr. Watson has been heard throughout Canada many times on the CBC and on Radio-Canada, performing in recital, and with Tafelmusik, les Violons du Roy, and other ensembles. He appears on a newly released CD of Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher with Kurt Masur and the New York Philharmonic, and a CD of Scarlatti’s Agar et Ismaele esiliati with Seattle Baroque. He is also featured in recordings of both of the Bach Passions, the St. John with Eric Milnes, and the St. Matthew with Jeffrey Thomas and the American Bach Soloists. Also with Eric Milnes, he sings Polyphemus on the Acis and Galatea recording from Les Boréades de Montréal on the ATMA label. This season he will appear with the Kitchener-Waterloo Philharmonic Choir, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic, Tafelmusik, as well as with Calgary Opera in The Magic Flute.

Internationally known conductor and teacher Kirk Trevor is a regular guest conductor in the world’s concert halls. Music Director of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra from 1985 until 2003, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra since 1988, and the Missouri Symphony since 2000 he has forged a strong musical partnership with three of America’s leading regional orchestras.

Teresa Gomez - soprano Sang Voice of Suffering in Toronto, Europe, Israel, New York, US.

Teresa Gomez received her Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from the University of North Texas. She was voted "Most Outstanding Undergraduate Vocalist" and "Most Outstanding Senior in Music" by the U.N.T. College of Music Faculty. Teresa won first place in the Graduate Women's Division of the National Association of Teachers of Singing competition and received the Grady Harlen Award for the Most Outstanding Performer.

Teresa has been a soloist with the U.N.T. Symphony, U.N.T. Symphonic Band, Denton Bach Society, Orchestra of New Spain, Texas All-State Choir, Plano Civic Chorus, Plano Symphony, Dallas Wind Symphony, El Paso Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, Dallas Symphony Chorus, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on several concerts. In 1998, Teresa made her debut at Carnegie Hall as the soprano soloist in Mozart's Requiem under the direction of David Davidson. Teresa can be heard on such recordings as "The Seven Last Words of Christ" by Dubois on Gothic Records and "Dallas Christmas Gala" with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on Delos Records.