Quinn Kelsey's More Than Just a Pretty Voice

By Tim Page
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 21, 2007; C09

Quinn Kelsey has a fine, full and fluid baritone voice, but it was his sheer musicianship that made his Monday night recital at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater so exciting... What makes him special -- and very special indeed -- is the way he moves into whatever material he sings and inhabits it entirely...

The concert was presented by the Vocal Arts Society, in tandem with the Marilyn Horne Foundation, which supports young and developing artists. And there were two of them to support on Monday. Because Kelsey's usual pianist, Craig Rutenberg, was forced to bow out because of a broken wrist, his place was taken by Tamara Sanikidze, a doctoral student in music at the University of Maryland. Under the circumstances, she did an amazing job, especially in the Mahler and Mussorgsky pieces, where her work with Kelsey seemed all but unanimous in intent and execution.