Vinson Cole, tenor
Jonathan Kelly, piano

American tenor Vinson Cole is internationally recognized as one of the leading artists of his generation. His career has taken him to all of the major opera houses across the globe including the Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris Bastille, Teatro alla Scala Milan, Théâtre Royale de la Monnaie, Brussels, Berlin State Opera and the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Munich State Opera, San Francisco Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Opera Australia and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Seattle Opera and many more. Equally celebrated for his concert appearances, Mr. Cole has been a frequent guest of the most prestigious orchestras throughout the world and has collaborated with the greatest conductors of this era including Christoph Eschenbach, Claudio Abbado, Carlo Maria Giulini, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, James Conlon, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Gerard Schwarz. as well as Sir Georg Solti and Giuseppe Sinopoli. Mr. Cole had an especially close working relationship with the late Herbert von Karajan, who brought the artist to the Salzburg Festival to sing the Italian Tenor in Der Rosenkavalier – the first of many performances there together. Their collaboration went on to include works such as Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis,. Mozart’s Requiem, Bruckner’s Te Deum . Many of these were issued on recordings on Deutsche Grammophon. Born in Kansas City, Missouri Vinson Cole completed his vocal studies at the Curtis Institute of Music under the tutelage of legendary singer and teacher Margaret Harshaw.

Pianist Jonathan Kelly serves on the faculty of the Yale School of Music as both coach and accompanist and has held similar positions at the Manhattan School of Music, The Chautauqua Institution, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis and Opera Theatre of Lucca. Most recently he joined the faculty of the Music Academy of the West as assistant conductor and coach.

Mr. Kelly appears regularly in concert with many vocal artists including Rolando Villazón, Anna Netrebko, and Ramon Vargas. He has appeared numerous times in recital under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation including a gala concert at Carnegie Hall. Not limiting himself to operatic repertoire, he has enjoyed performances with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at Kirk in the Hills, and The National Chorale at Avery Fisher Hall.

Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, Mr. Kelly spent his formative years in Kentucky. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and continued his studies at the Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage of Warren Jones.