Quinn Kelsey, baritone, Craig Rutenberg, pianist
7:30pm, Monday, March 19, 2007
In association with The Marilyn Horne Foundation
with generous support from the A. L. and Jennie L. Luria Foundation

Baritone Quinn Kelsey, who represented the USA at the 2005 BBC Singer of the World Competition in Cardiff, is a third-year member of Chicago’s Lyric Opera Center for American Artists.  He appeared at Lyric Opera in the past two seasons as Wagner in Faust (in his house debut), both as Yamadori and the Registrar in Madama Butterfly, as the Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen, covered Donner in Das Rheingold, Amonasro in Aida and Jules in William Bolcom’s The Wedding.

This season, Mr. Kelsey’s assignments at the Lyric Opera of Chicago include covers of Escamillo and performances of Morales in Carmen, performances of the Captain in Manon Lescaut, performances of Monterone and covers of the title-role in Rigoletto and performances of the Waiter and covers of Faninal in Der Rosenkavalier.  Future engagements at the Lyric Opera of Chicago will include several major roles.  Quinn Kelsey also looks forward to returning to Hawaii Opera Theater for the role of Sharpless in Madama Butterfly.

Quinn Kelsey will be heard in recital in New York City in the “On Wings of Song” Series under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation, as well as in Los Angeles at the Cerritos Center in the Jose Iturbi Recital Series.

Recent engagements include a return to Hawaii Opera Theater for the role of Ping in Turandot, taking part in Lyric Opera’s 50th Anniversary concert celebration, Marilyn Horne’s Birthday Gala at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall.  In the summer, Mr. Kelsey appeared as Montano and the Herald in Verdi’s Otello at the Ravinia Festival. 

In concert, Kelsey has performed Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Duruflé’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Fauré’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, Rutter’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Mass in C, Thompson’s Peaceable Kingdom, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Creation, and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria with major orchestral and choral organizations throughout Hawaii, including the Honolulu Symphony and the Maui Symphony as well as the Chicago Youth Symphony and the Chicago Children’s Choir.

Mr. Kelsey first performed with Hawaii Opera Theater as a teenaged chorus member and has since returned as a principal artist, appearing as Melot in Tristan und Isolde, Yamadori in Madama Butterfly, and most recently Marcello in La Bohème, a role he has also performed with the Merola Opera Program and the Western Opera Theater tour.

Recently, Mr. Kelsey was a finalist of the 2004 Placido Domingo Operalia Competition and won a Sarah Tucker Study Grant.  In 2003 Quinn Kelsey won a Scholarship from the Solti Foundation of Chicago. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, Mr. Kelsey received his Bachelor’s of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Hawaii at Manoa under John W. Mount.

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Pianist Craig Rutenberg, “whose playing ranged from sterling directness to expansive beauty,” (San Francisco Chronicle) has collaborated with many of the world’s greatest vocalists and is recognized as one of the most distinguished accompanists on the stage today.

Having studied with John Wustman, Geoffrey Parsons and Pierre Bernac, Mr. Rutenberg has appeared in recital with Denyce Graves, Sumi Jo, Harolyn Blackwell, Susanne Mentzer, Frederica von Stade, Angelika Kirchschlager, Joyce Castle and Dawn Upshaw, and frequently with Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner and Jerry Hadley as well as Olaf Baer, Simon Keenlyside and Stanford Olsen. He has performed with Mr.Hampson at the White House under the Clinton administration. 
                                   
Mr. Rutenberg, whose latest recording prompted Opera News to praise him for “(making) the piano sing with clean articulation and a palette of colors to coordinate with…every mood,” records for Deutsche Grammophon, EMI/Angel, BMG/RCA and Koch International. He has appeared repeatedly in concert on national and international television and radio, including numerous PBS specials.

Currently Visiting Professor at the Royal College of Music in London and Guest Coach at Operahögskolan in Stockholm, Sweden, Mr. Rutenberg also regularly coaches and gives master classes at the Chicago Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, the Pittsburgh Opera Center, Chicago Opera Theatre and the Vancouver Opera as well as the training programmes at the Washington Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Former Head of Music Staff at the Metropolitan Opera, Craig Rutenberg has also worked for the Opera Studio de Paris, the Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, the Santa Fe Opera and the Glimmerglass Opera.

In addition to his teaching activities in the 2005-06 season, Mr. Rutenberg appears in recital with Christine Brewer, Nicole Cabell, Susanne Mentzer, Vivica Genaux, Ben Heppner, Quinn Kelsey and Thomas Hampson in the United States and Europe.