We have four great soloists for our 2022 Messiah concerts on November 11 in Chicago, November 12 in Wheaton and November 13 in Naperville:
Josefien Stoppelenburg – Soprano
Josefien Stoppelenburg performed several times for Dutch Royal Family. She is currently performing all over the United States as a specialist of Baroque Music and as a concert singer. Stoppelenburg performed most major oratorio works by Bach, Handel, Haydn and Mozart, including Bach’s St John and St Matthew Passion, Christmas Oratorio, Mass in B minor, and many of his cantatas. By the end of this season, Josefien will have performed all Bach’s cantatas for solo soprano…. read more.
Lauren Decker – Contralto
Rising star, Lauren Decker, possesses a booming contralto with “amber low notes” that is in a league of its own. She is lauded for “pouring out a dark, chocolatey sound with a plushness of tone and amplitude of voice rarely heard in a young singer”.
Ms. Decker most recently covered the role of Erda in Das Rheingold and Siegfried, 1st Norn in Götterdämmerung, and performed Schwertleite in Die Walküre as a part of David Pountney’s “brilliantly imaginative”, new Ring Cycle at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. … read more.
Martin Luther – Tenor
Third-year Ryan Opera Center tenor Martin Luther Clark holds a master’s degree in opera from the Curtis Institute of Music and a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of North Texas.
In the 2022/23 season, he will appear in Lyric’s world premiere of both FACTOTUM and Proximity. He will also make his role and company debut as Rapunzel’s Prince in Sondheim’s Into the Woods at Tulsa Opera and he makes his company debut with Camerata Chicago in the Messiah by Handel. … read more
Peter van de Graaff – Baritone
Peter van de Graaff joined the Beethoven Satellite Network in February 1989 after a year as one of the staff announcers on WFMT. He serves as overnight host on WFMT, a program heard on many radio stations across the United States. As a professional singer, Peter has performed with opera companies and orchestras throughout the world including the Czech State Orchestra, and with the New Orleans, Utah, Colorado Springs, and San Antonio symphonies. Peter is currently the music director and morning host of KWAX, Classical Oregon.