Greenwich Choral Society
Christine Howlett, Music Director
Music...Magic...Joy - since 1926
Beethoven’s Unheard Triumph - Performers
Katherine Whyte,
Soprano
Katherine Whyte has delighted audiences and critics alike on opera and concert stages across her native Canada, the United States, and Europe. Opera Today has praised her "keen artistic sensibility" while the San Francisco Classical Voice singled out "her glamorous, vibrato-rich voice." Following her Metropolitan Opera debut in 2007 in Strauss’ Die Ägyptische Helena, she has returned to the company for productions of Iolanta, Rigoletto, Jenufa, The Gambler, The Enchanted Island, Two Boys, Parsifal, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, and Suor Angelica.
Recent and upcoming engagements for Ms. Whyte include her celebrated Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro with Intermountain Opera Bozeman, the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Saratoga, Charlottesville Opera and the Norwalk Symphony, her debut at Dallas Opera as Pousette in Manon, her debut with Syracuse’s Symphoria performing Poulenc’s Gloria; a return to New Choral Society as soprano soloist in Carmina Burana, her debut with Heartbeat Opera as Agathe in Der Freischütz, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with Opera Grand Rapids, solo recital with Djordje Nesic at the celebrated Kolarac Hall in Belgrade Serbia, and orchestral and opera appearances with Opera Hong Kong, the Kaohsiung Symphony and the Meet in Beijing Arts Festival. Ms. Whyte was the soprano soloist for Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Santa Rosa, Louisiana and Eugene Symphonies. She was delighted to debut last summer with Orpheus PDX singing the Role of Aminta in Mozart’s Il Re Pastore and will return this summer to sing Aci in Handel’s Aci, Galaeta e polifemo. This season included singing Poulenc's Gloria with the Greensboro Symphony, a Sibelius Concert with the Vallejo Festival Orchestra, Mimi in La Bohème with Intermountain Opera, Elijah with the New Choral Society and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Phoenix Symphony. Katherine reprised her beloved Countess with the Utah Opera and sang Beethoven's 9th with the Oregon Symphony.
Allison Gish,
Contralto
Praised for her “commanding stage presence, strikingly rich voice and an innate sense of comedic timing” (Operawire) and her “superb technique” (The Berkeley Daily Planet), Allison Gish is a contralto based in New York. She is the 1st Place winner of the 2021 Rochester International Vocal Competition. Allison recently joined the New York Philharmonic Chorus in their debut tour to Shanghai, China to premiere and create the Deutsche Grammophon recording of Aaron Zigman's Emigre. Last season, in addition to a busy schedule as a freelance choral singer, she made debuts with Opera Grand Rapids in Ricky Ian Gordon's Tibetan Book of the Dead, Opera on the James as Principessa in Suor Angelica, and with Cambridge Chamber Ensemble as Micah in Handel's Samson. Other recent roles include Madame de Croissy in Dialogues of the Carmelites (Bronx Opera), Marjorie in the world premiere of Fizz & Ginger (Curiosity Cabinet), Fricka in Die Walküre (Trilogy Opera), Dryade in Ariadne auf Naxos (BARN Opera), Grimgerde in Die Walküre with TUNDI Productions, Mrs. Noye in Britten’s Noye’s Fludde (Church of the Transfiguration NYC), Leonora Goosling in Felix Jarrar’s Mother Goose, Apollo in Handel's Terpsicore (American Bach Soloists Academy), Lucia in La gazza ladra (Teatro Nuovo), The Mother in The Consul (Bronx Opera), Lisotta in Salieri's La cifra (dell'Arte Opera Ensemble), Giunone in Cavalli's La Calisto (dell'Arte Opera Ensemble), and Lucretia in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia (New Camerata Opera), a performance deemed a “knockout” (Reaction, Operawire).
Lawrence Jones,
Tenor
Tenor Lawrence Jones has established an active presence on the concert and operatic stages. He has received praise for his portrayals of Tom Rakewell in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress at the Princeton and Aldeburgh Festivals. The New York Times wrote, “Tenor Lawrence Jones brought a light, sweet voice and lyricism to Tom.” Opera News praised him for his “clean, ringing tenor,” and The Guardian described him as "a smooth-voiced Tom….his first-act aria, lamenting the loss of love, is especially affecting”.
Mr. Jones has performed roles with companies such as New York City Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Saratoga, Sarasota Opera, Haymarket Opera, and Amarillo Opera. On the concert stage, he has sung as a soloist with the Utah Symphony, Musica Sacra, Boston Baroque, Boston Pops, Albany Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, and Rhode Island Philharmonic.
Lawrence’s concert engagements during the 2016/17 season included the tenor solos in the B Minor Mass with the Oratorio Society of New York, the Consigliere in Stradella’s San Giovanni Battista at the Valletta International Baroque Festival in Malta, and the Evangelist in C.P.E. Bach’s St. John Passion with the Saint Thomas Choir and New York Baroque Incorporated. He made his debut at Alice Tully Hall as tenor soloist in Schubert’s Mass in E-Flat with the Riverside Choral Society. In 2017/18, Lawrence sang in performances of Messiah at Carnegie Hall with the Oratorio Society of New York, and at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue with the Saint Thomas Choir, for which the New York Times called him “an impressive tenor”. He sang in Mozart’s Requiem and Mendelssohn’s Christus with the Back Bay Chorale, and in Monteverdi’s Vespers with Voices of Ascension. This past season included two more performances of the Vespers with the Oratorio Chorale of Portland, as well as his company debut with the Naples Philharmonic in Stravinsky’s Pulcinella. This season, Lawrence joined Chorus pro Musica and the Metropolitan Chorale at Boston’s Jordan Hall to sing in Janáček’s Amarus and Mendelssohn’s Die erste Walpurgisnacht.
As a frequent performer of the works of Bach, Lawrence’s credits include the Evangelist in both the Christmas Oratorio with the Harvard-Radcliffe Chorus, and the St. John Passion with the Cathedral Choirs and Orchestra of St. John the Divine. He has sung as a soloist in the St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion with the New Mexico Philharmonic, Saint Thomas Choir, Kalamazoo Bach Festival, Bach Society of St. Louis, and the Back Bay Chorale. Last season, he appeared in a program of Cantatas with American Classical Orchestra, the B Minor Mass with the Bach Society of St. Louis, and in Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele, BWV 180 with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem. This season he once again joins the Bach Choir in Sie werden aus Saba alle kommen, BWV 65, and he returns to the Cathedral of St. John The Divine as a soloist in the B Minor Mass.
Active in the performance of contemporary works, Lawrence made his company debut in Oliver Knussen’s Where the Wild Things Are at New York City Opera, and sang in the American Stage Premiere of Elliott Carter's opera What Next? at Tanglewood. Concert engagements have included the American Premiere of Nico Muhly’s My Days with viol consort Fretwork, Arvo Pärt’s Passio with
Christopher Gundy,
Bass-Baritone
Hailed by Opera News as “the likeable baritone,” Christopher Grundy is equally at home in opera, oratorio, and song recital. His opera credits include title roles in Rachmaninov’s Aleko and Mozart’s Don Giovanni, where he “made an impact in the role, vocally and dramatically” (Herald Tribune), as well as such diverse roles as Baron Ochs (Der Rosenkavalier); Count Danilo (The Merry Widow); Vicar Gedge (Albert Herring); Mr. Alfieri (View from the Bridge); and Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus).
Christopher received his Doctor of Music from Indiana University, studying with the celebrated German baritone Wolfgang Brendel. He completed his B.A. at Yale University, where he was the assistant conductor of the Yale Glee Club and the Yale Russian Chorus. A champion of new music, Christopher has premiered numerous works in collaboration with contemporary composers. He sang the role of Dr. Gachet in the original production of Bernard Rands’s Vincent. On one week’s notice he learned the lead baritone role for the world premiere of Decameron with the International Opera Theatre of Philadelphia, to critical acclaim. As a recording artist Christopher can be heard on the BIS, Naxos, and Parma labels.
Christopher has performed as a soloist with many Connecticut & New York ensembles including the Fairfield County Chorale, Orchestra New England, New Haven Oratorio Choir, Charis Chamber Voices, Con Brio Choral Society, Cappella Cantorum, Danbury Concert Chorus, Amor Artis, the Taconic Chorale, Bronx Opera, and Connecticut Lyric Opera, among others.
In addition to his work as a singer, Christopher is Director of Choral Programs at Sacred Heart University, where he leads the Concert Choir, as well as 4 Heart Harmony, the SATB Chamber Choir. He is the Director of Music at the Unitarian Society of New Haven. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Club of Stamford, Connecticut. Recently he was honored to become a founding board member of the Neely Bruce Music Foundation. He is a commercially-licensed helicopter pilot and flight instructor.
Westchester Choral Society
Winner of the coveted Arts Organization Award of Arts Westchester, the Westchester Choral Society was founded by Sarah Stewart Bowne in 1942 to perform Bach’s B Minor Mass with 15 singers. Today we are 60 singers performing works from Baroque to contemporary, presenting concerts in the winter and spring seasons in Westchester and nearby communities. The Westchester Choral Society is a proud member of Chorus America, the Vocal Area Network, and Arts Westchester, which honored us in 2000 with its Arts Organization Award. We also do outreach to to local community organizations (hospitals, nursing homes, etc.), and offer Summer Sings to anyone wishes to join us.
