2009-2010 Soloists

LA TRAVIATA artists
Diana McVey | Joel Andrew Weiss | David Kravitz | Meredith Ziegler | Marjorie Melnick
Frederic Scheff | Paul Soper | Kenneth Mattice | Tom O'Toole 

HOLIDAY MAGIC artists
Amherst Ballet Theatre

ST. JOHN PASSION artists
Matthew Garrett | Paul Soper | Sumner Thompson | Rochelle Bard | Pamela Dellal

MUSICAL TWINS artists
Ambra and Fiona Albek | William Perry

Diana McVey (Violetta Valery)

Soprano Diana McVey has sung leading roles with Opera Columbus, Lake George Opera Festival, Jacksonville Lyric Opera, Treasure Coast Opera, Opera Naples, Light Opera Oklahoma, Ocean State Lyric Opera, the Salt Marsh Opera Company, Boston Academy of Music, Rhode Island Philharmonic, and Opera Providence, among others.   

In 2003, Ms. McVey was a finalist in the New England Regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and was heard on WGBH-TV, Boston. In 2006 she made her Carnegie Hall debut singing Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass, and she traveled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates for a production of Carmen.

Recent engagements include Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor with Salt Marsh Opera and Treasure Coast Opera (with Maestro Anton Coppola); a production of Die Fledermaus with Jacksonville Lyric Opera; productions of Candide and Pirates of Penzance with Light Opera Oklahoma; opera galas with the Hartford Festival Orchestra and Opera Naples; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the New Bedford Symphony; and productions of La Cenerentola and Turandot with Opera Columbus.

She has also recently performed Carmina Burana and Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 for soprano and eight cellos with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra and the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra; a Gilbert & Sullivan Revue with Lake George Opera Festival; and Messiah with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra.

Upcoming engagements include Die Fledermaus with Jacksonville Lyric Opera, a holiday gala concert with the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, a production of La Rondine with Opera Tampa, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Rhode Island Civic Chorale & Orchestra.

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Joel Andrew Weiss (Alfredo Germont)

Tenor Joel Andrew Weiss began this season in Germany singing Salome with Theater Bremen as well as Mozart’s Requiem and Schubert’s Mass in C Major with the Berliner Pfau Ensemble. Also this season he sang Don Pasquale starring Paul Plishka with Vero Beach Opera, Die Fledermaus with Salt Marsh Opera, Don Pasquale with New Opera Saint Louis, and Messiah at St. John’s in New York City, in addition to recording and filming the new opera by Nicholas Skedgell, Alex and Anna. 

In previous seasons he has appeared in La Traviata with the Polish National Opera, Don Giovanni with the Opera Company of North Carolina, Madama Butterfly with Eugene Opera, Il Barbiere di Siviglia with Salt Marsh Opera, and La Bohème with Maine Grand Opera. He has also performed Britten’s Saint Nicolas Cantata with the Stonington (Conn.) Choral Society and Keiser’s Markus Passion at Grace Cathedral in New York City. Mr. Weiss and his wife, Kelly, are the founders of the Saint Blaise Foundation. Named after the patron saint of throats, the foundation raises money for cancer research.

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David Kravitz (Giorgio Germont)

Baritone David Kravitz is increasingly in demand on operatic and concert stages around the country. Recent operatic appearances include Glimmerglass Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Opera Boston, Boston Lyric Opera in roles including the title role in Wozzeck, Leporello in Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Nick Shadow in The Rake's Progress, and Ko-Ko in The Mikado.

Recent concert appearances include the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Music Director James Levine (Berlioz's Les Troyens) and Conductor Emeritus Bernard Haitink (Bach's St. Matthew Passion); the Philadelphia Orchestra under Julian Wachner (Handel's Messiah); and numerous appearances with Boston Baroque, Emmanuel Music, and the Cantata Singers.

Upcoming engagements for 2009–2010 include the world premiere of The Golden Ticket at Opera Theatre of St. Louis and return engagements with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Baroque (Cimarosa's Il maestro di cappella), and Emmanuel Music (Raphael in Haydn's Die Schöpfung). Mr. Kravitz’s commitment to new music has led to his presentation of world or regional premieres of numerous contemporary works. Critics hailed his 2009 performance in John Harbison’s Winter’s Tale with Boston Modern Orchestra Project as “brilliantly sung,” “a personal triumph,” and one of his “finest accomplishments.”  

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Meredith Ziegler (Flora Bervoix)

Mezzo-soprano Meredith Ziegler made her 2008 debut as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte with Granite State Opera. Seen and Heard Opera Review praised her “very beautiful voice and delightful portrayal of the flighty Dorabella.” For her role as Meg Page in Falstaff with Opera North, Opera News commended her “game, well- sung Meg.”

Ms. Ziegler recently performed as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia for Opera Company of Middlebury, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte for Cape Cod Opera, and Mallika in Lakmé for Connecticut Concert Opera. She also sang the role of Dinah in Trouble in Tahiti for Connecticut Concert Opera, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte for Granite State Opera, Dido in Dido & Aeneas for Connecticut Lyric Opera, Hänsel in Hänsel & Gretel for Opera Theater of Connecticut, and Meg Page in Falstaff for Opera North.

Internationally, Ms. Ziegler’s work has taken her to Graz, Austria where, in 2005, she was a soloist with the AIMS Festival Orchestra for performances of Bernstein’s Arias & Barcarolles. Closer to home she appeared as a soloist in Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été, Bach’s St. John’s Passion, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with both the Holyoke (Mass.) Civic Symphony and the New Haven (Conn.) Oratorio Choir.

Ms. Ziegler was the recipient of a 2008 Encouragement Award from the prestigious Sullivan Foundation. She was a 2007 Regional Finalist in the New England Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions as well as a 2006 second-place prizewinner in the Connecticut Opera Guild Scholarship Competition.

Ms. Ziegler holds both Bachelor of Arts in Music and Bachelor of Science in Music Education degrees as well as a Master of Music in Vocal Performance degree from the University of Connecticut. Upcoming engagements include an appearance as soloist for a concert series at Colgate University.

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Marjorie Melnick (Annina)

Mezzo-soprano Marjorie Melnick earned the Master of Music in Cello from the Juilliard School. While in New York City, she studied voice privately with Nicholas DiVirgilio. During her many summers at the Aspen Music Festival, she studied and performed as a cellist while also studying voice with Olga Rhyss and the revered mezzo-soprano Jan DeGaetani.

In 1985, as a member of the Opernstudio Zürich, Ms. Melnick made her debut at the Zürich Opera under Nello Santi and that same year won a contract at the Saarländisches Staatstheater in Saarbrucken, Germany. She spent the next twelve years singing opera, oratorio and recitals in Europe. Among the leading roles she sang were Rosina in The Barber of Seville, Cinderella in Cenerentola, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, and Hansel in Hansel and Gretel.

Ms. Melnick is a member of the voice faculty at both the University of Massachusetts and the Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut.

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Frederic Scheff (Gastone, Viscount of Letorieres)

Tenor Frederic Scheff sang with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for seven seasons, appearing in 17 productions led by such conductors as Leonard Slatkin, John Nelson, Joseph Rescigno, Hal France, Andrew Litton, and Stephen Lord and directed by Colin Graham, Rhoda Levine, Francesca Zambello, Robert Carsen, and Linda Brovsky, among others. Later he sang Ubaldo Piangi in the national tour of The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

With Opera Providence, Mr. Scheff has sung Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana, and the Witch in Hansel and Gretel. In New England he has performed with Beavertail Productions, Chaminade Opera, Mystic River Chorale, New Bedford Symphony Orchestra, Ocean State Chamber Orchestra, Ocean State Lyric Opera, Operartisti, Operatunity, Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra, Rhode Island College Chorus and Orchestra, Rhode Island College Wind Ensemble, South County Chamber Singers, South County Courthouse Players, Theater-by-the-Sea, Tiverton Chorale, and Trinity Repertory Company. He has also appeared with the University of Rhode Island and Wheaton College, and on the Arts in the Village, Milton Centre, and Shalom Music Concert Series.

Mr. Scheff holds a masters degree and doctorate in vocal performance from the University of Kansas, and a Bachelors of Music (BM) degree from Rhode Island College, where he currently serves as an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance.

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Paul Soper (Baron Douphol)

Baritone Paul Soper is delighted to make his debut with the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra and Chorus as the Baron Douphol. Mr. Soper made his debut operatic debut with Houston Grand Opera as the Innkeeper in Manon, and he has sung with Boston Lyric Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Glimmerglass Opera, and the National Touring Company of New York City Opera.

Described by the Boston Globe’s opera critic Richard Dyer as “an exciting new baritione, a real find,” Paul is well-known to audiences in the Boston area, having sung with Opera Aperta, Cambridge Chamber Opera, Harvard University’s Lowell House Opera, and Intermezzo Chamber Opera.  Mr. Soper is also a member of Opera-to-Go, New England’s interactive and improvisational opera outreach program.

Last season Mr. Soper made his debut with Naples Opera as Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore and performing as Angelotti in Tosca with Cape Cod Opera and as the Priest in SpeakEasy Stage’s critically acclaimed production of The Light in the Piazza. 

Upcoming engagements include Gugliemo in Cosi Fan Tutte in his Commonwealth Opera debut, and returning this spring in the role of Jesus for Pioneer Valley Symphony’s presentation of Bach’s St. John Passion. An alumnus of the New England Conservatory Opera/Theater and the Opera Institute of Boston University, Mr. Soper was twice awarded Fellowships to the Tanglewood Institute of Music.   

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Kenneth Mattice (Marquis D’Obigny)

Award-winning lyric baritone Kenneth Mattice is earning praise for his compelling singing and expressive acting. He has been called “outstanding” by the Chicago Tribune and “charismatic and robust-toned” by the San Francisco Chronicle.

A Wisconsin native and former resident artist with Opera San José, Mr. Mattice received rave reviews for his debuts as Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly. Other recent roles include Escamillo in Carmen at the Ravinia Festival, Schaunard in La Bohème with Baltimore Opera, Malatesta in Don Pasquale with the Newton Symphony, and the title role in Don Giovanni for the Opera Institute at Boston University.
               
Mr. Mattice was recently a New England Region semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a national finalist in the Liederkranz Competition. He been named a winner in the Palm Beach Opera Competition, the Bel Canto Italian Opera Competition, the Friends of Austria Competition, and the Quad Cities Opera Competition. He was also

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Tom O'Toole (Dr. Grenvil)

Baritone Tom O'Toole has recently appeared in Carmina Burana with the Springfield (Mass.) Symphony; as Escamillo in Carmen for Granite State Opera; and in the roles of Cuno in Der Freischutz, Alaska Wolf Joe in Kurt Weill's Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Jago (and Don Carlo cover) in Ernani, and Gazella in Lucrezia Borgia for Opera Boston.

Following his recent Rigoletto for Commonwealth Opera of Western Massachusetts, the Springfield Republican (Mass.) noted: “O'Toole has the vocal equipment for Verdi, grandly present and full-throttle from his rich, commanding low- and mid-range, to ringing, heroic high notes.”

With conductor Gil Rose and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Mr. O’Toole created the role of John Wilkes Booth in the premiere of Eric Sawyer’s Our American Cousin, a new opera about events surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (now available on BMOP Sound/Albany Records).

Additional roles include Mozart's Figaro, Friedrich Bhaer in Little Women, Father in Hänsel und Gretel, Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia, andAlidoro in La Cenerentola. As a member of the Sarasota Opera Studio, he covered multiple principal roles in Le nozze di Figaro and Verdi's I Masnadieri. Mr. O'Toole is a member of the voice faculty of the Northampton (Mass.) Community Music Center.

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AMHERST BALLET THEATRE

AMHERST BALLET was established in 1972, and has maintained a solid reputation of serving the community through excellence in dance training and high quality performances. Our curriculum offers a solid foundation in classical ballet with electives that enable our students to be well-rounded dancers. This year our students (ages 10-17) auditioned for and were accepted to the following prestigious dance programs:  The Ailey School, The American Academy of Ballet, American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive (NYC), The Boston Ballet School, The Bolshoi Academy, The Joffrey Ballet School, The Kirov Academy of Ballet (Washington, D.C.), The Nutmeg Conservatory, The School of the Richmond Ballet, Walnut Hill School, and The Virginia School for the Arts.

Amherst Ballet believes in collaborating with local artists and art and educational institutions to create great performances. Recent collaborators include the Springfield Symphony Orchestra, the Hampshire Young People's Chorus, The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, the Emily Dickinson Museum, the Smith College Orchestra, Moscow Ballet, publisher Barefoot Books and authors Jane Yolen and Heidi Stemple, as well as a number of local composers and musicians. Our recent touring performances have taken us around Western Massachusetts; we have performed at Springfield Symphony Hall, American International College in Springfield, and numerous local schools.

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Matthew Garrett

The tenor MATTHEW GARRETT is a 2005 graduate of the prestigious Juilliard Opera Center in New York City. In the 2009-2010 season, he will serve as tenor soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana with Tulsa Opera and Ballet, Mendelssohn’s Paulus at Carnegie Hall with the Oratorio Society of New York, Mozart’s Mass in C minor at Carnegie Hall with Musica Sacra, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Carmina Burana at Avery Fisher Hall with the National Chorale, Handel’s Messiah with the Syracuse Symphony, the premiere of John Taverner’s Requiem at St. Ignatius Loyola, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Berkshire Choral Festival, Carmina Burana with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Bach’s St. John Passion with the Pioneer Valley Symphony, CPE Bach’s Auferstehung und Himmelfaht Jesu with the Grand Tour Orchestra, the title role in Britten’s St. Nicolas with the Richmond Choral Society, and as recitalist in the Jours des Arts festival in Montreux, Switzerland.

Mr. Garrett was recently a World Finalist in the Montreal International Musical Competition. See a full biography at www.matthewgarrett.net

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Paul Soper

Baritone Paul Soper is delighted to make his debut with the Pioneer Valley Symphony Orchestra and Chorus as the Baron Douphol. Mr. Soper made his debut operatic debut with Houston Grand Opera as the Innkeeper in Manon, and he has sung with Boston Lyric Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Glimmerglass Opera, and the National Touring Company of New York City Opera.

Described by the Boston Globe’s opera critic Richard Dyer as “an exciting new baritione, a real find,” Paul is well-known to audiences in the Boston area, having sung with Opera Aperta, Cambridge Chamber Opera, Harvard University’s Lowell House Opera, and Intermezzo Chamber Opera.  Mr. Soper is also a member of Opera-to-Go, New England’s interactive and improvisational opera outreach program.

Last season Mr. Soper made his debut with Naples Opera as Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore and performing as Angelotti in Tosca with Cape Cod Opera and as the Priest in SpeakEasy Stage’s critically acclaimed production of The Light in the Piazza. 

Upcoming engagements include Gugliemo in Cosi Fan Tutte in his Commonwealth Opera debut, and returning this spring in the role of Jesus for Pioneer Valley Symphony’s presentation of Bach’s St. John Passion. An alumnus of the New England Conservatory Opera/Theater and the Opera Institute of Boston University, Mr. Soper was twice awarded Fellowships to the Tanglewood Institute of Music.   

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Sumner Thompson

Hailed as “the real thing” (Cleveland Plain Dealer) and praised for his “elegant style” (Boston Globe), baritone SUMNER THOMPSON continues to be lauded by audiences and music cognoscenti alike. His impeccable technique, beautiful sound and elegant musicianship are quickly making him one of the most sought after young baritones in this country and abroad.

His appearances on the operatic stage include the role of Orfeo in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo with Contemporary Opera Denmark in Copenhagen, Uberto in La Serva Padrona with Apollo’s Fire, The Traveller in Britten’s Curlew River with the Britten-Pears School in Nagaoka, Japan, and at the Aldeburgh Festival in the UK, Schaunard in La Bohème with Granite State Opera, and The Count in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro with the Commonwealth Opera.

Among his many awards and distinctions, Mr. Thompson is the winner of the 1995 Atlanta Pro-Mozart Society Competition, the Willi Apel Scholarship at Indiana University in 1997, and the 1999 Indiana University Early Music Institute Concerto Competition, for which he was the only singer to ever be accorded this honor. In 2003, Mr. Thompson placed as a semi-finalist in the prestigious Wigmore Hall International Song Competition. He was also twice a semi-finalist in the New York Oratorio Society Competition. Sumner Thompson records for the harmonia mundi usa, Dorian, Plectra and Arsis labels.

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Rochelle Bard

Praised for her ‘exquisite’ voice and ‘poignant’ acting, soprano ROCHELLE BARD has been recognized by prestigious vocal competitions. Ms. Bard recently won top prizes in the Classical Singer Competition and Gerda Lissner Competition, as well as awards from the George London Foundation Competition, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Awards, and the Licia Albanese-Puccini Competition. Subsequently, she had her Lincoln Center debut in Alice Tully Hall at the annual Puccini Gala.

Recent performances include Micaela in Carmen with Ash Lawn Opera, Musetta in La Boheme with Sacramento Opera, and Gilda in Rigoletto with Rockland Opera, as well as the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor with Opera Idaho and The Merry Widow with St. Petersburg Opera Company. Previously, as an Artist in Residence with Opera San José, Ms. Bard was an acclaimed success as Lucia di Lammermoor, Gilda in Rigoletto, Pamina in The Magic Flute, Juliette in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette, and Violetta in La Traviata. Ms. Bard has also performed on the stages of Baltimore Opera, Tanglewood, Opera Boston, Maine Grand Opera, Cape Cod Opera and New England Light Opera. A concert artist as well, she has performed Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate, Carmina Burana, the Mozart Requiem, Bachianas Brasilieras, The Lord Nelson Mass, and the Poulenc Gloria. Ms. Bard is a Massachusetts native and graduate of Holy Cross and the New England Conservatory of Music.

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Pamela Dellal

PAMELA DELLAL, mezzo-soprano, is an acclaimed soloist and recitalist whose singing has been praised for her "exquisite vocal color," "musical sensitivity," (Worcester Gazette) and "eloquent phrasing." (The Boston Globe). Her repertoire encompasses an astonishing range from 12th-century monody through Renaissance songs, Baroque cantatas and oratorios, 18th - 21st-century art songs and operas, and premieres of new works.

Recent appearances include the premiere of a new John Harbison work, The Seven Ages, with the New York New Music Ensemble at Merkin Concert Hall this past April. Ms. Dellal made her Kennedy Center debut this past season under Julian Wachner in the B-minor Mass, and her Lincoln Center debut under renowned conductor William Christie in Messiah. She has performed under other acclaimed conductors such as Seiji Ozawa, Christopher Hogwood, Paul McCreesh, Bernard Labadie and Roger Norrington. Other ensembles which have presented Ms. Dellal include the Tokyo Oratorio Society, the Lydian String Quartet, The Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Boston Baroque, the Boston Early Music Festival, Aston Magna, the Dallas Bach Society, The Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, the National Chamber Orchestra, the Evansville Philharmonic, the Baltimore Choral Arts Society and the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. Read more at http://home.earthlink.net/~dellalsansom/pdbio.htm

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Ambra and Fiona Albek

Twin sisters AMBRA and FIONA ALBEK have been performing successully since 2002 mainly as a duo and also in other formations such as piano trio, piano and string quartets, four hands and as soloists; in addition, they have accompanied singers at recitals and performed in special music and poetry programs.

Their concert activities include various festivals and cultural events in Switzerland, Italy (at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza), Holland, Austria (at the Mozarteum in Salzburg), Germany (Berlin), USA (New York), Bahamas (Music Society), Suriname (fund raising concert in Paramaribo for the local music school), Australia. They have also been awarded prizes at international chamber music competitions. Various TV transmissions have been made in Switzerland and abroad about their activities.

They both started violin and piano studies at the age of 7. Further to their high school education, they continued their studies in music at the Swiss Italian Conservatoire in Lugano/Switzerland and thereafter at the Zürich/Winterthur Musikhochschule.

Ambra was taught by Alberto Lysy and graduated with merit under the guidance of Igor Karsko in Lugano, followed by performance studies in Rudolf Koelman's violin class and Wendy Champney's viola class at the Musikhochschule in Zürich/Winterthur. She graduated in 2004 obtaining the Concert Diploma with top marks and distinction. Following her main interest in chamber music she has been attending other master courses with Nora Chastain,  Friedemann Rieger and the Carmina quartet in Zürich.

Fiona was taught by Nora Doallo in Lugano graduating with merit ; she continues her performance studies in Friedemann Rieger's piano chamber music classes and the Lieder performance class in Zürich/Winterthur. She graduated in 2005 with highest marks and distinction as a Piano Chamber Musician and as accompanist of lyric singers. Their musical education was enhanced by attending Prof. Pier Narciso Masi's chamber music master class at the International Piano Academy in Imola/Italy which they recently completed successfully obtaining the Master degree with highest marks. In addition, Ambra has been an active participant at master-classes held by  Emanuel Hurwitz in London, Gérard Poulet, Ingolf Turban, Arnulf von Arnim, Peter Rybar, while Fiona has been an active participant at master-classes held by Sergio Fiorentino, Paul Badura Skoda, Arnulf von Arnim, Dario de Rosa, Sandro D'Onofrio a.o.

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William Perry

WILLIAM PERRY was born in Elmira, New York. He began composing and conducting in his teen-age years, producing a full-length musical at the age of sixteen. This led to musical study at Harvard University where his teachers included Paul Hindemith, Walter Piston, and Randall Thompson. Perry organized his own student orchestra and chorus, specializing in 18th century music.

During post-graduate military service in Germany, Perry wrote a musical theatre piece called Xanadu that toured Europe for more than five years. When the job of musical director and silent film accompanist at the Museum of Modern Art in New York became available, Perry was selected for the post and over the next twelve years composed more than a hundred film scores for such silent screen classics as The Gold Rush, The General, Orphans of the Storm, Blood and Sand, and others. His subsequent television series, The Silent Years, hosted by Orson Welles and Lillian Gish, won an Emmy Award and introduced silent film classics to two new generations of film-goers.

For three years (1976-78), he produced a poetry series for PBS called "Anyone for Tennyson?" starring Henry Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Claire Bloom, William Shatner, and Vincent Price among others. He later developed and produced the four-part series, "The Poetry Hall of Fame", which he also hosted. He produced and composed the scores for the Peabody Award-winning "Mark Twain Series" of feature films on PBS (1980-85), and his Broadway musical, "Wind in the Willows", starring Nathan Lane, won him Tony nominations for both music and lyrics (1986).

Perry has alternated the writing of film and stage music with orchestral compositions. His music has been performed by the Chicago Symphony, the Saint Louis Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, and the symphonic orchestras of Minnesota, Montreal and Hartford as well as the Vienna Symphony and other orchestras in Europe. His most recent symphonic compositions include the Jamestown Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (2007), written to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the first permanent colony in America in Jamestown, Virginia. It was recorded and released in August, 2008 by Naxos Records with Yehuda Hanani as soloist.

Perry’s music is richly tonal with broad-based melodies and a frequent use of modality, reminding one of the pastoral music school of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst. Dance forms are a dominant element in the rhythmic structuring of much of his music. He splits his time between New York City and Great Barrington.

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