2007-2008 Soloists

October 27th:
Alan Schneider

Tenor Alan Schneider has appeared in opera, operetta, and music theatre productions with many companies in his native New England and elsewhere, including Sarasota Opera, OperaDelaware, Florida Grand Opera, The Huntington Theatre Company, The North Shore Music Theatre, Opera New England, Boston Bel Canto Opera and Opera Boston. He has most often appeared with Boston Lyric Opera, performing roles in Lucie de Lammermoor, La traviata, Salome, Don Carlos, Carmen, La rondine, and Rigoletto. A proponent and frequent performer of new music, he has created roles in world premieres of works by composers Joseph Summer, Eric Sawyer, Daniel Pinkham and Paula Kimper, and has founded a company, The American Singers' Theater, to produce new American operas. In addition to stage works, Mr. Schneider has given a number of recitals, in Massachusetts, New York, Georgia, and St. Thomas, USVI. He has also appeared in concert with the Springfield (MA), Chautauqua and Omaha Symphonies, New England Philharmonic, The Bellingham (WA) Festival of Music, Providence Singers, Albany Pro Musica, The Shakespeare Concerts, and the long-running Mohawk Trail Concerts in Charlemont Massachusetts. In the summer of 2001, he took part in the Glimmerglass Opera Young American Artists Program, appearing in Le nozze di Figaro and Chabrier's L'Etoile. The summer before, he performed roles in La rondine, Ariadne auf Naxos, and Street Scene with the Chautauqua Opera, and was chosen by that company to receive a Shoshana Foundation Richard F. Gold Career Grant. He is an alumnus of The University of Massachusetts at Amherst and received his Master's Degree from Boston University, where he appeared as Acis in Acis and Galatea, Reverend Pollard in Stephen Paulus' The Village Singer, the Mayor in Albert Herring, Harlekin in Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, and Ferrando in Cosi fan Tutte. In May 2003, he finished the program at Boston University's Opera Institute with the title role in Mozart's Idomeneo, which was the subject of a feature article by Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe. Mr. Schneider lives in Northampton, Massachusetts with his wife and son. Baritone ANTON BELOV is quickly earning recognition from audiences and critics alike. A performance of great emotional honesty; singing straight from the heart—exclaims Opera News. A voluminous sound, appealing stage presence and a tone of rich vibrancy that remained consistent at all dynamic levels—revels the Washington Post.

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October 27th:
Anton Belov

Mr. Belov's recent operatic performances include title role in Delaware Opera's production of Don Giovanni, Masetto with Boston Baroque, John Sorel in The Consul (Menotti) with Opera Boston and Chamber Opera of Chicago, Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro and Ping in Turandot with the New Jersey Opera Theater, Malatesta in Don Pasquale with Opera Providence and Elijah with Worcester Festival Chorus. His recent and upcoming engagements include the roles of Escamillo with Opera by the Bays and the Cape Cod Opera, Teacher in Ainadamar with Opera Boston, Count di Luna with the Anchorage Opera, Messiah with Peniel Concert Choir at Avery Fisher Hall.

Mr. Belov is the first-place winner of eight vocal competitions including the George London Competition, Licia Albanese—Puccini Foundation International Competition, and Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Eastern Regional Winner) as well as the second-place winner of Classical Singer Magazine Competition. As the winner of Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Mr. Belov has appeared in over 40 recitals throughout the United States.

A native of Moscow, Anton Belov holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from The New England Conservatory, an Artist's Diploma and a Master of Music Degree from The Juilliard School. A specialist in Russian lyric diction, he is the author of Russian Opera Libretti in Word-to-Word Translation and IPA Transcription and the Anthology of Russian Arias (Leyerle Publications 2004-06).

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December 15th:
Ballet Renversé

When Ballet Renversé's artistic director returned home to Shelburne Falls in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she left behind ten years of work with her professional company and more than ten years of teaching affiliations with the City of New Orleans, the New Orleans Ballet Association, and the New Orleans Dance Academy. Arriving in the West County in the summer of 2006 she saw two choices: get a "regular" job or re-build Ballet Renversé from the ground up.

Then the director of the Mary Lyon Foundation asked Ms. Shulda if she would be interested in providing ballet classes to children and adults in the school district. The answer was yes. Buckland-Shelburne Elementary School agreed that classes could be held in its auditorium, and the first building block of Ballet Renversé's new school was in place. Beginning in the fall of 2006, with just a few students, Ballet Renversé's enrollment has grown steadily and now includes students from throughout the area. Students range in age from six to mature adult. During the summer of 2007 a highly successful dance camp was initiated.

As an organization, Ballet Renversé (pronounced "ron-ver-say") has always been a 501(C) (3) not-for-profit corporation. As an artistic entity, its identity has altered some in the transition to Western Massachusetts. Called Renversér Repertory Ballet in New Orleans, it was a professional dance company, recipient of a Big Easy Classical Arts Award and producer of the performance series "Ballet at the Hit & Run Café." Here in Massachusetts, it is first and foremost a school, with an emerging company of student dancers. Its mission is to provide excellence in ballet training as well as performances for the public.

Classes follow the Cecchetti syllabus, and are appropriate to a student's age and level of development. From the start, students focus on ballet's requirements as a performing art as a vital part of its technique.

Artistic cornerstones of Ballet Renversé that have not altered since its beginnings in New Orleans are its commitment to working with live music and artistic collaboration. The company emerged directly from the artistic director's choreography in collaboration with New Orleans musician/composer Gregory Boyd, and Ballet Renversé is now privileged to be working with Pioneer Valley Symphony.

Artistic Director Karen Shulda is a Shelburne Falls native. In addition to her work as choreographer and director, she is an experienced dancer and teacher. A former professional dancer, she performed in ballet and modern companies in New York City and the Northeast as well as Louisiana. She is a certified teacher of the Cecchetti method of classical ballet. She founded Ballet Renversé in New Orleans, and now she is bringing it home.

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February 9th:
Vinay Parameswaran

Vinay Parameswaran is a junior at Brown University double-concentrating in music and political science. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, he began studying piano at age five and percussion at age six. Vinay is a timpanist and percussionist in the Brown University Orchestra and his current percussion teachers include Jack Van Geem (Principal Percussionist, San Francisco Symphony), David Herbert (Timpanist, San Francisco Symphony), and Christopher Lamb (Principal Percussionist, New York Philharmonic). Vinay was selected as one of the winners of the 2006 Brown University Concerto Competition and he performed William Kraft's Concerto No. 1 for Timpani and Orchestra with the Brown University Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Paul Phillips in April 2007.

Vinay was a percussionist with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra for six years and participated in two European tours with the orchestra. In 2002, Vinay performed with the National Festival Youth Orchestra in Carnegie Hall. The following year he was selected to attend the Juilliard Percussion Seminar for High School Students, and in 2004, he won the Fremont Symphony Orchestra's Young Artists' Competition and performed Darius Milhaud's Concerto for Marimba, Vibraphone, and Orchestra with the orchestra. Vinay is also an accomplished pianist and he currently studies piano with Linda Jiorle-Nagy at Brown University. Vinay was selected to perform in the Junior Bach Festival in 2003 and 2005 and chosen to perform in the annual Music Teachers Association of California State Piano Convention seven times. Vinay plans to pursue graduate studies in orchestral conducting.

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April 4 & 5:
Sean Rice, clarinetist

A native of St. John’s, Newfoundland, clarinetist Sean Rice has been recorded on numerous occasions by CBC Radio and has been invited to perform with some of Canada’s finest orchestras, including the Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, and the Memorial University Chamber Orchestra.  This season, he is performing his first solo tour in Canada in association with Jeunesses Musicales touring series.  

As a chamber musician, Mr. Rice has performed at Jeunesses Musicales Chamber Music Hall in Montreal, The Juilliard School’s 2007 Chamberfest, the National Arts Centre Young Artist Program, Banff Music Festival, Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival, and the Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty Series.  In New York, he regularly performs with Axiom, The New Juilliard Ensemble, and The Juilliard Orchestra.

An avid competitor, Mr. Rice won first place in the Canadian National Music Competition when he was only 16 years old.  Recently, he competed in and received first place at the Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec’s 2006 Canadian Concerto Competition in Quebec City.  He was the recipient of a 2006 Canada Council Grant to pursue graduate studies with Charles Neidich at The Juilliard School.  Mr. Neidich, who himself performed the Mozart concerto with the Pioneer Valley Symphony under the late Nathan Gottschalk, calls Sean Rice “a wonderful musician.”

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May 17th:
Stephen Bryant

Stephen Bryant has sung with the New York City Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Santa Fe Opera, the Indianapolis Opera, and other companies of renown. In performance with major orchestras from The New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestra, to the Israel Philharmonic and Japan Philharmonic, Bryant has delighted audiences with a repertoire spanning from Mozart and Verdi to Virgil Thomson and Stewart Wallace.

"Bryant stormed the heavens with his large and commanding instrument," said New York Newsday of his performance in Handel's Messiah. His numerous appearances in Handel's Messiah include collaborations with the Pittsburgh Symphony and Musica Sacra at Carnegie Hall.

The bass-baritone's frequent performances of Mendelssohn's Elijah include appearances with the New York Philharmonic under Maestro Kurt Masur, and the Philadelphia Orchestra under Wolfgang Sawallisch.

Mr. Bryant's repertoire extends from Bach and Handel to today's most prominent composers including Tan Dun. In standard repertoire, the Bass-baritone has performed Colline in La bohème (Indianapolis Opera), Leporello in Don Giovanni (Mobile Opera), Don Alfonso in Cosi fan tutte (Berkshire Opera), Escamillo in Carmen (Opera North), Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro (Madison Opera), the Bonze in Madama Butterfly (San Francisco Opera), and Capulet in Roméo et Juliette at (Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Michigan Opera Theatre, and Chautauqua Opera). He will be performing the role this fall with Toledo Opera as well. Additionally, Bryant has performed roles in a number of contemporary operas including Robert Gonzales in Stewart Wallace's Harvey Milk (San Francisco Opera and New York City Opera), George Milton in Carlisle Floyd's Of Mice and Men (Arizona Opera), Indiana Elliot's brother in Virgil Thomson's The Mother of Us All (Santa Fe Opera), and covered Claggart in Britten's Billy Budd (San Francisco Opera).

A premiere interpreter of the works of Academy Award-winning composer Tan Dun, Bryant created the role of Dante in the world premiere of the opera Marco Polo. He reprised the role at London's Barbicon Center for a performance broadcast by the BBC. Numerous other performances include appearances at the Munich Biennale, the Holland Festival in Amsterdam, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, New York City Opera, the Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo, Settembre Musica in Torino, Italy, and at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival in Scotland. The Times of London referred to the " . . . unearthly overtone singing, brilliantly accomplished by Stephen Bryant."

Stephen holds a Bachelor's from Oberlin and a Master's from the University of Michigan. On the voice faculty at William Paterson University, he lives in Montclair, New Jersey with his wife Caryl, and their two sons, David and Andrew.

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