Louise Toppin has received critical acclaim for her operatic, orchestral, and oratorio performances in the United States, Europe, South America, Asia, New Zealand, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. She has appeared in recital on many concert series including Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, Broadway’s Hudson Theater, and Lincoln Center.

Represented by Joanne Rile Artist Management, she toured in ›Gershwin on Broadway‹ with pianist Leon Bates and currently tours in that show with Joseph Joubert, piano and Robert Sims, baritone.   She has recorded eighteen compact disks of primarily American Music including solo CDs Songs of Illumination, (Centaur Records), and on Albany Records Ah love, but a day, He’ll Bring it to Pass, (Joseph Joubert, piano), Witness with the Czech National Symphony, Heart on the Wall with the Prague Radio Symphony and La Saison des fleurs,  Her newest releases due out in 2021 are Songs of Love and Justice and Summer.Life.Songs (two CDs of songs for soprano by Adolphus Hailstork); Duos (with countertenor Darryl Taylor on African American vocal chamber music) and The Soprano Songs of T. J. Anderson with pianist John McDonald.

Her recent performances include the 150th celebration of the ratification of the 13th amendment for Congress and President Obama at the U.S. Capitol; a performance in Havana, Cuba with the women’s orchestra Camerata Romeu and the opening of the Smithsonian’s African American Heritage Museum.

Thomas Hampson, America’s foremost baritone, has received international honors for his artistry and cultural leadership. Long recognized as one of the most innovative musicians of our time, his operatic repertoire is over 80 roles, and his discography comprises more than 170 albums, including multiple nominations and winners of the Grammy Award, Edison Award, and the Grand Prix du Disque. This season, Thomas makes highly anticipated role debut as Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte at Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, under the baton of Zubin Mehta. In future seasons, he will create the role of Jan Vermeer in the world premiere of Stefan Wirth’s Girl with a Pearl Earring at Opernhaus Zürich.

Notable engagements on the concert stage include opening the Oslo Philharmonic’s season in August 2020 with their new Chief Conductor, Klaus Mäkela. At the Pierre Boulez Saal, he returns as Artistic Curator for the ›Schubert Week‹ with the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin. Hampson also debuts a new series part of his long-term project ›Song of America‹ entitled ›A Celebration of Black Music.‹ The three-concert series features Hampson and numerous guest singers performing songs and works largely by black American composers as part of the digital Hamburg International Music Festival.

Jörg Assmann began his studies in Münster and continued through to graduation with Ernst Kovacic in Vienna. From 1984 to 1987, he was a member of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the ›Soloists of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra‹. He attended masterclasses with Yfrah Neaman and Sándor Végh as well as numerous chamber music courses. Since 1987, Jörg Assmann has been a member of The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen and principal of the second violins – although sometimes he also likes to ring the changes and play tutti with the first violins.

Jörg Assmann is happy to share his many experiences as a professional orchestra musician with others. He is conductor of the ›Camerata instrumentale‹, the symphony orchestra of the University of Music in Bremen, and regularly teaches chamber music courses for children and lay persons.

A native of Philadelphia and recent graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program at The Metropolitan Opera, soprano Leah Hawkins begins the 2020-2021 season with a debut at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Marina Abramović’s 7 Deaths of Maria Callas (Desdemona). She will reprise the role for debuts at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra National de Paris, Greek National Opera, and Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. COVID-19 cancellations include La Bohème (Musetta) with Opera Memphis, Dead Man Walking (Sister Catherine) with The Metropolitan Opera, and her debut with Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with Valery Gergiev.

Recent performances at The Metropolitan Opera include Porgy & Bess (Strawberry Woman), Pique Dame (Masha), Suor Angelica (Alms Collector), and Aida (High Priestress). She has performed with orchestras such as the National Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra or Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She is a 2018 Sullivan Foundation Award Winner, and the 2018 recipient of The Richard F. Gold Career Grant (The Shoshana Foundation) from Washington National Opera. She has received awards from The Young Patronesses of the Opera/Florida Grand Opera Vocal Competition, The Chautauqua Opera Guild, Yale School of Music, George London Foundation, Marcello Giordani Foundation, Opera Ebony, NANBPWC, Inc., and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Lawrence Brownlee is a leading figure in opera, both as a singer on the world’s top stages, and as a voice for activism and diversity in the industry. Captivating audiences and critics around the globe, he has been hailed as »an international star in the bel canto operatic repertory« (The New York Times), »one of the world’s leading bel canto stars« (The Guardian), and »one of the most in-demand opera singers in the world today« (NPR).

Highlights of Brownlee’s 20-21 season include Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, his role debut as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor at New National Theatre Tokyo, Arturo in I Puritani with Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, and Tonio in La Fille du Regiment with Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège. In concert, Brownlee reprised Lawrence Brownlee and Friends at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Giving Voice at Houston Grand Opera, Lawrence Brownlee and Friends and Cycles of My Being with Opera Philadelphia, as well as a virtual recital with pianist Myra Huang for the Schubert Club International Artist Series, a virtual concert with the the Tallahassee Symphony, the tenor solo in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Tulsa Symphony, and a virtual recital with Music Worcester. In spring 2021, Brownlee joined The Juilliard School as a Distinguished Visiting Faculty Member. His album Amici e Rivali with Michael Spyres and Maestro Corrado Rovaris, released on Warner Classics & Erato, the first ever to exclusively feature Rossini’s tenor duets.

Nuala McKenna initially began learning the piano with her father at only four years old before switching to the cello soon thereafter. After completing her studies with Ulf Tischbirek at Lübeck College of Music, with Jean-Guihen Queyras in Freiburg, Ivan Monighetti (Basel) and Conradin Brotbek (Stuttgart), she then went on to take a Master’s degree with Conradin Brotbek. This German-Irish musician has been a member of the Balthasar Neumann Ensemble since 2012 and has performed regularly with the Camerata RCO since 2014. During the 2013/14 season Nuala McKenna was an Academy Student at the Concertgebouw Orchestra and from 2015 to 2017 she was also an Academy Student with The Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen.

As a chamber musician, McKenna has already performed with renowned musicians such as Maria João Pires, Boris Garlitsky, Augustin Dumay, Miguel da Silva and Olli Mustonen. In addition, this cellist has appeared at various festivals including Verbier Festival, the Southwell Music Festival and has also founded her own family festival: The Musikfest Kahleby. In 2018/19 McKenna was a finalist in the Dutch Classical Talent Awards which took her on a solo tour through all the well-known halls of The Netherlands. Her debut album of works for solo cello will be released in 2021.