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Please note: Handel’s Messiah is not included as part of the Masterworks concert package
Please contact Sage Lehman via 561-281-0145 or boxoffice@palmbeachsymphony.org for details on our student, educator and family pricing
Friday, December 9, 2022 at 7:30 PM - Purchase Your Tickets Here
Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 3:00 PM - Purchase Your Tickets Here
Robyn Marie Lamp, Soprano
Robyn Marie Lamp, a powerful Florida-based soprano, wasn’t quiet for too long during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. Virtual, outdoor, and socially distanced concerts, street stages, livestreams — even a “porch concert” in her neighborhood — are among the ways she lifted her voice, and spirits, remaining connected with her craft and audiences.
Her 2021-22 season will include singing the title role in Tosca for Gulfshore Opera, Mozart’s Requiem with the Palm Beach Symphony and Master Chorale of South Florida, and Beethoven's Egmont with Orchestra Miami. The 2019-20 season sent her to Boston, where she appeared as Clotilde and covered the title role in Bellini’s Norma with Boston Lyric Opera as an Emerging Artist. Another highlight was appearing as the soprano soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the South Florida Symphony Orchestra at the Broward Center. She returned to Gulfshore Opera to sing an all- Puccini concert and portrayed the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica with Opera Fusion, a South Florida company.
She made her Carnegie Hall debut in her 2018-19 season, singing the soprano solo in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem with Mid-America Productions. That season she also sang three Verdi Messa da Requiem’s, one with only hours’ notice, as she filled in for an ailing soprano with the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Lamp was scheduled to be the soprano soloist for Masterwork Chorus' performance of Verdi's Messa da Requiem in Carnegie Hall, but that performance was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ms. Lamp has been the recipient of multiple competition awards from the Rising Stars Vocal Competition at Vero Beach Opera, the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Gerda Lissner Foundation, the Lois Alba Aria Competition, the New York Lyric Opera Vocal Competition, and others.
Stephanie Doche, Mezzo-Soprano
Praised by Opera News for her “distinctive lower voice,” French American Mezzo-Soprano Stephanie Doche is coveted for her “richly colored mezzo" [South Florida Classical Review] and “explosively elegant” stage presence [Memphis Flyer]. Upcoming: the title role in Handel’s Ariodante with Opera Neo, Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Florida Grand Opera, Nicklausse in Tales of Hoffmann with Opera Louisiane and Isabella in L’Italiana in Algeri with St. Petersburg Opera. Ms. Doche also joins the Palm Beach Symphony for Handel’s Messiah this season.
In 2021 Ms. Doche sang the title roles of Carmen, La Cenerentola, and Serse with Mobile Opera, Pacific Opera Project, and Opera Neo. Critics exclaimed, “[As Serse] mezzo-soprano Stephanie Doche confidently sailed through acres of fioritura.” [San Diego Story]. In 2021 she returned to Opera Memphis as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Scalia/Ginsburg. As a member of the 2021-22 Florida Grand Opera Studio Stephanie was heard as Maddalena and Giovanna in Rigoletto, Narciso in Agrippina, and Eunice Hubbell in A Streetcar Named Desire. Of her previous 2021 performance in Florida Grand Opera’s Trouble in Tahiti, “Stephanie Doche conveyed Dinah’s despair at the loving warmth she once felt slipping away. Her smoky mezzo and luxuriant lower register radiated...”[South Florida Classical Review]. In the same season she was featured as Pamela/Mama in Daron Hagen’s New York Stories, as well as Rosina in Thomas Pasatieri’s Signor Deluso.
Role debuts of both Flora Bervoix in La traviata, Siébel in Faust with Florida Grand Opera, and Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte with Pacific Opera Project were canceled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was a Handorf Company Artist with Opera Memphis in 2018-2019 performing the roles of Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Cousin Hebe in H.M.S. Pinafore, and Toledo in The Falling & the Rising (professional premiere). That same season she sang Angelina in La Cenerentola with both Opéra Louisiane and Opera Neo.
Other credits include Idamante in Idomeneo, Dorabella in Cosī fan tutte, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Mère Marie in Dialogues des Carmélites, Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte, La Suora Zelatrice in Suor Angelica, and Meg March in Little Women.
Ms. Doche has been a featured soloist with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Riverdale Choral Arts Society, and at Crosstown Arts. She received awards from the Metropolitan Opera National Council and Beethoven Club of Memphis.
Jonathan Johnson, Tenor
This season tenor Jonathan Johnson makes his debut at the Tulsa Opera as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicci, and returns to Opera Omaha as Anthony in Sweeney Todd and to Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in Harvey Milk. He recently appeared as The Prince in The Love for Three Oranges at Opera Philadelphia’s Festival O19, Jonathan Dale in Silent Night at Utah Opera, and Beppe in I Pagliacciat Opera Colorado. In concert, Mr. Johnson appeared as a soloist with Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri, with the Detroit Symphony for Messiah, and in recital with the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago.
A graduate of the Patrick G. & Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center, the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s professional artist-development program, he appeared in the house’s main productions of Les Troyens, Lucia di Lammermoor, The Merry Widow, Der Rosenkavalier, Capriccio, The Magic Victrola and Mieczysław Weinberg’s Holocaust opera The Passenger. Other recent engagements have included his debut of the title role of Bernstein’s Candide with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Utah Symphony Orchestra, and Des Moines Metro Opera. He made his debut at Canadian Opera Company’s production of Anna Bolena, Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance and Lensky in Eugene Onegin at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Fenton in Falstaffat San Diego Opera, Lindoro in L’italiana in Algeri at the Portland Opera, La Damnation de Faust at the Grant Park Music Festival, Le Fils in Les mamelles de Tirésias with the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 and concert version of Don Giovanni with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra, a performance of Schumann’s Dichterliebe as part of a Liederabend in Chicago, and various appearances in the Harris Theater’s Beyond the Aria series, the 125th Anniversary Gala for the Auditorium Theater, and on WFMT radio as part of the Ryan Opera Center Recital Series. He also enjoys a touring relationship with Chris Botti, which has taken him through many cities in the US and abroad.
Hailing from Macon, GA, Mr. Johnson holds a Master’s degree and Professional Artist Certificate from the A.J. Fletcher Institute of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He also holds a Bachelor of Music from Townsend School of Music at Mercer University.
Richard Ollarsaba, Bass-Baritone
Mexican-American bass-baritone, Richard Ollarsaba, praised by The Washington Post for his “meltingly smooth bass-baritone” and for “evoking a young Ruggero Raimondi in looks and manner,” represented the USA in the 2019 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, was a member of the prestigious Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago for three seasons and a grand finalist in the 2013 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Last season, he appeared in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s digital concert Pasión Latina and made his New Zealand Opera debut as Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro. Engagements for the 2021-2022 season include the title role in Don Giovanni with Opera Grand Rapids and Opera Carolina, Mozart’s Requiem with the Palm Beach Symphony, the Count in Le nozze di Figaro with Virginia Opera, and Schaunard in La bohème with the Jacksonville Symphony.
His 2019-2020 season saw a reprise of his Escamillo in Carmen with Kentucky Opera and Handel’s Messiah with the Pittsburgh and Phoenix Symphonies as well as cancelled performances of Pulcinella with The Dallas Opera. In recent seasons, Mr. Ollarsaba made his role debut as Colline in La bohème with Piedmont Opera; sang Escamillo in Carmen with North Carolina Opera, Annapolis Opera, and Bar Harbor Music Festival; the title role of Don Giovanni in his debut with Opera Hong Kong; returned to Minnesota Opera in the title role in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro; debuted with Virginia Opera in Lucia di Lammermoor as Raimondo; performed Pistola in Falstaff with Opera Omaha and Intermountain Opera Bozeman; and returned to Wolf Trap Opera where he scored a triumph as Asdrubale in Rossini’s La pietra del paragone in addition to performances as Angelotti in Tosca and as Luciano in Musto’s Bastianello.
While at the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, his tenure included productions ofLa Traviata, Capriccio, Anna Bolena, Tosca, The Passenger, Otello, Madama Butterfly, Parsifal, and the title role in Don Giovanni, stepping into the iconic part with a few hours’ notice. Other operatic engagements include Escamillo in Carmen with Minnesota Opera, Tulsa Opera, and Lyric Opera of Chicago (cover); Fallito in Gassmann’s L’opera seria with Wolf Trap Opera; the title role in Don Giovanni with Intermountain Opera; Timur in Turandot and Rochefort in Anna Bolena with Minnesota Opera; Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Cleveland; Ferrando in Il Trovatore with North Carolina Opera, and Reverend John Hale in Ward’s The Crucible with Piedmont Opera.
In addition to performances on the operatic stage, Mr. Ollarsaba appears regularly in concert and recital. He has been the bass soloist with the Mainly Mozart Festival in a rare performance of Mozart’s Thamos, König in Ägypten, Handel’s Messiah with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Kansas City Symphony as well as in Bach’s St. John’s Passion with the Madison Bach Musicians, Dvorak’s Te Deum with Apollo Chorus of Chicago, Bernstein’s Songfest at the Ravinia Festival, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Macon Symphony Orchestra, Verdi’s Requiem with the Salisbury Symphony, and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy in his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood. That concert was a gala celebration of the venerable festival’s 75th birthday and was telecast nationally on PBS.
A native of Tempe, Arizona, Ollarsaba received his Bachelor of Music from the Cleveland Institute of Music and his Master of Music and post-graduate certificate from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. In addition to the Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, he trained at Minnesota Opera, Music Academy of the West, Chautauqua Opera, Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood and Wolf Trap Opera.
Schola Cantorum has performed in Palm Beach County since its founding in 1982 by Delray residents with the objective to perform choral masterworks. It has held weekly rehearsals and presented season concerts at the highest artistic level.
In 2016, to broaden community participation and collaboration, SCOF established a partnership with the area of Choral and Vocal Studies at FAU as Ensemble in Residence. Rehearsals and choral library relocated at FAU, Boca Raton.
Schola Cantorum promotes the training and musical development of young singers and emerging artists through its Young Artist Scholarship Program (YA) which has doubled in size since 2014. In return, YA’s offer strong leadership skills as representatives of the ensemble in musical and non-musical activities.
Following a national trend, the SCOF Chamber Ensemble was founded in 2015. It comprises professional and exceptional community members including, YA’s. It performs as part of the SCOF concert season and community impact, fundraising, and audience development.
The Chorale has successfully attracted singers of diverse backgrounds and experiences; from traditional community singers looking for a musical outlet, graduate/undergraduate music students, and music teachers. Since 2014 the Chorale has transformed from membership of mostly aging retirees to a multi-generational one spanning 18 to 80 years of age. SCOF prides itself as a true community chorus by making a difference for both seasoned professional singers and individuals of all ages in the county.
Annually, two major concerts are presented. The 2018 – 2019 season, in addition to the above-mentioned performances, included A Holiday Celebration – Sing a Joyful Song (Fall 2018), featuring, Chichester Psalms, in honor of its legendary composer Leonard Bernstein’s centennial. The Chorale frequently participates in the Annual FAU Handel’s Messiah Performance With Students, Faculty, Alumni, and Community Caroling.
The choir welcomes new members every week, and seeks to build relationships with the local community through outreach and educational activities. During this uncertain time, the Schola Canoturm of Florida will continue to safely promote the love of the choral arts with progressive performances and unifying voices.
Handel’s Messiah, HWV 56 (Palm Beach Symphony Premiere)
Gerard Schwarz
George Frideric Handel
Florida Atlantic University Chamber Singers and Schola Cantorum of Florida
Robyn Marie Lamp, soprano
Stephanie Doche, mezzo-soprano
Jonathan Johnson, tenor
Richard Ollarsaba, bass
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