A native of Minnesota, mezzo-soprano Marianna Busching made her Carnegie Hall debut singing the part of Braengane in Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde". Since then, she has performed with virtually every major music organization in Washington, D.C., including the National Symphony and the Folger Consort, and has appeared at the Kennedy Center countless times in works of Bach, Mendelssohn, and Copland. She has sung with orchestra, choruses and opera companies throughout the nation, including the Milwaukee Symphony, the Tulsa Symphony, the Atlanta Lyric Opera Company, and accompanied the Washington Bach Consort to Germany as alto soloist in Bach's "Mass in B Minor".
Overseas, she has performed in England, Poland, and the Czech Republic in concert and as soloist with the Columbia Pro Cantare. Several reknowned composers in the Washington area have composed songs and song cycles exclusively for her voice. One such cycle, using Ms. Busching's own poetry, was set to music by Edwin Earle Ferguson and premiered at the Rewick Gallery in Washington.
A popular guest artist at music festivals, she has sung at the Baldwin-Wallace Bach Festival in Cleveland, the Brevard Music Festival and the Winter Park Festival in Florida, among others, singing works from the Bach "Passions" to Verdi's "Requiem".
She has recorded on Columbia Masterworks and Centaur Records, the most recent being the recording of 56 songs by German composer Hans Pfitzner aon the Centaur labe.
She has been on the vocal faculty of the Peabody Institute for twenty two years.
Patrizia Conte
Voice
Mezzo-soprano Patrizia DeCarmine Conte has received international acclaim for her combination of vocal beauty, superb musicianship (she has absolute pitch) and commanding stage presence in a repertory of over forty opera, concert and oratorio roles.
A native of Long Island, New York, she earned her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Voice Performance from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She was also a full tuition scholarship recipient for operatic studies at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia.
Her major debut as Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana in Miami earned her great acclaim: “A beautiful and powerful dramatic voice and a superb actress”. The late Maestro Alfredo Silipigni of the New Jersey State Opera considered her Santuzza one of the finest he had ever heard. Her Town Hall debut was described: “A voice of velvet.” A finalist in the San Francisco and the Chicago Lyric Opera Auditions, the Concorso per Le Voci Verdiane in Busseto and the Concorso Lirico in Parma, Italy, Ms. Conte was a protégé of the late Metropolitan Opera soprano Beverly Bower. The late Jerome Hines acclaimed hers as a “Stignani" voice, recalling the great Italian mezzo. Critics have praised her “glorious, cello-like tones…we have not heard the contralto role [Messiah] sung with more beauty, warmth and joyousness.”
She has appeared at L'Opera de Montreal, the Teatro Verdi di Busseto, the Kennedy Center, the Dallas Opera, Dallas Symphony, Fort Worth Opera, Wolf Trap, National Opera, New Jersey State Opera, Opera Pan Americana de Miami, Opera Delaware, Opera Omaha, Annapolis Opera and many others, singing under the baton of such renowned conductors as Robert Shaw, Nicola Rescigno, Joseph Rescigno, Alfredo Silipigni, Rudolf Kruger and Cristofer Macatsoris, and collaborating with such esteemed directors as Carlisle Floyd and Bernard Uzan in many productions, including Madama Butterfly, Cavalleria Rusticana, Tosca, Susannah, The Consul, Il Trovatore, Aida, Andrea Chenier and The Daughter of the Regiment.
She appeared in concert as featured mezzo/ contralto soloist in the Bach Great Mass in b minor; Handel Messiah and Israel in Egypt, Mendelssohn Elijah, Verdi Messa da Requiem, Michael Haydn Requiem, Mozart Requiem, Rossini Stabat Mater, and many other works with the Metropolitan Chorus, Oratorio Singers of Westfield, the Morris Choral Society, the Easton Choral Arts Society, the Babylon Chorale and the Essex Chorale.
She debuted in March, 2009 in Cavalleria Rusticana with the Annapolis Opera, Maestro Ronald J. Gretz conducting. She also debuted with the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey in August, 2008 under the baton of Maestro Robert W. Butts as Juno/ Ino in Semele of Handel and scored a triumphant return in August, 2009 as the plaintive Cornelia in Giulio Cesare: "Patrizia Conte's Cornelia set the quality standard for the performance. The depth of her emotional artistry in the lamenting 'Priva son' left this reviewer in tears." (Peter Stevens, The Alternative Press). In October, 2011, she debuted at the George Washington Masonic Memorial Concert Hall in Alexandria, Virginia, singing the mezzo role in the Rossini Stabat Mater, Maestro Barry S. Hemphill, conductor. She then was invited to make her Kennedy Center debut in December 2011 as contralto soloist in the Messiah with the National Symphony Orchestra and 200-voice chorus, again under the baton of Maestro Hemphill. Subsequent appearances with the Annapolis Opera have been in Rigoletto (March, 2013) and in concert in “Celebrate Opera” (December, 2013). She returns in March, 2016 as Marthe Schwertlein in Faust.
Patrizia Conte was appointed to the vocal faculty of the Conservatory of the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in August, 2015. In addition, she maintains an active private voice studio and is in demand as consultant, clinician for master classes and adjudicator. Her critically acclaimed CD release, “The Art of Patrizia Conte”, is now available through her website: patriziacontemezzo.weebly.com
Stanley Cornett
Voice
The 2015 recipient of the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association Excellence in Teaching Award, Dr. Stanley Cornett, tenor, is completing his twenty-eighth year as a member of the voice faculty at Peabody. His studio is comprised of voice majors including students of all voice types and degree levels. In addition, Dr. Cornett teaches classes in Vocal Pedagogy and Oratorio Literature. Previous to coming to Peabody, he was Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of Michigan School of Music in Ann Arbor (1983-1987). Through his work as a teacher and pedagogue, Dr. Cornett has helped many students place in major vocal competitions and perform in important venues nationally and internationally (see Links to "About My Students", "Studio Alumni News", and "My Studio" on this website). He often serves as Adjudicator for major vocal competitions, consultant for various articles and publications, and is featured in master classes and summer residencies. Last summer he was a member of the voice faculty and presented a master class at The Almalfi Coast Music & Arts Festival in Italy (http://www.musicalstudies.com/programs/vocal.php), and he returns this summer (2015). He was previously Co-Director of the Seagle Music Colony in Schroon Lake, New York for five years, and was a featured teacher at the ARIA International Summer Music Academy in London, Ontario, the Bel Cantanti Summer Opera Festival, the Bethesda Summer Music Festival, and the Young Artists of America vocal program. Dr. Cornett received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees and Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland, with additional studies at the Juilliard School and the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh, England. He is regularly listed as a biographee in Who's Who in America.
As a performer, Dr. Cornett has enjoyed a versatile career of more than thirty-five years, in repertoire spanning nine centuries and myriad genres. He has consistently been praised by the press for his beauty of tone and elegant style. (See Links to "Audio Gallery", "Opera Reviews", and "Concert Reviews" on this website). Performing over thirty operatic roles, he has appeared with the New York City Opera, the Washington Opera, the Baltimore Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, Syracuse Opera, Mobile Opera, Dayton Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Skylight Opera, and Summer Opera of Washington. He has been soloist with many of America's major orchestras with conductors Robert Shaw, Christopher Hogwood, Eduardo Mata, David Atherton, Hugh Wolff, Gustav Meier, Christian Badea, Martin Isepp, David Stahl, Peter Bay, Kenneth Schermerhorn, Jeffrey Rink, Robert Shafer, Norman Scribner, J.Reilly Lewis, Robert DeCormier, Lyndon Woodside, Thomas Dunn, Tom Hall, Richard Westenburg, Carl St. Clair, and John Oliver. Orchestral appearances include the symphony orchestras of Dallas, Atlanta, San Diego, Baltimore, Rochester, Syracuse, Omaha, Des Moines, Charleston, and New Mexico, as well as the National Symphony, the Shinsei-Nippon Symphony in Tokyo, the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Pasadena Chamber Orchestra, and the Pacific Symphony. On the oratorio stage, Dr. Cornett has performed in New York at Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and Alice Tully Hall for the Oratorio Society of New York and Musica Sacra, in Boston at Symphony Hall and Jordon Hall with the Handel and Haydn Society and Chorus Pro Musica, and extensively in Washington and Baltimore at the Kennedy Center, the National Cathedral, and Meyerhoff Hall, and with every major choral group in the area. He has appeared with Washington's Theater Chamber Players, the Folger Consort, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, and the Library of Congress Concert Series' radio broadcasts. Festival appearances include the Bethlehem Bach Festival, the Rochester Bach Festival, the Washington Bach Festival at the Kennedy Center, and the Aldeburgh Festival in England. Dr. Cornett has been featured in the national television broadcast "The Glory of Christmas" with the Louisville Bach Society as well as numerous other broadcasts on PBS and NPR. He was previously Winner of the Oratorio Society of New York Competition, and Finalist in the prestigious Walter Naumburg Competition and the Young Concert Artists Competition, among others. As a performer, Dr. Cornett was represented by IMG Artists Management.
Dr. Cornett is married to pianist Eileen Cornett, a Principal Music Coach on the Opera Faculty and Director of the Collaborative Piano program at Peabody. They live in Baltimore, where they enjoy raising their two daughters, Lydia and Emily.
Denyce Graves
Voice
Identified as "an operatic superstar of the 21st century" by USA Today, Denyce Graves has performed in the world's great opera houses and concert halls. She is particularly well known for her portrayals of the title roles in Carmen and Samson et Dalila, with performances at the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, San Francisco Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Washington Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Arena di Verona, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opernhaus Zurich, Teatro Real in Madrid, Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Los Angeles Opera, and the Festival Maggio Musicale in Florence. She continues to appear in a broad range of repertoire in theaters in North America and Europe.
Graves has worked with leading symphony orchestras and conductors throughout the world. She is also one of the music world's most sought-after recitalists. Her programs include classical repertoire of German Lieder, French mélodie, and English art song, as well as the popular music of Broadway, musicals, crossover, jazz, and American spirituals.
She appears regularly on radio and television as a musical performer, celebrity guest, and as the subject of documentaries and other special programming. She has been invited on several occasions to perform in recital at the White House, and she gives benefit performances for various causes special to her each season.
A native of Washington, D.C., Denyce Graves attended the Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts. She continued her education at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and New England Conservatory. In 1998, Graves received an honorary doctorate from Oberlin College Conservatory. Her awards include the Grand Prix du Concours International de Chant de Paris, the Eleanor Steber Music Award in the Opera Columbus Vocal Competition, and a Jacobson Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation. In 1991, she received the Grand Prix Lyrique, awarded once every three years by the Association des amis de l'opéra de Monte-Carlo.
Ah Young Hong
Voice
Renowned for her artistic versatility, soprano Ah Young Hong has interpreted a vast array of repertoire, ranging from the music of Bach and Monteverdi to the songs of Zemlinsky and Shostakovich to the works of some of the 21st century’s most prominent composers.
In 2014, Ms. Hong stunned audiences in the world premiere of Michael Hersch’s monodrama, On the Threshold of Winter, at Brooklyn Academy of Music, Fishman Space with the NUNC Ensemble led by artistic director Miranda Cuckson and conductor Tito Muñoz. The New York Times praised Ms. Hong’s “courageous, soul-baring performance” and lauded her role as the opera’s “lone, blazing star.” The New Criterion added, “Hong delivered a tour de force ... [she] performed intelligently, bravely, and searingly.”
Other operatic performances by Ms. Hong include the title role in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, Morgana in Handel’s Alcina, Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Fortuna and Minerva in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, and Asteria in Handel’s Tamerlano. She has also appeared with Opera Lafayette in Rebel and Francoeur’s Zélindor, roi des Sylphes at the Rose Theater in Lincoln Center and as La Musique in Charpentier’s Les Arts Florissants at the Kennedy Center. As Poppea, Ms. Hong was deemed “a triumph” whose “tonal gleam filled the hall beautifully”(The Baltimore Sun).
In high demand as a concert and chamber soloist, Ms. Hong has performed with Wiener KammerOrchester, the Miami Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Concert Artists of Baltimore, and Tempesta di Mare, amongst others. In 2015 with Network for New Music, she performed the world premiere of a breath upwards by Michael Hersch. Performances in the 2015-16 season include Hersch's On the Threshold of Winter at the Peabody Institute and at the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee; the world premiere of Symphony 1 by Daniel McCarter with the Bay-Atlantic Symphony to commemorate Kristallnacht; Poulenc's Gloria with the Phoenix Symphony and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra; and returning to Philadelphia to perform with Network for New Music in a concert of works by Milton Babbitt and his students.
Ms. Hong recorded the American premiere of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Alles mit Gott und nichts ohn’ ihn, BWV 1127, for National Public Radio’s Performance Today. Other recordings include the world premiere of Rebel and Francoeur’s Zélindor, roi des Sylphes (Naxos), Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater (Peter Lee Music), and Sentirete una Canzonetta with Harmonious Blacksmith.
Ms. Hong is currently a member of the Conservatory voice faculty at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.
www.ahyounghong.com
STEVEN RAINBOLT
Steven Rainbolt is honored to be the recipient of the Peabody 2013 Excellence in Teaching Award, presented by the Johns Hopkins Alumni Association. He has been on the Peabody faculty since 2001. Dr. Rainbolt's career in opera and musical theatre encompasses more than 40 roles, having appeared with regional opera companies of Indianapolis, Lake George, Sarasota, Baltimore, and Annapolis, as well as the Austin Lyric, Portland Opera Repertory Theatre, Arkansas Opera Theatre, New York Liederkranz, Ashlawn-Highland Opera, and Des Moines Metro Opera, in a repertory of roles ranging from operetta's Danilo and Falke, and many of the Mozart heroes, to Rossini's Figaro and the Faust Valentin. He made his European operatic debut with Mstislav Rostropovich in a contemporary premiere at the Evian Festival in France.
Dr. Rainbolt received the Artist Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory where he was the recipient of the George Castelle Memorial Prize in Voice as well as a winner in the Sylvia Green Voice Competition. He has been a regional winner in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and a finalist in the Opera Columbus Voice Competition. His work with master teachers includes Dominic Cossa, John Shirley-Quirk, and Thomas Grubb. In masterclass, he has worked with Renata Scotto and Evelyn Lear.
Engagements in oratorio range from Bach to Walton, including Brahms' Requiem, Bach's St. John Passion, Handel's L'Allegro and Messiah, Dvorak's Te Deum, Vaughan Williams' Five Mystical Songs and Sea Symphony, Haydn's Creation, and Orff's Carmina Burana. He has enjoyed extensive experience as a soloist with orchestras, including The Annapolis Symphony, the New Westchester Symphony and Liederkranz Orchestras of New York, the Richmond and Nebraska Chamber Orchestras, the Loudoun Symphony and the Smithsonian Concerto Grosso. He has also appeared as soloist with choral organizations such as Masterworks Chorus & Orchestra in Washington, Columbia Pro Cantare, Handel Choir of Baltimore, and the Baltimore Choral Arts Chamber Ensemble. He has performed as a fellow with the Bach Aria Group in New York and has been heard on Michigan Public Radio in the Faure Requiem. His work with notable conductors includes Leonard Slatkin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Leslie Dunner, David Effron, Alfredo Silipigni, and Samuel Baron.
As a recitalist he has concertized and toured in many states and in Europe, most recently a recital in Salzburg, Austria. He has also performed with the vocal chamber groups, The Lyric Arts Quintet and The Peabody Four and the Bay Voices. His love of concert repertoire finds him continually exploring new recital music, and he has premiered new works in both opera and oratorio - most recently a Nunc Dimittis composed for him by Elan Ray Sprenkle, first performed in an Evensong in Edinburgh, Scotland.
A dual passion for singing and teaching dominates Dr. Rainbolt's music career. In addition to his Artist Diploma, he holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Iowa, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland. In 2001 he was bestowed the "Excellence in Teaching" award from the University of Maryland Graduate School. He has held teaching positions at various colleges and universities, including Hastings College (Nebraska), Northern Kentucky University, Mansfield University (Pennsylvania), and George Mason University (Virginia). He has also served on the voice faculty of the University of Miami in Salzburg, Austria summer program, and the Fairbanks, Alaska, Fine Arts Festival.
He has served as both Vice President and President of the Maryland/DC National Association of Teachers of Singing Chapter, and he regularly attends and adjudicates the student competitions, and has also served as a judge for the Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition. Many of his students have been NATS winners, state winners in the Metropolitan Opera Competition and finalists in the Annapolis Opera Competition. Dr. Rainbolt continues to enjoy the many successes of his students, past and present, who have pursued their music careers in graduate study, opera training programs, opera apprentice programs in such institutions including Juilliard, Academy of the Vocal Arts, Sarasota Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Central City Opera, Arizona Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, Seattle Opera, Lake George Opera, New York City Opera, Baltimore, Opera, Merola Opera, to name a few, and in numerous professional engagements.
William Sharp
Voice
Baritone William Sharp has a reputation as a singer of artistry and versatility, garnering acclaim for his work in concert, recital, opera and recording. He performs actively, as he has for four decades. He has appeared with most major American symphony orchestras including those of New York, Chicago, Washington, Boston, Baltimore, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. He has created world premiere performances and recordings of works by composers such as Leonard Bernstein, John Harbison, John Musto, Jon Deak, Libby Larson, David Del Tredici, Lori Laitman, Steven Paulus, Scott Wheeler, and David Liptak. His performances and recordings of baroque and earlier music are equally acclaimed.
Mr. Sharp’s discography of several dozen discs encompasses music spanning 900 years, from the 12th century to today. His 1990 world premiere recording of Leonard Bernstein's last major work, Arias and Barcarolles won a GRAMMY Award, and he was nominated for a 1989 GRAMMY for Best Classical Vocal Performance for his recording featuring the works of American composers such as Virgil Thomson, John Musto, and Lee Hoiby. He made his New York recital debut in 1983, Kennedy Center debut in 1984, and Carnegie Hall recital debut in 1989. He is winner of the Carnegie Hall International American Music Competition, the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the Kathleen Ferrier Memorial Prize, and the Geneva International Competition.
Mr. Sharp has taught voice at the university level since 1977 and joined the Peabody Conservatory faculty in 2002. His students are performing throughout the world in concert and opera.
