Herbert Burtis: Musician, Author, and Educator

Soprano Janet Brown has been praised by critics for her warm, clear voice and direct expression. Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe has called her "….one of our most treasurable artists." Ms. Brown is equally at home on the concert and operatic stages. She has performed roles with the Syracuse Opera Company, the American Repertory Theatre, the Boston Early Music Festival and the Pepsico Summerfare music festival. On the concert stage she has performed the major oratorio roles with the Syracuse Symphony, the West Virginia Symphony, the Cantata Singers of Boston, the Spectrum Singers of Boston, the New England Bach Festival, the Northwest Bach Festival, Handel & Haydn Society, Emmanuel Music of Boston and the Tallahassee Symphony, to name a few. Ms. Brown is also a frequent recitalist with the Skaneateles Chamber Music Festival and has appeared in concerts of new music with the Syracuse-based Society for New Music, and Boston's Collage New Music.
Janet Brown has premiered works by composers Gunther Schuller, Andrew Imbrie, Philip Glass, Nicolas Scherzinger, Edward Cohen, Howard Boatwright and Ernst Bacon. In addition to her critically acclaimed CD release of selections from Spanisches Liederbuch of Hugo Wolf, she can be heard on a recording entitled "Fond Affection: Music of Ernst Bacon" on the CRI label. Ms. Brown serves as Instructor of Voice and Academic Coordinator at Syracuse University's Setnor School of Music. Ms. Brown's concert schedule can be found at janetbrownsoprano.com.

Press Review

Jane Bryden, soprano is another fine talent who studies with Mr. Burtis. Here, she is pictured in a scene from the opera 'S' by Ronald Perrera at Smith College, where Ms. Bryden teaches voice. Appearing in the photo with her is Douglas Perry, tenor. Jane Bryden has appeared with St, Luke's Orchestra, Kennedy Center Chamber Players, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Aston Magna, the Aulos Ensemble, Boston Museum Trio, Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Baltimore Symphony and the Israel Philharmonic. She sang the role of Angelica in Peter Sellars' production of Handel's Orlando and is a founding member of Boston's Emmanuel Music. She played the title role in 'S', an opera by Ronald Perrara, based on the novel of John Updyke. She is the Iva Dee Hiatt Professor of Music at Smith College, Northampton, MA. She is a student of Herbert Burtis.
You may contact her through Alberti Productions at roodhill@fairpoint.net or at jbryden@email.smith.edu.

©Stephen Petegorsky

Gayle Ross, soprano. Gayle Ross has performed the roles of the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Madame Goldentrill in Mozart’s Impresario, Zerbinetta in the Richard Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos, Lucy in Menotti’s The Telephone, Patience in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience, and Josephine in Gilbert and Sullivan’s H.M.S. Pinafore. She has performed in recital at the Maverick Theatre in Woodstock, NY, at CAMI Hall in New York City, with the Ganassi Early Music Ensemble in Cleveland, OH, and with the opera companies of Syracuse, Oswego, and Ithaca, NY, as well as with the Syracuse Opera Ensemble and the Syracuse Vocal Ensemble.
She has done doctoral studies in vocal performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music; she maintains a private vocal studio and is co-director of the Singer-Actor Workshop of Syracuse. For information about concert and opera appearances by Gayle Ross you may email her at eiseross@a-znet.com. Gayle Ross is a student of Herbert Burtis.

Judith Gray recently appeared at Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall in Alberti Production's presentation of Love, Women, and Song! She has also appeared with Toledo Opera, Augusta Opera, New Orleans Opera, Nevada Opera Theatre, Kalamazoo Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, New York City Opera, Mississippi Opera, Bronx Opera, Berkshire Festival Opera, Arkansas Opera, Texas Opera Theatre, Houston Spring Festival, Opera New England, Maracaibo Opera (Venezuela), and Rochester Opera. Judith Gray is a student of Herbert Burtis. Ms. Gray is on the voice faculty of Smith College, Northampton, MA.
For information about concert and opera appearances by Judith Gray contact Alberti Productions at roodhill@fairpoint.net or at jgraybell@hotmail.com.

Press Review

Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, considered by many to be one of the world's greatest mezzo-sopranos and compared by critics to Maria Callas as far as her stage artistry was concerned, died at age 52 in Santa Fe, NM after a long battle with cancer on July 3, 2006. For the past twenty years, until the time of her death, she studied voice with Herbert Burtis.
     She sang in opera houses and with symphony orchestras throughout the world. The picture in this bio was taken from offstage during one of her brilliant performances at the Salle Garnier (Paris Opéra). She was especially noted for her singing of the music of Handel but performed a wide variety of roles including many works by contemporary composers.
     She made her Metropolitan Opera début as Myrtle Wilson in the world première of John Harbison's The Great Gatsby in 1999 and returned later to the Met to reprise that role and then to appear as Didon in Berlioz's Les Troyens, both to great acclaim.
     Her husband, composer Peter Lieberson, wrote several song cycles for her which she performed with the Boston Symphony and other orchestras. They met when she was performing in his opera Ashoka's Dream at the Santa Fe Opera.
     The Met was planning on staging a new production of Orfeo in 2007 for her. This production will now be dedicated to her memory.
     Herbert Burtis has written a brief memoir entitled Remembering Lorraine which he will be happy to email to any interested person. You may contact him through this website or at roodhill@fairpoint.net.

Nathaniel Watson has sung with all of the leading Early Music ensembles of North America as well as more mainstream symphony orchestras, and has some thirty-five operatic roles in his repertoire. Highlights include Der Freischütz of Weber with the New York Philharmonic under Sir Colin Davis, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony under Kurt Mazur and in Carnegie Hall with Sir Roger Norrington in the conductor's debut concert in America.
He appeared in the title role in the Boston Early Music Festival production of Cavalli's Ercole Amante in Boston, The Tanglewood Festival, and at the Utrecht Festival in Holland. In Salzburg he appeared at the Salzburg Festival in the Brecht/Weill Mahagonny. He has sung as guest soloist with the symphony orchestras of Boston, Baltimore, San Francisco, Houston, Montreal, and Quebec. He has been heard throughout Canada on the CBC and Radio-Canada, performing in recital, and with Tafelmusik, les Violins du Roy, and other ensembles. He appears on a newly released CD of Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher with Kurt Mazur and the New York Philharmonic, and a soon to be released CD of Scarlatti's Agar et Ismaele esiliati with Seattle Baroque. He is also featured in recordings of both of the Bach Passions, the St. John with Eric Milnes, and the St. Matthew with Jeffrey Thomas and the American Bach Soloists. He lives in Montréal, Canada and in New York City. He studies with Herbert Burtis. You may contact Nathaniel Watson at nfw@videotron.ca and http://www.deanartists.com/.

Press Review

©Tobias Haynes

Jeremy Lees has appeared as soloist with the Monmouth Civic Chorus (NJ), the Shrewsbury Chorale, and the Ocean County College Chorus in works including Vaughan Williams' Sea Symphony, Orff's Carmina Burana, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Missa Solemnis, and the Requiems of Mozart, Fauré, Duruflé, and Brahms. His operatic roles include Frank Maurrant in Kurt Weill's Street Scene, Colline in Puccini's La Bohème, Wozzeck of Alban Berg, and Daniel Webster in The Devil and Daniel Webster. His song repertoire includes works by Schubert, Schuman, Brahms, Mahler, Strauss, Wolf, Debussy, Fauré, Vaughan Williams, Finzi, Barber, and Copland. He has also sung songs of Gershwin, Porter, Rodgers and Hart, and Stephen Sondheim in concert. Jeremy Lees studies with Herbert Burtis.
You may reach him for concert appearances through Alberti Productions at roodhill@fairpoint.net or jllees@concentric.net.

Peggy Noecker, soprano, at her recent performance of Mozart's "Exsultate, Jubilate", with the Newburg (NY) Chamber Symphony. Peggy Noecker sings a wide variety of music from Bach to Broadway. She has sung the soprano solos in Bach's Mass in B Minor, Bach's St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion, Fauré's Requiem, and the operatic roles of Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, The Matron in The Veil, and so on. She appears in Cabaret appearances with Alan Gibson and Herbert Burtis. She teaches voice at her studio in Middletown, NJ. She studies with Herbert Burtis.
For more information about appearances by Peggy Noecker contact Alberti Productions at roodhill@fairpoint.net.

Nigel Brookes, bass-baritone,   read music at the University of Edinburgh and subsequently studied singing at the Royal College of Music in London, where he won the Bernhard Stevens Performance Prize.
    He has a wide repertoire ranging from Monteverdi to Berio. He has performed and recorded throughout the world, including Bach's Mass in B Minor with the Roth Kammerchor in Germany, Vivaldi with the Bern Kammerchor in Switzerland, with appearances at the European Institute of Economic Affairs in Paris and the Sangat Festival in Bombay, India.
    He has appeared at the Spittlefield Festival and the St. Magnus Festival. He has given first performances of such contemporary works as Matthew Peacock's The Little Prince, Linda Dowdell's The Big Window, and song cycles by Beth Brown.
    He was recently the baritone soloist in the premier recording of Kenneth Leighton's Sequence for All Saints.
    He has performed with the groups The Sixteen, Cardinall's Musick, The Gabrielli Consort, Collegium Vocale of Ghent, La Chappelle Royale, Cappella Nova and The Dunedin Concert.
    He lives in London, England and can be reached at nigelbrookes@homechoice.co.uk
    He is a student of Herbert Burtis.

Nancy Ford has appeared twice recently at the Fire Bird Cabaret in New York City to critical acclaim. She has composed the music for a number of musicals with book and lyrics by Gretchen Cryer, including I'm Getting my Act Together and Taking it on the Road, The Last Sweet Days of Isaac, and most recently two American Girl musicals for the Pleasant Company's American Girl Place in Chicago, Illinois.
For more information about appearances by Nancy Ford contact Alberti Productions at roodhill@fairpoint.net.

Alan Gibson is a member of the cast of The Russians are Coming! and has made a specialty of Russian song. He also performs The Songs and Dances of Death of Mussorgsky and songs of Rachmaninoff. He has appeared several times in the role of Melchoir in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors. He is the rector of All Saints Church in Locust, NJ. He is a student of Herbert Burtis.

Jennifer Lauby is a member of the cast of The Russians are Coming! which has been performed on tour this past season and is still available. She has performed with the Consort of Voices in Manila, The Philippines, with the North New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and has sung the roles of Leonora in Un Ballo in Maschera, Violetta in La Traviata, and Agathe in Der Freischütz. She has also performed at Harvard University, with the Pro Arte Chorale and the Riverside Church Choir in New York City.
You may contact her through Alberti Productions at roodhill@fairpoint.net or at jennifer@phmc.org.

Benjamin Luxon, baritone   Benjamin Luxon is one of Great Britain's major international singers. His career has displayed an unusual versatility, being equally renowned as recitalist, concert, and opera singer.
    His career began as a member of the English Opera Group, formed by Benjamin Britten for the performance of his own and other contemporary operas. Luxon quickly became on of Britten's key singers culminating with Britten composing the role of Owen Wyngrave specifically for Luxon's voice.
    He has sung at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Glyndebourne, Tanglewood, and the opera houses of Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt, Prague, the Metropolitan Opera of New York City, the Vienna State Opera, and La Scala, Milano.
    Some of his roles have included Eugene Onegin, Wozzeck, Falstaff, Don Giovanni, and Papageno.
    He has worked with the world's major conductors and orchestras and made over one hundred recordings.
    He has been involved in narrating works with symphony orchestras, conducting master classes, directing opera, and presenting a one man show of poetry readings.
    In 1986 he was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his service to British music by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
    He currently studies with Herbert Burtis.

Anne Todd Howarth   is a British soprano living near London. During the past year she has sung the soprano solos in Mendelssohn's Elijah at Canterbury Cathedral, and later this year, she will be the soprano soloist in Handel's Ode for St Cecilia's Day and Mozart's Credo Mass at Worcester Cathedral where she has previously sung Handel's Messiah. Her recent solo oratorio performances have included engagements at many cathedrals in the UK including Saint-Saëns' Oratorio de Noël at Winchester Cathedral; Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem at Bristol Cathedral; Bach's St John Passion at York Minster and Poulenc's Gloria at Chester Cathedral.
    In the USA her solo engagements have included two performances as soprano soloist in Bach's St John Passion with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in Connecticut conducted by Michael Lankester at the Bushnell Memorial Concert Hall and, in May 2000, a song recital for the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series at the Preston Bradley Hall in Chicago accompanied by pianist Philip Morehead, which was broadcast live on WFMT-FM radio. Anne has also given song recitals at the Three Choirs Festival (Gloucester), the Royal Festival Hall Purcell Room in London, the Chapter Library at Windsor Castle and several recitals at St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square and two recitals in Florida. Recent concert performances have included Berlioz' Les nuits d'été, with the Oxford Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sîan Edwards. Anne studied piano and drama before obtaining a University Degree in Architecture. She began her vocal studies in London with Roy Hickman and has recently begun to study with Herbert Burtis.
    You may reach her at atoddhowarth@onetel.com

The late, great dramatic soprano Lucilla Udovich with Herbert Burtis on stage after a performance in Milton, MA. Ms. Udovich sang in opera houses worldwide until a spinal disease curtailed her career. With Mr. Burtis at the piano she returned to the concert stage for a season, where she could sing while seated. She lived much of her life in Rome, Italy, where she died in 1999.

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