October 14, 2012
7:00 pm
Washington Center for the Performing Arts

Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125

The Olympia Symphony Orchestra proudly presents the first concert of our 60th Anniversary season.

Special Guests:

Olympia Choral Society
Terrance Robert Bernard Shaw, Director

Soloists: 

Christina Kowalski - Soprano

A native of Germany, earned her Master’s Degree in Music and Drama from the Hochschule für Musik und Kunst in Frankfurt am Main. Ms.Kowalski appeared in productions by the Frankfurt Opera Studio as the Governess in “Turn of the screw” and Parascha in Stravinsky’s “Mavra”. She toured with the “Febi Armonici” under Maestro Michael Schneider throughout Germany and appeared as Amore in “Poppea” at the Stadttheater Eisenach and the Berlin Philharmonic. Ms. Kowalski held an all-Schubert Recital in Vienna, and was a member of the Lied-Klasse of Professor Charles Spencer in Frankfurt, Kammer Saengerin Gundula Janowitz in Vienna and Ms. Elena Lazarska in Salzburg. Ms. Kowalski made her Debut in the United States as Marzelline in Beethoven’s “Fidelio” at the Mark Theater in Portland. Since then she has performed, among others, with Portland Opera, the Portland Summer Fest, Kitsap Opera , Skagit Opera ,Washington East Opera, the Metthow Valley Chamber Music Festival, the Seattle and Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestras, Seattle Concert Opera , Bravo Vancouver Orchestra , Vashon Opera, Sinfonia Concertante and Coeur D’Alene Opera. With Coeur d’Alene Opera alone she has portrayed Lauretta in “Schicci”, Adina in “E’lisir”, the Contessa in “The Marriage of Figaro”, Clorinda in “La Cenerentola” and Mimi in “La Boheme”. She most recently performed Cio Cio San in Butterfly with the Seattle Opera Guild and will sing her first Nedda with Skagit Opera through the end of September. Her future engagements include Cio Cio San in Butterfly with Rogue Opera and Strauss “Vier letzte Lieder” with the Vancouver Symphony. Her CD “The Seven” is available on amazon.com.

Angela Niederloh - Mezzo Soprano

Angela Niederloh has been acclaimed by the New York Times as, “a charismatic mezzo soprano”. Angela is happy to be back in her hometown of Portland, Oregon where she was last seen as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Angelina in La Cenerentola,  Guinone in La Calisto, Melibea in Il viaggio a Rheims and Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte with Portland Opera.  A recent participant in the Houston Grand Opera Studio, Ms. Niederloh was last seen as Meg Page in Falstaff, Karolka in Jenůfa and Second Lady in Die Zauberflöte.  Other roles include Flora in La Traviata, Rosette in Manon and Olga in The Merry Widow.  Other operatic engagements for the American artist include Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte (San Francisco Opera Center) The Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors (Opera Omaha) Annio in La Clemenza di Tito, Mrs. Slender in Salieri’s Falstaff (Wolf Trap Opera).  Equally at home on the concert stage, Ms. Niederloh’s solo credit’s include performances with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Music of Remembrance, Camarata Pacifica, Oregon Symphony, Boston Baroque Orchestra, Olympia Symphony Orchestra, New York Festival of Song, Aspen Festival Orchestra, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Columbia Symphony, Choral Arts Ensemble and Choral Crossties.  An active participant in many of the nation’s most respected competitions, Ms. Niederloh was a National Finalist in the 2000 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, winner and audience favorite in the Eleanor Lieber Award Competition, second place in the MacAllister Vocal Competition, second place in the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition and finalist in the McCollum Vocal Competition. Angela serves on voice faculty at Pacific and Portland State Universities.

Upcoming engagements include:  Falstaff with Portland Opera, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony wth the Seattle Symphony and Handel’s Messiah with the Walla Walla Symphony.

Michael Delos - Bass

With a repertoire of over 40 operatic roles, Bass-baritone Michael Delos has appeared with the New York City Opera, L’Opera de Monte Carlo, Chicago Opera Theater, Seattle Opera, Portland Opera, Hawaii Opera and Vancouver (B.C.) Opera among others.

Much in demand as a concert performer, Mr. Delos has sung with the Detroit Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Calgary Symphony, the Toyko Nihon Shinsei Symphony of Japan and the Osaka Symphony.  He also has appeared as a featured soloist with the prestigious Carmel Bach Festival.

Delos is much in demand for his work on Video Game soundtracks.  His rich voice can be heard in Halo 2, 3 and ‘Reach’, Age of Empires, The Elder Scrolls and World of Warcraft.  His movie soundtrack credits include The Celestine Prophecy, Novocaine, Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and most recently ‘Mirror, Mirror’ with Julia Roberts.

Michael Delos is an Associate Professor of Voice at the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Adjunct voice faculty member with the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma and bass soloist with Temple Beth Am in Seattle.

Matthew Blegen- Tenor

Matthew used to make his living singing the praises of others: first as an advertising creative on Madison Avenue in New York City, and later as a public relations executive for several high tech companies. Music has always been Matthew’s passion however, and throughout his corporate career he also performed regularly as a classical vocalist with organizations such as the New Jersey State Opera, New York Oratorio Society, William Hall Master Chorale, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Opera Orchestra of Los Angeles, Portland Pro Musica as well as serving as a studio musician on movie soundtracks and dozens of CDs.

He completed his Master of Music in Vocal Performance at the University of Washington in 2006, studying with world-renowned tenor Vinson Cole. Upon completing that degree he founded the Anna’s Bay Center for Music, combining all of his skills with his love for music and his belief in its power to build community. He serves as the organization’s General and Artistic Director, and conducts the Anna’s Bay Chorale, South Shore Chamber Orchestra and Olympic Chamber Choir.

Matthew has also been heard recently as a soloist with the Bremerton Symphony and as of fall 2012 he is back at the University of Washington where he is working on his Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting and serves as assistant conductor of the University of Washington Chorale (recent recipient of the American Prize for their recording “Climb”).

Matthew is also a member of the Skookum-Shelton Rotary and a co-founder of the Union Tourism Association.

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