GUEST ARTISTS
Praised for her “warm, colorful mezzo” by Opera News, SOPHIE MICHAUX has become one of North-America’s most versatile and compelling vocalists. Born in London and raised in the French alps, Sophie’s unique background informs her artistic identity, making her feel at home in an eclectic span of repertoire ranging from grand opera to French cabaret songs.
Solo engagements include the role of Alcina in Caccini’s La Liberation di Ruggiero dall’Isola d’Alcina (Haymarket Opera), Olofernes in Scarlatti’s La Giuditta (Haymarket Opera), a Hawaii tour (Les Délices), the Alto solos in the Handel’ Dixit Domino (Upper Valley Baroque), DeFalla’s El Amor Brujo (Lowell Chamber Orchestra). Recent collaborations include A Far Cry, Blue Heron, Roomful of Teeth, The Lorelei Ensemble, Les Délices, The Boston Early Music Festival, Bach Collegium San Diego, Palaver Strings, and others.
Tenor JONAS BUDRIS is a versatile soloist and small-ensemble singer, engaging new works and early music with equal passion.
He performs frequently with the Handel and Haydn Society and with Boston Baroque, and is featured as a soloist on recordings with both groups, including Boston Baroque’s Grammy-nominated recording of Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. Mr. Budris also enjoys singing with Blue Heron, Cut Circle, and the Skylark Vocal Ensemble. He is a Lorraine Hunt Lieberson Fellow at Emmanuel Music, where he performs in their Bach Cantata series and evening concerts.
On the opera stage, he has performed principal and supporting roles with numerous musical organizations, including Opera Boston, OperaHub, Guerilla Opera, and Odyssey Opera.
Originally from Martha’s Vineyard, Mr. Budris holds a degree in Environmental Sciences & Engineering from Harvard College.
Baritone DANA WHITESIDE has crafted a life in music that encompasses performance as a soloist and ensemble member. He has performed in Haydn’s Creation, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis and Ninth Symphony, the Verdi Requiem, Carmina Burana, Mozart’s Requiem and his Vesperae Solemnes, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and Mass in B Minor as well as the Sea Symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Roles in works for stage have included Time in the Boston premiere of John Harbison’s Winter’s Tale with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Speaker in The Magic Flute with Boston Baroque; and, with Emmanuel Music, the role of Carl Magnus in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. Mr. Whiteside has received critical acclaim for his voice of “noble clarity throughout powerful and resonant” (The Washington Post). Highlights of the 2023-2024 Season include appearances as soloist in Ralph Vaughan Willians “Fantasia on Christmas Carols” with the Boston POPS Orchestra at Symphony the role of Jesus in the St. Mathew Passion, the Monteverdi Vespers and soloist the world premiere of “I Will Tell You” at Merkin Hall New York City.
Educated at Holy Cross College, the Longy School of Music, New England Conservatory and the Tanglewood Music Center, Mr. Whiteside is an avid recitalist and has appeared with Musicians of the Old Post Road and the Florestan Recital Project as well as in programs at the French Library and University of Oregon. He enjoys affiliation with the Handel & Haydn Society, Cantata Singers, Emmanuel Music and Boston Baroque. He is also a member of the Grammy-nominated Skylark Vocal Ensemble and is a featured soloist on the group’s recent albums Winters Night and Seven Words from the Cross, It’s A Long Way and La Vie en Rose.
Mr. Whiteside belongs to Beyond Artists, a coalition of artists whose members donate a portion of their concert fee to organizations they care about; and with his performances he supports Bay Cove Human Services which provides mental health/addiction/recovery support and the Women’s Lunch Place which supports the dignity of women. danawhitesidebaritone.com
Keyboardist and conductor JEFFREY GROSSMAN specializes in vital, engaging performances of music of the past, through processes that are intensely collaborative and historically informed. As the artistic director of the acclaimed baroque ensemble the Sebastians, in recent seasons Jeffrey has directed concerts including Bach’s Passions and Handel’s Messiah from the organ and harpsichord in collaboration with TENET Vocal Artists. Recent seasons include conducting operas of Haydn and Handel with Juilliard Opera, leading Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 in New York and Venice, and conducting a workshop of a Vivaldi pastiche opera for the Metropolitan Opera. As musical director for the 2023 and 2019 Boston Early Music Festival Young Artists Training Program, he conducted Jacquet de La Guerre’s Cephale et Procris and Handel’s Orlando from the harpsichord. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he holds degrees from Harvard College, the Juilliard School, and Carnegie Mellon University. Jeffrey teaches performance practice at Yale University. jeffreygrossman.com
