KRISTEN WATSON, soprano - Sue Auclair Promotions

KRISTEN WATSON, soprano
Soprano Kristen Watson, hailed by critics for her “blithe and silvery” tone and “winning stage presence,” has made solo
appearances with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra,
Mark Morris Dance Group, Boston Baroque,
Emmanuel Music and the Handel & Haydn Society at
such venues as Walt Disney Concert Hall, the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and Boston’s
Symphony Hall. Praised for her “keen musicianship,
agility and seamless control,” Ms. Watson has been
recognized by the Concert Artists Guild, Oratorio
Society of New York, Joy in Singing, American Bach
Society, and Louisville Bach Society competitions and
was awarded the Virginia Best Adams Fellowship at
the Carmel Bach Festival.
Opera audiences have heard Ms. Watson as the Voice
of the Fountain in Osvaldo Golijov’s acclaimed opera
Ainadamar, directed by Peter Sellars with Opera
Boston. She has performed in productions with
Boston Lyric Opera, Opera New England, Boston
University Opera Institute, Opera Providence, Opera
Theater of Pittsburgh and Intermezzo Opera in such
roles as Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress, Tytania
in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Adele in Die
Fledermaus, Polly Peachum in The Beggar’s Opera,
and Monica in The Medium. A versatile crossover
artist, Ms. Watson has made several solo appearances
with the Boston Pops under Keith Lockhart,
performed as a featured soprano alongside Greek
tenor Mario Frangoulis, and shared the stage with
veteran actress Shirley Jones in Rodgers and
Hammerstein’s Carousel.
Other solo performances include appearances with
the Boston Early Music Festival, Aston Magna
Festival, and the Cactus Pear Music Festival, as well as
the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Boston
Landmarks Orchestra, Rhode Island Philharmonic,
Evansville Philharmonic, Gulf Coast Symphony, Topeka
Symphony, Cape Cod Symphony, New Bedford Symphony, Napa Valley Youth Symphony, Musicians of the Old Post Road,
Pittsburgh Camerata, Arizona Early Music Society and the Walden Chamber Players. An enthusiastic supporter of modern and
contemporary music, Ms. Watson has premiered many works of new composers, such as the members of Wordsong and
Altavoz. She also sings alongside soprano Kathryn Mueller as Les Sirènes, a dynamic new ensemble taking audiences on an
exploration of the soprano voice and Baroque repertory.
Kristen Watson is originally from Topeka, Kansas, and holds degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and Boston University.

KRISTA RIVER, mezzo-­‐soprano
Hailed by Opera News for her “lovely clarity and golden color,” mezzo-­soprano
Krista River is a versatile performer who is at home in
repertoire ranging from the Baroque period to the 21st century. She
was a winner of the 2004 Concert Artists Guild International
Competition and a 2007 grant recipient from the Sullivan Foundation.
Recent notable performances include the International Water and
Life Festival in Qinghai, China, and recitals at Jordan Hall in Boston,
the Asociación Nacional de Conciertos in Panama City, Panama, and
Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, about which the New York Times
praised her “warm voice and witty interpretive style.”
Ms. River’s 2011-­‐2012 season will include the role of Sesto in
Emmanuel Music’s concert production of La clemenza di Tito, de
Falla’s El Amor Brujo with the Orchestra of Indian Hill, and Bach’s
Christmas Oratorio with Choral Society of Durham. With the North
Carolina Symphony, she will perform J. Mark Scearce’s This Thread
and Mozart Requiem as part of a memorial concert for victims of
9/11. She will also be featured in chamber music concerts with
Serenata of Santa Fe, the Ciompi Quartet in Durham, NC, and the
Boston Chamber Music Society.
Recent opera roles include the title role in Handel’s Xerxes with
Arcadia Players, Dido in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with Mercury
Baroque, Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro with the North
Carolina Symphony, Annio in La clemenza di Tito with Opera Boston,
Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Crested Butte Music Festival, Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Opera Aperta, the Mother in
Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors with the Santa Fe Symphony, Nancy in Albert Herring with Red House Opera, and
Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with Opera Southwest. As Anna I in Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins with Intermezzo Opera, the Boston
Phoenix said, “River’s luscious voice was a treat. She injected words with both meaning and nuance. And she moved on stage as
if she’d lived there all her life.”
Ms. River’s orchestral engagements have included appearances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Handel & Haydn Society,
Kansas City Chamber Orchestra, Harrisburg Symphony, York Symphony, Charlotte Symphony, Florida Orchestra, Pittsburgh
Bach and Baroque Ensemble, Boston Musica Viva and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. She has performed as a guest
artist at music festivals including John Harbison’s Token Creek Chamber Music Festival, Monadnock Music, Music from Salem,
Saco River Festival, Meeting House Music Festival on Cape Cod, and the Portland Chamber Music Festival in Maine.
A contemporary music advocate, Ms. River has given premieres of new works by numerous composers including Tom Cipullo,
Howard Frazin, Thomas Schnauber and Herschel Garfein. She created the role of Genevieve in Brian Hulse’s chamber opera
The Game at the Kennedy Center, as part of their Millennium Stage series. She sang the world premiere of Scott Wheeler’s
Turning Back at her 2008 solo recital at Weill Recital Hall, and is featured on two of Wheeler’s CDs -­‐-­‐ The Construction of
Boston, recorded live with Boston Cecilia, and Wasting the Night: Songs – both released on Naxos Records.
Ms. River began her musical career as a cellist, earning her music degree at St. Olaf College. She resides in Boston and is a
regular soloist with Emmanuel Music’s renowned Bach Cantata Series.

DAVID WON, tenor
David Won has been a member of Chorus pro Musica for
two years. Prior to joining Chorus pro Musica, he has
been singing in many different capacities including
Harvard Glee Club and the Church of the Advent. He had
numerous solo appearances with each chorus at various
concerts.
Since graduating from Harvard Divinity School in 1993,
he has been a real estate investor and recently he has
joined Bank of America as a mortgage loan specialist.
David Won resides in Hull, Massachusetts, and is looking
forward to furthering his solo performances.

ANDREW GARLAND, baritone
Saluted by The New York Times for having a "distinctively American
presence" baritone Andrew Garland is known for his engaging
performances, and particularly for his interpretations on the recital stage.
His recent recital debut at Carnegie Hall, where he debuted several works
by living American composers, was praised for his "grace, fervor and
intelligence" in Seen And Heard International and for his "lean, kine-­grained,
vibrant baritone" in Opera News Online.
During the 2009 -­‐ 2010 season, Garland was heard as the title role in Don
Giovanni with Opera New Jersey, Dancairo in Carmen with Boston Lyric
Opera, and Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Knoxville Opera. Concert
engagements during the season include Carmina Burana with the Quad
Cities Symphony, Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem with the Plymouth
Philharmonic, and recitals in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and
Montreal, among others.
Of important note is his recently released recording, On the Other Shore, a
disc of folk songs setting by Steven Mark Kohn on the Azica label. The disc
has been praised for his "virile, luxuriantly warm and beautiful" baritone
and for his "positive, conkident attitude with a vibrant personality, subtle
and boisterous as needed, that makes each song into a mini-­‐drama or
comic scene" in American Record Guide. 2009 also saw the release of his
disc of gongs by Lee Hoiby entitled A Pocket of Time on the Naxos Label.
Recent highlights on the opera stage include Hermann in Les contes d'Hoffman, The Gamekeeper in Rusalka, and Schaunard in
La Bohème all with Boston Lyric Opera. He stepped in with one day's notice as Dandini in La Cenerentola with Opera Company
of Philadelphia, and also has sung the role with the Fort Worth Opera and Opera Company of North America. He made his
debut with the Seattle Opera when he stepped in at the last minute for Nathan Gunn as Riolobo in Catàn's Florencia en el
Amazonas, and returns to the prestigious company in 2013 to sing Schaunard and in 2015 for Harlekin in their production of
Ariadne auf Naxos. He has sung Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with both Dayton Opera and Bob Jones University, and the role
of Giuseppe in The Gondoliers with the Utah Symphony and Opera.
On the concert stage Garland has sung Figaro in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the National Philharmonic, Carmina Burana with the
Dayton Philharmonic and the Delaware Symphony, Handel's Messiah with the Tucson Symphony, University of Michigan's
University Musical Society and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, selections from Kiss Me Kate with the Atlanta Symphony,
Mozart's C Minor Mass with the Washington Master Chorale at the Kennedy Center, Brahms' Requiem with the University of
Massachusetts, the World Premiere of Jonathan Sheffer's Red Couch Floating on Lake Erie with Red {an orchestra}, Handel's
Samson with the Dartmouth Handel Society, and Meyerbeer's Les Hugenots with the Bard Festival.
Throughout his professional career Garland has focused on offering lively and inventive recital programs comprised of music
by living American composers. This project has taken him to stages across the United States, including New York City,
Washington DC, Seattle, Cincinnati, Madison, and Santa Monica, among others. His dedication and commitment to highlighting
classical songs in recital has brought him great critical acclaim, including: "Garland's instrument is klexible, supple, light of
timbre, and agreeable, the singing never less than polished. But his trump card is communication: he sang with a clarity to
render printed texts mostly superkluous, and the range of expression, from sharply honed comedy to solemn introspection,
from dramatic outburst to tender lyricism was limitless yet free of self-­‐consciousness, of artikice. The kine art of poetry in music
has found a rare ambassador." (Opera Now)
Garland is the winner of the Washington International Music Competition, American Traditions Competition, the William C.
Byrd Competition, the Opera Columbus Competition, NATS New England competition and was a prize winner in the Jose Itrubi
and Gerda Lissner and Palm Beach Opera competitions. In 2009 he took third prize in the Montreal International Music
Competition. Garland is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the Cincinnati College-­‐Conservatory of
Music. His teachers and coaches have included William McGraw, Paulina Stark, John Humphrey, Oren Brown, Elizabeth
Mannion, Martin Katz, Donna Loewy, Kenneth Grifkiths and Terry Lusk.