Program - Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

Ensemble in St. Paul, Minnesota, and with the Santa
Fe Desert Chorale. Curtis’ solo performances include
lyric tenor roles such as Tamino in Die Zauberflöte,
Male Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia, and Števa in
Jenåfa. He has received numerous awards from the
Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and
the National Association of Teachers of Singing. In
his spare time, Matthew runs a business providing
recorded multitrack learning mp3s for choral singers.
Matthew lives with his wife, Robynn, in beautiful
Marin County.
Brian Hinman, tenor, began singing choral music as
a young boy in the suburbs of Chicago. He studied
vocal performance at the University of Tennessee
and, after leaving school, cultivated comfort on stage
by performing in numerous theatrical productions;
sang in a gospel choir; dabbled in bluegrass, rock
and roll, and a little bit of soul; and had visions of
becoming a jazz singer. Before his journey with
Chanticleer, Hinman studied jazz and acting in New
York City, where he began to learn what it means to
be an artist. In New York, he sang with an assortment
of ensembles, and, throughout his varied artistic
pursuits, choral music remained a consistent outlet
and continued to hold a special place in his heart.
Hinman is in his sixth season with Chanticleer as both
singer and road manager.
Ben Jones, tenor, enjoyed a musical upbringing in
Peoria, Illinois. Born into a family of string players, he
began his training on the cello and the French horn
at an early age. While earning a film degree at the
University of Illinois, he studied voice, performed in
opera productions, and directed the acclaimed
comedy octet The Other Guys. His versatile voice
can be heard on recordings under the Albany label
and on national radio spots for Coors Light. As a
soloist, he has shared the stage with Nathan Gunn,
Rita Moreno, Helmuth Rilling, Val Diamond, and Ian
Hobson. In the years before joining Chanticleer,
Jones performed regularly in San Francisco as a
soloist with the St. Dominic’s Solemn Mass Choir, as
a cast member of Steve Silver’s Beach Blanket
Babylon, and as the conductor of multiple Bay Area
youth ensembles, including the San Jose Youth
Symphony. He holds a master’s degree from the San
Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied
voice with César Ulloa and conducting with Michael
Morgan.
Matthew Knickman, baritone, is proud to be in his
first season with Chanticleer. Born in Korea, he
started singing as a member of the St. Stephen’s
Choir of Men and Boys in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
He graduated from Westminster Choir College of
Rider University with a BM and an MM in voice
performance and pedagogy. While at Westminster,
he sang with the critically acclaimed Westminster
Choir and Westminster Kantorei in multiple
performances with the New York Philharmonic,
Dresden Philharmonic, and New Jersey Symphony
Orchestra. Prior to joining Chanticleer, he also
performed with organizations such as Les Violons du
Roy et La Chapelle de Québec, Early Music New
York, the Masterwork Chorus, the Antioch Chamber
Ensemble, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the
Opera Theatre of Weston, and Spoleto Festival USA.
He has been a soloist for numerous oratorios and
Bach cantatas, including St. John Passion and St.
Matthew Passion with early music organizations such
as Fuma Sacra, the Bach Festival of Philadelphia, and
the Carmel Bach Festival. In 2010, he was a finalist in
the Sixth Biennial Bach Vocal Competition for
American Singers. When not singing, Knickman
enjoys skydiving and comfort foods and is an
exercise and nutritional science enthusiast.
Cortez Mitchell, alto, is a native of Detroit,
Michigan. He graduated from Morgan State
University with a BA in music and a BS in
mathematics and holds an MM in voice from the
University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of
Music. As Minnesota Opera’s first resident artist
countertenor, he performed the role of Cherubino in
Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro and covered Nicklausse
in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann. With Urban
Opera, he performed the role of First Witch in
Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. He has been featured in
solo performances of J. S. Bach’s Cantata No. 147,
Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, with the Dayton
Philharmonic Orchestra; R. Nathaniel Dett’s The
Ordering of Moses and Adolphus Hailstork’s Done
Made My Vow with the Baltimore Symphony
Orchestra; Rachmaninoff’s Vespers in St. Petersburg,
Russia; and Wynton Marsalis’ All Rise with the Jazz at
Lincoln Center Orchestra. Mitchell has received
awards from the National Opera Association, the
Washington International Competition for Singers,
and the Houston Grand Opera Eleanor McCollum
Competition. Mitchell is in his fifth season with
Chanticleer.
Gregory Peebles, soprano, is thrilled to be returning
for his fourth season with Chanticleer. Originally from
Hartselle, Alabama, he first performed for the public
as a very young boy singing gospel music with his
family. Eventually, he left the revival circuit for the
University of Mississippi in Oxford. After graduating
cum laude from Ole Miss, he found his way to
Chicago, where he spent the better part of this
century singing with musicians in such prestigious
ensembles as Schola Antiqua (an ensemble-inresidence
at the University of Chicago), as well as the
choruses of the Lyric Opera and the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra. More recently, he completed
his graduate degree in vocal performance at the
Chicago College of Performing Arts, where he
studied with Mark Crayton. In addition to being a
singer, he is a composer whose works have been
performed in the United States and Europe. In his
spare time, he enjoys poetry and exploring San
Francisco, the most recent addition to a list of
beautiful cities he can call home.
Kory Reid, soprano, raised in Napa Valley, was
fortunate to have been a part of the choral program
at Napa High School under the direction of Travis
Rogers. While there, he participated in one of
Chanticleer’s educational residencies and is now
thrilled to be singing with the ensemble. He studied
music education at Pepperdine University and
recently completed his master’s degree in choral and
sacred music from the University of Southern
California. Reid is a sought-out countertenor soloist
who has sung for the Los Angeles Zimriyah Chorale,
the Los Robles Master Chorale, the Catgut Trio, the
USC Chamber Singers, the Pepperdine University
Concert Choir, Collegium Musicum, and many
diverse choral recitals and church music programs in
southern California. He is a barbershop music
enthusiast, being a district finalist in the quartet
contest and a past member of the Westminster
Chorus, which won the International Barbershop
Chorus Contest in 2010. Reid has taught voice
privately and served as the music director for St.
Matthew’s United Methodist Church in Newbury
Park, California. In his spare time, he enjoys watching
movies, drinking wine, and eating Korean barbeque.
Alan Reinhardt, alto, is pleased to be in his sixth
season with Chanticleer. He grew up in Long Island,
New York, and, prior to joining, sang with various
ensembles in New York City, including the St.
Thomas Choir of Men and Boys and Early Music New
York, and appeared in performances with the New
York Philharmonic. In 2005, he sang the lead
countertenor role in the premiere of the dance/opera
A More Perfect Union with the Perm State P. I.
Tschaikovsky Opera and Ballet Theatre in Russia as
part of the International Diaghilev Festival. Reinhardt
holds degrees from SUNY Potsdam and the
University of Illinois.
Adam Ward, alto, is originally from Tecumseh,
Oklahoma. Ward began singing professionally as a
countertenor while studying French horn
performance at Yale University. There, he was also a
founding member of Schola Cantorum, conducted
by Simon Carrington. Ward has since performed as a
soloist with the International Contemporary
Ensemble and was a member of the Choir of the
Church of St. Mary the Virgin at the famed Smokey
Mary’s in midtown Manhattan. As a horn player,
Ward has performed in numerous countries under
many of the world’s leading conductors. He was a
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