Here To Stay: The Gershwin Experience - MusicFest Vancouver

Two-time Grammy Award winner and regional Emmy winner Sylvia McNair lays claim to a 25-year career in the
musical realms of opera, oratorio, cabaret and musical theater. Her journey has taken her from the Metropolitan
Opera to the Salzburg Festival, from the New York Philharmonic to the Rainbow Room, from the Ravinia Festival to
The Plaza, from the pages of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal to the London Times.
In 2009 she sang Guenevere in the Ravinia Festival’s Camelot, the role of Desiree in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music
with Central City Opera, and did a star turn in American Opera Theater’s production of Songspiel, 19 songs by Kurt
Weill. As a regular guest soloist with nearly all of the major American and European orchestras and opera houses,
Sylvia has collaborated with an array of today’s most prominent conductors including Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Masur,
Leonard Slatkin, André Previn, Neville Marriner and the late Robert Shaw.
She has produced over 70 recordings ranging from Mozart arias with Sir Neville Marriner to CDs with André Previn.
She was thrilled to sing the Bach B-minor Mass with the Vienna Philharmonic for Pope John Paul II at The Vatican, to
sing for Hillary Clinton, and to perform at The US Supreme Court by invitation from Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
Sylvia McNair earned a Masters degree with Distinction from the Indiana University School of Music, received honorary doctorates from Westminster
College (1997) and Indiana University (1998), and the Ohio Governor’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Arts and Entertainment (1999). She
joined the prestigious voice faculty of the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in 2006. In 2007, Sylvia received The Gaudium Award from The
Breukelein Institute for “extraordinary and distinctive contributions to the arts and public life.”
“This is definitely a star to watch.” (Anne Midgette, Washington Post) www.sylviamcnair.com
Singer-dancer-choreographer Ryan VanDenBoom started performing at age three when he began taking dance
lessons in his home state of Michigan. The following year he was introduced to tap. During his high school years he
kept busy as a song and dance man in many musicals, including Singin’ in the Rain, where he recreated Gene Kelly’s
original choreography. He was featured in the premiere of an original musical, A Shine On Your Shoes, written and
directed by Leeds Bird with music direction/arrangements by Kevin Cole.
A winner of numerous national dance competitions, he has danced at the L.A. Tap Festival. Ryan recently performed
Morton Gould’s Tap Dance Concerto with Albany Symphony (NY) in the presence of the Gould Family. He is the only
dancer performing the original choreography by legendary Broadway and Hollywood choreographer/dancer Danny
Daniels. Mr. Daniels coached Ryan personally on this ground-breaking work with the assistance of tap dancing veteran
Karl Warkentien.
During his summers he has performed and choreographed for the Mac-Haydn Theatre (NY) season with shows including Chicago, Mame, Anything
Goes and Damn Yankees, to name a few. As a vocalist, Ryan worked with vocal coach and songwriting legend Hugh Martin (Have Yourself A Merry
Little Christmas, etc.), who has coached many stars including Lena Horne, Ethel Waters and Judy Garland. Ryan VanDenBoom is a recent graduate of
the Cap 21 Musical Theatre program at New York University.
Leslie Dala is the Music Director of the Vancouver Bach Choir, the Associate Conductor and Chorus Director
with Vancouver Opera and the recently appointed Music Director of the Vancouver Academy of Music Symphony
Orchestra. This summer he stepped down as Music Director of the Prince George Symphony, which he led for eight
years, earning distinction as the longest serving conductor in the organization’s 40-year history. A member of the
Vancouver Opera music staff since 1996, he opened their 2011 season with West Side Story. Previously, Leslie
conducted Rigoletto and The Threepenny Opera, and he has assisted on over 50 mainstage productions and has
adapted numerous works for the Vancouver Opera In Schools program.
Leslie has been a member of the music staff at L’Opera National du Rhin, the Santa Fe Opera and the Canadian
Opera Company and he has been a frequent guest conductor with the UBC Opera Ensemble. Recent performances
include guest conducting engagements with Soundstreams Canada in Toronto at Koerner Concert Hall, the Thirteen
Strings Chamber Orchestra of Ottawa, and Haydn’s Creation and Les Noces by Stravinsky and Orff’s Catulli Carmina
with the Vancouver Bach Choir and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. In 2011, Leslie conducted Lillian Alling
by John Estacio for the Banff Summer Festival, and the Opening Night Gala for MusicFest Vancouver with Sarah
McLachlan and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. This summer he will conduct Puccini’s Suor Angelica for the COSI program in Sulmona, Italy and
next season he will lead Vancouver Opera’s productions of La Boheme and The Magic Flute. 2013 marks Leslie’s debut with Pacific Opera Victoria in
Britten’s comic masterpiece, Albert Herring.
“The importance of the conductor as commanding general can’t be overstated: Dala performed with courage and theatrical panache, ending his
inaugural year in triumph — and with an implicit promise of further excitement to come.” (David Gordon Duke, Vancouver Sun)