Guest Artists

Tonia D'Amelio

Called “extravagantly charismatic” by the San Francisco Chronicle and praised by Fanfare Magazine for her “rapt vulnerability”, soprano Tonia D’Amelio has sung with opera companies, orchestras, chamber ensembles, and vocal consorts across the U.S. and abroad.

A versatile singer with a repertoire spanning five centuries, Tonia has participated in several opera and concert premieres. She created the role of Celia Brooke in Allen Shearer’s Middlemarch in Spring for both the world premiere in San Francisco and the revival with Charlottesville Opera, and sang in the first performance of Ryan Brown’s oratorio Mortal Lessons at the 10th annual Switchboard Music Festival. Tonia also sang featured roles in the modern stage premieres of Rameau’s The Temple of Glory (1745) with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and Pallavicino’s The Amazons (1679) with Ars Minerva.

Other favorite credits include Drusilla in Monteverdi’s L’Incoronazione di Poppea with West Edge Opera, cantata recitals with Los Angeles Baroque Players, Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and liturgical performances of Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, Mozart’s Requiem, and J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion, as well as guest artist stints at the William Byrd Festival in Portland, Oregon, and the Edington Festival of Music within the Liturgy in Wiltshire, U.K.

Heidi Waterman

With a voice that has been praised for its’ “…rich, lustrous tone and gorgeous legato,” Heidi L. Waterman has enjoyed a wide-ranging career encompassing everything from film scores to early music to modern opera, and has performed as a soloist with nearly every major Bay Area ensemble including the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale, and San Francisco Bach Choir. Recent highlights include Bach’s Christ lag in Todesbanden and Handel’s Dixit Dominus (Schola Cantorum), St. John Passion (S.F. Bach Choir), Purcell’s Te Deum and Jubilate (Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Chorale), Mendelssohn’s Elijah (Marin Oratorio and North Valley Chorale), and the (small but mighty) role of a Muse in Philharmonia Baroque’s magnificent production of Rameau’s opera Le Temple de la Gloire.

David Kurtenbach

DAVID KURTENBACH, tenor, described in “warm and intimate” performances as having a voice “lined with silver,” enjoys an active choral and solo career, having appeared as soloist with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Bach Collegium San Diego, American Bach Soloists, Oregon Bach Festival, Ensemble VIII, Apollo’s Fire, Magnificat, Volti, and the Grace Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys. Also a devoted fan of new music, Kurtenbach has premiered works by James MacMillan, Meredith Monk, David Lang, Dave Brubeck, Kirke Mechem, Eric Banks, and Moses Hogan. His recordings may be heard on Innova/Naxos, Koch International, Tonehammer, Pro Organo, and Soli Deo Gloria.

Mr Kurtenbach is also an experienced conductor, having served as Chorus Master and Assistant Conductor at Opera San Jose and Festival Opera, as well as preparing and conducting symphony choruses in Oakland and across the country. As a teacher and lecturer, he taught master classes in voice, choral conducting, and vocal accompanying at Oberlin Conservatory and San Francisco Choral Society, and for the last nine years, was appointed Instructor of Voice and Music Theory at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, serving as chief music educator for boy choristers and clergy. Exploring a ministry to sacred music, he often serves as Conductor, Organist, Cantor, and Officiant for Cathedral services, including conducting a recent performance of 220 voices for the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.

Sepp Hammer

Sepp Hammer’s voice has been described as showing “warm baritone gravity” (The Boston Globe). His recent concert engagements include the role of Jesus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with California Bach Society, Rutter’s Mass of the Children with Solano Symphony, Zelenka’s Gloria with Chora Nova, Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs with Contra Costa Chorale, and, with various ensembles, Charpentier Messe des Morts, Schütz Symphoniae Sacrae, Bach Magnificat, Bach B Minor Mass, Haydn Lord Nelson Mass, Schubert Mass in G Major, Brahms Requiem, Fauré Requiem, and Duruflé Requiem.

On the opera stage, Sepp’s roles include Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, the title role in Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, the Speaker in The Magic Flute, and John Proctor in The Crucible. Sepp holds a master’s degree in vocal performance from New England Conservatory and is a member of the Philharmonia Baroque Chorale.