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.

Derek Chester

Praised by the New York Times for his "beautifully shaped and carefully nuanced singing," tenor Derek Chester is steadily making a name for himself in the world of classical singing. In demand as an interpreter of oratorio, Chester has appeared as soloist with such organizations as Boston Baroque, West Edge Opera, the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, Ars Lyrica Houston, the Korean Broadcasting System Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Colorado Symphony, Bach Collegium San Diego, and the American Bach Soloists. He holds degrees from University of Georgia and the Yale School of Music as a full scholarship recipient. After a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Germany, Chester competed his Doctorate in Music from the University of North Texas. As a well-regarded pedagogue Chester participated in the 2016 NATS Intern Program and has given master classes across the country. He currently serves as associate professor of voice and director of the early music consort at the University of Northern Colorado and continues his worldwide career as an interpreter of concert repertoire.

Harrison Hintzsche

“Sonorous” (Opera News) American baritone, Harrison Hintzsche, is on the rise as an avid recitalist, concert singer, and ensemble musician. He has been praised for his warm lyric tone, musical subtlety, and dedication to text.

In January 2018, Harrison made his international debut at London’s Wigmore Hall in a collaborative art song recital with pianist and scholar Graham Johnson as a part of Johnson's recital series, "Franz Schubert: The Complete Songs," and was noted by Opera Today for displaying a “strong sense of narrative” and “gentle poignancy” in his interpretations of Schubert’s work. He placed first in the Edvard Grieg Society of Minnesota's 2018 Voice Competition, and was the first-ever recipient of the William H. Halverson Award, presented by the Edvard Greig Society of America for an outstanding performance of Grieg’s music. Other honors include receiving Honorable Mention at the 2018 Schubert Club Bruce P. Carlson Scholarship Competition, being a national anthem singer for Major League Soccer team Minnesota United FC, and singing the role of "The Archangel" in the premiere recording of Carol Barnett's Mortals & Angels: A Bluegrass Te Deum with conductor Philip Brunelle and the VocalEssence Ensemble Singers.

This past season’s performance highlights include Handel’s Alexander’s Feast and J.S. Bach’s cantatas 13 and 156 with conductor Masaaki Suzuki, J.S. Bach’s cantatas 19 and 149 with Scott Allen Jarrett, an all-Nordic art song recital entitled “Echos of Nostalgia” with pianist Mary J. Trotter, excerpts of Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin arranged for guitar and voice performed in Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall), the role of “Pilgrim” in Vaughn Williams’ chamber opera The Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains, and the premiere performance of Pawel Łukaszewski’s oratorio Ascensio Domini with conductor David Hill.

A sought-after ensemble musician, Harrison has performed and soloed with a variety of vocal ensembles such as The VocalEssence Ensemble Singers (Philip Brunelle, G. Phillip Shoultz, III.), The Minnesota Chorale (Kathy Salzman Romey), the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart JSB Ensemble (Kathy Salzman Romey, Hans-Christoph Rademann), Bach Ensemble Helmuth Rilling, and MPLS (imPulse) (Samuel Grace).