Guest Artists

Christine Brandes

Noted for her radiant, crystalline voice and superb musicianship, soprano Christine Brandes brings her committed artistry to a repertoire ranging from 17th century to newly composed works, performing at many of the world’s most distinguished festivals and concert series in programs spanning from recitals and chamber music to oratorio and opera.

She has sung for the following opera houses: San Francisco, Seattle, Washington National, Houston Grand, Minnesota, San Diego, New York City Opera, Philadelphia, Glimmerglass, Portland, Arizona, Opera de Nancy in principle roles ranging from Handel and Mozart, through Verdi to Bolcom and Britten.

Christine recently appeared with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players in György Kurtág’s Scenes from a Novel and with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Carlo Rizzi in Debussy’s La Damoiselle élue and has sung Mahler’s Second Symphony with the Sacramento Philharmonic and Handel’s Israel in Egypt at Carnegie Hall with the New York Choral Society. She also gave a recital at King's College Chapel, Cambridge with organist, Jonathan Dimmock.

Ms. Brandes has given a series of important premieres including an Eric Moe commission entitled Of Color Braided All Desire with the Brentano String Quartet as part of the South Mountain Concert Series with further performances in New York City at the 92nd Street Y, and Jennifer Higdon’s In the Shadow of Sirius, based on poetry of former American Poet Laureate, W.S. Merwin with the Cypress String Quartet at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco.

She has sung with the following orchestras: Cleveland, Chicago, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Atlanta, Detroit, Seattle, Minnesota, National Symphony, with such distinguished conductors as Simon Rattle, Pierre Boulez, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Frühbeck de Burgos, Robert Spano, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Alan Gilbert.

Dan Cromeenes

Dan Cromeenes, countertenor, is a versatile musician who has performed professionally as a countertenor soloist, choral singer, and collaborative pianist. A southern California native, he first moved to San Francisco to perform with the ensemble Chanticleer, and has since flourished in the Bay Area’s music scene. He was featured singing lute songs for Oakland Ballet in Graham Lustig’s Consort and is a frequent soloist for Bay Area early music performances, including Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and Purcell’s Come Ye Sons of Art with Marin Baroque. He performed as soloist for the 2014 American Bach Soloists Festival & Academy, including Bach’s Mass in B minor. He received much acclaim for his performance of Bach’s St. John Passion with the Santa Clara Chorale and San Jose Chamber Orchestra. Dan is a regular vocalist in the elite ensembles Clerestory, American Bach Choir, Philharmonia Baroque Chorale, Bach Collegium San Diego, and Oregon Bach Festival Chorus. In addition to his singing, several of his choral arrangements have been performed by Clerestory. Active as a private vocal coach, he enjoys sharing what he has learned about singing and Baroque ornamentation. When not onstage or behind a piano, Dan can usually be found either on a hike in the mountains or at home baking gourmet goodies.

Brian Thorsett

Hailed as “a strikingly gifted tenor, with a deeply moving, unblemished voice” (sfmusicjournal.com), tenor Brian Thorsett excels in opera, oratorio and recital across the world. Since taking to the stage, he has been seen and heard in over 100 diverse operatic roles and fosters a stylistically diversified concert repertoire of over 250 works. Upcoming operas include Mozart’s Magic Flute and Britten’s Turn of the Screw. Future concert highlights include Evangelist and soloist in both Bach’s St. John Passion as well as multiple cantatas across the US, Einhorn Voices of Light, Britten’s Ballad of Heroes, Handel’s Messiah and Alexander’s Feast, and a rare tenor-turn in Barber’s Knoxville.

An avid recitalist, Brian is closely associated with expanding the vocal-chamber genre; upcoming projects include the premiere of Edgar Girtain Four Folk Songs (tenor and cello), Eric Choate ...and fall, David Conte Ogden Nash Settings. He will be featured on recitals in San Francisco, Sausalito, Berkeley, Washington DC, Atlanta, Gloucester, London and Paris in the coming seasons. Brian has also been heard in commercials and movies as the voice for SoundIron’s library Voice of Rapture: Tenor. He has recorded for Albany, Roven, Edition Lilac among several labels. He is currently Assistant Professor of voice and Virginia Tech.

Nikolas Nackley

In demand on the concert and operatic stage throughout West Coast and beyond, Nikolas Nackley has been heralded by the San Francisco Chronicle as “sonorous and heroic” and praised by the Boston Globe for his his ability to “continually impress with his beautiful voice and acting.” Recent credits include the title role in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, the Badger and Parson in The Cunning Little Vixen and Palante in Agrippina. He has been a featured artist with orchestras and opera companies including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Lyric Opera, and West Edge Opera, working with such conductors as Sir Roger Norrington, Harry Christophers, Pablo Heras Casado, Craig Smith, Gustavo Dudamel, John Harbison and Joana Carneiro in works ranging from the sixteenth to twenty-first centuries.

Equally regarded for his work in academia and as a vocal clinician, Nikolas is on the faculty at the School of Music at San Francisco State University where he directs the chamber singers, teaches lyric diction, vocal pedagogy and opera workshop. Recently he directed Die Fledermaus at San Francisco State University, conducted the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra and University Chorus in Fauré’s Requiem and Vivaldi’s Gloria at Hertz Hall. He will direct Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera at SF State in Spring 2018. Nikolas is also on the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, where he is director of the vocal studies program as well as director of the University Chorus.