Guest Artists

Morgan Balfour

Australian-born, American-based soprano Morgan Balfour is the most recent winner of the Handel Aria Competition. Described as being “blessed with a name, a voice and a stage presence destined to go far” by Adelaide Now, Morgan is quickly garnering attention in both the United States and her native country.

Equally at home on operatic and recital stages, Morgan has appeared with organizations such as Pinchgut Opera, Sydney Philharmonia, American Bach Soloists, Canberra Symphony Orchestra, and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. She has also been featured at several music festivals including the Brisbane Baroque Festival, Coriole Music Festival, and Port Fairy Spring Festival.

For the 2019/20 season, Morgan joins the Lyric Opera of Kansas City as a Resident Artist where she will perform and cover roles in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, La Boheme, and The Shining. She will also appear with California Bach Society and Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, and perform a solo recital at the 2020 London Handel Festival. Alongside her career as a soloist, Morgan was engaged as an AGMA chorister with the San Francisco Symphony for their 2018/2019 season and also performed with Cappella SF.

Morgan graduated in 2018 with a Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She also holds a Bachelor of Music from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music and is an alumna of the Melba Opera Trust, Lisa Gasteen National Opera School, and Hawaii Performing Arts Festival.

Paul Flight

Dr. Paul Flight — a noted choral conductor, teacher, and singer — is in his thirteenth season (2018-19) with the California Bach Society. A former member of such distinguished ensembles as the Waverly Consort, Theatre of Voices, Pomerium Musices, and the New York Collegium, he brings a wealth of expertise to CBS. Critics have praised Dr. Flight's conducting acumen, stating: "Flight has made of the choral group a professional ensemble capable of every expressive nuance and glorious ensemble sound." In addition, he is the artistic director of Schola Cantorum San Francisco, a professional chamber choir, and the founding director of Berkeley-based Chora Nova.

A renowned countertenor, Dr. Flight has performed works by John Adams, Leonard Bernstein, and Unsuk Chin with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony, the Berkeley Symphony, the Cincinnati May Festival and the Norwegian State Opera. In 2003 he sang the title role in Philip Glass's Akhnaten for Oakland Opera Theater. He made his debut at the Kennedy Center in 2008, singing the first countertenor role in Adams's El Niño, and in August, 2010 he made his debut at the Edinburgh International Festival singing the third countertenor role.

Kyle Stegall

Kyle Stegall’s performances around the world have been met with accolade for his “blemish-free production” (Sydney Morning Herald), “lovely tone and ardent expression” (NY Times), as well as his “lively and empathetic delivery” (San Francisco Classical Voice). Mr. Stegall’s performances are characterized by an unfailing attention to style and detail, and a penetrating directness of communication.

Mr. Stegall’s successful solo debuts in Japan, Australia, Vienna, Italy, Singapore, and Canada as well as on major stages across America have been in collaboration with many of the world’s most celebrated artistic directors including Manfred Honeck, Joseph Flummerfelt, William Christie, Stephen Stubbs, and Nicholas McGegan, among others.

Heard frequently as evangelist and tenor soloist in the passions and cantatas of J.S. Bach, Mr. Stegall made his Lincoln Center debut as the evangelist in the St. John Passion under the direction of Masaaki Suzuki. In demand as a symphonic soloist, Mr. Stegall’s seasons often include the oratorios of Handel and Haydn, the great masses of Mozart and Beethoven, and works from the Bel Canto and 20th century concert canon.

A dedicated proponent of the song recital, Mr. Stegall personally curates recitals each season which reveal the vast colors and emotional range the collected repertoire has to offer. Recent recitals have included the complete sacred works for tenor and piano by Britten (presented by the Yale Center for British Art), and Lieder with fortepianist Eric Zivian at the Valley of the Moon Music Festival.

This season’s highlights include his return to the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, singing the title role in Rameau’s Hippolyte et Aricie under the direction of Stephen Stubbs, a solo recital at the Green Music Center in Sonoma, and Bach Evangelists with a number of prominent baroque orchestras.

Ben Kazez

Baritone Ben Kazez initially studied computer science before embarking on a career in music, eventually becoming a Britten–Pears Young Artist and finishing postgraduate studies at London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama in summer 2018.

In his 2018–19 season, Ben’s solo appearances include Bach cantatas at Palau de la Musica, L’Auditori, and CaixaForum Barcelona and one-voice-per-part performances of Bach St Matthew Passion (Christus and arias), Monteverdi Vespers under Bishop David Stancliffe at Ely Cathedral, and Bach cantata 86 ‘Wahrlich, wahrlich, ich sage euch’ at Amsterdam’s Oude Lutherse Kerk. Ben will also join the Monteverdi Choir for a fully staged production of Berlioz Benvenuto Cellini under Sir John Eliot Gardiner at Opéra Royal (Versailles) and BBC Proms (Royal Albert Hall).

Upcoming performances in 2019–20 include requiems of Mozart and Jomelli at Amsterdam Concertgebouw in Ghislieri Orchestra and Chorus, Bononcini and Handel with Ghislieri at the closing concert of the 40th Anniversary Festival d’Ambronay (France), Bach cantata solos in California, a baroque recital in Germany, and Bach St Matthew Passion at Westerkerk, Amsterdam.