OUR SOLOISTS

Kindra Scharich, Mezzo Soprano

Poems, Folk Tales, and Legends, September 28-29, 2019

Mezzo Soprano Kindra Scharich has been praised by The San Francisco Chronicle for her “exuberant vitality”, “fearless technical precision”, “deep-rooted pathos” and “irrepressible musical splendor.”  As a dedicated recitalist, she has performed over 200 art songs in 12 languages and given solo recitals at the The American Composer’s Forum, La Jolla Athenaeum, The Wagner Society, Lieder Alive and the acclaimed Sala Cecília Meireles in Rio de Janeiro.  In 2018 Ms. Scharich sang the U.S. Premiere of new songs of Anno Schreier as a co-collaboration between Deutsche Oper Berlin and Lieder Alive. She also continued her partnership with Brazilian pianist Ricardo Ballestero in performing and recording the non-Portuguese repertoire of the great Brazilian composer Alberto Nepomuceno (Nepomuceno and his muses, release 2020) A great proponent of Lieder, she Jeffrey LaDeur recently recorded To my distant beloved, music of Beethoven and Schumann, also to be released in 2020.  She has collaborated extensively with the Alexander String Quartet, and in 2018 In meinem Himmel: The Complete Mahler Song Cycles, a recording of new transcriptions by Zakarias Grafilo, was released on the Foghorn label. In the world of opera, Ms. Scharich has sung over 30 roles ranging from Monteverdi to Philip Glass. In March 2019 she sang the World Premiere of Laura Kaminsky’s Today it Rains, based on the life of Georgia O’Keeffe and in August 2019 she sang the role of Dodo in the West Coast premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves. In 2020 she will sing the role of  Rosaura in Ermelinda with Arsminerva, and Anne Kronenburg in Stewart Wallace’s Harvey Milk with Opera Parallèle. Enthusiastic about working with living composers, she is featured in David Conte’s recent release Everyone Sang. See kindrascharich.com for more information and upcoming concerts.

Joe Brown, Trumpet

The Trumpet Shall Sound, October 10-11, 2018

Joe Brown holds the position of Second Trumpet in the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra and performs frequently with the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera. Additionally, he has worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Seattle, Detroit, Atlanta, San Diego, Sarasota, and Tucson Symphonies. Before moving to the Bay Area, Joe spent three years as a fellow at the prestigious New World Symphony in Miami Beach.

Originally from Houston, Texas, Joe holds degrees from The Colburn School, University of Michigan, and Ithaca College. He has spent summers performing at Tanglewood Music Center, Classical Tahoe Festival, Britt Festival, Pacific Music Festival, Spoleto Festival USA, Britten Pears Festival, and the Texas Music Festival. In his free time, Joe enjoys skiing, running, hiking, home brewing, and spending time with his wife, Erika and their cat, Bailey.

Jeffrey LaDeur, Piano

Let’s Dance, Feb 16-17, 2019

Praised for his “delicate keyboard touch and rich expressivity” (San Francisco Chronicle) and playing that is “deeply moving, probing, entirely felt as in the moment” (Eduard Laurel) Jeffrey LaDeur performs worldwide from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to the San Francisco Jazz Center, from the Shanghai Conservatory to the Orlando Festival in the Netherlands. LaDeur is founder and artistic director of New Piano Collective and the San Francisco International Piano Festival.

In 2015, LaDeur began a survey of Debussy’s complete solo piano music in the context of his influences and inspirations, culminating in an acclaimed debut recital at Carnegie Hall on the centennial of Debussy’s death. His debut album, featuring works by Debussy and Rameau, was released on MSR Classics and has been hailed as “a masterpiece of understatement, simplicity, and ‘old school’ chord-playing where every note sings out with meaning” (Gramophone).
​As soloist with orchestra, Jeffrey maintains a repertoire of over forty concerti. Conductors with whom LaDeur has collaborated include George Cleve, Michael Morgan, Barbara Day Turner, Lawrence Golan, and Ming Luke.
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A passionate chamber musician, LaDeur has concertized internationally with the Delphi Trio. The Trio received the dedication of William Bolcom’s first Piano Trio, the world premiere recording of which was released on Triptych (MSR Classics) along with trios by Beethoven and Brahms. Jeffrey has collaborated with artists such as Robert Mann, Bonnie Hampton, Geoff Nuttall, Ian Swensen, Anne Akiko Meyers, Toby Appel, David Requiro, and the Alexander, Telegraph, and Afiara Quartets.
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​LaDeur holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music and San Francisco Conservatory of Music in piano performance and chamber music, respectively. Jeffrey counts among his teachers Mark Edwards, Douglas Humpherys, Yoshikazu Nagai, and Robert McDonald. Jeffrey received his formative musical training from pianist Annie Sherter, a student of Vlado Perlemuter and Alfred Cortot.

Alex Frankel, Tenor

Italian Nights, Mar 23-24, 2019

Praised by the New York Times for his “affable enthusiasm” and “crystalline diction”, tenor Alex Frankel is making waves in the vocal world. Frankel made his Carnegie Hall debut as Monostatos in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with the New York Lyric Opera Theatre in 2011, and since then, has enjoyed a busy career performing around the world.

Frankel has sung the role of Nikolaus Sprink in Kevin Puts’ Pulitzer prize-winning opera “Silent Night” with Opera San Jose, the role of Samson in the world premiere of Roddy Bottum’s “Sasquatch the Opera” at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and premiered Nicholas Benavides’ song cycle “A Thirsty Fish” with Elevate Ensemble in San Francisco.

Recently, Frankel appeared in the Cutting Edge Concert New Music Festival at Symphony Space in the world premiere of Eric Salzman’s “Big Jim and the Small-time Investors” and served as the cover of Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with ARE Opera.

Frankel is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and is a student of Neil Semer. He currently resides in Manhattan, New York.

In addition to his vocal career, Frankel is an advocate for Body Positivity and is a Plus Size Male Model signed with State Management.

Britton Day, Piano

Voices of the Past, Present, and Future, May 3-5, 2019

Pianist Britton Day enjoys a busy career performing across the Bay Area. Recently featured on the critically-acclaimed San Francisco Symphony Soundbox Series, Britton performed piano-four hand repertoire with Michael Tilson Thomas and accompanied his father, SFS Principal Flutist Tim Day. Other recent engagements include performances with members of the San Francisco Symphony on their Chamber Music Series in Davies Symphony Hall, the Berkeley Hillside Club Chamber Series, and the Eastern Sierra Symphony Summer Festival.

Britton is currently a member of the accompanying staff at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and has worked as a rehearsal pianist for the San Francisco Ballet.

Britt is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He received his Masters Degree as well as a Professional Studies Diploma in Piano Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.