Soloists

Louise Toppin
Louise Toppin, soprano, is a Professor of Voice at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, and the Director of the arts organization VIDEMUS. A finalist in the Munich International Competition and winner of the Metropolitan Opera regional auditions, she has appeared in operatic, orchestral, and oratorio performances in the U.S., the Czech Republic, Sweden, Uruguay, China, England, and Spain. Her recent performance at the Kennedy Center in Mozart's Impresario (as "Goldentrill") earned rave reviews from The Washington Post. She has appeared in recital in numerous concert series, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, and is currently in her fifth season touring in "A Gershwin Party" with pianist Leon Bates and tenor William Brown. She has recorded eight compact disks with Albany, Centaur, and Cambria Records, and anticipates the 2002 release of a CD of Spanish music. Other recent operatic performances have included the title role in the world premiere of Willam Banfield's Luyala, Treemonisha in Scot Joplin's Treemonisha, Lucy in Menotti's The Telephone, and Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni. In June 200l, Ms. Toppin performed as soprano soloist in performances of HaydnÕs Nelson Mass in Shanghai and Beijing during the Phillips Academy Concert Tour of China in 2001, and in HandelÕs Messiah in Tokyo, Japan in December, 2002.

Les Ceballos
Les Ceballos, baritone, is a member of the choral faculty at Kamehameha Schools Performing Arts Department. He serves as Assistant Director for the Concert Glee Clubs, Director of the Alumni Choruses and resident choral arranger for hawaiian music. Next to teaching, Les has appeared as tenor soloist in many oratorio performances done by local musical organizations. Recent soloist performances includes BachÕs St. Matthew Passion, BeethovenÕs Ninth Symphony, MendelssohnÕs Elijah, MozartÕs C minor Mass, HandelÕs Messiah, FinziÕs Dies Natalis and BrubeckÕs Gates of Justice. Les has also performed in numerous comprimario roles in Hawaii Opera Theatre. He as sung roles in DonizettiÕs Don Pasquale and The Daughter of the Regiment, PucciniÕs La Boheme and StraussÕ Der Rosenkavalier. Mr. Ceballos has been a finalist in Luciano Pavarotti 1986 International Vocal Competition held in Philadelphia and Llangollen Eisteddfod Tenor Competition in Wales. His vocal studies has been with Melvin Gallagher, Paul Benningfield, Dr. David Rohrbaugh and is presently with Neva Rego and Elizabeth Grierson.

Marcus DeLoach
Marcus DeLoach, baritone, holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Juilliard School of Music. He has also attended the Britten-Pears School, the New England Conservatory, and the Music Academy of the West. In 1997, he was unanimously voted winner of London's inaugural Wigmore Hall International Song Competition, resulting in a highly acclaimed recital debut in 1999 at the Wigmore Hall. He has appeared with numerous opera companies across the U.S., including his debut with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis in 1996, where he was awarded a Gaddes Fund Grant leading to a three-year contract, and culminating in his creation of the role of the Son in the world premiere of Paul Schonfield's The Merchant and the Pauper. A sought-after recitalist, he has appeared four times on the Marilyn Horne and WQXR's radio series ÔOn Wings of SongÕ. In 2000, Mr. DeLoach joined the roster of the New York City Opera, and last year appeared in La Boheme, Don Giovanni, The Mikado, Lilith, and Carmen. This season he returns to sing La Boheme, Carmen, Il Barbiere de Siviglia, Rigoletto, and Madame Butterfly. His debut with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center occurred when he stepped in at the last minute for Hermann Prey to perform an entire concert of Bach and Schumann. He has since returned to give performances at Alice Tully Hall with pianist Martin Katz and the Borromeo String Quartet.

Robert Honeysucker
Robert Honeysucker, baritone, is a well-known presence in the musical life of Boston and New England. His brilliant performances in opera, concert, and recital have been recognized by music lovers throughout the United States and in many corners of the world. He has performed numerous operatic roles at the Mercury Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand; created the role of Daedalus in the world premiere of Icarus by Paul Earls at Brucknerfest in Linz, Austria; and appeared in a series of opera concerts in the Persian Gulf directed by Cesare Alfieri. He has also performed in concert and recital in Europe, Australia, and Japan. Across the United States, Mr. Honeysucker has sung with the opera companies of Sacramento, California; Utah; Delaware; Fort Worth, Texas; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Eugene, Oregon; and Connecticut, as well as the Opera Company of Boston and the Boston Lyric Opera. Some of his many performances have included singing the title roles in Don Giovanni, Rigoletto, and Porgy and Bess. He has performed as soloist in concerts with the symphony orchestras of Pittsburgh, Flagstaff, Roanoke, Omaha, St. Louis, Portland (ME) , and Sacramento. Honored in 1995 by The Boston Globe's Richard Dyer as "Musician of the Year", Mr. Honeysucker has been a frequent performer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, most recently as soloist in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, in celebration of Seiji Ozawa's 25th season as BSO Music Director. With the Boston Pops, he has appeared under the baton of John Williams (at the annual July Fourth concert on the Esplande), Harry Ellis Dickson, and Keith Lockhart. He is a past winner of the National Opera Association Artists Competition and the New England Opera Club's Jacopo Peri Award. He has made several CDs with VIDEMUS, and is also featured on the Ongaku and Titanic labels.Mr. Honeysucker, who lives in Cambridge, has been a soloist with the Cambridge Community Chorus on several occasions. His recent appearances were in the role of Elijah in Mendelssohn's oratorio of the same name, and bass soloist for the Chorus' tenth annual performance of Handel's Messiah in 1999.

Charles Blandy
Charles Blandy, tenor, recently sang the role of Uriel in Haydn's Creation with the Cantata Singers under David Hoose. He appeared as Don Ottavio in Opera Aperta's production of Mozart's Don Giovanni with conductor Craig Smith, and has sung under conductors Raymond Leppard, Vance George, and Stanley Ritchie. Earlier this year he premiered Jorge Liderman's Song of Songs with the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players under David Milnes. He also received acclaim for performances in Cosi fan tutte, and in Handel's Messiah, and recently participated in a song festival honoring Benjamin Britten, singing the composer's Holy Sonnets of John Donne and Canticle "My beloved is mine and I am His", among other works. Mr. Blandy is a native of Troy, New York and graduated from Oberlin College with a BA in religion. He received his Master's Degree from Indiana University, where he studied voice with Alan Bennett and lied repertoire with Leonard Hokanson. In Chicago, he studied with Roland Combs and Winifred Brown.

Vincent Dion Stringer
Vincent Dion Stringer, baritone, is a native of Hartford, Connecticut. He holds a B.A. in Music from Eastern Nazarene College, a Master of Music in Opera Performance from the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA, and has studied voice at New England Conservatory of Music. Mr. Stringer made his professional debut in 1991 with the New England Bach Festival as bass soloist in the Bach, B-minor Mass and since then has performed opera and oratorio throughout the United States, Europe, China, Turkey, the Middle East and South Africa. Recent operatic performances include the roles of the Native King and Elephant Foot in the American premiere of the Phillip Glass opera, The White Raven at the Lincoln Center Festival in New York City. Other roles include the title role in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Jimmy in Kurt Weill's Mahagonny, and Crown in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. Mr. Stringer has been presented in recital throughout the United States including the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Millard Auditorium at the University of Hartford, and Crowell Concert Hall at Wesleyan University. He has spent several summers on a Fellowship at the Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont where he has coached lieder with the Swiss tenor Ernst Haefliger. Mr. Stringer has been heard on live radio broadcasts from Marsh Chapel (WBUR); "Boston Performances" (WCRB); and "Performance Today" (WGBH). His television appearances include: PBS "Jim Lehrer News Hour", CBS "Sunday Morning", "Connecticut Journal" on CPTV, and "Higher Ground" on WHDH TV, Boston. His compact disc recordings include the Langston Hughes Gospel song-play Black Nativity recorded for Milestones and Marvels.Inc. Records and a CD for Revels Records of Negro Spirituals arranged by John Andrew Ross. Mr. Stringer is the Founder and Artistic Director of the National Spiritual Ensemble (formerly New England Spiritual Ensemble) and has taught voice at Andover Phillips Academy and is currently teaching voice at Columbia Union University in Maryland.