The 2014- 2015 Season
Songs of Struggle & Triumph
CONCERT PREVIEW
eVOLVE: Mystic Circles
Performers
Lynda Poston-Smith, Soprano
Lynda Poston-Smith trained in New York City, receiving two degrees in vocal performance from the Manhattan School of Music, with further study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She says that as a young singer her academic training was enhanced by the demands of the studio recording she did in New York. Lynda lived in Germany for three years. There she performed all the major works of Bach as well as numerous cantatas. She was later selected to be performer/fellow at the famed Bach Aria Festival of New York. In addition to her extensive experience as a soprano soloist with choral groups and orchestras in Germany and throughout the United States, Lynda performs in solo recitals with her pianist husband Robert Smith. She enjoys chamber opera, having sung the title role in the world premiere of Conrad Susa’s The Wise Women. While in New York, Lynda assisted Dorothy Uris in her writing of the book To Sing in English, and is now sought after as a diction coach and vocal/choral clinician.
Lynda has produced four solo CD's and additional solo singles. These recordings feature her unique and refreshing arrangements and are available for download through Amazon and iTunes. Having taught at the university and graduate school level for twenty years, Lynda now maintains a private voice studio in Ft. Worth, Texas. There she loves to help people of all ages and abilities to discover the joy and freedom in their singing.
Lauren McNeese, Mezzo-soprano
Mezzo soprano Lauren McNeese’s colorful, resonant voice and beautiful stage presence have established her as a sought out artist in the leading lyric mezzo-soprano repertoire. Opera News wrote of her portrayal of Dorabella at Lyric Opera of Chicago “she has one of those distinctive timbres recognizable six miles away in the dark... with a sparkling quality”.
The 2012-2013 season marked her Metropolitan Opera debut in Wagner’s Parsifal. Additionally she made her role debut as Giovanna Seymour in Donizetti's Anna Bolena with Minnesota Opera and returned to Intermountain Opera as Dorabella. In 2012 she made her debut with Dallas Opera and returned to San Francisco Opera and Ravinia Festival as the Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte. Engagements for the 2013-2014 season include Cherubino in Tulsa Opera’s Le nozze di Figaro, the title role in La Cenerentola with Opera Omaha and Intermountain Opera, and concert appearances with the Williamsburg Symphonia, Shreveport Symphony Orchestra for Mozart’s Requiem, and Augustana College for Messiah. Future engagements include La Cenerentola with Tulsa Opera, covering Venus in Tannhäuser at Lyric Opera of Chicago and her return to Dallas as Laura in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta.
In the 2010-2011 season Lauren McNeese made her role debut as Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with Intermountain Opera followed by her return to Michigan Opera Theater as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro. Ms. McNeese was recently seen at the San Francisco Opera as Wellgunde and Rossweisse in the critically acclaimed production of Der Ring des Nibelungen directed by Francesca Zambello and conducted by Donald Runnicles. During the fall of 2010 Ms. McNeese made her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as the mezzo soloist in the dramatic symphony Roméo et Juliette by Hector Berlioz conducted by Charles Dutroit. In the 2009-2010 season she appeared with the Ravinia Festival as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, made her Pittsburgh Symphony debut as the mezzo soloist in Mozart’s Requiem under the baton of Manfred Honeck and appeared with the Los Angeles Opera as Wellgunde in Der Ring des Nibelungen conducted by James Conlon.
A graduate of the Patrick G. and Shirley Ryan Opera Center, Ms. McNeese has been seen on the Lyric Opera stage as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Siebel in Faust, Wellgunde and Rossweisse in Der Ring des Nibelungen, Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Lapak the dog in The Cunning Little Vixen, Edith in The Pirates of Penzance, Flora in La Traviata and Myrtale in Thaïs. She has also appeared with the LA Opera as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Wellgunde in Das Rheingold, Karolka in Jenufa, La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi directed by Woody Allen, Tebaldo in Don Carlos and Javotte in Manon conducted by Placido Domingo.
Other recent engagements have included her debuts with the San Francisco Opera as Wellgunde in Das Rheingold conducted by Donald Runnicles, Arizona Opera as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Opera Company of Philadelphia as L’enfant in L’enfant et les sortilèges and La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi, Michigan Opera as Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette, and PortOpera as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette. She has appeared with the Minnesota Opera as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro and Bellino/Teresa in Casanova’s Homecoming by Dominick Argento, the Wolf Trap Opera as Isolier in Le Comte Ory where she was awarded a Shouse Education Career Grant and with the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto Italy as La Ciesca in the reprisal of the critically acclaimed LA Opera production of Gianni Schicchi. In concert Ms. McNeese has appeared with the Toronto Symphony as the mezzo soloist in Mozart’s C Minor Mass conducted by Helmuth Rilling and the Cincinnati May Festival as the mezzo soloist in Mozart’s Requiem conducted by James Conlon.
Stephen Morscheck, Bass-baritone
Stephen Morscheck is widely respected for the dignity he brings in both concert and operatic performances. “Stephen Morscheck’s Leporello was genuinely funny, as well as solidly sung. His catalogue aria was almost too effective, drawing applause before its conclusion,” says Opera News of a recent Don Giovanni performance. Of Verdi’s Requiem, The Boston Herald said he, “projected…with just the right thrilling, in-your-ear Verdian punch…Morscheck’s bass seemed the perfect medium for some of heaven’s sterner pronouncements.”
This season engagements include Capellio in I Capuleti e I Montechi with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the Orlando Philharmonic, Handel’s Messiah with the Rochester Chamber Philharmonic, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Soli deo Gloria under John Nelson, Bach’s St. John Passion with the Bach Society of St Louis, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra.
Recent engagements include Capulet in Roméo et Juliette at Opera Colorado, Dallas Opera, and Florida Grand Opera; Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro at Lyric Opera Baltimore; and Father Trulove in The Rake’s Progress at the Princeton Festival, where he previously performed Il Ré in Ariodante. Recent concert appearances include Verdi’s Requiem with the Knoxville Symphony Society; Dvorak’s Requiem with the UNC Summer Music Festival; Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Music of the Baroque; Elijah with Opera Naples; Ein Deutsches Requiem and Mozart’s Requiem with the Sheboygan Symphony; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Glacier Symphony and Chorale and Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra; Jesus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Netherlands Radio Kammerphilharmonie as well as with Festival de Saint-Denis and SDG Music under John Nelson; Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra; St. John Passion at the St. Vincent de Paul Church in Chicago; Handel’s Messiah with Pacific Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, and Orchestra Kentucky; and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Symphony No. 9 with the Roanoke Symphony and Alabama Symphony.
Additional operatic engagements have included Palemon in Thaïs with the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Colline in La bohème with Los Angeles, Dallas Opera and L’Opera de Montreal; Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Washington National Opera and Arizona Opera; Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro with Dallas Opera; Rocco in Fidelio at Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Florentine Opera of Milwaukee; Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia with L’Opera de Montreal, Kentucky Opera, and Atlanta Opera; Alidoro in La Cenerentola with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Orlando Opera, and Florentine Opera; Leporello in Don Giovanni with Opera Carolina; Sparafucile in Rigoletto with the Florentine Opera; Don Alphonso in Cosi fan tutte with Arizona Opera and Kentucky Opera; and Nourabad in Les Pêcheurs de Perles with Kentucky Opera. With the Spoleto Festival USA, appearances have included Le Chiffonnier in Louise and John Adams in Amistad and with the Santa Fe Opera, Publius in La Clemenza di Tito.
A very active soloist, he has appeared numerous times with the L’Ensemble Orchestral de Paris in repeat performances of both St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion. With the Music of the Baroque in Chicago he has performed Mozart’s Requiem, Simon in Judas Maccabeus, King Arthur, and the title role in Hercules. Additional appearances have included Handel’s Messiah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Bach Society, and Duke Chapel Choir; Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with the Berkshire Choral Festival; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the National Symphony Orchestra in Santo Domingo; Mozart’s Coronation Mass at the Spoleto Festival; Verdi’s Requiem with the Anchorage Symphony and University of North Texas; Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Milwaukee Symphony and the Choral Society of Durham; Bach’s B-minor Mass with the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica in San Jose; Mozart’s Requiem with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony; and soloist in the Atlanta Opera’s La Belle Soirée.
Stephen Morscheck graduated from Wheaton College and completed advanced degrees from the University of Michigan. In 1995, he was awarded the “Richard Tucker Career Grant.” He currently serves as an Associate Professor of Voice at the University of North Texas, Denton.
Christian Bester, Baritone
Dr. Christian Bester, a lyric-baritone, holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance with a related field in Opera, along with the Artist Certificate from the University of North Texas. At UNT he studied under Dr. Linda DiFiore. The Master of Music degree in Voice, he received from Southern Methodist University, and the Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Tshwane University of Technology. Dr. Bester made his professional debut as Schaunard in La Bohème for Pro Musica Theater in South Africa in 2005. Dr. Bester made his long awaited European professional debut in 2010 as Zaremba in the operetta Polin Blut for the Americke Jaro Festival in the Czech Republic. In July 2007 he was invited by the Amalfi Coast Festival in Italy to participate in their production of Die Zauberflöte, singing Papageno and the Armed Man. Other favorite roles include: King Pellinore, and understudying King Arthur for Ash Lawn Opera; Don Giovanni, Count, Belcore, Marcello and Germont for UNT Opera; Aeneas, Bob, Guglielmo and Escamillo for SMU Opera Theater; Prince Moritz Popolescu, Basil, and Gianni Schicchi for TUT Opera Theater; and Dr.Malatesta for Salon Music Productions. He recently was invited to partake in the prestigious Santa Fe Concert Association’s concert series, singing the role of the King [no.7] in Conrad Susa’s opera Transformations. In 2012/2013 Mr. Bester was an Emerging Artist for Dallas Opera. Dr. Bester was also a member of the Des Moines Metro Opera's Young Artist Program in 2008 as well as a member of Ash Lawn Opera’s Young Artist Program in 2009.
Dr. Bester, a sought-after soloist with symphony orchestras, recently collaborated with The Lone Star Wind Orchestra, Allen Philharmonic Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra League, the UNT Symphony Orchestra, and Meadows Symphony Orchestra. Concert work includes: Brahm’s Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Schubert Mass, Faure Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah and Tippett's A Child of our Time.
As a recitalist, Dr. Bester not only performs regularly throughout the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, but he has also performed acclaimed recitals in Australia, Wales, and South Africa. Awards and honors include, an intern for the 2013 NATS internship program, semifinalist for the Gut Immling International Vocal Competition in Germany in 2010, second place for the Texas young artist competition in Conroe in 2009, finalist for the Dallas Guild Vocal competition in 2008, first place winner of the University of North Texas’s Concert Competition in 2009, and a recipient of the SAMRO (South African Music Rights Organization) National finalist scholarship in 2004 and 2005.
Currently, Dr. Bester serves as the Artistic Director for Voces Intime, The Art of Song, in Dallas, Texas.
Robert Smith, Piano
Dr. Robert Smith is Chair of the Piano Department at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary School of Church Music, where he has taught since 1979. He is a graduate of the University of Louisville (B.M.), The Juilliard School of Music (M.S.) and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (D.M.A.) He is a frequent performer of solo and ensemble literature, often with soprano Lynda Poston-Smith. They have given recitals together in Fulda and Munich, Germany; Croydon and London, England; and across the United States in and for some forty-two different colleges and universities, seminaries, and piano teacher organizations. Dr. Smith is regularly a clinician for conferences on the subject of Creative Motion, a performance technique that makes use of imagery and movement education. In addition, he has contributed reviews for the American Music Teacher, TheJournal of the American Liszt Society, the European Piano Teachers Journal, and the Journal of Creative Motion.
Dr. Smith’s interest in Creative Motion began early. At the age of 12 he attended the Windswept Music Conference, which introduced him to the sense of musical energy moving in the body. Complementary to all of his other piano studies, the concepts of Creative Motion continue to permeate his teaching and performing. He has served on the faculty at Windswept, an annual summer event held presently on the campus of William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, for some 33 years. Two of his former students are actively engaged as faculty members and prominent organizers of the Creative Motion Alliance.
Keith Critcher, Piano
Keith Critcher, pianist, is currently in his tenth year at Texas Wesleyan University as Vocal Coach/Accompanist and instructor of Music in Worship. He is also in his eleventh year as Minister of Music at East Dallas Christian Church. There he has established as Artistic Director a Classical & Sacred Concert Series with over 70 recitals and concerts since 2006. The Series includes the talented Chancel Choir performing Major Choral Works, seasonal concerts and solo recitals, while also incorporating other professional musicians, composers and conductors: i.e. Morten Lauridsen, The Dallas Symphony Chorus with Joshua Habermann performing Mozart’s Requiem. Mr. Critcher also selects for the Series several chamber and guest artist recitals along with members of the Fort Worth Symphony and DSO.
Mr. Critcher is a 1983 graduate of Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, and received the Masters of Music Degree in 1986 from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth. He taught for ten years in the Texas Christian University Piano Preparatory Department and was Music Director of the Harris Methodist Hospital Chorale. Mr. Critcher has performed with members of the Fort Worth Symphony in the Spectrum Chamber Series and recently with Texas Camerata as Harpsichordist. He has been musical director and accompanist for theater productions throughout Dallas/Fort Worth. His musical direction of Baby at Quad C, awarded him the 2003 Dallas based Column Awards Best Musical Director. In 2007, he accompanied the National Touring production of My Fair Lady for Dallas Summer Musicals.
Keith has toured for fifteen years with soprano Colleen Mallette in their two person operatic spoof, "The Lamaze School of Singing presents: "How to Birth a Song.” The show received rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and they shared their internet debut in a showcase by WorldArt.Com from Princes Street Gardens in Scotland. Mr. Critcher greatly enjoys collaborating at the piano with Texas Wesleyan University music faculty and students, members of the Dallas Opera Chorus, and Voces Intimae recitals and Master classes. He currently serves on the board of directors for Voces Intimae: The Art of Song.
eVOLVE: Mystic Circles
Performers
Lynda Poston-Smith, Soprano
Lynda Poston-Smith trained in New York City, receiving two degrees in vocal performance from the Manhattan School of Music, with further study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. She says that as a young singer her academic training was enhanced by the demands of the studio recording she did in New York. Lynda lived in Germany for three years. There she performed all the major works of Bach as well as numerous cantatas. She was later selected to be performer/fellow at the famed Bach Aria Festival of New York. In addition to her extensive experience as a soprano soloist with choral groups and orchestras in Germany and throughout the United States, Lynda performs in solo recitals with her pianist husband Robert Smith. She enjoys chamber opera, having sung the title role in the world premiere of Conrad Susa’s The Wise Women. While in New York, Lynda assisted Dorothy Uris in her writing of the book To Sing in English, and is now sought after as a diction coach and vocal/choral clinician.
Lynda has produced four solo CD's and additional solo singles. These recordings feature her unique and refreshing arrangements and are available for download through Amazon and iTunes. Having taught at the university and graduate school level for twenty years, Lynda now maintains a private voice studio in Ft. Worth, Texas. There she loves to help people of all ages and abilities to discover the joy and freedom in their singing.
Lauren McNeese, Mezzo-soprano
Mezzo soprano Lauren McNeese’s colorful, resonant voice and beautiful stage presence have established her as a sought out artist in the leading lyric mezzo-soprano repertoire. Opera News wrote of her portrayal of Dorabella at Lyric Opera of Chicago “she has one of those distinctive timbres recognizable six miles away in the dark... with a sparkling quality”.
The 2012-2013 season marked her Metropolitan Opera debut in Wagner’s Parsifal. Additionally she made her role debut as Giovanna Seymour in Donizetti's Anna Bolena with Minnesota Opera and returned to Intermountain Opera as Dorabella. In 2012 she made her debut with Dallas Opera and returned to San Francisco Opera and Ravinia Festival as the Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte. Engagements for the 2013-2014 season include Cherubino in Tulsa Opera’s Le nozze di Figaro, the title role in La Cenerentola with Opera Omaha and Intermountain Opera, and concert appearances with the Williamsburg Symphonia, Shreveport Symphony Orchestra for Mozart’s Requiem, and Augustana College for Messiah. Future engagements include La Cenerentola with Tulsa Opera, covering Venus in Tannhäuser at Lyric Opera of Chicago and her return to Dallas as Laura in Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta.
In the 2010-2011 season Lauren McNeese made her role debut as Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with Intermountain Opera followed by her return to Michigan Opera Theater as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro. Ms. McNeese was recently seen at the San Francisco Opera as Wellgunde and Rossweisse in the critically acclaimed production of Der Ring des Nibelungen directed by Francesca Zambello and conducted by Donald Runnicles. During the fall of 2010 Ms. McNeese made her debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic as the mezzo soloist in the dramatic symphony Roméo et Juliette by Hector Berlioz conducted by Charles Dutroit. In the 2009-2010 season she appeared with the Ravinia Festival as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, made her Pittsburgh Symphony debut as the mezzo soloist in Mozart’s Requiem under the baton of Manfred Honeck and appeared with the Los Angeles Opera as Wellgunde in Der Ring des Nibelungen conducted by James Conlon.
A graduate of the Patrick G. and Shirley Ryan Opera Center, Ms. McNeese has been seen on the Lyric Opera stage as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Siebel in Faust, Wellgunde and Rossweisse in Der Ring des Nibelungen, Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Lapak the dog in The Cunning Little Vixen, Edith in The Pirates of Penzance, Flora in La Traviata and Myrtale in Thaïs. She has also appeared with the LA Opera as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Wellgunde in Das Rheingold, Karolka in Jenufa, La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi directed by Woody Allen, Tebaldo in Don Carlos and Javotte in Manon conducted by Placido Domingo.
Other recent engagements have included her debuts with the San Francisco Opera as Wellgunde in Das Rheingold conducted by Donald Runnicles, Arizona Opera as Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Opera Company of Philadelphia as L’enfant in L’enfant et les sortilèges and La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi, Michigan Opera as Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette, and PortOpera as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette. She has appeared with the Minnesota Opera as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro and Bellino/Teresa in Casanova’s Homecoming by Dominick Argento, the Wolf Trap Opera as Isolier in Le Comte Ory where she was awarded a Shouse Education Career Grant and with the Festival dei Due Mondi in Spoleto Italy as La Ciesca in the reprisal of the critically acclaimed LA Opera production of Gianni Schicchi. In concert Ms. McNeese has appeared with the Toronto Symphony as the mezzo soloist in Mozart’s C Minor Mass conducted by Helmuth Rilling and the Cincinnati May Festival as the mezzo soloist in Mozart’s Requiem conducted by James Conlon.
Stephen Morscheck, Bass-baritone
Stephen Morscheck is widely respected for the dignity he brings in both concert and operatic performances. “Stephen Morscheck’s Leporello was genuinely funny, as well as solidly sung. His catalogue aria was almost too effective, drawing applause before its conclusion,” says Opera News of a recent Don Giovanni performance. Of Verdi’s Requiem, The Boston Herald said he, “projected…with just the right thrilling, in-your-ear Verdian punch…Morscheck’s bass seemed the perfect medium for some of heaven’s sterner pronouncements.”
This season engagements include Capellio in I Capuleti e I Montechi with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with the Orlando Philharmonic, Handel’s Messiah with the Rochester Chamber Philharmonic, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Soli deo Gloria under John Nelson, Bach’s St. John Passion with the Bach Society of St Louis, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra.
Recent engagements include Capulet in Roméo et Juliette at Opera Colorado, Dallas Opera, and Florida Grand Opera; Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro at Lyric Opera Baltimore; and Father Trulove in The Rake’s Progress at the Princeton Festival, where he previously performed Il Ré in Ariodante. Recent concert appearances include Verdi’s Requiem with the Knoxville Symphony Society; Dvorak’s Requiem with the UNC Summer Music Festival; Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the Music of the Baroque; Elijah with Opera Naples; Ein Deutsches Requiem and Mozart’s Requiem with the Sheboygan Symphony; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Glacier Symphony and Chorale and Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra; Jesus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Netherlands Radio Kammerphilharmonie as well as with Festival de Saint-Denis and SDG Music under John Nelson; Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra; St. John Passion at the St. Vincent de Paul Church in Chicago; Handel’s Messiah with Pacific Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony, and Orchestra Kentucky; and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Symphony No. 9 with the Roanoke Symphony and Alabama Symphony.
Additional operatic engagements have included Palemon in Thaïs with the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Colline in La bohème with Los Angeles, Dallas Opera and L’Opera de Montreal; Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Washington National Opera and Arizona Opera; Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro with Dallas Opera; Rocco in Fidelio at Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Florentine Opera of Milwaukee; Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia with L’Opera de Montreal, Kentucky Opera, and Atlanta Opera; Alidoro in La Cenerentola with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Orlando Opera, and Florentine Opera; Leporello in Don Giovanni with Opera Carolina; Sparafucile in Rigoletto with the Florentine Opera; Don Alphonso in Cosi fan tutte with Arizona Opera and Kentucky Opera; and Nourabad in Les Pêcheurs de Perles with Kentucky Opera. With the Spoleto Festival USA, appearances have included Le Chiffonnier in Louise and John Adams in Amistad and with the Santa Fe Opera, Publius in La Clemenza di Tito.
A very active soloist, he has appeared numerous times with the L’Ensemble Orchestral de Paris in repeat performances of both St. John Passion and St. Matthew Passion. With the Music of the Baroque in Chicago he has performed Mozart’s Requiem, Simon in Judas Maccabeus, King Arthur, and the title role in Hercules. Additional appearances have included Handel’s Messiah with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Bach Society, and Duke Chapel Choir; Dvorak’s Stabat Mater with the Berkshire Choral Festival; Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the National Symphony Orchestra in Santo Domingo; Mozart’s Coronation Mass at the Spoleto Festival; Verdi’s Requiem with the Anchorage Symphony and University of North Texas; Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Milwaukee Symphony and the Choral Society of Durham; Bach’s B-minor Mass with the National Symphony Orchestra of Costa Rica in San Jose; Mozart’s Requiem with the Eastern Connecticut Symphony; and soloist in the Atlanta Opera’s La Belle Soirée.
Stephen Morscheck graduated from Wheaton College and completed advanced degrees from the University of Michigan. In 1995, he was awarded the “Richard Tucker Career Grant.” He currently serves as an Associate Professor of Voice at the University of North Texas, Denton.
Christian Bester, Baritone
Dr. Christian Bester, a lyric-baritone, holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance with a related field in Opera, along with the Artist Certificate from the University of North Texas. At UNT he studied under Dr. Linda DiFiore. The Master of Music degree in Voice, he received from Southern Methodist University, and the Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Tshwane University of Technology. Dr. Bester made his professional debut as Schaunard in La Bohème for Pro Musica Theater in South Africa in 2005. Dr. Bester made his long awaited European professional debut in 2010 as Zaremba in the operetta Polin Blut for the Americke Jaro Festival in the Czech Republic. In July 2007 he was invited by the Amalfi Coast Festival in Italy to participate in their production of Die Zauberflöte, singing Papageno and the Armed Man. Other favorite roles include: King Pellinore, and understudying King Arthur for Ash Lawn Opera; Don Giovanni, Count, Belcore, Marcello and Germont for UNT Opera; Aeneas, Bob, Guglielmo and Escamillo for SMU Opera Theater; Prince Moritz Popolescu, Basil, and Gianni Schicchi for TUT Opera Theater; and Dr.Malatesta for Salon Music Productions. He recently was invited to partake in the prestigious Santa Fe Concert Association’s concert series, singing the role of the King [no.7] in Conrad Susa’s opera Transformations. In 2012/2013 Mr. Bester was an Emerging Artist for Dallas Opera. Dr. Bester was also a member of the Des Moines Metro Opera's Young Artist Program in 2008 as well as a member of Ash Lawn Opera’s Young Artist Program in 2009.
Dr. Bester, a sought-after soloist with symphony orchestras, recently collaborated with The Lone Star Wind Orchestra, Allen Philharmonic Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra League, the UNT Symphony Orchestra, and Meadows Symphony Orchestra. Concert work includes: Brahm’s Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Schubert Mass, Faure Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah and Tippett's A Child of our Time.
As a recitalist, Dr. Bester not only performs regularly throughout the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, but he has also performed acclaimed recitals in Australia, Wales, and South Africa. Awards and honors include, an intern for the 2013 NATS internship program, semifinalist for the Gut Immling International Vocal Competition in Germany in 2010, second place for the Texas young artist competition in Conroe in 2009, finalist for the Dallas Guild Vocal competition in 2008, first place winner of the University of North Texas’s Concert Competition in 2009, and a recipient of the SAMRO (South African Music Rights Organization) National finalist scholarship in 2004 and 2005.
Currently, Dr. Bester serves as the Artistic Director for Voces Intime, The Art of Song, in Dallas, Texas.
Robert Smith, Piano
Dr. Robert Smith is Chair of the Piano Department at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary School of Church Music, where he has taught since 1979. He is a graduate of the University of Louisville (B.M.), The Juilliard School of Music (M.S.) and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (D.M.A.) He is a frequent performer of solo and ensemble literature, often with soprano Lynda Poston-Smith. They have given recitals together in Fulda and Munich, Germany; Croydon and London, England; and across the United States in and for some forty-two different colleges and universities, seminaries, and piano teacher organizations. Dr. Smith is regularly a clinician for conferences on the subject of Creative Motion, a performance technique that makes use of imagery and movement education. In addition, he has contributed reviews for the American Music Teacher, TheJournal of the American Liszt Society, the European Piano Teachers Journal, and the Journal of Creative Motion.
Dr. Smith’s interest in Creative Motion began early. At the age of 12 he attended the Windswept Music Conference, which introduced him to the sense of musical energy moving in the body. Complementary to all of his other piano studies, the concepts of Creative Motion continue to permeate his teaching and performing. He has served on the faculty at Windswept, an annual summer event held presently on the campus of William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri, for some 33 years. Two of his former students are actively engaged as faculty members and prominent organizers of the Creative Motion Alliance.
Keith Critcher, Piano
Keith Critcher, pianist, is currently in his tenth year at Texas Wesleyan University as Vocal Coach/Accompanist and instructor of Music in Worship. He is also in his eleventh year as Minister of Music at East Dallas Christian Church. There he has established as Artistic Director a Classical & Sacred Concert Series with over 70 recitals and concerts since 2006. The Series includes the talented Chancel Choir performing Major Choral Works, seasonal concerts and solo recitals, while also incorporating other professional musicians, composers and conductors: i.e. Morten Lauridsen, The Dallas Symphony Chorus with Joshua Habermann performing Mozart’s Requiem. Mr. Critcher also selects for the Series several chamber and guest artist recitals along with members of the Fort Worth Symphony and DSO.
Mr. Critcher is a 1983 graduate of Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, and received the Masters of Music Degree in 1986 from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth. He taught for ten years in the Texas Christian University Piano Preparatory Department and was Music Director of the Harris Methodist Hospital Chorale. Mr. Critcher has performed with members of the Fort Worth Symphony in the Spectrum Chamber Series and recently with Texas Camerata as Harpsichordist. He has been musical director and accompanist for theater productions throughout Dallas/Fort Worth. His musical direction of Baby at Quad C, awarded him the 2003 Dallas based Column Awards Best Musical Director. In 2007, he accompanied the National Touring production of My Fair Lady for Dallas Summer Musicals.
Keith has toured for fifteen years with soprano Colleen Mallette in their two person operatic spoof, "The Lamaze School of Singing presents: "How to Birth a Song.” The show received rave reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and they shared their internet debut in a showcase by WorldArt.Com from Princes Street Gardens in Scotland. Mr. Critcher greatly enjoys collaborating at the piano with Texas Wesleyan University music faculty and students, members of the Dallas Opera Chorus, and Voces Intimae recitals and Master classes. He currently serves on the board of directors for Voces Intimae: The Art of Song.