Voice
Robert Bracey - click for web site
Robert Bracey, tenor, Associate Professor, Chair, Department of Vocal Studies holds the BM in Music Education from Michigan State University, the MM and DMA in Voice Performance from the University of Michigan. He previously taught on the faculties at Bowling Green State University and Michigan State University, where he served as the Chair of the Voice Area. He also taught on the voice faculty of the Michigan All-State program at the Interlochen Arts Camp for twelve summers. Dr. Bracey was awarded first place in the 2002 Oratorio Society of New York’s International Solo Competition at Carnegie Hall. He returned to Carnegie Hall for performances of Handel: Messiah later that year. He made his Detroit Symphony debut at Orchestra Hall and his Kennedy Center debut in Washington, DC with the Choral Arts Society of Washington. A Regional Finalist in the New York Metropolitan Opera Auditions, he also won first place in the NATS Regional Competition where he received the Jessye Norman Award for the most outstanding soloist at the competition. Recent engagements include performances with the Symphony Orchestra of India and the Paranjoti Academy Chorus at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai, India, the Telemann Chamber Orchestra in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, Oratorio Society of New York, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, Choral Arts Society of Washington, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Dayton Philharmonic, Syracuse Symphony, Wichita Symphony, Elgin Symphony, Southwest Florida Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Duluth-Superior Symphony, Fort Wayne Philharmonic, Illinois Symphony, Flint Symphony, Midland Symphony, East Texas Symphony, Duke University Chapel Choir, Boise Philharmonic, Independence Messiah Festival, Choral Arts Society of Greensboro, Ann Arbor Symphony, Greater Lansing Symphony, Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, Messiah Choral Society of Orlando, Choral Society of Durham, Kalamazoo Bach Festival, and the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
He has worked with such well-known conductors as Helmuth Rilling, Simon Preston, Sir Philip Ledger, Norman Scribner, Carl St. Clair, Jos van Veldhoven, David Lockington, Hal France, Lyndon Woodside, Gustav Meier, Grant Llewellyn, Robert Hanson, Enrique Diemecke and Andrew Sewell.
Centaur Records released Dr. Bracey’s first solo compact disc in 2006. The recording of English art songs also features UNCG faculty Andrew Harley, piano and Scott Rawls, viola. It is available in markets worldwide. 336-256-0107 or email: r_bracey@uncg.edu
Donald Hartmann
Donald Hartmann has been described as possessing a, "big, rich voice with an amazing timbre." Having performed in over 100 operatic productions, he is a commanding leading man and has been described as “one of the best character singers on any opera stage anywhere.”(Opera News) Recent engagements have included Swallow in Peter Grimes with Opéra de Montreal; Madison Opera as,Benoit/Alcindoro in La Boheme, and Commendatore in Don Giovanni, and Sacristan in Tosca;Colline in La Boheme for Opera Lenawee; Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor as well as Bonze in Madame Butterfly with Toledo Opera; Pooh-Bah in The Mikado with Nashville Opera; Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance with Chattanooga Opera. Upcoming engagements include Benoit/Aclindoro in La Boheme; Dr. Bartolo in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Delaware; and the role of Howard in the world premiere production of Picnic by Libby Larsen. Donald has appeared in 16 productions with Michigan Opera Theatre in roles such as Soldier in Salome, Sacristan in Tosca, Monterone and Marullo in Rigoletto, Luther/Crespel/Schlemeil in Tales of Hoffman, Abimelech in Samson et Dalilah, Benoit/Alcindoro in La Boheme, and others . European engagements have included Simon Boccanegra, Cosi Fan Tutte, Oklahoma, Xerxes, Die Czardasfurstin, Wienner Blut, Im Weissen Rossl, Die Verkaufte Braut , and Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagony at the Stadttheater Regensburg. At the Vereinigte Städtisches Bühnen Krefeld/Mönchengladbach he has performed in productions of: Der Meistersinger, Carmen, Cosi Fan Tutte, Die Czardasfurstin, Frau Luna, Don Carlo, Mignon, Don Giovanni, Entführung aus dem Serail, Die Lustige Witwe , and Orpheus in der Unterwelt . He also performed comprimario roles as: Zweiter Gefangener in Fidelio, Der Notar in Gianni Schicchi , and others. As a concert and oratorio soloist, Donald Hartmann has performed such works as Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn, the Requiem Masses of Verdi, Mozart, Fauré, Brahms, and Durruflé, as well as Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven Symphony No. 9, and “Babi Yar” Symphony No. 13 by Shostakovich. Dr. Hartmann completed his Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance and his Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He completed his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Vocal Performance, graduating with honors at the University of Oklahoma. As a member of the faculty at University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma he was nominated, and received, the prestigious Regents Award for Superior Teaching. Dr. Hartmann taught for 16 years in the Department of Music at Eastern Michigan University where he twice received the Faculty Artistic Recognition Award. Having participated in several vocal competitions, Donald Hartmann has been a second place finalist in the San Antonio Opera Guild Talent Search and a winner of the Friedrich Schorr Memorial Prize in Vocal Performance under the auspices of Opera Lenawee. Appearing in five productions with Opera Lenawee, Donald was recognized as the First Honored Artist of that organization. dchartma@uncg.edu
David Holley
David Holley, Director of Opera at UNCG, has appeared with opera companies in Dallas, Atlanta, Rochester, Phoenix, Banff (Alberta, Canada), Shreveport, Albuquerque and others, singing leading tenor roles such as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Don José in Carmen, and Tamino in The Magic Flute. Since his arrival in 1992, UNCG's operas have been awarded first place in the National Opera Association Opera Production Competition five times: Orpheus in the Underworld (2001), The Consul (2000), Dialogues of the Carmelites (1997), Amahl and the Night Visitors (1996), and Don Giovanni (1994). Two operas during the same period placed second: Albert Herring (1998) and Gianni Schicchi (1993). He received a BME from Furman University and an MM in Opera Performance from the University of Texas at Austin. Since 1994,he has been on the directing staff of the Brevard Music Festival. 336-334-5126 or email: d_holley@uncg.edu
Carla LeFevre
Carla
LeFevre holds the D.M.A. and M.A. degrees in voice performance and
pedagogy from the University of Iowa and the B.M.Ed. in voice and horn from
Central
Missouri State University. Dr. LeFevre began her collegiate teaching career
as a member of the voice faculty at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., and
is currently serving in her seventeenth year as voice professor at the University
of North Carolina-Greensboro. Previously, she has taught for the National Opera
Company (young artist program) in Raleigh, and she has continued to coach and
teach young professionals in addition to her work at the university. Her students
have distinguished themselves as winners in state and regional Metropolitan
Opera auditions and NATS competitions, and as apprentice artists for over a
dozen opera companies throughout the country, including San Fransisco, Pittsburgh,
Baltimore, Sarasota, Chatauqua, and Des Moines Metro Opera, as well as Opera
North, Ohio Light Opera, and Connecticut Opera. Dr. LeFevre has extensive experience
as a performer of oratorio, opera, and and art song, and has carved a niche
as a performer of contemporary repertoire. A national winner of the Gertrude
Fogelson Cultural and Creative Arts Vocal Competition, she also was one of
two national finalists for the National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist
Competition and a national finalist in the National Opera Association Competition.
336-334-5544 or email: c_lefevr@uncg.edu
Clara O'Brien
Mezzo Soprano Clara O’Brien comes to the University of North Carolina Greensboro after more than twenty years of performing in Europe and the United States. For over seventeen years, Professor O’Brien based her career in Germany and has appeared on the operatic and concert stages of such cities as Berlin, Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Dresden, Frankfurt, Chicago, Dallas and many others. Her professional career began when she was awarded the Sonderpreis des Badischen Staatstheater, a prize created specially for her at the 1st International Coloratura Competition, Sylvia Geszty. Her many roles range from Baroque to contemporary and include Octavian, Komponist, Adalgisa, Mignon, Dorabella, Donna Elvira, Elisabetta (Maria Stuarda), Rosina, Angelina (Cenerentola), Musetta, Helene (La Belle Hélène), Fenena (Nabucco) and numerous roles at the International Handel Festpiel. Her performances have been noted in Opernwelt as Best Performances in both the Emerging and Established Artist categories. Other awards include 1st Prize, Erika Koth Meisterkurs and Finalist in the International Belvedere Competition. Clara O'Brien is also a recitalist and won the Grand Prix Paul Derenne, International Concours de chant de Paris for her interpretation of Impressionist and post-Impressionist French mélodies. She is also a noted interpreter of late-Romantic and Modernist German Lieder. For many years, she was vocal soloist for Ensemble Surprise, which presented chamber repertoire from ca. 1300 to the present. Recordings include releases on the Bella Musica and Albany Records labels and she has been recorded and broadcast on Southwest German Radio and Television. Ms. O'Brien studied at the Eastman School of Music (M.M., Performance Certificate), the Curtis Institute of Music ,the Dana School of Music (B.M., Summa cum laude) and the Hochschule fur Musik, Heidelberg/Manneheim. She was an apprentice with the Chicago Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, the Aspen Music Festival and the Boris Goldovski Opera Institute. She received a Fulbright Grant to Germany and was awarded a fellowship to the Münchener Singschul’. Her teachers included Jan DeGaetani, Astrid Varnay, Erika Köth and Daniel Ferro. Before joining the voice faculty at UNCG, Ms. O’Brien was Assistant Professor for Voice at the University of Oklahoma. She has also taught at the American Institute for Musical Studies in Graz, Austria, and gives master classes throughout the United States. www.claraobrien.com 336-334-5529 or email: cjobrien@uncg.edu
Carole Ott
Carole Ott joins the faculty at UNCG as an Assistant Professor of Choral Music. Her degrees include a BM in Music Education from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where her primary instrument was French Horn. After teaching choral and instrumental music in the public schools, Ott began pursuing graduate degrees at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theater & Dance where she recently received a DMA in Choral Conducting. Ott’s major conducting teachers while in graduate school were Jerry Blackstone and Theodore Morrison. She has also participated in conducting seminars with Helmuth Rilling, Carl St. Clair, and Michael Haithcock. At UNCG, Dr. Ott directs the Chorale and teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting as well as graduate seminars in choral music. Additionally, she is the director of the Winston-Salem Symphony Chorale. Ott has appeared as a guest clinician and adjudicator for the Michigan School Vocal Music Association and has spent several summers as adjunct faculty at the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp. Also an active soloist, Ott has appeared with the Early Music Ensemble at the University of Michigan, has participated in master classes with Early Music Vancouver, and premiered the works of Susan Botti at the American Academy in Rome in 2006. 336334-5428 or email: cjott@uncg.edu
Levone Tobin-Scott
Levone Tobin-Scott, mezzo soprano, has been a member of the faculty since 1992. She holds degrees from Benedict College and the University of South Carolina and has done further study for the DM degree at Florida State University in Tallahassee. Tobin-Scott has been recognized for her excellence in performance of American Art Songs by Pi Kappa Lambda, the South Carolina Musical Arts Guild, the Nassau, Bahamas, Cultural Arts Series and the Nederland Amerika Institut Limburg. Her extensive performances in recital and oratorio have included appearances with the Greensboro Symphony, the Winston-Salem Piedmont Triad Symphony, the Pensacola Symphony, the Columbia Philharmonic and the Florence Symphony. Her performances have taken her to Paris, Bruges, Brussels, Maastricht, Luxembourg, and Frankfurt. 336-334-5533 or email: ltscott@uncg.edu
Nancy Walker
Nancy Walker earned the BME from Hastings College in Nebraska. She taught in the public schools there before earning the MM from the University of Colorado in Boulder and DM from Indiana University. At UNCG, Walker teaches studio voice and served as the Chair of the Vocal Studies Division for eight years. She performs frequently in recitals and oratorios in the area and has performed in Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Walker was a national finalist in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Artist Awards and served as Regional Governor for the Mid-Atlantic Region. She received a Fulbright Research Grant to study the songs of Josephine Lang in Munich, Germany, in 1998. 336-334-5784 or email: nlwalker@uncg.edu
Robert Wells
Robert
Wells is currently Associate Professor of Voice and teaches studio
voice and vocal pedagogy. He also serves on the faculty of the Schlern International
Music Festival in Voels am Schlern, Italy. He holds the BM in Voice from
the State University of New York College at Fredonia, and holds MM and
DMA degrees in Voice
from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. A frequent
recitalist
and collaborative
artist, Wells has also enjoyed an active performance career in both oratorio
and opera in New York State and the Midwest, and his performances have taken
him to Great Britain and Europe. He has sung leading roles in Le Nozze di
Figaro, Così fan tutte, and Albert Herring and has appeared as baritone soloist
in such works as Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, Mendelssohn's Elijah, and
the St. John Passion of J. S. Bach. An active choral conductor, Wells served
as Director of the Fredonia College Choir and was recognized for his work
with numerous professional and community choral organizations in Western
New York. Wells formerly served on the faculty at the State University of
New York College at Fredonia, where he was Co-Chair of the Voice Faculty
and was a sought-after clinician and adjudicator. 336-256-1326 or email:
Robert_Wells@uncg.edu
Welborn E. Young
Welborn
E. Young, Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music, holds
a BME degree and a MA in Conducting degree from Middle Tennessee State University
and a DMA in choral conducting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Dr. Young teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting, graduate seminars
in choral repertoire, German diction, and conducts the Women's Choir and Chamber
Singers. In addition, Dr. Young is the Conductor of the Choral Society of Greensboro.
He has served as guest conductor and clinician in festivals and clinics in
North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina, Washington D.C., Illinois,
and Washington. Recently, His choirs have toured Austria, the Czech-Republic,
Hungary, Italy, and England. He is the former Artistic Director and Conductor
for Windy City Performing Arts, Inc. in Chicago. These ensembles received enthusiastic
reviews in such papers the Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Tribune,
and the Windy City Times. In the summer of 1998, Dr. Young was a featured
festival conductor at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Netherlands. That same
summer he was guest conductor of Chicago's Grant Park Symphony Chorus and assisted
with the preparation of their first recording. He has prepared and conducted
the Nashville Symphony Chorus and appeared as guest conductor with the Nashville
Opera Association. 334-5493 or email: weyoung@uncg.edu
