Bartolo
Stephen L. BryantGrammy nominee Stephen L. Bryant’s distinguished career in concert and opera has taken him around the world, with acclaimed performances in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. In October of 2021 he was the baritone soloist in Jerod Tate’s Victory Songs as part of SDSO’s Lakota Project which was recorded on the Innova label. In the 2018-19 season, he performed and recorded Charles Wuorinen's opera Haroun and the Sea of Stories, based on the novel by Salman Rushdie, with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project. In July 2019, he sang the role of Jesus with the Mendhelssohn Club of Philadelphia, in Tan Dun's Water Passion after St. Matthew. Also with SDSO Stephen has been privileged to sing Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Creation, Messiah, and Bach’s B Minor Mass. In the 2017-18 season he performed as soloist in Tan Dun’s Water Passion after St. Matthew with Soundstreams Canada. His engagements during the 2016-17 season included Handel’s Messiah with the Virginia and Pacific symphonies, Bach’s B Minor Mass with Orchestra Iowa as well as performing in a pair of concerts with the Grand Rapids Bach Festival. Mr. Bryant’s 2015-2016 season included Tan Dun’s Water Passion after St. Matthew at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and with the Brussels Philharmonic, the roles of Cecco and Raimondo in Wagner’s Rienzi with the National Philharmonic, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Bridgeport Symphony and the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Hartford Chorale.
A premiere interpreter of the works of Academy Award-winning composer Tan Dun, Bryant created the role of Dante in the world premiere of the opera Marco Polo and was nominated for a Grammy for “Best Opera Recording” for the opera’s release on Opus Arte. He reprised the role for productions at London’s Barbican Centre (broadcast by the BBC), the Bergen International Festival and with de Nederlandse Opera. He has also performed Water Passion after St. Matthew with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony, and on tour in the Netherlands; and Tan Dun’s Orchestra Theatre II with the Hamburger Symphoniker. His other recent concert appearances include Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra; Handel’s Messiah with the Indianapolis and Pittsburgh symphonies; Mozart’s Requiem with Princeton Pro Musica; and Verdi’s Requiem with the Washington National Opera Orchestra under the auspices of the Defiant Requiem Foundation. Stephen L. Bryant has appeared in numerous roles with New York City Opera, most recently in productions of A Quiet Place and Intermezzo. Other opera performances include Mr. Gobineau in The Medium at the Spoleto Festival USA; Robert Gonzales in Stewart Wallace’s Harvey Milk and the Bonze in Madama Butterfly with San Francisco Opera; Capulet in Roméo et Juliette with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Michigan Opera Theatre, Chautauqua Opera, and Toledo Opera; George Milton in Of Mice and Men with Arizona Opera; and Indiana Elliot’s Brother in Thomson’s The Mother of Us All with Santa Fe Opera. |
Deiran ManningDeiran Manning has given performances across the United States, Ireland, England, France and Italy at notable venues such as Merkin Concert Hall, Weil Recital Hall at Carnegie, the National Concert Hall in Dublin and the New York City Mayor’s residence, Gracie Mansion. A Maine native, Mr. Manning spent his formative years in New York City attending LaGuardia High School and eventually earning his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. His notable teachers include pianists Edmund Battersby, Edward Auer, Karen Shaw, Jeffrey Swann and baritone Wolfgang Brendel. As a collaborative player, Mr. Manning has performed with notable musicians including flutist Carol Wincenc, violinist Anatole Wieck, and baritones Stephen Bryant and Wolfgang Brendel.
As a singer, Mr. Manning has performed with various companies including IU Opera Theater, Bronx Opera, and WHMF Opera. Notable roles have included Papageno in Die Zauberflote and Sir Joseph Porter in HMS Pinafore. He regularly works as a vocal coach due to his experience as both a pianist and singer. In 2017, Mr. Manning founded the WHMF Community Opera program which serves to give musicians of all levels and community members the chance to perform, while providing opera to a region which lacks classical performance. Since then, he has produced, directed and coached 5 operas in the region, including a fully socially distanced outdoor production of La Serva Padrona in August of 2020. Mr. Manning has also been on faculty at New York University and Brooklyn Conservatory where he taught group keyboard, performance classes, theory and private lessons. Notable awards include; Stanza Governor’s Prize in Composition, LISSMA International Piano Competition, Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition and the Ira Gershwin award. In 2020, Mr. Manning received grants from the Maine Arts Council to record iconic keyboard works. His recordings of the Diabelli and Goldberg Variations are available digitally on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music and other streaming platforms. Mr. Manning is currently on the faculty at Husson University and the University of Maine. In addition to his performing and teaching, Mr. Manning serves as Executive Director of the Winter Harbor Music Festival. |