THE AULOS ENSEMBLE
with
John Elwes, Acis (tenor)
Kendra Colton, Galatea (soprano)
Curtis Streetman, Polyphemus (baritone)
William Hite, Damon (tenor)

Christopher Krueger (flute), Marc Schachman (oboe), Linda Quan (violin), Myron Lutzke (cello), Arthur Haas (harpsichord)

Formed in 1973 by five graduates of the Juilliard School, the Aulos Ensemble was at the forefront of a movement that has captured the imagination of the American listening public. The group’s artistic intelligence, based on informed scholarly insight, along with an uncompromising standard of excellence, has resulted in invitations from virtually all of America’s major chamber music presenters. It’s performances have helped to create a new appreciation of the rich rewards of “original instrument” performance and have earned admiration from America’s most respected critics, who call Aulos concerts “scintillating,” “virtuosic,” “rare and delightful,” and “authentic baroque performance at its best.”
In addition to an extensive touring schedule, the Aulos Ensemble created its own concert series in New York City. Featuring collaborations with leading artists in authentic performance from both the United States and Europe, the Aulos Ensemble has welcomed, among others, harpsichordists Trevor Pinnock and Albert Fuller, violinists Jaap Schroeder and Stanley Richie, cellist Anner Bylsma, oboist Michel Piguet, and vocalists Jan de Gaetani, Bethany Beardslee, Charles Bressler, Julianne Baird, Sanford Sylvan, and Dawn Upshaw.
Across the country, the Aulos Ensemble’s holiday concert tours and “Baroque Christmas” recording have become an essential part of holiday celebrations. At home in New York, the Aulos Ensemble performs a special Christmas concert annually, frequently in the magical setting of the Medieval Sculpture Court at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The 2004 holiday concert at the Museum featured baritone Sanford Sylvan. As the New York Times says “If it has to be just one just one Christmas concert, this is it!”
The Aulos Ensemble’s first recording, released on the Musical Heritage Society label in 1981, was heralded as one of the most accomplished and significant observances of the Telemann tercentenary, receiving the “Critic’s Choice” award from High Fidelity/Musical America magazine. Since then, the Aulos Ensemble has released more than a dozen CDs on the MHS label, including 2-CD sets of Bach, Handel and Vivaldi, as well a the complete “Essercizii Musici” of Telemann on 5 discs. The Aulos Ensemble can also be heard frequently on National Public Radio.
In conjunction with its concerts, the Aulos Ensemble has given numerous master classes and lecture demonstrations in 17th and 18th-century performance practice at colleges and universities throughout the country.

SINGER BIOGRAPHIES

John Elwes (tenor)

John Elwes, tenor, began his musical career at Westminster Cathedral in London where he was Head Chorister. His vocal education was furthered by the eminent harpsichordist George Malcolm, the then Director of Music. Under the name of John Hahessy (his father was from Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Waterford) he had considerable success as a boy soprano—from BBC broadcasts and recordings with Decca to concerts with such conductors as Benjamin Britten, who dedicated his Corpus Christi Carol to him.
John Elwes is particularly well known for his sensitive and musical performances. His repertoire is extensive ranging from Monteverdi, Rameau, Bach and Handel to Mozart, Schubert, Schumann, Mahler and Britten. He has a busy concert and operatic life and performs with conductors such as Gustav Leonhardt, Michel Corboz, Niklaus Harnoncourt, Roger Norrington and Christopher Hogwood.

John Elwes has participated in more than a hundred recordings ranging from Monteverdi to Britten. He has recently recorded Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde (Dorian) and Schubert’s song cycle Die schone Mullerin (Smithsonian).

John’s future engagements will be a tour of Japan in November 2004 where he will perform the title role in Mozart’s opera Idomeneo, and give recitals of Beethoven’s cycle An die ferne Geliebte, Schubert’s Winterreise and Schumann’s Dichterliebe.

Kendra Colton (soprano)

Soprano Kendra Colton has been soloist with leading orchestras including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Pittsburgh Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Houston Symphony, and the National Symphony, under conductors including Harry Bicket, Bernard Haitink, Christopher Hogwood, Sir Neville Marriner, Nicholas McGegan, John Nelson, Seiji Ozawa, Helmuth Rilling, and Bruno Weil.

Particularly sought-after for baroque and classical repertoire, Miss Colton sings nearly all the Passions, Masses and Cantatas of Bach; Handel oratorios including Messiah, Solomon, Saul, Israel in Egypt; Mozart concert arias and masses including Exsultate Jubilate, Mass in C minor, Coronation Mass, Requiem; Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Mass in C, and Symphony No. 9; and Haydn’s masses and oratorios. In addition to Symphony appearances she performs regularly with modern- and period-instrument orchestras which specialize in this repertoire including the Handel & Haydn Society, Washington Bach Consort, Music of the Baroque, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Bach Choir of Bethlehem, and many others.

Miss Colton has performed several Handel operatic roles in concert including Dalinda in Ariodante for Handel & Haydn Society, The Triumph of Time and Truth for Aston Magna on a European tour, Admeto (Alceste) with Emmanuel Music in Boston, and Telemann’s Pimpinone (Vespetta) at the Carmel Bach Festival.

William Hite (tenor)

Tenor William Hite’s reputation as a engaging and expressive artist has led to engagements with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Staatskapelle, American Symphony Orchestra, San Diego Symphony, Washington Bach Consort, National Arts Center Orchestra (Ottawa), New York Collegium, Boston Baroque, Tafelmusik, Seattle Baroque and Philharmonia Baroque under the direction of Seiji Ozawa, Rafael Frübeck de Burgos, Nicholas McGegan, Christopher Hogwood, Robert Spano, Grant Llewellyn, Leon Botstein, John Harbison, Craig Smith and Peter Schreier.

The tenor’s operatic credits include the title roles in The Rake’s Progress, Acis and Galatea, Handel’s Jephtha, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria and Cavalli’s L’Ormindo. He performed the role of Orfeo in Peri’s Euridice with the Long Beach Opera and has been a regular at BEMF, appearing in Monteverdi and Rossi’s Orfeo and Cavalli’s Ercole amante.

Mr. Hite’s discography now contains over 30 recordings including numerous award winning CDs with the Boston Camerata and Sequentia. William Hite has sung in music festivals at Tanglewood, Santa Fe and Vancouver. In Europe he has performed at the Academie Musicale in Sainte, Aix-en-Provence and the Holland Early Music Festival. He is head of the voice faculty at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Curtis Streetman (bass)

Bass Curtis Streetman performs repertoire that ranges from the Renaissance to the music of Benjamin Britten and Conrad Susa. Highlights of recent years included performances of Handel Operas with the Salzburg Festival, as well as debuts at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and at Vienna’s Musikverein. He will return to the Halle Opera in Germany to perform the title role in Handel’s Hercules. Concerts and recitals will also take him throughout the United States and Europe. Recent performances include concerts with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra directed by Nicholas McGegan, performances with the San Diego Symphony and with Canada’s Les Violons du Roi under the direction of Bernard Labadie. He toured Spain with the Salzburg Festival. With the Pacific Opera Victoria, Canada, he performed the role of Colline in La Boheme, and was presented by the Salzburg Festival for inaugural performances at Dortmund’s New Philharmonic Hall. He also returned to Carnegie Hall for performances of Handel’s Messiah, and toured the United States with the Instrumental Ensemble Rebel. He performed Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Toronto’s Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Andrew Parrott, and appeared in Boston’s Symphony Hall in Handel’s Ariodante with the Handel and Haydn Society conducted by Christopher Hogwood. Mr. Streetman’s operatic credentials include leading roles in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Die Zauberflöte, Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, Britten’s Billy Budd, as well as the bass leads in many Handel and Rossini operas. He has recorded Monteverdi’s Vespers for Musical Heritage Society as well as Castelnuovo-Tedesko’s Romanciero Gitano on the New World Classics label, music of Charpentier on the Naxos label, and Clarembault Cantatas for Dorian. Mr. Streetman has been a frequent soloist with The New York Collegium, and has directed two programs for the group: “The Lutheran Tradition,” and “The Musical Life of Samuel Pepys,” which featured English Restoration Music, accompanied by readings from the 17th century diary of Samuel Pepys. Mr. Streetman began his musical training at an early age at the Choir School of St. Thomas Church in New York City, where he worked with the renowned Dr. Gerre Hancock. In the year 2000, his career brought him full circle, as he was appointed vocal instructor at the Choir School.

For more information about the Aulos Ensemble,
please visit their web site at www.aulos.org.