Guest Artists

Maryann Mootos

Soprano Maryann Mootos has an outstanding voice, capable of both power and beauty. It is easily to favorably compare her talent and technique to many working artists of the past and present. Musically intelligent with good artistic instincts, this young artist makes a strong impression on stage.

Ms. Mootos recently performed the roles of Tosca with Bel Cantanti Opera in Washington, D.C., Giorgetta in Il Tabarro with the Opera Company of Brooklyn, as well as the title role in Madama Butterfly with Northern Dutchess Symphony Orchestra.

Her versatile soprano spans many other roles, including, Antonia, Micaëla, Donna Anna, Marguerite, Nedda, Tatyana, Violetta, Suor Angelica, and Rosalinda, among others. Additional engagements from the past few seasons include several regional New York City opera companies including, Regina Opera, Chelsea Opera, and Long Island Opera. Ms. Mootos has also appeared with Miami Lyric Opera, Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra in upstate New York, Chorus pro Musica in Boston, and Reading Symphony Orchestra in Pennsylvania.

Ms. Mootos was the recipient of the Marquis Award in the Emerging Professional Division of the 2006 Classical Singer AudComps Competition. In 2005, she studied and performed abroad in Spoleto, Italy with the Spoleto Arts Symposia. Ms. Mootos holds a Master's degree in Opera Performance from Temple University and a Bachelor's degree in Voice from the Eastman School of Music.

She will next appear in the role of Tatyana with a return to Bel Cantanti Opera in Washington, D.C. in April.

Blake Friedman

“Fresh Lyric Tenor” (OperaNews Online) Blake Friedman, is a native of Chicago, Illinois. Praised for his “climactic high notes” by Q on Stage, Mr. Friedman was named Winner of The American Prize Art Song Competition of 2011, Honorable Mention in the 2011 Rochester Oratorio Classical Idol V Competition, received A Palm Beach Opera Guild Encouragement Award for the 2011 Palm Beach Opera Vocal Competition, was named Honorable Mention in the 2010 Eisenberg-Fried Concerto Competition and was a Finalist in The New York Lyric Opera Theatre Vocal Competition of 2010. Mr. Friedman’s performance credits include opera, oratorio, solo and recording engagements, most notably: Tenor Soloist in The Mozart Solemn Vespers at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, the Albany Records recording of John Musto's Later the Same Evening, Cover of Tenor 6 “The Prince” in Conrad Susa’s Transformations as guest artist at The Juilliard School and he has performed as a Young Artist with The Caramoor Festival where he covered Nemorino in L’Elisir D’Amore and sang on numerous concerts.  Mr. Friedman also attended The Castleton Artist Training Seminar where he sang scenes and worked with legendary conductor Maestro Lorin Maazel. Mr. Friedman holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from The Eastman School of Music, and a Master of Music and Professional Studies Degree from Manhattan School of Music.  

Martin Fisher

Described as “sturdy-voiced” by Opera News, American baritone Martin Fisher can be heard on the album Barrelhouse to Broadway, which won a 2008 Grammy Award for Best Producer. Fisher began the 2011-12 Season with a return to One World Symphony as Don Carlos (La Forza del Destino) in an all Verdi program after previously performing the role of Grand Prêtre (Samson et Dalila). Other career highlights include a 2010 debut at The Kennedy Center as Jissa (Amanjaku and Urikohime), a Carnegie Hall debut in 2009 as a Finalist in the Accadia Competition for Operatic Voice, a New York City Opera appearance in 2007 (Margaret Garner), and a 2006 Alice Tully Hall debut in the American premiere of the Japanese opera, Kurofune.

The Camden, New Jersey native has sung leading roles with NJ Association of Verismo Opera, Connecticut Grand Opera. Dicapo Opera, Boheme Opera of NJ, Natchez Opera Festival, the International Vocal Arts Institute and New York Opera Studio.

Fisher’s repertoire includes: Escamillo (Carmen), Valentin (Faust), Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor), Marcello (La Boheme), Sharpless
(Madama Butterfly), Tonio (i Pagliacci), Scarpia (Tosca), as well as the great Verdi roles of Germont (La Traviata), Amonasro (Aida), Miller (Luisa Miller), Count di Luna (il Trovatore), and the title role in Rigoletto. A frequent recitalist and oratorio singer, Mr. Fisher has performed as the soloist in the Beethoven Ninth Symphony, Handel's Messiah and Alexander's Feast, Milhaud's les Choephores, Schumann's Dichterliebe as well as Vaughan Williams' song cycle for baritone, chorus, and orchestra Five Mystical Songs. He was a 2009 Finalist in The International Violetta DuPont Competition.

Julia Mintzer

Julia Mintzer has been described as “...a true Carmen: extremely sensual, with the grace of a serpent, the violence of a tiger, and a mezzo of penetrating depth." (La Presse, Montreal.) She has performed with Wolf Trap Opera Company, Juilliard Opera Center,
Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, Opera Boston, and will be an Apprentice with Santa Fe Opera in 2012. Roles include Carmen, Dorabella, Isabella, and the title characters in Thérèse Raquin, The
Mother of Us All, and La Voix Humaine. This season she was the Alto Soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Boston Baroque under Martin Pearlman, and will be heard as Carmen (The Tragedy of Carmen)
and Stephano (Romeo et Juliette) for Dayton Opera. Next season she will return to Opera Boston to sing Mother Goose and cover Baba in The Rake’s Progress. Also an active stage director, Ms. Mintzer’s
recent production of La Cenerentola for Bel Cantanti Opera was
hailed as “just the sort of thing that keeps opera alive and relevant.”
(brightestyoungthings.com) Other credits include Il Tabarro (Garden
State Opera), Dido and Aeneas (Hubbard Hall Opera Theater) and
Alcina (Satori Opera.) Next season she will direct La Liberazione di
Ruggiero for Morningside Opera.

Gennady Vysotsky

Gennady Vysotsky was born in the beautiful sea-side city of Odessa, which is located in southern Ukraine. Gennady graduated from the Odessa School of Music. He became interested in acting at an early age, and began to explore that interest by participating in numerous musical theater performances, as well as appearing in several major motion pictures. After emigrating to the United States, Gennady graduated from the University ofCalifornia at Davis, earning a double degree in Economics and Mathematics. At the same time Gennady continued his musical education. In the last few years Gennady has participated in the productions of the Magic Flute and Macbeth in the San Francisco Lyric Opera. Gennady has recently moved to New York to further pursue his musical career.  His recent engagement in New York City includes the role of Benoit in La Boheme, Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Dulcamara in L'elisir d'amore and Zuniga in Carmen.

Caroline Tye

Hailed as “outstanding” and “captivating” in her featured role as Mrs. Nolan in Chelsea Opera’s production of The Medium (operapulse.com), other recent opera credits include La Zia Principessa in Opera Breve’s Suor Angelica, Olga in Delaware Valley Opera’s Eugene Onegin, Cornelia in Opera Manhattan’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto, and The Third Lady in New York Opera Studio’s Die Zauberflöte. Other performances in the last year include The Witch (Hansel and Gretel), Dame Quickly (Falstaff) and Zita (Gianni Schicchi). Past roles include Idamante (Idomeneo), The Muse/Nicklausse (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), and Madame de Haltière (Cendrillon). Caroline recently received a Master’s Degree in Music – Vocal Performance from The Boston Conservatory.

 

Babbette Hierholzer

Pianist Babette Hierholzer's debut with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1978 was followed by numerous performances with this famed orchestra, led by renowned conductors Klaus Tennstedt, Sir Colin Davis, Leopold Hager, and Semyon Bychkov. Ms. Hierholzer has performed extensively in recital and chamber music, and as soloist with orchestras in most of the countries of Europe, the United States, South America, and Africa. In 1986, she gave her American debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony playing the Liszt Concerto No. l. Other engagements have included the Philharmonic Orchestra Kiel, Philharmonic Orchestra Ulm, Hamburg Symphonic Orchestra, touring with the Nordwest-deutschen Philharmonic, Orquestra Sinfonica Bilbao, Festival International de Bordeaux, and the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra. In May 1993, she performed the Liszt Concerto No. 1 with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Chile; in June 1993, she performed the same work with the Staatskapelle in Berlin, Paavo Berglund conducting. In 1994, she performed the Clara Schumann Piano Concerto with the St. Louis Symphony during its Summerfest, and made her Canadian debut with the Saskatoon Symphony. In 1996 she again performed the Clara Schumann concerto with the Winnipeg Symphony and the Berlin Symphony. In January 1997, she performed the Robert Schumann Concerto with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Maracaibo and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Merida.

Ms. Hierholzer has made a number of recordings with MARUS/EMI Electrola playing works by Schumann (including the recently discovered Exercises, variations on a theme by Beethoven), Couperin, Debussy, Mozart, and Scarlatti: Sonatas Vols. 1, 2 and 3. Her most recent releases were a CD of posthumous works of Franz Schubert, and "Music for Children", Kinderszenen. She performed the sound track and the double/stand-in role for Clara Wieck (Nastassia Kinski) in Peter Schamoni's movie Spring Symphony, about the life of Robert Schumann.

Babette Hierholzer has won numerous first prizes in international competitions, including the Steinway Piano Competition, in Berlin, seven times; the All German National Piano Competition, twice; first prize in the "G.B. Viotti" Concorso Internazionale di Musica in Vercelli, Italy; the Medaille d'Argent of the Festival International des Jeunes Solistes in Bordeaux, France; first prize in the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition plus the prestigious Andy Petlansky Memorial Award in Palm Springs. In February 1992 she played her New York debut recital as winner of the East & West Artists Prize for New York Debut.

Born in Freiburg, Germany, Ms. Hierholzer had her first piano lessons at the age of five with Elisabeth Dounias-Sindermann and Wolfgang Saschowa in Berlin, making her first public appearance at the age of eleven in the Philharmonic Hall in Berlin, playing Mozart's Concerto K. 488. She then studied with Herbert Stessin at The Juilliard School, Precollege Division, in New York, with Paul Badura-Skoda at the Folkwang-Hochschule, Essen and in Vienna, with Maria Tipo in Florence, and with Bruno Leonardo Gelber in Buenos Aires. She was awarded scholarships by the Study Grant of the German People and Oskar and Vera Ritter-Stiftung.

Recent performances include appearances with the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra, the DeKalb Symphony in Atlanta and Orquesta del Nuevo Mundo in Mexico City. Previously, she stepped in for Horatio Gutierrez in a recital in Berlin's Philharmonic Hall.

Ms. Hierholzer played the opening concert of the season with the South Carolina Philharmonic, playing Liszt No. 1, conducted by Nicholas Smith. On 11 November 2001, she played a recital at the Frick Collection in New York City on very short notice and this season she returned to perform at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, with a recital of music by Clara and Robert Schumann.

Ryu Goto

Ryu Goto made his concert debut at the age of seven, playing Paganini's Violin Concerto No.1 at the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan. Since then, he has appeared as soloist with numerous international ensembles, including the National Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Symphonica Toscanini, Vancouver Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, European Union Youth Orchestra, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra and the Taipei Symphony Orchestra. The renowned conductors under whose direction he has played include Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lorin Maazel, Myung-Whun Chung, Gerard Schwarz, Rossen Milanov, Yutaka Sado, Jonathan Nott and Yip Wing-sie.
An active chamber musician, Ryu has collaborated with such notable instrumentalists as Mischa Maisky, Myung-Whun Chung, The Chung Trio, Jorg Widmann, Nobuko Imai, Michael Dussek, and Naoko Yoshino.
Highlights of recent seasons include a debut in Seoul and appearances in Taipei and Shanghai. Following his 8-city "Japan Recital Tour 2009", Ryu gave concerts in the U.S., Mexico, and Vienna. In May 2010, he made his debut at New York's prestigious Carnegie Hall with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
An acclaimed young artist, Ryu has appeared on a number of televisions, radio programs, and magazines throughout Europe, the U.S. and Asia. Beginning in 1996, Fuji TV broadcasted a documentary series entitled "Ryu Goto's Odyssey", which aired annually for ten years. He has also been featured in the television commercials and print advertisements of the East Japan Railway Company.
In May 2010, Ryu launched "The Ryu Goto Excellence In Music Award" initiative to give back to New York in cooperation of the NYC Council, NYC Department of Education and S&R Technology Holdings.
Ryu records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon in collaboration with Universal Classics Japan. Ryu's violin is the the 1722 Stradivarius, known as the 'Jupiter' on loan to him  from Nippon Music Foundation. In June 2011, Ryu graduated with a BA in Physics from Harvard University. He also studies and holds a black belt in Karate. In addition to the violin, Ryu enjoys playing the guitar.