Indre Viskontas
Base
d in San Francisco, Indre Viskontas holds a Master of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience from UCLA and a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto. Defying traditional career boundaries, Indre spends much of her time performing as an opera singer. Her “bell-like timbre” and “winsome stage presence” are particularly suited for the leading noblewomen in operas from the 18th and 19th centuries, while her dramatic intensity, curiosity and nuanced acting add depth to contemporary operatic roles. The Lithuanian-Canadian soprano has performed roles ranging from The Countess in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro to the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe. Specializing in contemporary opera, she has created the roles of Irena in Patrick Dailly’s Solidarity, Dora in Felsenfeld’s The Bloody Chamber and Amelia in Aquilanti’s Oxford Companions. She was hailed as “the musical highlight of the evening” by the Opera Insider for her performance as Dora in Brooklyn, NY. She is also a regular soloist with several Bay Area chamber groups, including Classical Revolution and is the co-founder and General Managing Diva of Opera on Tap: San Francisco.She has also published more than 30 original papers and chapters related to the neural basis of memory and creativity, including several seminal articles in top scientific journals. Her work has been featured in Oliver Sacks’ book Musicophilia and Discover Magazine. Her ongoing collaborations include projects with internationally-acclaimed artist Deborah Aschheim, with whom she is creating art pieces and scientific research investigating the interplay between memory, creativity and the brain. Dr. Viskontas recently made her television debut as a co-host of Miracle Detectives, airing on The Oprah Winfrey Network. She has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and has been interviewed by Entertainment Tonight, CNN, Access Hollywood, E!, TV Guide and Aol, along with several radio stations across the US.
Shannon Wolfe
Shannon Wolfe is a radiant and versatile performer specializing in vintage jazz and solo cabaret. In 2010, Shannon founded the Skylark Trio, an ensemble which brings to life the best of radio stage and screen songs from the 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. Last Fall, The Skylark Trio performed for the televised event, Comedy Talks: Conversations with the Legends of Comedy at the University of San Francisco’s Presentation Theater. The series featured panel discussions with host Robert Strong who spoke with comedy legends Rich Little, Carol Channing, Steve Rossi, Shelly Berman and others about their careers, personal lives, insider gossip, and tips of the comedy trade. The Skylark Trio was the featured act this spring at the 25th annual San Francisco Flower and Garden Show at the San Mateo Expo Center and has played gallery openings, private parties and holiday concerts including two appearances at Casa Fugazi, home of Beach Blanket Babylon. As an operatic soprano, Shannon’s credits include the role of Madame Herz in Mozart’s The Impresario with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music as well as La Poésie in the chamber opera Les Arts Florissants and Soprano Soloist in both Vivaldi’s Gloria and Bach’s Magnificat with the Conservatory’s Baroque Ensemble. Additional roles include Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi with Northern Arizona University Opera, and Belinda in Dido and Aeneas at the Vancouver Early Music Society’s Baroque Summer Music Festival. As an actor Shannon has performed the roles of Sophie in Honour by Joanna Murray Smith and Alice in Pizza Man by Darlene Craviotto at Seydways Studios, where she is currently studying acting and the trigger method with acclaimed director, teacher and actor Bobby Weinapple. Shannon is on faculty at the Holy Name Conservatory of Music in San Francisco where she teaches after-school singing lessons. Additionally, she maintains a private teaching studio in San Francisco.
Michelle Rice
With “tones of pure gold” (Washington Post), mezzo-soprano Michelle Rice brings to her work a rich voice and notable performance intensity. Her operatic roles include Carmen and Mercedes (Carmen), Lola (Cavalleria rusticana), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Gertrude (Roméo et Juliette), Mrs. Grose (The Turn of the Screw), Flora Bervoix (La Traviata), Albina (La donna del lago), Berta (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Mrs. Segstrom (A Little Night Music), Anna (Tobias and the Angel), Irene (Tamerlano), Savitri (Savitri), Clara (Clara), the Witch and the Mother (Hänsel und Gretel), Serse and Arsamene (Serse), and Mère Marie (Dialogues des Carmélites), with companies including Fresno Grand Opera, Livermore Valley Opera, the Summer Opera Theatre Company, Opera Cleveland, Opera Vivente, the Maryland Opera Studio, the In Series, Bel Cantanti Opera, Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia, the Olney Theatre Center, and Annapolis Opera. Ms. Rice’s concert performances include the mezzo solos in Verdi’s Requiem, Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri, Händel’s Messiah, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Vivaldi’s Gloria, and several recitals, with groups including MidAmerica Productions at Carnegie Hall, the Washington Concert Opera, the Janiec Opera Company, Ovation Artists, Masterworks Chorale and Orchestra, Opera Beaumont, Friends of the Arts, Annapolis Opera, Prince George’s Philharmonic, the University of Maryland and University of Washington Symphony Orchestras, the Seattle Early Music Guild, and the Seattle Symphony Summer Sings program. Ms. Rice holds degrees from the University of Washington (Bachelors of Music in Vocal Performance) and the University of Maryland (Masters of Music in Opera Performance with the Maryland Opera Studio), where she studied with Delores Ziegler and Leon Major. Ms. Rice has been awarded prizes from the American Bach Society, the Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition, the Seattle Musical Art Society, the Mary Levine Scholarship Fund, the Bell T. Ritchie Awards, and the Classical Singer Convention.
Adaiha MacAdam-Somer
Cellist Adaiha MacAdam-Somer currently lives in San Francisco where she performs with the Berkeley Symphony and regularly freelances in the Bay Area. Miss MacAdam-Somer holds degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she was a student of Jean-Michel Fonteneau at the University of Wisconsin-Madison under the tutelage of Uri Vardi. She has attended Interlochen, Encore, Musicorda and Madeline Island summer music festivals and has performed in master classes with Janos Starker, Gary Hoffman, Colin Carr, Alban Gerhardt, Desmond Hoebig, Bonnie Hampton, Joel Krosnick, Aldo Parisot, Menahem Presser and the Miami String Quartet. As an active chamber musician she had performed with Jean-Michel Fonteneau, Paul Hersh, Kim Kashkashian, Jodi Levitz, Robert Mann, Yoshikazu Nagai, Axel Strauss, Ian Swensen and Joseph Swensen. She can also be heard as part of two Bay Area bands: Blue Rabbit and Matthew Edwards and the Unfortunates.
Noah Strick
Equally active on both modern and baroque violin, Noah Strick is currently Assistant Concertmaster of Berkeley Symphony and has appeared with Berkeley Opera, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, Ensemble Mik Nawooj, Philharmonia Baroque, American Bach Soloists, and San Francisco Bach Choir. Mr. Strick holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. His principal teacheres include Kyung Sun Lee, Marilyn McDonald and Bettina Mussumeli.
Keisuke Nakagoshi
A native of Japan, Keisuke Nakagoshi earned a B.M. in composition and a M.M. in chamber music from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying composition with David Conte, and piano with Paul Hersh. Graduating as the recipient of multiple awards, Nakagoshi was selected to represent the Conservatory for the Kennedy Center’s Conservatory Project, a program featuring the most promising young musicians from major conservatories across the United States. He won the Conservatry’s Piano Concerto Competition and performed Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26 with the Conservatory Orchestra in the inaugural orchestra concert in the Conservatory’s new Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall. Nakagoshi has performed to acclaim on prestigious concert stages across the United States, including the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, Benaroya Hall and Davies Symphony Hall. He has received training from some of the most celebrated musicians of our time - Emanuel Ax, Gilbert Kalish, Menahem Pressler, David Zinman, The Peabody Trio - and enjoys collaborating with other accomplished musicians such as Karl Leister, Lucy Shelton, Joseph Alessi, Ian Swensen, Jodi Levitz, the Afiara String Quartet and Ensemble Parallel. Recently he performed Rhapsody in Blue with Marin Symphony conducted by Alasdair Neale. He also tours as principal pianist and slide guitarist with conductor George Daugherty’s award-winning “Bugs Bunny on Broadway,” performing with American orchestras from coast to coast. Keisuke and Swiss pianist Eva-Maria Zimmermann formed ZOFO duet in 2009, commissioning and performing music for a piano four hands.
Travis Andrews
Multi-instrumentalist Travis Andrews toured nationally and internationally with several bands before completing his Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Wisconsin and his Master of Music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music under David Tanenbaum. He was the 2009 alternate winner of the San Francisco Conservatory’s Guitar Concerto Competition, and received the Conservatory’s 2009 awards for Outstanding Guitarist and Outstanding Jazz Improviser. He has taught master classes for the Guitar Foundation of America and is a Bang on a Can fellow. His publications include The Beginner’s Guide to Guitar, co-authored with Ruth Parry, from String Letter Publishing. He has played with the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble and Eco Ensemble. He is currently active with the bands Freighter, miRthkon, and The Living Earth Show, a chamber duo that commissions new music.
The Town Quartet
The Town Quartet was formed in Oakland at the end of the summer of ‘11 by violinists Garret McLean and Corey Mike, Violist Jacob Hansen-Joseph, and cellist Lewis Patzner, with the goal of rehearsing and performing some of the masterpieces of the quartet literature; a feat all too rare for the local gigging musician. They perform in casual settings, during their weekly Sunday residency at The Musical Offering Cafe in Berkeley, as well as more formal settings like private parties and concerts open to the public.
