Michelle Areyzaga A diverse and coveted singer, American soprano Michelle Areyzaga is in demand among highly regarded orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and abroad. She has performed operatic roles with New York City Opera in Telemann’s Orpheus as well as in their VOX series, and has appeared in leading roles with Chicago Opera Theater, Lyric Opera of Chicago’s In the Neighborhoods programs, Opera Birmingham, Ravinia Festival, and Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México. As an orchestral soloist, she has appeared with Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Oregon Bach Festival, Richmond Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Israel Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Grant Park Music Festival, Rochester Symphony, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Hartford Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, Rhode Island Philharmonic, Wichita Symphony Orchestra, Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra, and North Carolina Symphony, among others. She sang the first Bach B minor Mass in the country of Costa Rica, under the baton of Maestro John Nelson. Ms. Areyzaga’s operatic roles have included Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro; title role, Madama Butterfly; Cunegonde, Candide; Adina, L’elisir d’amore; Despina, Così fan tutte; Zerlina, Don Giovanni; Pamina, Die Zauberflöte; Lauretta, Gianni Schicchi; both Musetta and Mimì, La bohème and Casilda in The Gondoliers. Known as a foremost interpreter of vocal art song and chamber music, Ms. Areyzaga has been a repeat guest of the New York Festival of Song under the direction of Steven Blier and Michael Barrett, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Chicago Ensemble, as well as Chicago’s Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, and the Tucson Desert Song Festival. She has collaborated with the Avalon String Quartet, the Cavatina Duo, and the Lincoln Trio, and has been selected to perform world premieres of many new works by American composers. As a recorded artist, she has performed song cycles by Gwyneth Walker on The Sun Is Love (Proteus). Other recordings include Songs from Spoon River (Cedille) by Lita Grier and The Small Hours, songs by William Ferris. She has sung numerous times in both live and programmed broadcasts on Chicago’s classical music radio station WFMT. Europe Ms. Areyzaga made her European concert debut as soloist in Vaughan Williams’ Mass in G Minor at England’s York Minster Cathedral, Ely Cathedral, and St. Mary’s Church in Oxford. In Paris, she received standing ovations as soloist in the Lord Nelson Mass with the orchestra of London’s Royal Academy of Music and the St. Charles Singers. Honors and Awards Michelle Areyzaga was named “Artist of the Year” by Pioneer Press in 2006 and has been an award recipient from the Julian Autrey Song Foundation, Wm. C. Byrd International Young Artist, Shreveport Opera Singer of the Year, Marguerite McCammon Vocal Competition (Ft. Worth Opera), NATSAA—National Finalist ”Outstanding Artist”chosen by Teresa Stratas, Metropolitan Opera National Council (Central Region), Viñas Concurs International and the Concert Artist Guild. Education She received her B.A. in Vocal Performance from Roosevelt University with honors and was a member of Ravinia’s Steans Institute for Young Artists. In addition she has been a member of the OperaWorks Summer intensive Program in L.A. and a member of Chicago Opera Theater’s Debut Artist Series. Jamie Shaak Chicago Tribune critic Dan Tucker wrote of pianist Jamie Shaak: "Her finely textured playing was a pleasure to hear." Tucker was reviewing a radio simulcast of Shaak's performance during the famed Dame Myra Hess Concert series in Chicago. But his comments could easily apply to her concert appearances throughout the United States and Southeast Asia and to her two recordings of Spanish and American music. Pianist Jamie Shaak was born and raised in Denver, Colorado where she began her piano lessons at age three with her parents Bernard and Carolyn Shaak. Her first appearance with an Orchestra was in Denver, at age 11, when she performed Bach's d- minor concerto with the Cherry Creek Orchestra. Four years later she performed the Saint-Saens concerto number two with the Denver Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Rives-Jones. Jamie received a Bachelor's degree from The Eastman School of Music with Nelita True and her Master's degree from The Juilliard School where she worked with John Browning as a Vladimir Horowitz scholar. Before moving to Chicago in 2000, Jamie taught on the faculty at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand and at Lawrence University's Arts Academy in Appleton, Wisconsin. Jamie has performed solo and ensemble concerts throughout the United States and Southeast Asia. Jamie's concert hall appearances have included performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and Lincoln Center in New York City. In Asia and India she toured as a Musical Ambassador with the United States Information Service. She returns annually to perform with the American Piano 4-tet in Thailand and Laos. Miss Shaak has been soloist with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Centennial Orchestra, The Arapahoe Philharmonic, The Waukegan Symphony, The Mercury Ensemble, the Jefferson Symphony. In April of 2005 Miss Shaak will perform the Mozart two piano concerto with her mother Carolyn Shaak and the Arapahoe Philharmonic Orchestra of Denver, Colorado. In addition to her successful concert career, Ms. Shaak has recorded two compact disks. In The Romance of Spain, released on the Cadenza Classics label, she performs the works of Mompou and Rodrigo and the Seven Spanish Songs by Manuel de Falla with Soprano Maria Lagios. On the newly recorded, The Sun is Love, Ms. Shaak performs the music of American composer Gwyneth Walker. The disk, available in music stores early next year on the Proteus label, is a collaboration between the pianist, the composer and Chicago Soprano Michelle Areyzaga. It is the first recording ever of the acclaimed Walker's works.