Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church - New Paltz

In August 2010, the Sunday Musicales Concert Series was proud to host the Bel Canto Institute Performance Award Concert.  This concert marked the second time that the Institute held their award performance at Redeemer, and it was a truly wonderful event.  This year's award recipients were Ashley Bahri, Wendy Buzby, Anna Forsebo, and Rebecca Lynn Simpson.

		Ashley Bahri is a graduate student at the Manhattan School of Music.  Operas in which she has performed at MSM and The Italian Opera Experience in Urbania, Italy have included Gianni Schicchi, La Boheme, Cosi fan tutte, Norma.  While an undergraduate student at Oakland University, Ms. Bahri received the David Daniels Young Artists Concert Award for Outstanding Undergraduate in Voice Performance and a Hollingsworth Scholarship to study in Europe.  She is known for multi-cultural events, recitals and collaborative performances in her Chaldean community, helping to spread music and the arts on T.V. Orient Productions which is broadcast all over the Middle East.
		While still a graduate student, Wendy Buzby made professional debuts with Opera Colorado, Opera Fairbanks and Ash Lawn Opera Festival.  Her most recent appearances have been with Pocket Opera of New York and in the world premiere of David Chesky’s opera The Pig, the Farmer, and the Artist.  Other performances have included Cosi fan tutte and Cenerentola.  During spring of 2010, Ms. Buzby was a Resident Artist with the Syracuse Opera.  Awards she has received in clued the Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and Fourth place in the Denver Lyric Opera Guild Voice Competition.  A native of Alaska, Ms. Buzby received her Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from Northwestern University and a Master degree from the University of Colorado.
		A native of Sweden, Anna Forsebo received her Bachelor and Master degrees from the Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen.  Ms. Forsebo’s most recent performances have included the Mozart Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Queen of the Night (Die Zauberfloete) and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni).  In 2010-2011 in Copenhagen she will perform the role of Jenny Lind in a new piece written about the relationship between Jenny Lind and Danish author H.C. Andersen entitled The Swedish Nightingale.
		Rebecca Lynn Simpson has participated in numerous Master Classes with premier harpists from all over the world and was a prize winner of the Loeb Foundation Competition and the Philadelphia Harp Society Competition.  She has soloed with the New Jersey Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Lawrenceville Collegiums Orchestra.  Ms. Simpson has recorded a solo CD featuring music from the 18th and 19th centuries.  A spring 2010 graduate of high school, Ms. Simpson has been invited to study at the Interlochen Arts Academy before attending college.

Maestro Steven Crawford embarked upon an active conducting and coaching career after having competed nine years on the conducting staff at the Metropolitan Opera.  Other opera companies for which he has conducted include Dayton Opera, Vero Beach Opera, Syracuse Opera, Louisville Opera, and Cincinnati Opera, to name only a few.  After working as Music Director of the Illinois Opera Theater, Maestro Crawford was engaged as the resident conductor of the Florida Grand Opera where he remained for five years.  He has also conducted productions for the Chautauqua Opera, Nevada Opera and Opera Northeast.  An excellent symphonic conductor and proponent of contemporary music, Maestro Crawford was engaged by the New York Philharmonic as cover conductor for Kurt Maser for the American Premiere of the Minoru Miki’s Symphony for Two Worlds.  In 1998 he made his New York City conducting premiere in the New York City debut of A Chekov Trilogy by Richard Wargo.  When Maestro Crawford’s conducting schedule permits, he continues an active accompanying and coaching calendar.  He was the recipient of Classical Singer Magazine’s 2008 Coach of the Year award.  He is on the faculty of Bel Canto Institute Summer Program where he coaches vocalists and instrumentalists.