Lauded by the Los Angeles Times for her “luxuriant large soprano” and by the Washington Post for her “arresting, magisterial voice and presence,” soprano Clarissa Lyons has appeared with the Metropolitan Opera, the Cleveland Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Wolf Trap Opera (the latter in the US premiere of Glassman’s 1769 work, L’Opera seria). Clarissa is also a passionate recitalist and has performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall, the Park Avenue Armory, Lincoln Center’s Bruno Walter Auditorium, the Frick Collection, and Carmel’s Sunset Center.
Clarissa holds master’s degrees from Bard College Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music. A native Californian, Clarissa graduated with honors from the University of California Berkeley, where she was the recipient of the 2006 Eisner Prize for Excellence in the Arts and the 2014 Hertz Memorial Traveling Fellowship. She was also named the winner of the Carmel Music Society Competition and West Bay Opera’s Henry and Maria Holt Competition. Clarissa teaches voice and lives in the East Bay with her two children, husband, and basset-hound mix.
Filipino countertenor Kyle Sanchez Tingzon has been praised for his "powerful countertenor" (The Wall Street Journal) and "lovely, plummy voice" (Opera Today). Kyle appeared as soloist in last year’s California Bach Society concerts of the Biber Requiem, Steffani Stabat Mater, and Bach’s B Minor Mass. Other recent performances include work with American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque Chorale, his soloist debut with Pacific Opera Project in the US premiere of Vivaldi's Ercole su'l Termodonte, his debut with Tacoma Opera in the world premiere of Tacoma Method, and his debut in Handel’s Rinaldo with the Glimmerglass Festival.
In 2022, Kyle completed his graduate and postgraduate studies in vocal performance, with a historical performance emphasis, at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying under César Ulloa. While there, he made role debuts in Handel’s Giulio Cesare in Egitto (in the title role) and Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea (as Ottone).
He is the first-prize winner of the Handel Aria Competition, third-prize winner of the Loren L. Zachary Society National Vocal Competition, and a Colorado-Wyoming district winner and Rocky Mountain regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition.
A Bay Area resident for more than 40 years, tenor Trente Morant is an accomplished and popular conductor, arranger, accompanist, and singer. For many years, he toured the country as a performer and lecturer, specializing in music from the Harlem Renaissance. He also served as musical director at theaters in the New York Tri-City area for numerous productions.
In the Bay Area, he conducted the Berkeley Broadway singers, sang the role of the "leading player" in Pippin with the Alameda Civic Light Opera, and performed Carmina Burana with the Oakland Ballet. Other singing performances include Porgy and Bess, Bernstein's Mass, and Messiah with the Oakland East Bay Symphony.
Former artistic director of the Oakland Youth Chorus, Trente conducted the chorus in performances and workshops with such luminaries as Bobby McFerrin, Charlie Haden, Nancy Wilson, and Pete Seeger. Under his direction, the chorus performed at the White House and on CBS's The Morning Show.
He has also conducted at the Monterey and San Francisco Jazz Festivals. Recently he served as vocal director for Woodminster Summer Musicals in Oakland. A three-time recipient of an “Artist in Residence” grant from the California Arts Council, Trente is a graduate of Westminster Choir College.
Critics have described bass Sepp Hammer as delivering “masterful and expressive solos” (San Francisco Classical Voice) and showing “warm baritone gravity” (The Boston Globe). His concert engagements in recent seasons have included Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (as Jesus) with the California Bach Society, Schubert’s Mass in G Major with Bay Choral Guild, Handel’s Dixit Dominus with San Francisco Choral Society, Bach’s Aus der Tiefen rufe ich, Herr, zu dir with Santa Cruz Chorale, Rutter’s Mass of the Children with the Solano Symphony, Zelenka’s Gloria with Chora Nova, and Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs with Contra Costa Chorale.
Sepp appeared in the role of Eupolemus in Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and he sings regularly with the PBO Chorale. With various ensembles, he has also performed the Schütz Symphoniae Sacrae, Bach Magnificat, Bach B Minor Mass, Haydn Lord Nelson Mass, Brahms Requiem, Fauré Requiem, and Duruflé Requiem. Sepp holds a master’s degree in vocal performance from New England Conservatory and a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of California, Berkeley.