Guest Talent
 

Guest Soloists:

Calvin Lee, Tenor
Calvin Lee was one of the principal cast members of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, recorded in February, 2006, for Decca Records, with John Mauceri conducting.

Mr. Lee has toured extensively in forty countries. He appeared with the Houston Grand Opera ‘s international tour of Porgy and Bess at La Scala in Milan, the national Opera de Paris, Bankamura Theater in Japan, Teatro Real in Madrid, and Theater Des Westerns in Berlin. In the United States Mr. Lee has performed with The Atlanta Opera, Orlando Opera, Connecticut Opera, Opera Memphis, Opera Colorado, Island Opera Theater, Mobile Opera, and Indiianapolis Opera. He holds advanced degrees from Conservatorio di Trento (Italy), New World School of the Arts (Miami), And the North Carolina School of the Arts.

Patrick Moran, Boy Soprano
Patrick Moran, Boy Soprano, is 11 years old and studies voice with Steffanie Pearce. He has performed the title role in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, the treble solo on Bernstein’s Chichester’s Psalms, and has performed as soloist for Opera Naples, The Bach Ensemble and other ensembles in Southwest Florida.

He studies violin and piano and is a member of the Naples Philharmonic Youth Chorale. Patrick is home-schooled and participates in the Johns Hopkins University’s gifted program. He enjoys reading and spending time with friends and his pet bird, Nacho.

Jan Ortenzo, Mezzo-Soprano
Ms. Ortenzo is an established soloist with symphony orchestras performing oratorio and concert repertoire. Recently she performed solos in Hayden’s Mass In Time of War, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Marco Island, and as alto soloist in Bach’s Magnificat, Vivaldi’s Beatus Vir, for The Bach Ensemble, as well as soloist for Chants of Hildegard von Bingen, Durufle’s Requiem, Brahms’ Neue Liebeslieder, Mozart’s Regina Coeli, and Handel’s Messiah for the Southwest Florida Symphony.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she has sung solos in Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Handel’s Messiah, Ms. Ortenzo is Assistant Principal at St. Francis Xavier School in Ft. Myers, and a soloist at the Naples United Church of Christ. She is a member of the Bach Ensemble and the Southwest Florida Symphony Chorus.

Steffanie Pearce, Soprano
The Bach Ensemble is please to present Steffani Pearce as a gues artist. A Pavarotti contest winner, she has earned international acclaim as a distinguished singing actress for her distinctive portrayals of tragic heroines, notably Violetta in La Traviata, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Marguerite in Faust, the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Mimi in La Boheme, and as Tosca.

As a concert artist she has performed with the Montreal Symphony in Strauss' Four Last Songs, Orff's Carmina Burana, and Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate.

Her oratorio repertoire includes, Brahms Requiem, at Carnegie Hall, Handel's Messiah with Musica Sacra, also at Carnegie Hall. She also has performed Mozart's C Minor Mass with the Mendelssohn Club and Choral Art Society in Philadelphia, Mozart's Requiem with the National Choral Society in Avery Fisher Hall, the Verdi Requiem with the Princeton University Chorus, Rossini's Stabat Mater and Handel's Lord Nelson Mass with the Paul Hill Chorale at the Kennedy Center.

Her recent appearances in Naples, include the leading roles in La Traviata, Don Giovanni, and Il Travatore at the Naples Philharmonic Center, as well as a special lecture-recital series on Mozart's Heroines and Verdi's Heroines with Jim Cochran.

Dr. Carl Ratner, Baritone
Dr. Ratner recently sang the leading role in Verdi’s Falstaff, and directed that production at Western Michigan University. He also presented two recitals, one in Chicago and one in Kalamazoo, Michigan, featuring the works of Schumann‘s Liederkreis, Opus 39,and works by Poulenc, Rachminoff, and Balcom.

He has sung leading roles in Puccini’s Gianni Schicki, Nickolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, and Ward’s The Crucible. He has sung baritone solos in Orff’s Carmina Burana, Bloch’s Sacred Service, Walton’s Belshazzer’s Feast, Vaughan William’s Dona Nobis Pacem, and Copland’s Old American Songs. He appeared as soloist with The Bach Ensemble in Bach’s Missa Brevis in A Major, and Magnificat, and recently sang the role of Prince Orlovsky in Die Fledermaus with Opera Naples.

He has sung in several languages including Italian, Russian, French, German, Yiddish, Hebrew, and Korean. He began his career as Stage Director and Manager in opera under the tutelage of the renowned John Copley and Gian Carlo-Menotti; he has directed at Covent Garden, Munich Opera, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Center Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Spoleto Festival in Italy. In Chicago, Dr. Ratner served as Artistic Director of the Chamber Opera Theatre for eight years and as Artistic Director of Chicago Opera Theatre for fourteen years. Dr. Ratner is Professor of Voice and Director of Opera at Western Michigan University.

Ellie Westendorf, Soprano
Ellie Westendorf, was a featured soloist in Hayden’s Mass In Time Of War, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Marco Island, this Spring, as well as soloist for Island Opera Theater where she sang Liu in Puccini’s Turandot. She sang arias from Puccini’s La Boheme and Turandot, Bernstein’s West Side Story, and Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera for the Paul Todd and Friends Concert, at St. John the Evangelist Church.

For The Bach Ensemble she has sung solos in Bach’s Magnificat, Missa Brevis in A Major, and his “Gloria” from Mass in B Minor, Vivaldi’s Beatus Vir, and Gloria. Her repertoire also includes solo work for Beethoven’s Mass in C, Bizet’s Carmen, Puccini’s La Boheme, as well as appearances with the Green Bay Chamber Choir and Quattro Voci, a Baroque quartet. She is a cantor for St. John The Evangelist Church and St. Agnes Mission Church in Naples, and a founding member of The Bach Ensemble.