Mozart Requiem Soloists

In a stellar career which grows in magnitude with every role, soprano Jennifer Casey Cabot continues to garner rave reviews from both audiences and critics alike. Following recent performances as Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail the Washington Post writes, "Cabot's singing merged pathos and focus with a gleaming top range" and Opera News praised "her full, silky soprano," calling it "tender" and "startlingly defiant."

In the 2011-12 season Jennifer Casey Cabot sings as soloist in Messiah with the National Philharmonic, Stan Engebretson conducting, and as soloist in an evening of Russian music for the Russian Chamber Art Society of Washington, DC. She also performs as Rosina with Opera Lafayette, in a semi-staged production of Paisiello's Il Barbiere di Siviglia. Her recent successes include singing Giulietta in Casanova's Homecoming with Minnesota Opera; appearing as soloist in Messiah with the Nashville Symphony, Verdi's Requiem with New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and Mahler's Symphony No. 2 with Oberlin Conservatory of Music; returning to the Metropolitan Opera roster, and to San Diego Opera as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes; her debut with Minnesota Opera as Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and singing as soloist in Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass and Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.

Other career highlights include joining the roster of the Metropolitan Opera for their production of Le nozze di Figaro, a return to the National Symphony Orchestra as soloist in Messiah, appearing in recital for Yale University at Carnegie's Weill Hall, featuring music by Charles Ives, performances of Konstanze with Florida Grand Opera,Countess in Le nozze di Figaro at Boston Lyric Opera, and Violetta in La traviata in a return to Central City Opera. Other highlights include performances of well known Mozart, Puccini, and Verdi heroines on leading stages throughout the country. Before returning to Boston Lyric Opera last season as the Countess, she appeared with the company as both Konstanze and as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte. She has performed the roles of Konstanze, Countess, Violetta, and Don Giovanni's Donna Elvira at the Washington National Opera and, following her debut at New York City Opera as Donna Elvira, she returned to NYCO to perform Violetta and the role of Musetta in La bohème. She has also joined San Diego Opera to portray Fiordiligi, Donna Elvira, and the role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, also performing the latter two roles with Arizona Opera.

Other operatic credits include the roles of Mimi in La bohème and Leila in Les Pêcheurs de perles with Calgary Opera, the title roles in Manon with Piedmont Opera and Susannah with Kentucky Opera, Alma in Hoiby's Summer and Smokewith Central City Opera, and the role of Margaret Elliot in the world premiere of Willa Cather's Eric Hermannson's Soulwith Opera Omaha. She has performed the role of Violetta at the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Opera Company of North Carolina, and the Utah Festival Opera and made her debut with Vancouver Opera in the role of Fiordiligi.

Ms. Cabot's concert repertoire includes performances of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Mahler's Symphonies No. 4 and No. 8, and Mozart's Exsultate, Jubilate, among others. Recently, Ms. Cabot performed the role of Konstanze in a concert version of Die Entführung aus dem Serail with the National Symphony Orchestra under Leonard Slatkin. Ms. Cabot has performed in concert with the Megaron Orchestra at the Athens Concert Hall as First Lady in Die Zauberflöte under Sir Neville Marriner, the Masterwork Chorale in Mozart's Mass in C Minor, and has appeared in a New Years' Eve gala concert and an all-Mozart program with the Saint Louis Symphony. She has also sung Strauss'sFour Last Songs and Villa-Lobos's Bachianas Brasileiras, both with the Norwalk Symphony. Ms. Cabot is featured on the Naxos label's eight-volume collection of Charles Ives songs in the series "American Classics", released in 2008.

In Europe, Ms. Cabot was a resident soloist at Deutsche Oper Berlin and Staatstheater Braunschweig, as well as a guest artist in Bern and at Dresden Semperoper. She recently returned to Germany for a concert of arias and duets with Placido Domingo, the success of which led to a gala concert with Mr. Domingo in Japan.

A New York native, Jennifer Casey Cabot studies with Doris Yarick-Cross. She holds both Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Arts degrees from Oberlin College, as well as a master's degree from the Yale School of Music.

American Mezzo-soprano Delores Ziegler’s career takes her to every major theater in the world and into collaboration with the great directors and conductors of our time. Many of these extraordinary performances have been recorded and released as audio recordings and on video and film.

Ms. Ziegler has appeared in the world's greatest opera houses including the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, the Salzburg Festival, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Bastille in Paris, the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich

An acclaimed interpreter of bel canto mezzo roles, she has the honor of being the first singer in operatic history to sing Romeo in Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Bolshoi in Moscow, at the San Francisco Opera and in Japan. In another milestone, Ms. Ziegler is the most recorded Dorabella in operatic history, first on two audio recordings, one with Bernard Haitink on EMI and another on Teldec with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and in a videodisc of the La Scala production with Riccardo Muti and in a film of Cosi fan tutte directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle.

Delores Ziegler was featured in the initial "Pavarotti, Plus! - Live from Lincoln Center" PBS Television Special. She had the honor of making her Carnegie Hall debut in the Rossini Stabat Mater with Riccardo Muti in his farewell performance as Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1992 she made her New York City recital debut in Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall Series.

Delores Ziegler has a discography of twenty-one recordings with prestigious orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony, with conductors including James Levine, Riccardo Muti, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Robert Shaw, Claudio Scimone, Armen Jordan and James Conlon. Her most recent CD is Ned Rorem’s song cycle, Evidence of Things Not Seen. Opera Lafayette’s recording of Le Roi et le fermier will be released by Naxos this year.

Ms. Ziegler completed her undergraduate studies at Maryville College, Maryville, Tennessee and graduated with a Master of Music Degree from the University of Tennessee, holding the Grace Moore Scholarship. She is presently the Chair of the Voice/Opera Division at the University of Maryland’s School of Music.

The Washington Post describes tenor Timothy Augustin as an “outstanding performer” who possesses a “particularly lovely voice.” Hailed for his artistry, Mr. Augustin has won numerous awards and competitions including The Washington International Competition for Singers. He is a past national finalist in the Ryan Opera Center for American Artists of the Lyric Opera of Chicago auditions, as well as winning several awards from The Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions among many other honors.

He has performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall in New York, on all of the stages at The Kennedy Center in Washington, The Mormon Tabernacle, The Ordway Theater in St. Paul and many others.

Mr. Augustin's numerous television appearances include ABC’s Good Morning America, NBC’s Today Show, The CBS Morning Show and ABC’s World News Tonight. His many radio broadcasts include: Tenor Soloist in the world premiere of Nick White’s Full Freedom at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, which was broadcast on NPR.

A much sought after artist, Mr. Augustin is a regular performer with many of Washington’s most respected musical organizations including the National Symphony Orchestra, The National Chamber Orchestra, the Master Chorale of Washington, the Cathedral Choral Society, Masterworks Chorus and many others. More recently, Mr. Augustin has performed the role of Don Ramiro in La Cenerentola with Baltimore Concert Opera and has sung numerous concerts in China, Canada and Mexico. A regular with The Washington National Opera, Mr. Augustin’s numerous past productions include more than a twenty roles and more than 250 performances.

Baritone James Shaffran’s versatility and audience appeal have established him as a Washington favorite, equally at home on concert and opera stages. His work on the RCA Red Seal disc Of Rage and Remembrance, with NSO, helped earn the recording the Best Classical Album Grammy. Highly regarded for his sensitive and powerful concert work, Mr. Shaffran is a frequent guest performer with most instrumental organizations and choral societies in the Washington-Baltimore area, and across the nation. He has soloed under the batons of Leonard Slatkin, Mstislav Rostropovich and Christopher Hogwood, receiving critical renown from chamber to concert hall.

Well-known for his operatic versatility, Mr. Shaffran has performed roles with virtually every opera company in the Washington, DC area, as well as several other East Coast companies. He has shared the stage as principal with Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Kiri Te Kanawa, Sherrill Milnes, Samuel Ramey and Denyce Graves -- a veteran of over 250 performances and over 50 principal roles with Washington National Opera.

This season he appears as bass soloist in the Durufle Requiem with Amadeus Orchestra, performs Bach with the National Chamber Players, and in several WNO productions in 2010-2011 (including Sciarrone in Tosca -- simulcast at Nationals Park -- and Imperial Commissioner in Madama Butterfly).