Nathan Granner, Melody Moore, Lester Lynch, Kevin Short, San Francisco Boys Chorus, Barbary Coast Orchestra & Dennis Doubin
Biography Nathan Granner, Melody Moore, Lester Lynch, Kevin Short, San Francisco Boys Chorus, Barbary Coast Orchestra & Dennis Doubin
Nathan Granner
is a world-renowned leading tenor, headliner, solo, and collaborative artist specializing in Contemporary Opera and late Bel-Canto repertoire.
The San Francisco Chronicle recently described Mr. Granner’s singing as possessing a "sinewy, ringing tone; splendidly flexible," and the San Francisco Classical Voice extolled "tons of squillo on his top notes, his honeyed tone, and his sensitive dynamic choices..."
Nathan has created numerous characters in world premiere operas, including the role of Korey Wise in Anthony Davis' 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winning "The Central Park Five," the title character in Gordon Getty's "Goodbye, Mr. Chips," Stewart Copeland’s "The Invention of Morel" for Chicago Opera Theater and Long Beach Opera and the role of Aubrey Wells in Laura Kaminsky (Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed librettists) newest opera "Today it Rains" with Opera Paralléle.
Granner's work as a recording artist (with Sony Classical, as a founding member of The American Tenors) netted top five on the Billboard Classical-Crossover charts, and as a headliner, has sent him touring across the nation and into the EU and Russia.
As an award-winning producing artist, Nathan Granner has been instrumental in crafting a wide array of shows, installations, and productions. His innovative work with “Sing Out Loud,” a web series for LA Opera’s Connects division, created in partnership with his wife, soprano Jamie Chamberlin, has attracted a diverse audience. He also played a key role in transforming Music Theater Heritage from a longstanding radio program into a dynamic production company. His entrepreneurial spirit led to the founding of KCMetropolis.org, an arts publication that became a staple of Kansas City’s cultural scene for a decade.
In 2020, Granner expanded his artistic reach by launching A Lab Studios, a full-service production house specializing in visceral storytelling and the radical re-imagining of operatic form1. A Lab Studios is committed to championing new voices, ideas, and stories that resonate with today’s diverse audiences. With a focus on both live and virtual stages, A Lab Studios reflects life through traditional and contemporary stories, creating more repertoire experiences by more people, for more people1. This venture exemplifies Granner’s dedication to fostering greater aspirations through opera, from the composer’s desk to the audience’s ears and beyond.
Melody Moore
is enjoying a thriving career on the world’s leading stages, prompting Opera News to label her “a revelation,” and of her sold-out appearance at Carnegie Hall to rave, “As I left the auditorium, I could only think: more of Moore, please.”
Ms. Moore enjoyed a triumphant return to LA Opera during the 2021-2022 season, repeating her tremendous success in the role of Amneris in Verdi’s Aida opposite Latonia Moore in the title role and tenor Russell Thomas as Radames. Concert highlights of the season included Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Minnesota Orchestra under the baton of Juraj Valčuha and the Mother in Hansel and Gretel with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, with Sir Donald Runnicles at the helm. The season also saw the release of Moore’s interpretation of the title role in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (available on Pentatone), and the recording of a critically acclaimed concert of Puccini’s Tosca, captured live in Berlin, Germany. Ms. Moore continues to remain active in the recording studio throughout the season, marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary soprano Renata Tebaldi with an album featuring selections from the Italian repertoire for which she was most famous (to be released in 2023), and singing Kathie/Linford in the world premiere recording of Gordon Getty’s opera, Goodbye, Mr. Chips. In the fall of 2022, Moore will make a much-anticipated return to San Francisco Opera as Mère Marie in the Olivier Py production of Dialogues des Carmélites.
Despite a number of postponements and cancelled productions due to COVID closures, the 2020-2021 season offered Ms. Moore an opportunity to focus on recording projects, and that season’s resulting releases of Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana and Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West (both released on the Pentatone label) have been widely praised by reviewers and consumers alike.
Highlights of the 2019-2020 season included her debut as Amneris in a new production of Aida at the Houston Grand Opera. Concert highlights included her debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s Das klagende Lied under the baton of Music Director Andrés Orozco-Estrada.
In the 2018-2019 season, Ms. Moore returned to Houston Grand Opera to reprise the roles of Senta in the season opening production of Die fliegende Holländer led by Music Director Patrick Summers, and Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni in a new production by Kasper Holten, and returned to LA Opera for a role debut as Gertrude in Hänsel and Gretel under the baton of Music Director James Conlon. On the concert stage, she debuted with the Dresdner Philharmonie in the roles of Giorgetta in Puccini’s Il Tabarro and Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, both of which were recorded for commercial release by Pentatone. Ms. Moore also sang Senta with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Music Director Edo de Waart, enjoyed a debut with the Grant Park Music Festival for Delius’ A Mass of Life, and sang the title role in Salome in Daegu, South Korea. In the 2017-2018 season, Moore made three major role debuts: Elisabetta in Don Carlo at Washington National Opera; the title role in Salome at Florida Grand Opera; and Tatyana in Eugene Onegin at Hawaii Opera Theatre, as well as singing her signature roles of Tosca in a return to Opéra de Montréal and Senta in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer in a new production by Tomer Zvulun at The Atlanta Opera. Her portrayal of Desdemona in a full recording of Verdi’s Otello was also released by Pentatone.
Other recent career highlights include a house and role debut at Seattle Opera in the title role of Janáček’s Kátya Kabanová; appearances with San Francisco Opera in the title role of Tosca, Susan Rescorla in Heart of a Soldier, Mimì in La bohème, and the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro; Houston Grand Opera as Julie in Show Boat, Marta in the American premiere of Weinberg’s The Passenger, the title role in Carmen, Dorabella in Così fan tutte; Washington National Opera as the title role of Catán’s Florencia en el Amazonas, Phillip Glass’ Appomatox, and in Francesca Zambello’s highly acclaimed production of Wagner’s full Ring cycle; LA Opera as Tosca, the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro and in productions of Der Zwerg and Der Zerbrochene Krug; Opéra de Montréal as Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly; Glimmerglass Festival as Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth and Senta in Der fliegende Holländer; Lincoln Center Festival in The Passenger; English National Opera as Mimi and as Marguerite in Faust; New York City Opera as Rita Clayton in the New York premiere of Stephen Schwartz’s Séance on a Wet Afternoon and as Regine St. Laurent in Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna; and Austin Lyric Opera as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer. Additional performances include the title roles of Manon Lescaut at New Orleans Opera, Tosca with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at Opéra de Bordeaux; and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with The Atlanta Opera and Opera Colorado.
On the concert stage, Ms. Moore has appeared with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for Bruckner’s Te Deum led by Music Director Donald Runnicles; Bard SummerScape Festival as the title role in Turandot; Bavarian Radio Symphony in performances and a recording of excerpts of Gordon Getty’s opera, Plump Jack, conducted by Ulf Shirmer and with the New Century Chamber Orchestra conducted by Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg. She has joined Rufus Wainwright for gala concerts at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto.
A Masters of Music graduate of the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, Melody Moore is a former Adler Fellow of San Francisco Opera and an alumni of the prestigious Merola program.
The Barbary Coast Recorder Orchestra (BCRO)
is the only local adult amateur recorder orchestra in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded in 2011, BCRO is a democratic orchestra in which all its invited members participate equally from soprano to bass. BCRO meets monthly for rehearsals and performs annually for the public in March.
BCRO’s name references historic 19th-century San Francisco, evoking a flavor of diversity and imparts one of its objectives: to perform unconventional works for recorder orchestra, including contemporary repertoire, pop and jazz arrangements, and newly-commissioned works. The recorder orchestra also plays earlier repertoire from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque in arrangements that give voice to the unique sounds of the recorder orchestra.
Dennis Doubin
Grammy Award winning pianist and conductor Dennis Doubin was to makes his conducting debut with Vegas City Opera in 2019-2020 season with Donizetti's "La Fille du Regiment" which was postponed until March of 2021 due to COVID-19. A Henderson resident, Maestro Doubin has led Henderson Symphony orchestra in several performances. A full-time member of San Francisco Opera music staff, Dennis has been asked to prepare every facet of the opera production. He can be found coaching singers, prompting performances, and conducting backstage banda. Mo Doubin made his SFO debut conducting Puccini's "La Bohème" at the War Memorial Opera House in 2014. He also appeared leading Verdi's "La Traviata" and Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" at Opera San José in recent seasons. Dennis began his musical journey in Moscow, Russia at the Moscow Boys Chorus and Choral Academy, where he also excelled as a pianist. After immigrating to the United States, he was a student at Idyllwild Arts Academy and would go on to study piano with Vitaly Margulis in Los Angeles. He became assistant conductor at Los Angeles Opera and subsequently assisted with vocal projects for Los Angeles Philharmonic. Other professional engagements include, Seattle Opera, San Diego opera and Sacramento Opera. Mo Doubin further honed his skills in the SFO's Merola and Adler programs. A sought-after coach, Dennis has coached and collaborated with some of today's most important vocalists that include Renee Fleming, Diana Damrau, Leah Crocetto, Dolora Zajick, Ramon Vargas, Brandon Jovanovich, Michael Fabiano, Stephen Costello, Bryn Terfel, George Gagnidze, Ildar Abdrazakov and others.
