Megan Moore
Mezzo Soprano
Lyric coloratura mezzo-soprano Megan Moore is quickly garnering attention as an artist of versatility and depth on the opera and concert stage, particularly in the repertoire of Rossini, Handel, and Mozart.
In the 2022-23 season, Ms. Moore will return to the role of Dorabella in Così fan tutte for her company debut at Opera Theatre of Saint Louis; make her role debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with Annapolis Opera; sing the title role in Gluck's Orfeo with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle; make her company debut at Opera Philadelphia covering both Desdemona and Emilia in Rossini's Otello with a cast that includes Lawrence Brownlee; participate in Plácido Domingo's world-famous singing competition Operalia in Riga, Latvia; and join Berkshire Opera Festival to make her role debut as Ruggiero in Alcina led by Gary Wedow. She will make recital appearances in Baltimore and New York City, in addition to a tour of several cities in Iowa. Concert engagements include appearances at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall for Bach's cantata Schau, lieber Gott, wie meine Feind, BWV 153 with Anthony Newman, and at the Gaillard Center in December for the Charleston Symphony's annual Holiday Pops! concert.
The previous season, Ms. Moore joined Harry Bicket to record Handel’s La Lucretia and Il delirio amoroso with The English Concert; made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Brett Dean’s Hamlet under the baton of Nicholas Carter and participated in the Guggenheim Museum's Works & Process with the creative team as well as cast members of the opera; made her role debut as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at the Berkshire Opera Festival; premiered a piece by Jessica Meyer at Shriver Hall with violist Jordan Bak; performed the role of Claire in Bernstein's On the Town with Opera Naples; covered the role of Dorabella in Così fan tutte with the San Diego Opera; and joined the Santa Fe Opera to workshop The Righteous, a new work composed by Gregory Spears with libretto by Tracy K. Smith which will debut in the company's 2024 season. In recital, she took the stage in New York, Washington, D.C, and Birmingham. Ms. Moore also made a special appearance with the Borromeo String Quartet to sing Handel arias from Hercules and Alcina in Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall.
Susannah Stewart
Soprano
Susannah Stewart is a native of Chapel Hill, NC (Go Heels!). She recently graduated from the Eastman School of Music (MM in Vocal Performance) and before that, graduated from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BM in Vocal Performance and Political Science).
In March of 2020, Susannah performed as the soprano starring in Dr. Marie Rolf's "Debussy Premieres" lecture concert at the J.P. Morgan Library in New York City. This performance included soprano piece "Séguidille," the U.S. premiere of cantata "Hymnis," and the world premiere of cantata "Daniel" by Debussy. Colleagues in this performance were Timothy Long, Anthony Dean Griffey, and Randall Scarlata, and Dr. Marie Rolf.
With Eastman Opera Theatre, Susannah performed the roles of Aveline Mortimer in Kevin Puts' Elizabeth Cree and The Lady with the Cake Box in Dominick Argento's Postcard from Morocco. At UNC-Chapel Hill, she performed the title role of Alcina (Händel) and Dido in Dido and Aeneas (Purcell) with UNC Opera, as well as Zerlina in Don Giovanni (Mozart) in Tuscany, Italy. Ms. Stewart won UNC’s Concerto Competition, performing with Maestro Tonu Kalam and the UNC Symphony Orchestra. Other concert performance has been with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle (COT) under the baton of Lorenzo Muti, performing Händel’s Crudel tiranno amor and other arias by Händel, as well as "Romanze" from Schubert’s Rosamunde, and the soprano solos in Grieg’s Peer Gynt Suite (Carolina Theater, Durham, NC).
Her other solo oratorio credits include the soprano solos in Bach’s Magnificat, Händel’s Utrecht Te Deum and Messiah, Haydn’s Theresienmesse, and Barber’s Prayers of Kierkegaard. In 2018, she won first place for Junior/Senior college women at the national NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) competition in Las Vegas, NV.
Susannah is also a speaker of French and Italian, and holds a special place in her heart for Italy as she has been lucky enough to travel there every summer since she was five years of age.
Molly Quinn
Soprano
Soprano Molly Quinn has garnered praise for her thought provoking and delightful interpretation of music from the medieval to the modern. Miss Quinn maintains an adventurous life as a performer, bringing her unique and sensitive approach to music making to audiences around the globe. She was a soloist on Trinity Wall Street’s Grammy-nominated recording of Handel’s Israel in Egypt. She has collaborated with notable musicians and arts organizations around the globe including Vancouver Early Music, Trinity Wall Street, The Knights NYC, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Apollo’s Fire, The Bang on a Can All-Stars, TENET, Seraphic Fire, Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival, Ascension Music, Clarion Music Society, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Quicksilver Ensemble, Seraphic Fire and Acronym.
She has appeared as soloist under the baton of Joshua Rifkin, Andrew Parrott, Jane Glover, Julian Wachner, Dan Hyde, John Rutter, John Scott,and Lorenzo Muti.She has been featured in numerous large-scale projects by legendary presenters including The Lincoln Center White Lights Festival, Moscow’s Gold Mask Festival, BAM Next Wave Festival, Bang on a Can marathon, San Francisco Early Music Series, and Carnegie Hall’s Venetian Festival. She is a festival soloist at The Staunton Music Festival, and staff musician and featured soloist at The Carmel Bach Festival. She has performed as a soloist in such noted international venues as Shostakovich Hall in St Petersburg, Russia, Teatro National de Costa Rica, Vancouver’s Chan Centre for the performing arts, and San Cristobal Cathedral in Havana, Cuba. Miss Quinn received a master’s degree from Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and was awarded the prestigious Virginia Best Adam Fellowship. She is known as a specialist in early 17th century Italian and German repertoire as well as music of the High Baroque.
She is also an avid proponent of small ensemble vocal music, singing with America’s brightest and best ensembles and has served as Artistic Representative to the Board of Seraphic Fire from 2019-2023. In addition to her thriving career as a performer, Miss Quinn served as professor of voice at Sarah Lawrence College from 2019-2022. She also has served as a voice teacher and coach to the Trinity Wall Street Choristers program, which is New York’s fastest growing and most innovative training programs for young singers. f New York City alongside her colleagues at Trinity Wall Street through leading workshops in lyricism, melody and improvisation.
Carolina Choir
Directed by Susan Klebanow
Carolina Choir is the UNC Music Department’s select concert choir of 75 singers devoted to the performance of the finest choral literature at the highest level. Its membership is drawn from the entire student body and is made up of undergraduate and graduate students from many different departments.
Carolina Choir’s repertoire ranges from sacred and secular a cappella music of all periods to the choral/orchestral masterworks. Under the direction of Professor Susan Klebanow, the ensemble has performed, among other works, Stravinsky’s Les Noces, Tallis’ Spem in alium, the Monteverdi Vespers, Barber’s Prayers of Kierkegaard with the UNC Symphony Orchestra, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with all of the UNC choral ensembles and orchestra, and J. S. Bach’s Mass in B Minor with Ensemble Courant, UNC’s original instrument ensemble. Carolina Choir recently gave the world premiere performance of Stephen Anderson’s oratorio Isaiah, and Marjorie Merryman’s Beauty, Grief and Grandeur, a newly commissioned work written for Prof. Klebanow and the choir for the 10 x 10 commissioning project sponsored by the UNC Music Department and the Office of the Executive Director for the Arts.
In addition to its frequent collaborations with the UNC Symphony and Ensemble Courant, Carolina Choir has been heard with other outstanding instrumental ensembles, including performances of Philip Glass’ A Toltec Symphony with the Bruckner Orchestra of Linz conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert with the N.C. Jazz Repertory Orchestra conducted by David Berger, the Verdi Requiem with the Wheeling Symphony in West Virginia conducted by Rachael Worby, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with the European Union Youth Orchestra, Vladimir Ashkenazy, conductor, and numerous works with the North Carolina Symphony conducted by Gerhardt Zimmermann, Andrew Litton, William Henry Curry, and James Gaffigan.