Dawn Upshaw, Soprano, has achieved international celebrity as a singer of opera and concert repertoire that ranges from the sacred works of Bach to the freshest sounds of today. Her ability to reach to the heart of music and text has earned her the devotion of an exceptionally diverse audience worldwide. Her acclaimed performances on the opera stage comprise the great Mozart roles as well as works by Stravinsky, Poulenc, and Messiaen. From Salzburg and Paris to the Metropolitan Opera, where she began her career in 1984 and has sung nearly 300 performances, Ms. Upshaw has also created roles in four new operas. It says much about Dawn Upshaw's sensibilities as an artist and colleague that she is a favored partner of many leading musicians of our day, including Richard Goode, the Kronos Quartet, James Levine, Sir Simon Rattle, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. In her work as a recitalist, she presents specially designed programs of lieder, popular music, and folk music.

A four-time Grammy Award winner, Ms. Upshaw is featured on more than 50 recordings, including the million-selling Symphony No. 3 by Henryk Gorecki, a dozen recital recordings, and several discs of music theater repertoire, on Nonesuch Records.

Dawn Upshaw was named as one of the 2007 MacArthur Fellows, commonly known as the "genius grant." Upshaw was singled out by the MacArthur Foundation as a "master vocalist", a singer who "is stretching the boundaries of operatic and concert singing and enriching the landscape of contemporary music."

Dawn Upshaw appears by arrangement with IMG Artists, 152 West 57th Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY, 10010.

Five time Grammy nominated and three time Grammy winner, Sherrill Milnes is internationally recognized as the leading Verdi Baritone of his time. His remarkable voice, artistic integrity, commanding stage presence, and rugged handsomeness have made him a favorite for all audiences.

Milnes has worked extensively with young singers throughout his career. He has led master classes at the Juilliard and Manhattan Schools in New York, at most major universities throughout the country, and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. More extensive teaching has been done at the Yale University School of Music; Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow; the Northern Royal College of Music in Manchester, England (where he is a fellow); the Israel Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv; Montreal; and Puerto Rico; and the International Institute of Vocal Arts in Italy. He has judged many international competitions including the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.

Milnes is the John Evans Distinguished Professor of Music Emeritus at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. Through his master classes and work in training programs, especially his own, VOICExperience (founded in 2001), he is continuing his dedication to young singers.

Milnes recently accepted the position of Artistic Advisor of Opera Tampa at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center.

Gilbert Kalish leads a musical life of unusual variety and breadth. His profound influence on the musical community as educator, and as pianist in myriad performances and recordings, has established him as a major figure in American music making.

A native New Yorker and graduate of Columbia College, Mr. Kalish studied with Leonard Shure, Julius Hereford and Isabella Vengerova. He was the pianist of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players for 30 years and was a founding member of the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble, a group devoted to new music that flourished during the 1960's and 70's. He is a frequent guest artist with many of the world's most distinguished chamber ensembles. His thirty-year partnership with the great mezzo-soprano Jan De Gaetani was universally recognized as one of the most remarkable artistic collaborations of our time. He maintains longstanding duos with the cellists Timothy Eddy and Joel Krosnick, and he appears frequently with soprano Dawn Upshaw.

As educator he is Distinguished Professor and Head of Performance Activities at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. From 1968-1997 he was a faculty member of the Tanglewood Music Center and served as the "Chairman of the Faculty" at Tanglewood from 1985-1997. He often serves as guest artist at distinguished music institutions such as The Banff Centre, and the Steans Institute at Ravinia, and the Marlboro Festival. He is renowned for his master class presentations.