PATRICIA MCCAFFREY - voice teacher - Trish McCaffrey is currently on the faculties of the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, The Curtis Institute of Music, LidalNorth Oslo, Norway, The VoicExperience Foundation Tampa, Florida and maintains a private studio in New York City. She has served on the voice faculties of the Hartt School of Music, Arizona State University, University of Michigan and University of Minnesota
Her students sing regularly in all the major opera houses, festivals and concert houses in the world including The Metropolitan Opera, The Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Covent Garden, Vienna Staatsoper, Berlin Staatsoper, La Scala, Paris Bastille and Chatelet, The Salzburg Festival, Bayreuth, Carnegie Hall and the BBC Proms.
They have also distinguished themselves as winners of numerous competitions and awards including the Metropolitan Opera National Council, Tucker Foundation Awards, Pope Foundation Award, George London Competition, Marian Anderson Competition, MacAllister Competition, Aria Awards as well as Grammy Awards and they have recorded with such labels as Deutsche Grammophon, RCA Red Seal, Sony, Harmonia Mundi, Arabesque and EMI.
In addition to teaching a classical music technique for singing, Trish McCaffrey also teaches Broadway and Pop performers who appear on Broadway, in Motion Pictures, Television and Commercials. She has also prepared numerous students who hold voice positions at many colleges and universities in the United States.
Mezzo-Soprano Patricia McCaffrey has sung at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Miami Opera, Zürich Opera, The Wexford Festival, Starlight Musicals and other venues throughout the world. She is most noted for her portrayals of the title role in CARMEN, Eboli in DON CARLO, Brangäne in TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, Santuzza in CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA, Octavian in DER ROSENKAVALIER, the Composer in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, Amneris in AIDA and Charlotte in WERTHER.
MARK SCHNAIBLE - voice teacher - Described by Germany's leading opera magazine Das Opernglas as "a strong, rich and warm-colored voice with assured style," Mark Schnaible continues to impress audiences both in the United States and abroad with his bass-baritone voice and dramatic intensity. In the 2010-11 season, he sings the Four Villains in Les contes d'Hoffmann and Ferrando in Il trovatore with Den Nye Opera in addition to returning to Polish National Opera to reprise Orest in Elektra. He also joins the Memphis Symphony for Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. Last season, he sang his first performances of Jochanaan in Salome in a return to his home state of Iowa with Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre and Orest in a new production of Elektra with Polish National Opera. He also returned to Opera Tampa for Rambaldo in La rondine, New Orleans Opera for Capulet in Roméo et Juliette, to Utah Symphony for Haydn's Creation and in the summer, Glimmerglass Opera for the Count in Le nozze di Figaro following his critically acclaimed portrayal of Friedrich in the North American stage premiere of Wagner's Das Liebesverbot in past seasons.
The bass-baritone's other recent performances include Escamillo in Carmen with New Orleans Opera and the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra under Michael Stern; Biterolf in a new Robert Carsen production of Tannhäuser conducted by Seiji Ozawa at the Tokyo Opera Nomori Festival; the title role in Sweeney Todd and Scarpia in Tosca with Shreveport Opera; Mephistofeles in Faust with Shreveport Opera and El Paso Opera; and numerous leading roles with Theater Lübeck including the Four Villains in Les contes d'Hoffmann, Dr Schön in Lulu, the title role in Der fliegende Holländer, Seven Antagonists in Death in Venice, Orest in Elektra, Pizarro in Fidelio, Capulet in Roméo et Juliette, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Lorenzo in I capuleti e i Montecchi. He has also sung Leporello in Don Giovanni with Boston Baroque and Utah Opera; Colline in La bohème with Kiel Opera; the title role in Giulio Cesare with Utah Opera ;the title role in Gianni Schicchi with Opera Tampa; Ariodate in Xerxes with Boston Baroque; Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte with Shreveport Opera; as well as the Huntsman in Rusalka with Christoph Eschenbach at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and with Franz Welser-Möst at the Opernhaus Zurich.
A past winner of the prestigious Marseille International Opera Competition, he has joined the Choregies d'Orange Festival under Bertrand de Billy for Baron Douphol in La traviata and for Carmen under Michel Plasson. He has also sung Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera d'Avignon, Metz Opera, and the Grand Theatre de Tours and toured throughout France with the Poitou-Charentes Orchestre for performances of Haydn's The Seasons.
He is equally at home with the concert repertoire having most recently sung Bizet's Clovis et Clotilde with Les Flaneries Musicales de Reims and Jean-Claude Casadesus and in subsequent performances with the same conductor and the the Orchestre National de Lille (to be released on the Naxos label), Bluebeard's Castle with Utah Symphony and Keith Lockhart, and Haydn's The Creation with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and David Stern. Also in his repertoire are Mendelssohn's Elijah and St. Paul; settings of the Requiem by Durufle, Faure, Mozart, Brahms, and Verdi; Handel's Messiah, Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, Bach's Mass in B minor, St. Matthew Passion, and St. John Passion; Beethoven's Symphony No 9; as well as Haydn's The Seasons.
RAGNHILD HEILAND SØRENSEN- voice teacher and coach - This Norwegian soprano, has triumphed in all the major Italian operatic soprano roles, such as Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly, Mimì, Liù, Suor Angelica, Floria Tosca, Leonora in Il Trovatore, Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera, Desdemona, Violetta Valéry, Contessa Almaviva, Donna Elvira and Donna Anna. Her German repertory embraces roles such as Rosalinde, Eva in Meistersinger, Elsa in Lohengrin, and most recently Chrysothemis in Elektra by Richard Strauss.
A leading, and much-treasured, lyric-dramatic soprano in Scandinavia for the past decade, Ms. Heiland Sørensen maintains her affiliation with the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet in Oslo, as well as with other opera companies in Europe, and in Russia.
An avid recitalist and concert artist, Ms. Heiland Sørensen appears regularly in international festivals such as the Bergen International Festival and the Risør Chamber Music Festival. As a prolific advocate of the German Lied and Norwegian romanse, she has toured Europe with pianists Einar Steen-Nøkleberg and Håvard Gimse to great critical acclaim. On the concert platform, she has sung with leading European orchestras such as the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as with all the other Scandinavian orchestras, and has worked with many of the most notable conductors of our day.
Possessing a voice of an extraordinary quality and unique timbre, Ms. Heiland Sørensen has inspired illustrious composers to write music especially for her, made several recordings, as well as received prestigious prizes and awards for her superior vocalism and artistry.
In addition to her own singing career, Ms. Ragnhild Heiland Sørensen maintains a private voice- and coaching studio in Asker, outside of Oslo, Norway.
JOHN LIDAL - pianist and vocal coach - As a pianist, chamber musician and vocal coach, John Lidal is a much sought after artist, and has worked throughout the United States and Europe with such artists as Licia Albanese, Thomas Allen, Martina Arroyo, Fedora Barbieri, Ingrid Bjoner, Mignon Dunn, Håkan Hagegård, Marilyn Horne, Tom Krause, Catherine Malfitano, Sherrill Milnes, Anna Moffo, Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz, Gabriella Tucci, and Sarah Walker.
Mr Lidal currently serves on the faculties of the Manhattan School of Music, New York; the International Institute of Vocal Arts, Chiari, Italy; the Israel Vocal Arts Institute, Tel Aviv, Israel; The Intermezzo Opera Festival, Brugge, Belgium; Casa dei Mezzo Music Festival, Crete. He recently accepted an invitation to join the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet in Oslo. He is also much in demand for master classes worldwide, most recently at the at the University of Stavanger, Norway; Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP); Staatsoper unter den Linden Opernstudio, Berlin; and at the Manhattan School of Music, New York.
With an extensive experience as audition pianist (NYIOP) and coach throughout the US and Europe, Mr. Lidal works regularly with established artists from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and other renowned companies, and collaborates with the new generation of the many outstanding singers in Scandinavia, Germany and in the US, both in recitals, recording and broadcast.
After studies at his hometown conservatory in Trondheim, Norway; he graduated with honors from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London; the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo; and the Manhattan School of Music (MSM) in New York. As well as being recipient of numerous grants, scholarships and awards, he was 1st prize winner in 1999 of two International Piano Competitions in London, UK.
Mr. Lidal maintains coaching studios in New York, London, Berlin, Oslo, and Paris. Additionally, Mr. Lidal created and currently serves as the Artistic Director of the LidalNorth International Opera Workshop, which presented its first program for singers at an advanced level, in June 2006, in Oslo, Norway.
This workshop has received international recognition for being one of the best of its kind.
GAÏT SIRGUEY - pianist and vocal coach - The French pianist, Gaït Sirguey, holds diplomas from the Conservatoire National Supérieur du Musique de Paris and New England Conservatory, where she studied with such renowned musicians as Maurice Duruflé, Pierre Sancan, and Allen Rogers. She has performed and recorded extensively both as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, Scandinavia, South America, Japan and the United States where the press has acclaimed her "...an outstanding pianist...her interpretation was an engaging truly moving piece of music." and praised her work as an accompanist "...the collaboration of pianist Gait Sirguey was extraordinary in its suppleness and thoughtful mood painting."
Her collaborators include such artists as Simon Estes, Jan DeGaetani, Hugues Cuenod, Jan Opalach and Robert Routch. She has recorded for Radio France, the Swedish, Norwegian, and Canadian Broadcasting Corporations, Italian National Radio, and Télévision de la Suisse Romande. Recognized as one of the leading experts of French repertory, she has prepared the concerts and recordings of Frederica von Stade, Dolora Zajick, Benita Valente, Judith Raskin, Neil Rosenshein, Susan Davenny-Wyner, Faith Esham, Florence Quivar, and Martha Senn. In 1995, Gaït Sirguey programmed, produced, and performed in all the vocal recitals in the Four Centuries of French Music series at Lincoln Center.
She was the principal coach at the Drottningholm Court Theater in Sweden in 1989 for their production of Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide and has coached principal singers for productions at La Scala, Covent Garden, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Chicago Lyric, Geneva, Washington, Houston Grand Opera, Opéra Bastille, Paris-Bercy, Toulouse, Barcelona, Madrid, and La Fenice. She was the musical consultant for the American stage premiers of Darius Milhaud's opera Christophe Colomb and Reynaldo Hahn's Le Marchand de Venise. In 1997 the Bonn Opera invited her to be its principal coach for their productions of Roméo et Juliette (Gounod) and Samson et Dalila.
Renowned for her expert knowledge of the mélodie française, Gaït Sirguey is often invited to give master classes in the great music schools of America, Europe, and Scandinavia and is sought after by singers for her interpretation and creative programming of concerts and recordings. Noteworthy among them is the recent New Albion compact disc "Oiseau Bleu," about which Renaud Marchart, music critic of Le Monde, wrote: "a French label really ought to record a series of melodies of this quality, with as accompanist the artist Gait Sirguey, who works in the United States, and who has a talent sorely lacking in France." Also a performer of contemporary music, she has just recorded with Jan Opalach, the vocal works of the American composer Bruce Hobson for CRI Records.
Gaït Sirguey taught French, German, Italian, and English repertory at the New England Conservatory (Boston), the State University of New York at Purchase, and the Oren Brown Voice Seminar. At the New England Conservatory, two great artists, Jan DeGaetani (contemporary music) and Eleanor Steber (opera), chose her as their associate, teaching with them for several years. She coached the young artists at Le Centre de la Voix in the abbaye of Royaumont, France for 10 years and recently joined the faculty of the Daniel Ferro Seminar in Greve, Italy.
For the last fifteen years Ms. Sirguey has taught the mélodie Française, or French vocal literature course, at Manhattan School of Music. This is the only course of its type in the United States covering the entire spectrum of this subject--its evolution from the Romance to contemporary music, as well as the parallel development of poetic movements. She is also in charge of preparing and coaching graduation recitals and is currently the consultant for a special program on French music within its cultural context.
JOHN NORRIS - body and movement coach - More than twenty years ago John Norris began his teaching career at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where he trained actors in movement and dance. This led to a position at the National Conservatory Theater in Denver, CO. Shortly after, he was invited to train young singers at the Wolf Trap Opera Company. This opportunity enabled him to discover his niche working with singers at the International Vocal Arts Institute in Tel Aviv, Metropolitan Opera Young Artist Development Program, the Curtis Institute of Music, the Julliard School, and the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Mr.Norris coaches regularly at the Bavarian State Opera Studio and Liz Mohn International Opera Studio at the Berliner StaatsOper Unter den Linden. In addition to giving master classes internationally he maintains a private studio in Berlin.
In his work over the past two decades Mr. Norris has developed his own method for helping singers connect their bodies to their voices. Influenced greatly by the work of F.M. Alexander, Joseph Pilates, and Juliu Horvath, Mr. Norris gives students practical exercises to assist them in releasing old patterns of tension that block their bodies limit their minds and impede their breath. As singers consciously connect to their bodies issues of vocal support and sound production are addressed. This process leads to many discoveries and new choices, which, in turn, enables singers' entry into the emotional, physical, and mental connectivity to their characters. At this stage, Mr. Norris draws on acting techniques of Konstantine Stanislavsky, Ute Hagen, and Wesley Balk. Giving students experiences, which explore intellectual, psychological and kinetic trigger points, they are encouraged to find authenticity in the music and text giving a more visceral expression of each given situation in an aria, scene, or the entire role.
Mr. Norris has a vast experience directing over sixty productions of Theater, Musicals, and Opera. His credits include: Carmen at the Rostok Volkstheater; Don Giovanni at the Connecticut Opera; Lucia di Lammermoor at Ft Worth Opera; Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Edmonton Opera; and Don Carlos Shanghai Opera Company. Young Artist Productions include: Post Card from Morocco at the Manhattan School of Music; Rigoletto and Die Fledermaus at the Academy of Vocal Arts, Cosi fan tutte at Florida Grand Opera Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Ariadne auf Naxos, Zauberflöte at the IVAI Tel Aviv; Don Carlos at the Shangaoi Opera; and City of Angels, Bavarian Theater Academy.
BORIS ANIFANTAKIS - pianist and conductor - with the completion of his studies and graduation from the Folkwang Music School in Essen and the Hochschule for Music in Hamburg, he was engaged as a conductor and vocal coach in several theaters in Europe.
He has conducted well-known orchestras, including the Bruckner Orchester Linz, the Staatskapelle Schwerin, the Hamburger Symphoniker, the Orchestra di Teatro Lirico di Cagliari and the Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra.
Boris Anifantakis conducted more than 60 opera and ballet productions. For several years, he participated in the Salzburg Festival. He has also performed in the Rheingau Festival, the Musica Sacra Festival and the Schlossfestspiele Schwerin.
He joined the faculty at the Hochschule for Music in Detmold specializing in the training of young singers.
In September 2007, Boris Anifantakis was chosen from General Music Director Daniel Barenboim and the Liz Mohn Culture and Music Foundation as the director for the newly founded Berlin Staatsoper International Opera Studio.
Here famous artists, such as Brigitte Fassbaender, Julia Varady and Francisco Araiza have been invited and have given Masterclasses for the members of the International Opera Studio.
Recently, the international request for Boris Anifantakis as a vocal coach has led him not only to Milan and Amsterdam but also to New York and Damascus.
GUNNAR STRØMSHOLM - body & movement coach - From ballroom dancing at an early age, then to train as a contemporary ballet dancer at the London Dance Centre in Covent Garden, London, with Rongie Cruz, Mr. Strømsholm went on to study at The London Film School, and became a popular free-lance dancer during his time in the UK. He can add illustrious companies such as the London Contemporary Dance Theatre, as well as Paul Taylor Dance Company in New York City to his list.
In addition to his professional dancing career, Mr. Strømsholm was also a much sought-after catwalk model in London and Milan, and also participated in several television commercials; Colgate in Germany, Kodak all over Europe, he became Yarley's "Sven" in the UK, as well as Mr. Oriental Spice, and played in several films for the International Wool Secreteriat and International Cotton Institute.
Mr. Strømsholm involvement with coaching opera singers in body and movement came about through his close connection with South African soprano and impresario Denny Dayviss. The list of the singers with whom they have worked reads like the 'who's who'.
He joined the faculty at the Hochschule for Music in Detmold specializing in the training of young singers.
When Mr. Gunnar Strømsholm retired from dance, he pursued several interests, but returned to the performing arts by becoming the Artistic Director of the "Casa dei Mezzo Music Festival", a classical chamber and vocal music festival, at his home in the village of Makrigialos, on the island of Crete, Greece. As the Patron to the festival, he chose the former Prima Ballerina with the Royal Ballet, Doreen Wells, The Marchioness of Londonderry. Through her and Mr. John Lidal's encouragement, he has resumed his activity in coaching singers - including balance, aerobics, dance and yoga in his teaching. Mr. Gunnar Strømsholm is looking forward to being part of the Lidal North "Goes South" Opera Workshop on Crete, 2011!
Here famous artists, such as Brigitte Fassbaender, Julia Varady and Francisco Araiza have been invited and have given Masterclasses for the members of the International Opera Studio.
NAJA MÅNSSON - massage therapist - is a classically trained singer from The Carl Nielsen Academy in Denmark. She has since studied with Abbie Furmansky, Trish McCaffrey, Mark Schnaible, Ann Rodiger, and John Norris.
Naja Månsson is a much valued 'body-assistent' at Ms McCaffrey's masterclasses worldwide, as well as coach for television presenters in Denmark. In addition to her singing career, she gives regular workshops in Denmark, Germany, and Belgium.
The massage and body treatment program offered at LidalNorth in Crete, is a great opportunity for singers who desire a more conscious sense of their bodies in their singing.
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