Friday, February 28, 2020 — 5:30pm
English and French art songs
Mezzo-Soprano Kehar Joanna Koslowsky is an accomplished choral and solo artist with a growing reputation in the New Mexico music scene. Since moving to Santa Fe, she’s performed as a soloist, recitalist, and choral artist with the New Mexico Bach Society, Santa Fe Symphony, Zia Singers, New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus, Santa Fe Women’s Ensemble, and in the TGIF series at the First Presbyterian Church, Santa Fe.
A native of Saratoga Springs, NY, she received her degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Maryland, College Park. Specializing in early music, her oratorio and solo work includes works by Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, Mozart, and Britten, and has worked with conductors Kenneth Slowik, J. Reilly Lewis, Helmuth Rilling, Bill Roberts and Tim Reno. While in Washington DC, she sang with the Washington Bach Consort, Woodley Ensemble, and Cathedral Choral Society. A seasoned church musician, she sang at two historic churches in Washington; St. Michael’s Cathedral and St. John’s Church Lafayette Square, where she sang for both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Her roles include Diana in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld with the Janiec Opera Company; Desdemona in Rossini’s Otello with Maryland Opera Workshop; Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, Rosina in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte with the Crittenden Opera Studio; and multiple seasons as a chorus member with Saratoga Opera.
Robert Tweten began his career as a piano soloist after receiving his Associate of Arts Degree from the Victoria Conservatory of Music and winning competitions including the Du Maurier Search for Stars and the Canadian National Piano Championship. After working at the Banff Center of Fine Arts, he joined the Houston Grand Opera Studio where he was on the team for the world premiere performances of the Emmy award winning, Nixon in China. He later served as a vocal coach and assistant conductor for the Canadian Opera Company and Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Equally at home as a recitalist, collaborator, and chamber musician, he has performed with many of the industry’s most prominent singers and instrumentalists, including Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Elizabeth Futral, Catherine Malfitano, Joyce Di Donato, Samuel Ramey, Thomas Hampson, Rod Gilfry, Suzanne Mentzer, Rachel Barton Pine, the Taos Chamber Music Group, and the St. Lawrence Quartet, in venues such as Alice Tully Hall, Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Los Angeles’ Disney Hall, Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Salzburg Festival. Recent recitals have included Justice at the Opera with Ruth Bader Ginsburg and apprentice artists of the Santa Fe Opera, and a recital for Performance Santa Fe with Suzanne Mentzer and Rod Gilfry.
Working with young singers has always been an important part of Robert’s career, and in 2017 he joined the New England Conservatory’s opera faculty as Music Director, where he coaches and provides musical guidance for the Graduate Opera Studies Program, and has conducted productions of Later the Same Evening, and Le nozze di Figaro.
Maestro Tweten’s most recent performances have included Roméo et Juliette with Utah Opera, Rigoletto with Calgary Opera, Faust with San Antonio Opera, and Turandot with Lyric Opera of Chicago, with highlights of the upcoming season including Postcard from Morocco and La Calisto at The New England Conservatory, as well as Kevin Puts and Mark Campbell’s Silent Night with the Utah Opera.