Mozart Requiem soloists

tess altiveros, soprano

Praised for an “assured, glamorous soprano” (Opera Today), “magnetic acting” (Pioneer Press), and exceptional artistic versatility, Tess Altiveros is highly sought after in opera houses and concert halls alike. 

Tess’s 25/26 season includes a return to Seattle Opera for Pirates of Penzance, Iris Unveiled under the baton of Xian Zhang with the Seattle Symphony, Euridice in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice at Tacoma Opera, and appearances with the Auburn Symphony for Mozart’s Requiem, the Seattle Bach Festival, Kirkland Choral Society for Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacem and Handel’s Messiah with Symphony Tacoma.

On the operatic stage, recent seasons have included Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro (Opera Idaho, Opera Montana, Kentucky Opera), Cephise/ L’Amour in Rameau’s Pygmalion (Kentucky Opera), and Papagena (Die Zauberflöte) and Nana in the world premiere of A Thousand Splendid Suns with her home company, Seattle Opera.  In performances hailed as a “triumph” (Classical Voice North America), Ms. Altiveros has sung her signature role of Female Soldier in The Falling and the Rising to high acclaim with such companies as Des Moines Metro Opera, Arizona Opera, Seattle Opera, Opera Montana and Opera Memphis. Other roles include Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte (Skylark Opera), E in O+E (Seattle Opera), Euridice/Proserpine in L’Orfeo (Portland Baroque), Clorinda in The Combat (Seattle Opera), Pamina in Die Zauberflöte (Pacific Symphony), Maria in West Side Story (Central City Opera/Boulder Philharmonic), Musetta in La Bohème with Mo. Andrew Litton (Colorado Symphony), Miss Jessel in Turn of the Screw (Eugene Opera), and Elle in La Voix Humaine (Vespertine Opera).  

In concert work, Ms. Altiveros has enjoyed great success presenting everything from early to contemporary repertoire.  Her voice has been hailed in contemporary works as “pure gold” (Opera Magazine), while her early music offerings have been described as “darker, creamy, sensuous…with an astonishing command of 17th century vocal technique” (Opera Today).  Recent appearances include Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Dame Jane Glover’s Music of the Baroque, the Brahms Requiem with Victoria Symphony, Beethoven Missa Solemnis (Boulder Philharmonic) and Ripper’s Cinco Poemas de Vinicius de Moraes with Greenville Symphony and Seattle Symphony. Ms. Altiveros has also been featured with the Colorado Symphony, Pacific Symphony, Boise Phil, Westsound Symphony, Boulder Philharmonic, Portland Baroque, Early Music Vancouver, Shreveport Symphony, San Francisco Early Music Society and the Vancouver Bach Festival.

A native Seattleite, Ms. Altiveros serves as music faculty at Seattle University and is proud to be a regular singer for many of her hometown teams, including the Seattle Mariners, OL Reign, Seattle Kraken, and the Seattle Sounders.

Sarah Larsen, Mezzo

Praised as “sizzling,” “masterful,” and “riveting,” mezzo-soprano Sarah Larsen is based in Seattle, WA and performs regularly with The Metropolitan Opera and Seattle Opera. Recent engagements with The Metropolitan Opera include the 2nd Ancella in Medea, Flora Bervoix in La traviata and the Zweite Dame in Julie Taymor’s celebrated holiday production of Die Zauberflöte. 

Ms. Larsen recently made her Houston Grand Opera debut; creating the role of Cassandra Smith in the world premiere of Another City - Jeremy Howard Beck & Stephanie Fleischmann’s new work which centers the stories of people experiencing homelessness. 

Career highlights include touring with Austin Opera, The Atlanta Opera, and The Lyric Opera of Kansas City as Laurene Powell Jobs in The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, as well as interpreting the role of Jan Arnold in Everest with Calgary Opera and The Lyric Opera of Kansas City. Ms. Larsen created the role of Sarelda in John Musto & Mark Campbell’s The Inspector with the Wolf Trap Foundation, and was also featured by Music of Remembrance in the world premiere of Farewell, Aushwitz by Jake Heggie & Gene Scheer. 

Concert appearances included Mozart’s Requiem with The Florida Orchestra, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with The Charlotte Symphony, as well as Bach’s B Minor Mass, Mozart’s realization of Handel’s Messiah and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the Fresno Philharmonic. In Seattle, Sarah has been heard with the Seattle Symphony in Vivaldi’s Gloria, Handel’s Messiah & Debussy’s La Damoiselle élue, and with Orchestra Seattle in Bach’s St John Passion, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Handel’s Messiah, and Duruflé’s Requiem. 

An alumna of the Seattle Opera Young Artist Program, Ms. Larsen enjoys a long relationship with the company. She has been featured as Flosshilde in Das Rheingold, the Stewardess in Flight, the Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos, Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Maddalena in Rigoletto and the Secretary in The Consul, among others.

Since making her debut at The Metropolitan Opera in 2017 as Käthchen in Werther, Ms. Larsen has also been featured onstage as the Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte, Flora Bervoix in La traviata and the 2nd Esquire in Parsifal. She also joined the company in recent seasons for their productions of Der Ring des Nibelungen, Le nozze di Figaro, The Merry Widow, Rusalka, Cendrillon, and Les contes d’Hoffmann. 

Other engagements include Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni for Virginia Opera and Arizona Opera, Dorabella in Così fan tutte for Mill City Summer Opera, Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus with Des Moines Metro Opera, Mercédès in Carmen with The Santa Fe Opera, Seattle Opera and the Pacific Symphony, and her debuts with The Tanglewood Festival and The Ravinia Festival as Paquette in Candide. Ms. Larsen made her Italian debut in a staging of Vivaldi’s La Gloria e Imeneo with the famed I Solisti Veneti at the historic Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza.

Ms. Larsen is from Roseville, MN and is a graduate of Simpson College and Rice University. She continued her training with residencies at the Aspen Opera Theater Center, Sarasota Opera, Virginia Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, The Glimmerglass Festival, The Santa Fe Opera and Seattle Opera. Ms. Larsen is the recipient of awards and career grants from 4Culture, The Santa Fe Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, the Seattle Opera Guild, Houston Grand Opera and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. She currently resides in Seattle, WA and holds advanced certifications from The Court of Master Sommeliers and The Wine & Spirit Education Trust.

Katherine Goforth, Tenor

American vocalist Katherine Goforth shares the "thrilling tenor power" (Opera News) of her "noble, colorful and iridescent vocal sound" (Magazin Klassik) in vivid character portraits and heartfelt performances that "[do] not hold back" (The New York Times). A transgender woman, Katherine is undeterred by historical barriers in the performing arts and is finding new ways to show up authentically on stage, in the rehearsal room, and as a creative artist.

Katherine is the recipient of Washington National Opera's inaugural True Voice Award for transgender and non-binary singers and the Career Advancement Award from the fourth Dallas Symphony Orchestra Women in Classical Music Symposium. She won critical acclaim as part of the cast that premiered Philip Venables and Ted Huffman’s The Faggots and Their Friends Between Revolutions at Manchester International Festival, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, and Bregenzer Festspiele. Based in Portland, OR, she has appeared extensively as a soloist with Pacific Northwest-based arts organizations, including Portland Opera, Bozeman Symphony, Walla Walla Symphony, Yakima Symphony, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Opera Bend, Harmonia Seattle, Opera Theater Oregon, Sound Salon (formerly Byron Schenkman and Friends), Ping and Woof Opera, Artists Repertory Theatre, Fuse Theatre Ensemble, and Pink Martini.

Equally at home as a creative artist, Katherine was most recently part of the team that developed and produced Nu Nah-Hup: Sacajawea's Story, a collaboration with Rose Ann Abrahamson, Sacajawea's familial descendant, Hovia Edwards, Native American flutist, and Justin Ralls, composer and artistic director of Opera Theater Oregon, starring mezzo soprano Marion Newman and baritone Richard Zeller. She has written for Opera Canada, and spoken at Boston Conservatory, Whitman College, Renegade Opera, the Beyond Travesti podcast, and the League of American Orchestras Anne Parsons Leadership Program. She is a member of the Beth Morrison Projects Producer Academy 2023 Cohort.

Katherine was a member of the International Opera Studio of Oper Köln, received her Bachelor's degree from St. Olaf College, her Master's degree from the Juilliard School, and attended the Franz-Schubert-Institut, Britten Pears Young Artist Programme, Heidelberger Frühling Liedakademie, Georg Solti Accademia, and Boston Wagner Institute.

Zachary Lenox, Baritone

Viewed as “a broad, resonant baritone that is exquisitely controlled throughout his entire range,” Zachary Lenox has performed leading roles across North America. Notable roles include “Silvio” in Pagliacci, “Marcello” in La Bohème, “Papageno” in Die Zauberflöte, “Count Almaviva” in Le nozze di Figaro, “El Dancaïro” in Carmen, “Marullo” in Rigoletto, “Guglielmo” and “Don Alfonso” in Così fan tutte, “Father” in Hansel and Gretel, “Sid” in Albert Herring, “Gianni Schicchi” and “Betto” in Gianni Schicchi, and “Dick Deadeye” in H.M.S. Pinafore. Mr. Lenox has appeared with Portland Opera, Eugene Opera, Orpheus PDX, Tacoma Opera, Opera Parallèle, Opera Bend, Pacific Music Works, Harmonia Seattle, Cascadia Chamber Opera, Portland Opera in the Park, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Portland Concert Opera, and Eugene Concert Choir. Concert appearances include “Bass Soloist” in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Coffee Cantata, Christmas Cantatas, as well as BWV 56, Handel's Messiah, Samson, and Judas Maccabeus, Mozart's Requiem, Verdi Requiem, Faure Requiem, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, Schubert's Mass in G, and Orff's Carmina Burana. Zachary is a past winner of the Pacific Northwest Sings competition as well as the MONC Idaho/ Montana District Auditions. He received his B.M. and M.M. from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam.

GOLIJOV OCEANA SOLOISTS

Alicia Olatuja, jazz vocalist

When St. Louis native vocalist, composer, educator Alicia Olatuja sings, the world listens. Her aural artistry is a wondrous weave of jazz, blues, gospel, classical, pop and Afropop musical genres. Olatuja’s embrace of those sonic stylings have enabled her to work with a wide variety of musicians - from jazz superstars Chris Botti, Christian McBride and Michael Olatuja, to R&B and gospel legends Chaka Khan. And BeBe Winans - and it also enables her to be a comprehensive and compelling artist in her own right.

“I see myself as a prism,” Olatuja says, “just as light goes into a prism and then scatters in different colors, that’s pretty much what I've always focused on being able to do as an artist, regardless of what genre I’m singing.”

Olatuja grew up immersed in a kaleidoscope of musical influences in St. Louis. Inspired by Whitney Houston, Olatuja started singing at the age of 5. She sang in the Berean Seven Day Adventist Church, listened to a wide variety of Black music including jazz, R&B and soul and was classically trained as an opera mezzo-soprano singer. After double majoring in Veterinary Medicine and Music at the University of Missouri, Olatuja moved to New York City in 2005, and later earned her Masters degree in Classical Voice/Opera from the Manhattan School of Music. She made her recital debut at Carnegie Hall and her professional debut as Sacagawea at Opera Memphis.

It was at the Manhattan School of Music where she met African jazz/Afrobeat bassist Michael Olatuja. “I started working with him and some other musicians as well,” Olatuja says, “We got married in 2007, and we decided to merge our visions, as far as working together and creating music that we felt would impact people in a positive way.” She recorded on his 2009 debut recording Speak, and they collaborated as The Olatuja Project on their 2013 release, The Promise. “In 2015 we decided to go our separate ways,” Olatuja recalls, “but we always respected and loved each other, and we always believed that we were supposed to be in each other's lives. We stayed in touch for several years… He started working on Broadway, and I started my solo career.”

In 2013 Olatuja sang “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir at President Obama’s Second Inauguration. The New York Daily News praised her as “a new musical star,” and the award-winning jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves also took notice of her performance.”I think about her as like a fairy godmother of the industry because she really championed for me,” Olatuja fondly remembers. “She saw that performance and we met. She recommended me to other musicians and artists, and that led to touring and all kinds of things.”

Reeves recommended Olatuja to her friend, pianist-composer Billy Childs. In 2014, he released Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro, which also featured Reeves. Olatuja sang with Child’s touring ensemble performing music from that recording. Olatuja would go on to work with many other artists. She recorded on bassist Christian McBrides’ recording, The Movement Revisited: A Portrait of Four Icons. Olatuja has also worked with gospel singer Bebe Winans, R&B legend Chaka Khan, organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, trumpeter Chris Botti, drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr. on his Songs of Freedom, a Jazz at Lincoln Center commissioned project, which featured the music of Abbey Lincoln, Joni Mitchell and Nina Simone, and Carnegie Hall’s NYO Jazz Orchestra, led by trumpeter Sean Jones.

Olatuja released her debut recording, Timeless, which earned her a 4 star review from Down Beat, and featured McBride, harmonica virtuoso Grégoire Maret, pianist Christian Sands and alto saxophonist Jaleel Shaw, and it also featured Olatuja’s inventive take on Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature.” Olatuja’s second release, Intuition: Songs from the Minds of Women, featured selections composed by women including Sade, Linda Creed, Kate Bush, Tracy Chapman and Angela Bofill. In 2023 Olatuja also recorded The Parsonage: True Tales of Love and Anarchy at 64 East 7th St., featuring vocalist Theo Bleckmann.

In addition to her career as a performing artist, Olatuja is also an exceptional educator. She’s taught at several schools including, The University of Texas, The University of Illinois, Baylor University, Snow College, and at several schools in Turkey, Serbia and Japan when she was on tour with the musical, La Mama Cantata, based on the life of theater director/producer Ellen Stewart.

In 2021, during the pandemic, Olatuja - who is also a LPI certified Life Coach specializing in Vocal Empowerment - created the Vocal Breakthrough Academy: a 5 week online program where singers and non-singers who are looking to break through self-doubt and comparison learn how to authentically connect with themselves and others through singing so they can transform their voices while using singing as a vehicle for personal-development.

For Olatuja, education is a family affair. “My grandmother was one of the first Black nurses who graduated from Washington University. And she went on to become a counselor, teacher and a college professor. My mother is a teacher. She's taught genius children. She's taught children with learning disabilities. She's taught adults, she's taught ESL, she’s done all these different types of educational curriculums… So, education has always been a very big deal in my family.”

The future is a big deal for Alicia Olatuja. Her forthcoming projects include a reunion recording with Michael Olatuja, whom she had been touring with since 2021, and a new solo project. Simply put: We can expect a myriad of musical projects from this ever-evolving vocalist. “I'm the type of artist that wants to break the barriers and break the lines down between genres.”

Michael Partington, Guitar

Michael Partington is one of the most engaging concert players of his generation. Praised by Classical Guitar Magazine for his “lyricism, intensity and clear technical command,” this award-winning British guitarist has performed to unanimous critical praise. Audiences are put at ease by his charming stage manner and captivated by his interpretations. An innate rhythmic understanding and sense for tonal colour combine to form some of the most memorable phrasing to be heard on the guitar.  He has appeared throughout North America, Europe, Russia and Scandinavia as a soloist and with ensembles, and live radio performances include BBC Radio 3’s In Tune, BBC Wales, and St. Paul Sunday on National Public Radio. He has released ten solo CD’s for Rosewood Recordings, and can be heard on the Cadenza and Present Sounds labels. An advocate of new music, he has commissioned and premiered works by Stephen Goss, Bryan Johanson, Toshio Hosokawa, Angelo Gilardino, Tom Baker, Kevin Callahan and others. Partington is currently Artist in Residence and director of the guitar program at the University of Washington in Seattle. He has given classes and workshops at festivals and institutions around the world, including the Royal College of Music in London, the Royal Conservatory in Gothenburg, Sweden, the San Francisco Conservatory, the Guitar Foundation of America, the Canadian National Confederation of Music Societies, and the International Guitar Research Centre. His students have won prizes in regional, national and international competitions, and scholarships and awards to study all over the world. Michael Partington is a Savarez Strings artist.

Michael Nicolella, guitar

With a repertoire spanning from J.S. Bach and Domenico Scarlatti to Jimi Hendrix and Elliott Carter, Michael Nicolella is recognized as one of America's most innovative guitarists. He has received wide critical acclaim for his performances, recordings and compositions. As a concert artist, Michael has performed throughout North America, Europe and Japan as solo recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with orchestra.

Nicolella blurs the lines between musical styles and disciplines. He is part of a growing trend in classical music to revitalize the role of the composer/performer. As a concert artist he frequently programs his own works for guitar in solo, chamber and orchestral settings. His most recent orchestral piece, “Flame of the Blue Star of Twilight” (for soprano, guitar and orchestra), received its premiere performance by the Northwest Symphony Orchestra with soprano Alexandra Picard.

Known for his creative programming, Michael has introduced electric guitar into his "classical" programs and extended the repertoire and audience of his instrument not only with his own compositions and transcriptions, but also by premiering and commissioning works by some of today's most exciting emerging composers. Michael has premiered dozens of new works for classical and electric guitar in solo, chamber and orchestral settings. In reference to his abilities on the classical and electric guitar, noted guitar composer, scholar and critic John Duarte stated in an issue of "Gramophone" magazine that: "Others have 'crossed the track' in one direction or the other but none has done so with the technical and/or musical success as Nicolella, who,chameleon-like, achieves comparable distinction in both fields".

Michael's newest recording is a double CD of his arrangement of the "Complete Bach Cello Suites" released on September 23, 2014. His previous four critically acclaimed releases were albums of contemporary music for classical and electric guitar. Three solo albums ("Ten Years Passed," "Shard" and "Push") all featured works composed by Nicolella (including an electric guitar concerto and a classical guitar concerto); as well as music written for Nicolella and recent masterworks by: Toru Takemitsu, Luciano Berio, Elliott Carter and Steve Reich. The 2002 album "Transit," is a 45 minute magnum opus written for Nicolella by composer John Fitz Rogers for electric guitar and computer generated sound.

Nicolella has collaborated and performed with a wide range of artists including: the Seattle Symphony, Merce Cunningham Dance Company,Northwest Symphony Orchestra, soprano Alexandra Picard, jazz singer Johnaye Kendrick, Seattle Chamber Players, Charanga Danzon, prog rock legend Jon Anderson, Seattle Modern Orchestra, Broadway stars Bernadette Peters and Brian Stokes Mitchell, classical music comedians Ingudesman and Joo, violinist Gil Shaham and the Seattle Guitar Trio which performed Michael's groundbreaking arrangement of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring." As a performer and composer, he has received awards from ASCAP, the American Composers Forum, 4Culture, Wisconsin Arts Board, Washington State Arts Commission, Seattle Arts Commission and was first prize winner of both the Portland and Northwest solo classical guitar competitions.

Michael is a graduate of Yale University, Berklee College of Music and the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, Italy. He is on the faculty of Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.