KATE WOOD, soprano
2024 winner of The American Prize in Voice, she has been praised for her shimmering tone and expressive artistry. In Fall 2026, Ms. Wood joins Opera on the James as a Tyler Young Artist, performing Papagena in their mainstage production of The Magic Flute, and Dorabella the Cat in their outreach opera, The Bremen Town Musicians. 2024/2025 role highlights include Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel with Boston Opera Collaborative, Madame Goldentrill in Mozart’s The Impresario with Lighthouse Opera Company, Norina in Don Pasquale with Quisisana, and Mrs. Nordstrom & Fredrika cover in A Little Night Musicwith St. Petersburg Opera, returning to the company after dazzling audiences as Olympia in Pinocchio and Oberto cover in Alcina in 2023. Kate also returned to Cambridge Chamber Ensemble as Bride cover in Menotti’s Labyrinth after having “deployed her pure soprano with a goddess’s dignity” (Boston Musical Intelligencer) as Venus in CCE’s 2022 mounting of John Blow’s rare baroque gem, Venus and Adonis. Other recent roles include La Fée in Cendrillon, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Olympia in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Lucy in The Telephone, Tamiri in Il re pastore, and Lady with a Hand Mirror in Postcard from Morocco. As a concert soloist, Kate was recently featured in Bach’s St. John Passion with Music at Marsh Chapel, Vivaldi’s Gloria with Masterworks Chorale, and Vivaldi’s Dixit Dominus with Coro Dante. Other concert solo engagements include Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s Magnificat, Mozart’s Missa Solemnis in C, and Fauré’s Requiem, as well as solo cantatas Mi palpita il cor and Pensieri notturni di Filli by Handel, and Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen by Bach. More at katewoodsoprano.com.
Joanna Porackova, Alto
Ms. Porackova has been hailed for her "heartfelt sense of the inner drama, huge range" (Boston Globe), her "soaring majesty" (Opera News), "passion, and skill" (New York Times), “technical mastery” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung), and as a “great artist” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), and “phenomenal dramatic soprano” (American Record Guide). She has had a wide-ranging career spanning the contralto, mezzo soprano, and soprano repertoire. She has performed internationally as a invited guest artist with the prestigious Beaulieu Abbey (UK); Paris International Conservatory; and Tel Aviv Diaspora Museum, Israel; Gerlesborgsskolen, Sweden Recital Concert Series; and has been engaged with the Paris Opera Bastille, Grand Theatre de Tours (France), Stadttheater Bern (Switzerland); Würzburg and Stralsund (Germany), Klagenfurt (Austria), Hong Kong Opera, and the Aix en Provence, Easter Salzburg Festivals, in Die Walküre with the Berlin Philharmonic, and Opera North Festival (Canada). She has also performed in the Berlin Philharmonic Concert Series conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. She has worked under the direction of James Conlon, Jean Yves Ossonce, Henrik Nanassi, Daniel Klajner, Richard Travers, Jonathan McPhee, Gil Rose, Mark Churchill, Francisco Noya, Steven Karidoyanes, Cynthia Woods, Thomas Bo, Jeffrey Brody, Jeffrey Rink, and the late Alan Lannom and John Oliver.
She has performed in concerts and operas in the USA, including Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, NY; the Washington National; in Connecticut, Baltimore, Fort Pierce, and Anchorage, and with the Boston Bel Canto, Commonwealth Lyric, Boston Lyric Operas, Opera at Florham, NJ, and Opera Boston; as well as the NY, Chicago, and Boston Wagner Society Concert series. As a soprano she sang the title roles of Isolde, Norma, Turandot, Medea, Salomé, Tosca, Aïda, Rusalka, La Wally, and Brünnhilde, as well as Gerhilde in Die Walküre, leading Verdi roles, and Magda Sorel in The Consul under the direction of Gian Carlo Menotti himself, and the Anaide in Mose in Egitto. As a mezzo she sang Komponist in Ariadne auf Naxos, and the title role of Carmen. She has also performed with Masterworks Chorale, Chorus Pro Musica, Ars Musica Chorale, NY, Harvard Radcliffe Chorale, Boston Civic, Plymouth, Longwood, Salem and the Cambridge Symphonies, and Symphony Pro Musica. She has sung the alto solo in the Verdi and Mozart Requiems; Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Handel’s Messiah. She has been heard in broadcasts on Swiss National Radio, Good Morning America, WGBH, BBC, ARTE, on the Bel Air Classiques DVD of Die Walküre with the Berlin Philharmonic, and on Americus Records Russian Masters Series CD with the acclaimed pianist Dag Achatz. In 2016 she sang Fricka in Wagner’s abridged Ring Cycle with the Lexington and Nashua Symphonies, and a mezzo soprano solo in Tippett's A Child of Our Time with the Cambridge Symphony. In 2016, she sang Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer with the New Philharmonia Orchestra. In 2017, Ms Porackova sang a solo recital, Songs Past and Present, with the Boston Wagner Society.
In 2018 she sang mezzo solos in Mendelssohn‘s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Cambridge Symphony, and Haydn‘s Harmoniemesse with the Fine Arts Chorale. In 2019 she sang a Schumann and Russian song recital at Chaminade Concerts and the mezzo solo in the Beethoven Ninth Symphony with the Cambridge Symphony. In 2021 Ms. Porackova sang Rosina in The Barber of Seville with the Boston Bel Canto Opera. In 2022 she sang the alto solo in Mozart’s Requiem with the Fine Arts Chorale and was acclaimed as Waltraute with the Berlin Wagner Group’s USA inaugural concert,”Wagner’s Ring in One Evening.” In 2023 she sang alto solo in a Bach Cantata Program with the Newton Community Chorus and Respighi”s Il Tramonto with the Fenimore Chamber Orchestra. (NY)
Sumner Thompson, Base
Sumner Thompson is widely regarded as one of the finest interpreters of concert repertoire of his generation, and performs repertoire ranging from medieval to modern, with emphasis on the music of J.S. Bach, Benjamin Britten, and Claudio Monteverdi. He has appeared on four continents with ensembles including the Orchestra of St. Lukes, Tafelmusik, Handel and Haydn Society, Blue Heron, Gli Angeli Genève, L’Harmonie des Saisons, Boston Early Music Festival, Theatre of Voices, the Hague Philharmonic, and the orchestras of Charlotte, Victoria, Memphis, and Indianapolis. His operatic highlights include Dr. Caius in Vaughan Williams’ Sir John in Love ‘ with Odyssey Opera, The Count in Le Nozze di Figaro with the Commonwealth Opera, and the title role in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo with Contemporary Opera Denmark. He appears as a bassist and vocalist on multiple albums including In Motian by avant-garde jazz bassist Andrew Dow. He is also an avid instrument builder, specializing in electric bass guitars.
Adam Russell, Tenor
Adam Russell, “has a truly beautiful voice, and his portrayal is artfully crafted” said a review of his performance in the title role of Gounod’s Faust. “Russell’s brilliant tenor negotiated the high terrain of the memorable aria “Salut! demeure chaste et pure,” ending it with a beautifully placed high C.” In a production of Ariadne auf Naxos in which he sang Bacchus, his performance was described as “regal” with St. Petersburg Opera. “As the heroic Bacchus, Tampa Bay Times stated that Adam Russell has a fine-grained sound.” Backstage said of him that, “Russell's voice is both powerful and intense.” He sang as tenor soloist in “The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace” by Karl Jenkins with DCINY at David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, and was tenor soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth with The Staten Island Philharmonic. Mr. Russell has been featured in many principal roles. With Utah Festival Opera he portrayed Rodolfo in La Boheme, and Alfred in Die Fledermaus. With Regina Opera he has sung the heroic Manrico in Il Trovatore, Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera, Don Jose in Carmen, Faust, Rodolfo in La Boheme, Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, Alfredo in La Traviata, and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor. With Opera in the Highlands he sang Rodolfo in La Boheme, and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly. With Fort Worth Opera he sang Vanderdendur in Candide. The Salt Lake Tribune said of him that, “Adam Russell is a tall, handsome tenor with voice of compelling quality.” His album can be heard at https://adamrussell1.bandcamp.com/releases