About the Artists
for the Concert on 04-Nov-2023
Doug Balliett ♦
Elliott
Figg ♦ Manami Mizumoto ♦ Melanie Lynch
Theotokos:
Doug
Balliett – Viola da Gamba
Doug Balliett is a
composer, instrumentalist and poet based in New York City. The Los
Angeles Times recently wrote "Bassist Doug Balliett, who teaches
a course on the Beatles at the Juilliard School and writes cantatas for Sunday
church services, as well as wacky pop operas, is in a class of his
own." The New York Times has described his compositions
as "brainily bubble gum and lovably shaggy" (Rome is Falling),
his poetry as “brilliant and witty” (Clytie and the Sun), and his bass
playing as “elegant” (Shawn Jaeger’s In
Old Virginny). Doug has been professor of baroque
bass and violone at The Juilliard School since 2017, and leads the Theotokos ensemble every Sunday at St. Mary's
church on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. He plays regularly with AMOC, Les
Arts Florissants, Jupiter Ensemble, ACRONYM, Ruckus,
BEMF, Alarm Will Sound, and other ensembles. In August 2021 five of his Ovid
Cantatas were filmed for Qwest TV with William Christie, Lea Desandre, and Nick
Scott. For three years he and his twin brother hosted a weekly show dedicated
to living composers on WQXR's new music channel Q2. Recent performances of his
work include Beast Fights at Tanglewood with the Boston
Symphony bass section, and the annual New Year's Eve performance of his
opera Gawain and the Green Knight.
Elliot Figg is a
keyboardist, conductor, and composer from Dallas, Texas. He is a graduate
of the Historical Performance Program at The Juilliard School where he
studied harpsichord with Kenneth Weiss. He has also studied with Arthur
Haas at the Yale School of Music. Elliot is an active member of several New
York-based early music and contemporary ensembles, including
Ruckus, ACRONYM, New York Baroque Incorporated, and New Vintage
Baroque. He also works in frequent collaboration with BalletNext.
Recent engagements include: Conductor and harpsichordist for the U.S.
premiere of Chevalier de St-Georges’ L’Amant
Anonyme with Little Opera Theatre of New York; assistant
conductor and harpsichordist for Vivaldi’s Farnace, and for
Cavalli’s Veremonda, both with
Spoleto Festival USA; and assistant conductor and
harpsichordist for Dido and Aeneas with L.A. Opera.
In 2018, he will return
to conduct with Little Opera Theatre of New York for the New York premiere
of J. A. Hasse’s Piramo
e Tisbe. Elliot received his Bachelor’s and
Master’s degrees in music composition from the University of North Texas, where
he studied composition with Cindy McTee and Joseph Klein, as well as
harpsichord with Lenora McCroskey.
Manami
Mizumoto – Baroque Violin
New York born Manami
Mizumoto started her lifelong relationship with music at age 3 on the violin.
Early exposure to chamber music sparked in her a devoted love of collaboration.
This led to a dual fascination with working with living composers, and bringing
back to life little-known works of the past. In recent years, this has
manifested in being a founding member of the group Nuova Pratica,
a collective of composer-performers working with centuries-old practices of
improvisation in the modern day. Manami is also a founding member of Harmonia Stellarum Houston, which focuses on presenting newly
discovered vocal-instrumental works of the 17th and 18th centuries in scholarly
informed performances. In addition, Manami is passionate about exploring
different approaches to music making in history and how that can transform the
way modern audiences relate to music of the past. Her driving curiosity is in
exploring the dialogue between ancient and contemporary thoughts, and she is
equally at home on the baroque violin, modern violin, and electro-acoustic
setups with Ableton Live. Manami is a graduate of the Juilliard School where
she earned a Bachelor’s with Catherine Cho and Joel Smirnoff, a Masters in
Historical Performance, and graduated with the Norman Benzaquen Career
Advancement Grant. In 2022, she was selected a member of Philharmonia
Baroque Orchestra, and continues to be a Fellow of The English Concert in
America, elected in 2021.
GUEST of Theotokos
Melanie Sumie Lynch is
an accomplished mezzo-soprano whose musical journey began in her early teens
when she asked her parents for voice lessons. Her love of the classics and
perfecting her technique put her talents on par with college conservatory students,
while still in high school. She chose to attend Indiana University, studying in
the studio of world-renowned soprano Martina Arroyo, and mezzo soprano,
Professor Patricia Stiles. She has performed leading and supporting roles with
several companies including Opera Memphis, Rick Benjamin’s Paragon Ragtime
Orchestra, Indiana University Opera Theater, and Opera In
The Ozarks. Having stepped away from the fast pace of the opera world to raise
a family in White Plains, she maintains her voice skills as a section leader
and soloist in the Grace Episcopal Church choir during Sunday services and its
special events. She also enjoys a robust yoga teaching practice to maintain her
proper vocal alignment in support of her voice.