Carol Yahr, Artistic Director / Stage Director / Master classes
Joshua Greene, Conductor
Mitchell Vines, Rehearsal Pianist / Performance Accompanist
Anderson Brenner, Rehearsal Pianist

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Carol Yahr
Dramatic soprano Carol Yahr has been acclaimed in performances with the Metropolitan Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bastille Opera, Seattle Opera, Norwegian Opera, Australian Opera, Washington Opera and the Scottish Opera. Since singing her first Wagnerian soprano role (Eva in Die Meistersinger in Seattle), Yahr has gone on to sing all the important roles of this repertoire. She has appeared as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser in Hamburg and Berlin, as Ortrud in Lohengrin in Berlin, Leipzig and Seattle, as Sieglinde in Die Walküre with Scottish Opera, as Kundry in Parsifal with the Bonn Opera and in Santiago, Chile. She has sung the role of Isolde in Tristan und Isolde for the Opéra National de Paris, Scottish Opera, Australian Opera, Washington Opera, for companies in Copenhagen, Honolulu and Prague, and in concert with Lorin Maazel at Carnegie Hall in New York and Pittsburgh. In 1996, Yahr sang Brünnhilde in her first complete Ring cycle in a new production mounted by the Oslo Opera. This production was brought to Norwich, England and her performance was described by the London Times as "a triumph". In December of 1999, Ms. Yahr appeared as Brünnhilde in the complete Ring at the Berlin State Opera under Daniel Barenboim.

Carol Yahr began her career as a mezzo-soprano making her European debut in 1987 as Venus in a new production of Tannhäuser in Cologne, Germany. She appeared as Fricka in Das Rheingold and Die Walküre in a Ring Cycle at L'Opéra de Nice, which was also performed in Paris at Théatre Champs Élysées in 1988. Yahr also won high praise for her portrayal of Didon in Berlioz' Les Troyens in Nice in 1989. Yahr made her debut in the soprano repertoire with the Seattle Opera in 1989 when she appeared as Eva in Die Meistersinger. The following year, she sang her first performances of Leonore in Beethoven's Fidelio in Innsbruck and made her United Kingdom debut in the same role with the Glyndebourne Touring Company in the autumn of 1990. She also returned to Innsbruck to sing both Venus and Elisabeth in a new production of Tannhäuser in the spring of 1991 and received particular international attention when she appeared as Sieglinde in Scottish Opera's 1991 production of Die Walküre. The London Times wrote: "Yahr, particularly, develops throughout the evening into a remarkable Wagnerian, glorious in her final outburst, 'O hehrstes Wunder'."

Carol Yahr made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1993 as Leonore in Fidelio and has also appeared in the role in concert performances presented by the Glyndebourne Festival under Roger Norrington and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival under Christophe Eschenbach. Yahr also appeared at the Metropolitan as both Cassandre and Didon in Les Troyens under James Levine. She has been heard in concert as Cassandre in Toulouse under Michel Plasson and as Genièvre in Chausson's Le Roi Arthus in Amsterdam under Edo de Waart.

Ms. Yahr sang the role of Isolde in Tristan und Isolde in a new production at the Prague National Theater, as well as Brünnhilde in Gotterdammerung at the Teatro Giuseppe Verdi in Trieste, Italy. In the fall of 2003, Ms. Yahr added the role of Kostelnicka in Jenufa to her repertoire in highly praised performances in The Netherlands. OPERA Magazine wrote, "Her expressive face, energetic singing and terrific concentration created a memorably tragic figure."

For four seasons, Ms. Yahr participated in the Shaker Mountain Opera Festival as performer, teacher and Resident Artist. At the 2004 festival, she made her debut as a stage director with a new production of Faust. In the summer of 2005, Ms. Yahr in collaboration with conductor and vocal coach Joshua Greene began a summer opera program for young singers, New York Summer Opera Scenes. She also maintains an active, private voice studio in New York City.



Joshua Greene
Joshua Greene is currently an Assistant Conductor at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York City. In the 2006-2007 season he assisted James Levine on The Magic Flute and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and in the 2005-2006 season he assisted Maestro Levine in the Met's production of Falstaff. He has served as Music Director of the New York City Opera National Company, conducting more than thirty performances of La Traviata throughout the United States and Canada. The New York Times said of the production, "Its best asset is in the pit, where Mr. Greene conducts business with a pointed enthusiasm." He has also been a guest conductor at the Sarasota Opera, where he led performances of Così fan tutte, La Traviata, Don Pasquale, Madama Butterfly, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Orfeo. In addition, he conducted Rigoletto at the Augusta Opera and a double bill of Cavalleria Rusticana and L'Oracolo at the Westchester Opera. Mr. Greene also prepared the chorus at the Aspen Festival Opera, and was employed by Venice's famed Teatro la Fenice to prepare American singers for its production of Britten's Curlew River and The Prodigal Son.

Active on the concert stage as well, Mr. Greene has conducted the Pro Arte Chorale on numerous occasions, leading them in performances of Elijah and chamber choir concerts. He also prepared the Pro Arte Festival Chorus for symphonic appearances with conductors such as Gerard Schwarz, Kenneth Schermerhorn, and Hugh Wolff. In addition, he served for several seasons as Music Director of the Adelphi Chamber Orchestra, conducting the world premiere of Seymour Barab's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in G Major. Mr. Greene is presently Music Director of CantaLyrica, a chamber chorus based in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

The versatile Mr. Greene, in great demand as an accompanist for song recitals, has partnered such noted singers as tenors Jerry Hadley and Franco Farina, mezzo-soprano Jane Bunnell, sopranos Joyce Guyer, Carolyn James, and Amy Johnson, and bass-baritones James Morris and Marc Embree, at such distinguished venues as New York's Merkin Concert Hall and Carnegie-Weill Recital Hall, and the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena. Television and radio credits include appearances on the Art and Entertainment Network's Breakfast with the Arts, and WQXR's The Listening Room. As a visiting artist he gave master classes at the University of Northern Iowa, Grinnell College, and The Mannes College of Music, and was engaged by The Hartt School of Music to do a Lieder recital with several of the graduate students. He also conducted a Master Class at the University of Rochester for students at the Eastman School of Music as well as the University of Rochester. In the summers of 2005 and 2006 he was the Musical Director and conductor of the New York Summer Opera Scenes. Mr. Greene has served as an instructor of theory and conductor of the chorus and orchestra at the Mannes College Preparatory School. Mr. Greene also maintains a busy studio in Manhattan, which includes leading soloists of the Metropolitan Opera and New York City Opera. He also teaches piano and conducting privately.

Born into a musical family in New York City, he began piano studies at the age of six, later continuing his studies with his mother, Lucy Greene, who was an eminent concert pianist and keyboard teacher. His father was Herbert Greene, the Tony Award-winning conductor of The Music Man and other Broadway musicals. As a child, Joshua Greene sang the role of the Third Spirit in The Magic Flute at New York City Opera, with Beverly Sills as the Queen of the Night. As boy soprano soloist with the American Boychoir (formerly the Columbus Boychoir), he toured the United States, Canada, and Japan. He received his Bachelor of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Mannes College of Music, his Masters of Music degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Manhattan School of Music and pursued further music studies at The Juilliard School and the Aspen Music School.



Mitchell Vines
Pianist Mitchell Vines' active performing career has taken him to Europe, South America, Asia and throughout the United States. The German newspaper Hessiche-Niedersachsische Allgemeine wrote "The sensitive playing of American pianist Mitchell Vines captivated the audience. He performed with virtuosity and bravura."

Mr. Vines frequently performs with such groups as the Riverside Piano Trio, CantaLyrica, and the Viva Voce Ensemble, as well as piano 4-hands with Paul Zeigler. He has performed extensively with Bernard Goldberg, former principal flutist of the Pittsburgh Symphony, and is highly in demand as a collaborative pianist.

His teaching experience includes positions with the Aspen Music Festival, Mannes School of Music, Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music and the Harlem School of the Arts, and he is a music director for theater, opera and cabaret. Mr. Vines is the artistic director of Afternoon Music, a concert series in Summit, New Jersey.

Mr. Vines can be heard on the CD "American Music for Trumpet and Piano" on Capstone Records, and he is featured on a CD of vocal chamber music by North German composers on the Syrinx label. Recent recordings include a CD of compositions by Paul Zeigler and a recital with Japanese soprano Selena Miyazaki.

A native of Portland, Oregon, Mr. Vines holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Portland State University and a Master of Music degree from the Eastman School of Music. While at Eastman, he held a fellowship in accompanying and was awarded the Performer's Certificate, the conservatory's highest honor. Previously music director of Bay Ridge United Methodist Church, Mr. Vines is currently music and choir director of the Unitarian Church in Summit, New Jersey.



Anderson Brenner
Anderson Brenner (Collaborative Pianist) was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, where he started studying piano at the age of seven. After moving to São Paulo, he continued his studies under Ana Maria Nascimento and Daisy De Luca. Starting in 1988, Mr. Brenner served as pianist for the Adventist Choir Association of São Paulo, and later worked as the principal accompanist for the Guaíra Theater in Curitiba, Brazil, on productions of Puccini's La Bohème and Haydn's Creation. He also worked as an accompanist for the Brazilian Opera Society. One of his last positions in Brazil was with the Teatro Municipal de São Paulo as a coach for a production of Puccini's Madama Butterfly. In 1996 he started working in the United States. He currently resides in New York City, where he has worked in the studios and master classes of Anna Moffo, Licia Albanese, Lucine Amara and Renata Scotto, among others. In the summers of 2002-2004, he participated in the Shaker Mountain Performing Arts Festival as Vocal Coach and Accompanist. He also collaborates with many local opera companies in the New York area.