Masterworks 6 Beethoven's Ninth

Joseph Giunta Conductor

One of America’s most distinguished, versatile and dynamic conductors, Joseph Giunta is a musician of international acclaim. He is recognized as an important American conductor for his innovative programming and for his compelling interpretations of traditional and new music. His musical depth combined with his boundless energy and contagious enthusiasm makes him one of the most respected and successful orchestra leaders in the United States.

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Janice Chandler-Eteme Soprano

American soprano Janice Chandler-Eteme’s astonishing range of concert literature includes Strauss' Four Last Songs (Reading, Baltimore, Syracuse, Harrisburg and Utah Symphonies; Florida Orchestra, Fort Wayne Philharmonic; Grand Teton and Texas Music Festivals); Philip Glass' Passion of Ramakrishna (Pacific Symphony); Mahler's Second Symphony (San Diego, Baltimore, Nashville, Cincinnati, Colorado and Pacific Symphonies; Rome's Santa Cecilia Orchestra); Haydn's Die Schöpfung (Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Symphonies); Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang Symphony (San Diego Symphony), Lokumbe's Dear Mrs. Parks (Detroit Symphony) and Can You Hear God Crying? (Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia); the Brahms Requiem (San Diego, Baltimore, Colorado Symphonies); Mahler's Eighth Symphony (Milwaukee, Grand Rapids, American and Montreal Symphonies); Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (Cleveland Orchestra, New Jersey and Houston Symphonies), Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (Festival Miami, Baltimore Symphony), Tippett’s A Child of Our Time (Dallas and Santa Rosa Symphonies) and Britten’s War Requiem (Lincoln and Santa Rosa Symphonies and Evansville Philharmonic). She remains among the most in-demand sopranos for Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess, in staged performances of the complete work at the Opera de Lyon and Dallas Opera, the Bennett concert version under Jeffrey Tyzik with the Milwaukee, Seattle, Detroit and Vancouver Symphonies, Florida Orchestra and at the Vail Music Festival, and in Andrew Litton’s version with the composer conducting the Colorado Symphony. Other forays into operatic literature have included a first-ever Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni with the National Philharmonic.

Ms. Chandler-Eteme first came to international prominence as a favorite of Robert Shaw and has in the years since collaborated with many renowned and respected conductors, among them Marin Alsop, James Conlon, Andreas Delfs, Christoph von Dohnányi, Charles Dutoit, Claus Peter Flor, Hans Graf, Jeffrey Kahane, Carlos Kalmar, Raymond Leppard, Jahja Ling, Andrew Litton, Keith Lockhart, David Lockington, Stuart Malina, Peter Oundjian, Christof Perick, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Stefan Sanderling, Vladimir Spivakov, Yuri Temirkanov, Edo de Waart and Hugh Wolff. She has been guest soloist with the Los Angeles and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestras; Boston, NHK (Japan), Phoenix and Kansas City Symphonies; Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Rochester Philharmonics; and the Philadelphia Orchestra. Festival invitations include Bard, Grant Park, Aspen, Prague Autumn and Blossom. Ms. Chandler-Eteme's recordings include an inspirational solo disc (Devotions), and the Dvořák Te Deum with Zdeněk Mácal and the New Jersey Symphony. She holds degrees from Oakwood College and Indiana University and has studied with Virginia Zeani, Margaret Harshaw, Ginger Beazley and Todd Duncan.

This is Ms. Chandler-Eteme’s second appearance with the Des Moines Symphony. She last appeared on April 27 & 28, 2019 singing with Simon Estes in selections from Porgy & Bess.

Mary Creswell Mezzo-Soprano

Mezzo-soprano Mary Creswell has appeared throughout the United States in opera, oratorio, and chamber music. Her varied performing schedule included the operatic roles of Dorabella, Rosina, and Carmen. Her rich mezzo has been heard on the concert stage with the Detroit Symphony, Grand Rapids Symphony, Manchester Symphony, Des Moines Symphony, Austin Symphony, South Carolina Philharmonic, Chattanooga Symphony, Modesto Symphony and regularly with orchestras at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. The orchestrated songs of Mahler, Verdi's Requiem, and Jeremiah Symphony by Bernstein are gems in her repertoire. She was a frequent guest soloist with the American Chamber Players and performed with them in prestigious concert series spanning the country.

Lauded for her extremely versatile voice, Ms. Creswell effortlessly makes the transition from opera house and orchestra hall to chamber music and song recital. She has been described as having an inner pliability on stage, which transcends all boundaries. Her programs flow from Brahms and Ravel to folk songs and humor without missing a beat. She has also been a champion of new music and featured on several recordings under the Albany Label.

Ms. Creswell received her early training at the University of Michigan where she was the recipient of the Elisabeth Schwarzkopf-Walter Legge Scholarship for graduate study. Her teachers at Michigan were Beverley Rinaldi and Eugene Bossart. The Metropolitan Opera chose her as a regional finalist, and she has been a guest performer in New York City's Avery Fisher Hall. Iowa performances include the roles of Jade Boucher in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and Rychtářka in Janáćek’s Jenůfa, with the Des Moines Metro Opera and mezzo soloist with the Des Moines Symphony in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

An enthusiastic teacher of singing, Ms. Creswell served on the faculty of the Interlochen Summer Arts Camp for twenty seasons. She is now Associate Professor of Music at Iowa State University where she teaches voice, vocal pedagogy, and serves as the voice division chair. Her students have been finalists in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and are heard on Broadway stages and in opera houses throughout the country and in Europe.

This is Ms. Creswell’s third appearance with the Des Moines Symphony. She most recently appeared on September 24 & 25, 2016 in Beethoven’s Ninth.

Charles Reid Tenor

American tenor Charles Reid is an active international opera, concert and recital performer and Artist In Residence and Associate Professor of Voice at Michigan’s Andrews University. He has been welcomed on many of the world’s opera stages, including the Metropolitan Opera (nine seasons), San Francisco Opera, Theater an der Wien, Frankfurt Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Theater Hagen (first-ever Don Jose in Bizet’s Carmen), as well as the festivals of Bayreuth, Salzburg, Spoleto USA, Glimmerglass and Central City. Operas-in-concert include Wagner’s Das Rheingold with Jaap von Zweden and the Hong Kong Philharmonic (acclaimed recording released on Naxos) and Der Rosenkavalier with Philippe Jordan and the Opéra National de Paris.

With nearly forty works in his active concert repertoire, Mr. Reid’s recent engagements include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Hong Kong Philharmonic led by Jaap van Zweden, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde in chamber arrangement with Matthias Goerne at the Schubertíada a Vilabertran (Spain) under conductor Josep Pons, and with conductor Jo Ann Falletta and mezzo-soprano Susan Platts at the Virginia Arts Festival (Naxos recording); and in full-orchestra version with Leon Botstein conducting The Orchestra Now at New York’s Bard College. He also sang his first Britten War Requiem, with Maestra Jane Glover at the Berkshire International Festival.

Mr. Reid’s recent seasons have included Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic/Andrew Constantine, Verdi’s Requiem with the Virginia Symphony/JoAnn Falletta, Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Don Ottavio) with the Kalamazoo Symphony/Raymond Harvey, Handel’s Messiah with Columbia Pro Cantare/Frances Dawson, and a recital of American Art Song at the Howard Performing Arts Center. Past seasons have brought concerts with the with Orchestre National de Lyon, Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Lisbon's Gulbenkian Orchestra, Washington, D.C.'s National Symphony, Lincoln Center’s “Mostly Mozart” Festival Orchestra, the Nashville, Allentown, Madison and Harrisburg Symphonies, Rochester and Buffalo Philharmonics and the U.S. Naval Academy.

In addition to the newest Naxos released, Mr. Reid is also represented on a range of recordings on the Deutsche Grammaphon, Opus Arte, OEHMS Classics and other labels. Prestigious awards include the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, Loren L. Zachary Foundation, Marjorie Lawrence International Vocal Competition. He is Producer and Host of “This Opera Life” Podcast, and is dedicated to his growing family. 

This is Mr. Reid’s first appearance with the Des Moines Symphony.

Darren Stokes Baritone

American bass-baritone Darren Stokes is an artist of exceptional vocal ability. He possesses a voice of extraordinary richness with a broad vocal range, and he sings with a singular ease. Mr. Stokes has been in very high demand adding more than 50 roles to his repertoire since embarking on a singing career in 2002 and has had the pleasure of performing with prominent companies throughout the United States including the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Grant Park Music Festival, Boston Lyric Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, San Francisco Opera, the Ravinia Festival, San Francisco Opera, and more. He made mainstage debuts with the Dallas Opera, Seattle Opera and The Cleveland Orchestra both in Cleveland and at Carnegie Hall in recent seasons.

On the operatic mainstage, Mr. Stokes has performed Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro), Calkas (Troilus and Cressida), Ferrando (Il Trovatore), General Groves (Dr. Atomic), Mèphistophélès (Faust), Escamillo (Carmen and Le Tragedie de Carmen), Jake & Crown (Porgy & Bess), and Neptune (The Return of Ulysses), among many others. Important additions by way of principal role covers include Queequeg in the World Premiere of Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick for Dallas Opera and Crown (Porgy & Bess) for Seattle Opera. On the concert stage, he has performed Handel’s Messiah, Rachmaninoff’s Bells, Mozart’s Requiem and Salieri in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart & Salieri with the Buffalo Philharmonic. 

In the 2016-2017 season Mr. Stokes made his debut with New York City Opera and added Vaughn Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem to his list of concert repertoire. After adding Friar Lawrence in Berlioz’s Romeo & Juliet with the Richmond Symphony he sang Figaro for Toledo Opera and immediately afterwards sang the Brahms Requiem with the Buffalo Philharmonic. Mr. Stokes has toured throughout Europe with the New City Opera singing the role of Escamillo. Mr. Stokes also toured in Germany singing Crown in Gerswhin’s Porgy & Bess with the Barkhymer tour.

 Mr. Stokes trained with distinguished young artists’ programs in addition to the Ryan Opera Center including Glimmerglass Opera and Sarasota Opera, where he was awarded the 2005 Leo M. Rogers Scholarship for Outstanding Apprentice. He has also toured with Rick Benjamin’s Paragon Ragtime Orchestra – the world’s only year-round, professional organization performing ragtime-era music – and has toured in New York State with various gospel groups. Mr. Stokes is an award recipient from the prestigious William Matheus Sullivan Musical Foundation.

This is Mr. Stokes’s first appearance with the Des Moines Symphony.