Season Schedule

BIOS

Celebrated as central Ohio’s premier all-professional chamber choir, LancasterChorale has established its role as a vital force in choral music by performing challenging repertoire drawn from the rich treasury of the past, commissioning new works to inspire the American public to more fully understand its present, and supporting educational programming with young singers to promote the future of the choral arts.

Engaging the region’s leading professional vocal artists, LancasterChorale garners high praise for its beauty of tone, musical integrity, remarkable blend, and exceptional commitment to elegant text phrasing. Under the direction of the nationally recognized composer Stephen Caracciolo, the ensemble performs an astonishingly wide range of choral literature including plainchant, Renaissance and Baroque motets, German-Romantic part songs, French chansons, the sacred literature of the English and Russian churches, opera choruses, carols of every variety, American folk songs and spirituals, and works by living composers. LancasterChorale performs in cities throughout Ohio and appears periodically with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra and the Lancaster Festival Orchestra.

Bavarian soprano Kathrin Danzmayr came first to international attention when she sang the role of Pamina in a production of W. A. Mozart’s The Magic Flute during the Salzburg Festival Summer. During this production she had the pleasure to collaborate with Grace Bumbry, who became one of her most important mentors. Further career highlights include the role of Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) in Dinkelsbühl and Clorinda (La Cenerentola) in Hamburg.

In 2010, Kathrin became a member of the distinguished Salzburg Concert Society, where she sang more than 70 concerts a season, touring throughout central Europe, including appearances in Munich and Stuttgart. In addition, she worked as a soloist with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, the Glasgow Sinfonietta, Greenock Philharmonic, as well as the Breckenridge Festival Orchestra and the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra to name a few.

Last season, Kathrin performed for Opera Columbus and Opera on the Edge, where she performed Mimi (La Boheme) and Frasquita (Carmen). This season she will debut with Opera Project Columbus in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. She will also perform as soloist with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, at the New Year’s concert in Zauchensee, and with the Zagreb Philharmonic among others.

Kathrin Danzmayr received her musical training at the University of Leipzig and the University Mozarteum in Salzburg where she studied with Lilian Sukis and graduated with the highest honors. Further teachers include Barbara Bonney, Angelika Kirchschlager, Malcolm Martineau and Patricia MacMahon. Mrs. Danzmayr has received several awards, was the youngest finalist at the Robert Stolz competition in Hamburg, and was selected as one of the winners of the Samling Foundation in the UK.

Kathrin has recorded for Universal Records as lead singer of the band “iMozart” and has also toured extensively with the group. Their debut album “iMozart Lounge” topped the Austrian album charts.

Mezzo-soprano Abigail Nims has quickly established herself as a musician of integrity and versatility with her performances of repertoire spanning from Bach, Handel and Mozart to Crumb, Ligeti and premieres of contemporary works. Her 2017-18 season appearances include Mozart’s Requiem with the Colorado Symphony and a premiere performance of Missy Mazzoli’s newly commissioned opera, Proving Up, with Opera Omaha. Engagements during the 2016-17 season included Handel’s Messiah with the Naples Philharmonic and Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Mahler’s 2nd Symphony with the Duluth Superior Symphony.

Abigail Nims is particularly praised for her performances of the concert repertoire. Recent concert appearances include Handel’s Messiah and a staged performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, Bach’s Mass in B-minor with the San Francisco Symphony; Bach’s St. John Passion with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional de Mexico; Mahler’s Rückert Lieder at the Colorado MahlerFest; Bach’s Magnificat with the São Paulo Symphony; and Handel’s Messiah with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the Masterwork Chorus at Carnegie Hall, and the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra. Her opera engagements from previous seasons include Melanto in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria with Boston Baroque; Veruca Salt in Peter Ash’s The Golden Ticket at the Wexford Opera Festival and Atlanta Opera; Lazuli in L’Étoile with New York City Opera; Despina in Così fan tutte with Palm Beach Opera and Opera Grand Rapids; Nancy in Albert Herring with Florentine Opera; Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus with Virginia Opera; and Zerlina in Don Giovanni with Opera New Jersey and Opera Grand Rapids.

Ms. Nims is currently a member of the voice faculty at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Lauded for his luminous projection, lyrical sensitivity, and brilliant coloratura, American-Canadian tenor Lawrence Wiliford is in high demand in concert, opera, and recital repertoire. His performances during the 2017-18 season include Mozart’s Requiem with Hamilton Philharmonic and ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with Phoenix Symphony, and Bach’s St John Passion with Grand Philharmonic Choir.

During the 2016-17 season, Lawrence made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra performing Messiah under Nathalie Stutzmann. Other engagements included Mozart’s Requiem with the Milwaukee Symphony under Matthew Halls, Messiah with the Tucson Symphony and Naples Philharmonic, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle with Luminous Voices in Calgary, Elgar’s The Apostles with the Pax Christi Chorale, and a return to the Aldeburgh Festival for performances of ‘Flute’ in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

He has performed in concert with the major symphony orchestras and early music groups in the US and Canada. His recent appearances include Messiah with the Louisiana Philharmonic, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; the Evangelist in St. Matthew Passion with the Calgary Philharmonic, Orchestre Métropolitain, and Toronto Bach Consort; Mass in B-minor with Music of the Baroque, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica Naciónal de Mexico, Oregon Bach Festival, Toronto Symphony, and Vancouver Chamber Choir; the Evangelist in St. John Passion with the Orquesta Sinfónica Naciónal de Costa Rica; Mozart’s Requiem with Tafelmusik and the National Arts Centre Orchestra; Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings with I Musici de Montréal; Elijah with the Colorado Symphony; Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 at the Oregon Bach Festival; Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass with the National Arts Center Orchestra; and Beethoven’s Mass in C-Major and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella with the Houston Symphony.

Aaron Wardell, baritone, is in demand as a performer of opera, oratorio and concert in the Midwest and beyond. He was most recently seen as Angelotti in Tosca with the Fort Wayne Symphony, Emile de Becque in South Pacific with the La Porte Symphony and Yamadori in Madama Butterfly with the Castleton Festival. Last season he sang Giove in La Calisto and will appear as Le Roy in the modern-day premiere of Ariane et Bachus by Marin Marais with Chicago’s Haymarket Opera. He has also appeared with Chicago Fringe Opera, Chamber Opera Chicago, Main Street Opera, Dayton Opera, Opera Tampa, Central City Opera and internationally at Teatro National de Sucre in numerous operatic roles including Marcello (La Bohème), Junius (Rape of Lucretia), Sam (Trouble in Tahiti) Don Pizarro (Fidelio) and the title role in Don Giovanni.

Equally at home on the concert stage, he recently appeared with the Paducah Symphony Orchestra in Brahms’ Ein Deutches Requiem. He has also sung as a soloist with the Illinois Philharmonic, North Shore Chamber Arts Ensemble, Aurora University, Concordia University, Harper College, George Williams College, Downers Grove Choral Society, The Bach Ensemble of Naples, FL and Cincinnati Baroque in numerous works such as Handel’s Messiah, Bach’s St. John Passion, Schubert’s Mass in Ab, Arvo Pärt’s Passio and Haydn’s Creation.

Aaron completed his formal musical training at Western Michigan University, and earned a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and an Artist Diploma certificate in Opera from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.