Craig Trompeter has been a musical presence in Chicago for more than fifteen years as an acclaimed cellist and violist da gamba. He performs in concert and over the airwaves with Baroque Band, Music of the Baroque, the Newberry Consort, the Chicago Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theater, the Cal Players, the Oberlin Consort of Viols, and the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society. He has appeared at such prestigious venues as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Glimmerglass Festival. As the former principal cellist of Chicago’s nationally recognized period instrument orchestra Baroque Band, he has appeared as soloist at the prestigious Ravinia Festival and at the annual conference of the American Bach Society. He has been soloist with the Chicago Symphony and Music of the Baroque and has recorded discs of Mozart, Biber, Boismortier, Marais, Handel, Maurice Greene, and a potpourri of Elizabethan composers on the Harmonia Mundi, Cedille, and Centaur labels. As a modern cellist, Trompeter was a founding member of the acclaimed Fry Street String Quartet.  He premiered several chamber operas by MacArthur Fellow John Eaton, performing as actor, singer and cellist in roles written expressly for him. A passionate educator, Trompeter has taught master classes at his alma mater, the Cleveland Institute of Music, the Oberlin Conservatory, Grinnell College, and the Chicago Musical College. In 2003 he founded the Feldenkrais® Center of Chicago where he teaches Awareness Through Movement® and Functional Integration®. Craig has given Feldenkrais® workshops throughout the nation in universities, music conservatories, and dance studios.

Ellen Hargis, stage director, is a singer specializing in baroque music, the co-director of The Newberry Consort, and a sought-after voice teacher and lecturer on historical performance practice. She has appeared with many renowned conductors, including Andrew Parrott, Gustav Leonhardt, Paul Goodwin, Jane Glover, and Simon Preston. She appears regularly in recital with lutenist Paul O'Dette, and has performed with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, the Mark Morris Dance Group, Tragicomedia, The Mozartean Players, and Fretwork. As a stage director, Ms. Hargis combines her interests in music, rhetoric, baroque gesture, and drama to create period productions with historical style and vivid human drama. Recent highlights include Monteverdi’s Orfeo, the centerpiece production for Edmonton’s Festival of Ideas, and a production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, featuring a new prologue devised by Ms. Hargis. A prolific recording artist, her discography of more than 50 recordings embraces repertoire from medieval to contemporary music and boasts the Grand Prix du Disque, the Choc du Monde, and two Grammy nominations for best opera recording. Ellen Hargis is Artist-in-Residence with the Newberry Consort at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, and teaches many summer courses in early music, notably the Vancouver Baroque Vocal Programme.

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Meriem Bahri is a self-taught costume designer and maker. After completing a PhD in biology, she turned to her great passion for costumes. Her excitement for this field has begun with the Brazilian dance group Atabak in France and she has continued to enrich her knowledge with world-renowned companies such as the Boston Early Music Festival, the Joffrey Ballet, and Opéra de Nice. Currently, she works regularly with Haymarket Opera Company and other groups in the USA (Beethoven Festival, Balam Dance Theater, and Element Contemporary Ballet). In Europe, she is a member of Académie Desprez which contributes to the range of influence of Drottningholm's castle theater.

Meriem is also an illustrator and a history lover. She currently lives in Chicago after spending 18 years in France and 9 years in Tunisia.

For more information, please visit http://meriembahri.com

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Kelly Ballou, soprano, has been praised nationwide for her “luminous” stage presence (Opera-L) and her “big, creamy voice” with “appealing richness” (Courier-Journal). As an up-and-coming concert soloist, Ms. Ballou has performed many major works, including Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Orff’sCarmina Burana and Mozart’s Requiem. She sings regularly with her hometown period ensemble Bourbon Baroque, and is developing a strong following in the early music community. Her operatic credits include Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado, Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, Charpentier’s Les Arts Florissants, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, and Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors.

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William Bouvel, tenor, has delighted audiences with his lyrical and poignant interpretation of music from the Baroque and Classical periods. He has most recently performed with Chicago's Baroque Band in Handel’s “Messiah”, and as a Young Artist with Opera Lafayette in Washington DC, with whom he will debut at the Kennedy Center this spring, as Giovinetto in Paisiello’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia. He has also performed in the Madison Early Music Festival’s production of Monteverdi’s “Vespers”, and in Chicago as the Evangelist for Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio”. William has a passion for the gesture and artful stagecraft of the baroque period, and he is thrilled to perform with Haymarket Opera.

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Born in Strasbourg, France, Soprano Nathalie Colas made a critically acclaimed stage debut as Despina in Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte in Switzerland. She sang Julia in Boris Blacher’s Romeo und Julia with the Amadeus Orchester Bern, Serpina in Anfossi’s Il curioso indiscreto (Sinfonie Orchester Biel), Rosina in Paisiello’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Opéra de Chambre de Genève), and most recently Alceste in Myslivecek’s Antigona an award-winning production in Hungary. As a concert soloist, Nathalie recently sang Bach’s Trauerode with the Brussels Baroque Ensemble, F.X. Richter’s Mass in C, the Dvorak Requiem, Schubert Mass in B in Switzerland, Bach’s BWV 82 with the Chicago Bach Ensemble and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass in St Louis MO. A graduate of DePaul University School of Music, Nathalie holds a MA in voice performance and baroque chamber music from the Brussels Royal Flemish Conservatory as well as a Specialized MA in Opera from the Swiss Opera Studio Bern. 

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Sarah Edgar is a performer, choreographer, and researcher specializing in European dance from the eighteenth century. Alastair Macaulay of The New York Times proclaimed that  “she pounces eagerly on her Baroque steps like meat and drink.” She has performed with The New York Baroque Dance Company since 2000, performing as a soloist, reconstructor, and assistant to Catherine Turocy. Living in Germany from 2006-2012, she was frequently engaged as a freelance dancer with the choreographers such as Deda Cristina Colonna, Klaus Abromeit, and Bernhard Gertsch. Her choreography has been presented  at the DanceNow Festival (NYC), Joyce Soho (NYC) with Performance Mix, the Kölner Musiknacht and the Arkadas Theater (Köln). She has presented lectures and master classes on baroque dance at the Utrecht Early Music Festival, the Amersterdam Conservatory, NYU, Cornell, OSU, the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, and Freiburg Universität. She holds a BFA summa cum laude from The Ohio State University and an MA in Tanzwissenschaft (dance studies) from the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. She currently lives in Chicago, Illinois.

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David Mayernik, is an internationally recognized artist and architect practicing in the Renaissance humanist tradition. His work as a fine artist ranges from drawing and watercolor to oil, buon fresco and sculpture. As a designer he works on projects from the urban scale, to campus planning, architectural design and interiors. His work in the decorative arts includes furniture design and decorative objects. An associate professor with the University of Notre Dame's School of Architecture, his research includes studies of Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture, and theoretical projects that test the insights of his scholarship.

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Soprano Kimberly McCord has been described by Opera magazine as possessing “the ideal mix of drama, power and sensitivity.” The Chicago Tribune praised her "luscious, billowing voice, superb technique and fine expressive command" as Handel's Rodelinda. She has performed with the Peninsula Music Festival in Verdi’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and Barber's Knoxville, Summer of 1915. With Chicago's Music of the Baroque she has sung Mozart’s Solemn Vespers, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Handel’s Dixit Dominus and Vivaldi’s Gloria.  

After receiving a Fulbright award to study Baroque music in London with Dame Emma Kirkby, Kimberly lived in Europe for eight years.  While there, she appeared as Medée in Lully’s Thesée with conductor William Christie, and toured with the Gabrieli Consort under Paul McCreesh as Dido in Dido and Aeneas. With Maestro McCreesh she also sang Créuse in Charpentier's Medée at the Dartington Festival, England, and recorded the Bach Magnificat and Oster Oratorium for Deutsche Grammophon. McCord is an accomplished recitalist and has performed throughout England and the Netherlands. She is currently a member of the chorus of Lyric of Opera of Chicago. 

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Eric Miranda appeared in Haymarket’s 2012 production of La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers. His career has included solo appearances at Orchestra Hall, at the Ravinia Festival, and, most recently within the Grant Park Symphony Chorus in its 2012 50th Anniversary Concert.  Also in 2012, he performed Haendel’s Messiah, serving as soloist and chorister with Bella Voce and the Callypigian Players.  Mr. Miranda’s regional opera credits have included Elixir of Love, Le Nozze di Figaro, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Dido and Aeneas, The Old Maid and the Thief,and the title role in Traveling with Gulliver (by John Eaton, former University of Chicago composer-in-residence).  Oratorio solo appearances have included Handel’s Messiah, Fauré’s Requiem, Mozart's Mass in C Minor and Requiem, Schubert’s Mass in G, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Duruflé’s Requiem, Pergolesi’s Magnificat, and numerous J.S. Bach cantatas. 

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Patrick Muehleise, tenor, studied vocal performance at Western Michigan University and is a recent addition to the Chicago music scene. A rapidly emerging soloist, his most recent engagements include Mozart’s Coronation Mass, the Evangelist in Schütz’s Die sieben Worte Jesu Cristi am Kreuze, Dubois’ The Seven Last Words of Christ, Martin in Copland’s The Tender Land, and the title role in Britten’s Albert Herring. As a professional ensemble singer, Patrick performs regularly with the twice Grammy-nominated Seraphic Fire of South Florida, Spire Chamber Ensemble in Kansas City, and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale in New Mexico.

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Soprano Laura Pinto is known for thoughtful interpretations of vocal music in a wide range of styles. On the operatic stage, role highlights include Poppea (Agrippina, Handel), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Lauretta (Gianni Schicchi), and #1 (Transformations, Susa). Her concert repertoire includes Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915,  Poulenc's Gloria, Schubert's Mass in G, Haydn’s The Creation, Handel’s Messiah, Respighi’s Lauda per la Natività del Signore, and several world premieres. This season also brings appearances with VOX 3 Collective, Candid Concert Opera, and the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago.

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Kayleen Sánchez, soprano, earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Vocal Performance from the Eastman School of Music. At Eastman, Kayleen performed many roles with Paul O’Dette’s early-music ensemble Collegium Musicum, such as Acteón (Charpentier’s Acteón changé en biche), La Paix (Charpentier’s Les arts florissants), and Orfeo (Rossi’s Orfeo). Some of her operatic roles include Barbarina (Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro), Sister Genevieve (Puccini’s Suor Angelica), and Euridice (Gluck’s Orfeo). Sánchez teaches voice at Vero Voce, a performing arts school in St. Charles, IL, and sings with the St. Charles Singers. She is delighted to be joining HOC this season!

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Baritone Samuel Thompson is currently a first year masters student at the DePaul School of Music. A St. Paul native, he began his studies at the Minnesota Opera Center before earning a Bachelor of Music from DePaul. Recently he has performed the roles of The Vicar in Britten’s Albert Herring, The Forester in Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen and the title role in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro. His early music credits include Don Quichotte in Telemann’s Don Quichotte auf der Hochzeit des Camacho and Antinoo in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria and he is thrilled to add to this category with Haymarket Opera.Upcoming engagements include Papageno in Die Zauberflöte with Candid Concert Opera and Schaunard in La Bohème with DePaul Opera Theatre.

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Peter van de Graaff, bass-baritone, hailed by the critics as possessing a "resplendent voice" and "rich, burnished sound" with "formidable skill" and a "commanding grace and strength." He recently returned from a seven-concert tour in China. Peter has appeared with the symphonies of Chicago (USA and Berlin), Houston, New Orleans, San Antonio, Utah, Colorado Springs, and with the Boulder Bach Festival, Czech State Philharmonic, Budapest Concert Orchestra, Israel Chamber Orchestra, and Czech Symphony. He has appeared in festivals in Tokyo and Costa Rica, and has performed with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Florentine Opera, Milwaukee Opera, Rochester Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, and Cedar Rapids Opera. His recordings include three intermezzos on the Naxos label, and Menotti's The Medium, Vorisek's Mass in B-Flat, and Mozart arias and duets for the Cedille label.

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Mezzo-soprano, Angela Young Smucker has been praised for her "show-stopping" voice as well as her "touching simplicity and molten tone". Her performances in oratorio, concert, choral, and stage works have taken her throughout the United States and Europe to perform with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Bach Collegium San Diego, Callipygian Players, Leipzig Baroque Orchestra, Oregon Bach Festival, the Bach Institute at Valparaiso University, Conspirare, VocalEssence Ensemble Singers, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Chicago Symphony Chorus, Grant Park Festival Chorus, and the Festival Ensemble Stuttgart. Stage appearances include Galatea in HOC’s premiere production of Handel’s Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, the Sorceress (Dido & Aeneas), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro), and the Fairy Queen (Iolanthe). This season’s highlights include debut performances with the Newberry Consort, North Shore Choral Society, and Bella Voce; recording choral works of Samuel Barber with Conspirare; and return appearances with the Bach Collegium San Diego. Ms. Young Smucker holds degrees from the University of Minnesota and Valparaiso University where she now teaches vocal studies.

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Jeri-Lou Zike, concertmaster and board member, is a versatile, energetic musician who enjoys a variety of artistic activities in symphonic, baroque and chamber music. She is principal and founding member of the Metropolis Symphony Orchestra and principal second violin of the Chicago Opera Theater. Additionally, she is a member of the Chicago Philharmonic and the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, and has performed with the Grant Park Symphony.

As a period instrument performer, Jeri-Lou is principal violinist of the renowned Baroque Band that performs regularly at Symphony Center and WFMT classical radio. She has played Music of the Baroque’s first performances on period instruments. She has also appeared as soloist with the Chicago Baroque Ensemble, Apollo’s Fire, His Majestie’s Clerkes, Kansas City Music Consort and the James Chorale. She also performs regularly as concertmaster of the University of Chicago Rockefeller Chapel Concerts. Jeri-Lou studied baroque performance practice with Monica Huggett and was a member of The City Musik and Basically Bach.

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