Ian Howell
Voice

Praised by the New York Times for his "…clear voice and attractive timbre…" and San Francisco Classical Voice for his "flawless singing…," Ian Howell, Countertenor, has performed on major concert stages on five continents and thirty-five American states. In 2006, Mr. Howell took First Prize at the American Bach Soloists International Solo Competition with an acclaimed performance of Bach's Cantata BWV 170, Vergnügte Ruh, and Third Prize at the Oratorio Society of New York's Competition. This Blacksburg, VA native can be heard with the all male chamber choir Chanticleer on one DVD and seven CDs, including the GRAMMY award winning Lamentations and Praises and the GRAMMY award nominated Our American Journey. Recent roles include the alto soloist in Handel's Messiah at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium, Solomon in Handel’s Solomon, Endimion in Cavalli's La Calisto, and Lichas in Handel's Hercules. Mr. Howell has worked with such conductors as Kent Tritle, John Scott, Jeffrey Thomas, Neville Mariner, Simon Carrington, and James Sinclair. Future engagements include solo performances with The American Bach Soloists, The Choir of St Thomas 5th Ave (NYC), The Vancouver Chamber Choir, The Philadelphia Bach Festival, The Staunton Music Festival, and The Princeton University Glee Club. A debut solo CD with The American Bach Soloists will be released Fall 2008 featuring repertory by D. Scarlatti, J.S. Bach, and Handel. Mr. Howell is committed to spreading awareness of the countertenor voice and is an active teacher and clinician; he maintains a teaching studio in the New Haven area. Mr. Howell graduated in 2006 with a Master of Music Degree in Voice offered jointly by the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and the Yale School of Music.

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Lielle Berman
Voice

Soprano, Lielle Berman made her New York City Opera debut last season as Cunegonde in Candide, and Noemie in Cendrillon. Roles performed include Tytania in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Cunegonde in Candide with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano; Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi with Yale Opera; Despina in Così fan tutte with Indianapolis Opera; the Second Niece in Peter Grimes with the Opéra National de Paris; Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Sophie in Werther and Tatyana in Eugene Onegin with the Pittsburgh Opera Center. As a member of the Lyric Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago she performed and covered numerous roles, including Nannetta in Falstaff, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Frasquita in Carmen, Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby, and the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte. In 2007 she covered Emilia in Flavio and Caroline in Margaret Garner at New York City Opera. Ms. Berman has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Festival de Musique de St. Barth, the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, among others. Ms. Berman was a 2006 semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and received her Master of Music degree at Yale University School of Music in 2005.

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Josh Copeland
Voice

Joshua Copeland, baritone, recently completed his Masters degree in voice at Yale University's Institute of Sacred Music and his Artist Diploma at Yale Opera.  A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Joshua received a Bachelor of Music degree in Church Music from Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina, before moving to Yale to further his vocal study.  Joshua is active nationwide in the fields of opera, concert performance, recital, and chamber music. He spent the summer of 2008 as an Adams Masterclass Fellow at the Carmel Bach Festival, and won first prize in the American Bach Society biennial Young Artist Competition at the Bethlehem Bach Festival. In June 2006 he was awarded second prize in the American Bach Soloists International Young Artists Competition, and made his debut with ABS in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio this year. In January 2007, Joshua gave his debut performance of Schubert’s monumental song cycle Winterreise in Yale’s Morse Recital Hall with pianist Ted Taylor, and in October he participated in a recital of Charles Ives songs at New York’s famed Weill Recital Hall. With Yale Opera he appeared in Yale Opera’s Die Fledermaus as Falke, and as Ramiro in Ravel’s L’Heure Espagnole. Joshua has performed with the Orchestra Sinfonico Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, reprising Falke in Fledermaus and singing the role of Bill in Kiss me Kate, among several other roles. Other recent engagements include Messiah and Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kije with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Bach Magnificat and Christmas cantatas with Helmuth Rilling, a commercially released recording of the Bach St. John Passion conducted by Simon Carrington, Mozart Vespers with Sir Neville Marriner, Faure Requiem with the Yale Glee Club and the Yale Symphony Orchestra, Barber Dover Beach at the Yale Center for British Art, Mendelssohn Elijah with the South Hadley (MA) Chorale, Vaughan Williams Five Mystical Songs with the Rutgers Glee Club and Mt. Holyoke Orchestra, Bach St. John Passion with the Belle Meade Baroque of Nashville, and performances of the Brahms Requiem with both the Hendersonville (NC) Symphony Orchestra and the Miami-based chamber ensemble Seraphic Fire. Next year holds a return engagement with American Bach Soloists for a performance of the Mass in B Minor, as well as Bach’s Cantata 82 Ich habe genug with Seraphic Fire.

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Austin Moorehead
Guitar

Austin Moorhead is a well established up and coming Classical Guitarist currently based in New Haven, Connecticut. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Guitar performance at Arizona State University while studying with Frank Koonce, and is currently pursuing his Master of Music Degree at Yale University while studying with Ben Verdery on a full scholarship. Most recently, he received third prize in the prestigious 2007 Guitar Foundation of America International Guitar Competition in Los Angeles. He has also received first prize in several other well known National and International Guitar competitions, including the 2008 National Guitar Workshop Competition, the 2007 ECU Guitar Competition, and the 2007 American String Teachers Association competition. He is an active performer and teacher.

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Amy Jiaqi Yang
Piano

Hailed by Harris Goldsmith of The New York Concert Review as "a magnificent artist and poet: everything she touches turns to gold--a Midas touch for tone and music", twenty-four-year-old pianist Amy Jiaqi Yang has already garnered first prizes at the International Sonatina and Sonata Piano Competition, the International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition (Corpus Christi), the International Corpus Christi Young Artists' Competition, and the National Chopin Piano Competition of the Kosciuszko Foundation of New York City. She has appeared at The White House, Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Philadelphia's Academy of Music and Art Alliance, The New School, Rockefeller University, Columbia University, The Kosciuszko Foundation, University of Miami, Jones Hall of Houston, and at The Rising Star Series of Ravinia Festival in Chicago.       Ms. Yang has been a guest artist at festivals like the OK Mozart Festival and Music from Angel Fire, and a participant at The Verbier Academy in Switzerland, Music Academy of the West, Ravinia Festival, and Marlboro Music Festival. She was selected by Ravinia's Steans Institute as one of the most promising musicians to go on the 2008 Ravinia Tour on the east coast.     A devoted chamber musician, Ms. Yang has collaborated withs David Soyer, Arnold Steinhardt, Peter Wiley, Ida and Ani Kavafian, Miriam Fried, Paul Neubauer, Anne-Marie McDermott, among others, and is in a duo with the amazing, one-handed violinist Adrian Anantawan. She made her debut with the Houston Symphony in 2002.      Ms. Yang holds a Bachelor of Music degree from The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and a Master of Music from The Juilliard School. She currently studies at The Yale School of Music. Her teachers include Timothy Hester, Claude Frank, Robert McDonald, and Peter Frankl. She is also a devoted piano teacher. In her spare time, she enjoys composing, drawing, painting, photographing, and writing. Her compositions have been premiered at Juilliard's Double Visions series.   

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I-Chun Yeh
Violin

I-Chun Yeh is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma in violin performanceˆat the Yale School of Music under the tutelage of Ani Kavafian. A native of Taipei, Taiwan, Ms. Yeh has given various performances throughout Asia and won numerous prizes at national competitions. She has appeared as a soloist with the Academy of Taiwan Strings and has been invited to perform as soloist and chamber musician for many special occasions. She has also served as the concertmistress of the National Taiwan Normal University Symphony Orchestra and participated in several international music programs, including The Morningside Music Bridge, Banff Summer music programs, and The Pacific Music Festival String Quartet Academy. Ms. Yeh received her Bachelor's degree in 2006 from the National Taiwan Normal University and her Master’s degree in 2008 from the Yale School of Music.

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Ben Thorburn
Theory/Musicianship

Benjamin Thorburn is a teacher, scholar, and performer living in New Haven, where he is a Ph.D. candidate in music history at Yale University. He is currently an instructor for the Elements of Music course in Yale College. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in music from the University of Rochester, where he served as assistant conductor of the University Choir and Chamber Singers. As a singer, he performs with Yale Schola Cantorum, and he has appeared in productions with the Yale Baroque Opera Project, Yale Opera, Eastman Opera Theater, and the College Light Opera Company. His research focuses on twentieth-century adaptations of Monteverdi's operas.

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