Gledhill Arts Collective Presents:

"Exploring the Voice." A Morning of Lessons, Laughs and a Little Les Mis...

Acclaimed by the Boston Globe for “his strong, elegant voice, and confident bearing,” Alex Lawrence recently made his Vancouver Opera debut in the as the title role in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, and will debut the role of Il Conte in the same opera with Opera Naples in the 2017-18 season. Also this season, Mr. Lawrence sings performances of Carmina Burana with New Orchestra of Washington, Dvořák’s Requiem with Saint George’s Choral Society, and joins pianist Kevin Murphy in recital with the Ravinia Festival and the Tucson Desert Song Festival. In addition to his Vancouver Opera debut last season, he also joined the Ravinia Festival in concerts as a member of the prestigious Ravinia Steans Institute, and sang several concerts with Sherrill Milnes’ Savannah Voice Festival.

Formerly a member of the ensembles of Theater Basel and Opernhaus Zürich, Lawrence made his European debut singing The Hunter in Rusalka, Moralès in Carmen, El Tio Sarvaor in De Falla’s La Vida Breve, Sam in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti and L’Ami in Debussy’s rarely performed La Chute de la Maison Usher. Since then, he went on to make several further role debuts in Zürich, including Silvio in Pagliacci under Alexander Vedernikov, Ned Keene in Peter Grimes under Erik Nielsen, Dancairo in Carmen under Vasily Petrenko, the three baritone roles of Bohuslav Martinu’s rarely performed Juliette and Flemish Deputy in Verdi’s Don Carlo under Fabio Luisi, the title role in Lange’s Das Gespenst von Canterville, and King of The West in Jonathan Dove’s Das Verzauberte Schwein.  Other recent engagements include his debut as Belfiore in Verdi’s Un giorno di regno with the Glimmerglass Festival, Don Quixote in Manuel De Falla’s El Retable del Maese Pedro with the Lucerne Festival conducted by Clement Power, and Mendelssohn’s Die Erste Walpurghisnacht with the Orchestra Symphonique de Mulhouse. He also sang in the 85th Anniversary gala concert of the Ópera de Bellas Artes alongside legendary tenor Franzisco Araiza, soprano Maria Katzarava and bass Eric Halfvarson.

Mr. Lawrence holds an Artist Diploma from Philadelphia’s prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts, where while a resident artist he sang numerous leading roles including the title role in Don Giovanni, Mandryka in Arabella, Count in Capriccio, Marcello in La bohème, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Guglielmo in Così fan tutte, and Lescaut in a concert performance of Manon Lescaut. He received his Bachelor of Music from Northwestern University, and is the 2012 recipient of the prestigious Lenore Annenberg Fellowship in the Arts, and has been a top prizewinner from the Opera Index Foundation, Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation, and the Gerda Lissner Foundation.Updated Dec 2017

Gledhill Arts Collective Presents:

Pascal Archer, Clarinet

Our Spring Trimester Guest Artist, Pascal Archer, will introduce us to the world of the clarinet through famous excerpts from works such as Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf,  Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Piazzolla's Café 1930 with Lucas Pullin on the guitar.

 Hailed by the New York Times as “outstanding clarinetist,” Pascal Archer leads an active career as a chamber musician, orchestral player and teacher. He is the founder of Exponential Ensemble since 2011. He is currently Principal Clarinet of the Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra, the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic and acting Principal Clarinet of the Princeton Symphony. He is also a former member of the New World Symphony.

In recent years he has collaborated with the JACK and St. Laurence string quartets, Camerata Pacifica, the Adaskin String Trio and toured with Musicians from Marlboro.  He has performed at renowned summer festivals such as Marlboro, Mostly Mozart, UBS Verbier Orchestra, Spoleto USA and the Sun Valley Summer Symphony.  Mr. Archer is on faculty at the Manhattan School of Music Pre-college Division and Fordham University.  Originally from Québec, Canada, Mr. Archer holds degrees from the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, Université de Montréal, Indiana University and the Manhattan School of Music.
www.pascalarcher.com
www.exponentialensemble.com