Beethoven's 9th:
75th Anniversary Concert
May 8, 2010

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Lane is “a singer whose dark, bottomless voice is matched by her expressiveness and intelligence.” The press has described her singing as “clear, rich, plangent,” “compelling and dramatic,”and possessing “agility and charisma.” Ms. Lane has been featured by many of the most prestigious institutions and orchestras in the US and abroad. These include the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Opéra Monte Carlo, Opéra du Caen, and the San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Symphony, Jerusalem Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, and National Symphony, with conductors ranging from Robert Shaw, Robert Craft, Michael Tilson Thomas, Graeme Jenkins, Nicholas McGegan, Monica Huggett, William Christie, Mark Minkowski, and Andrew Parrott, as well as with period instrument ensembles such as Freiburger Barock, Philharmonia Baroque, Handel & Haydn Society of Boston, Les Arts Florissants, and Les Musiciens du Louvre, in concerts throughout the US, Europe, South America, and the Middle East.

Ms. Lane currently holds a position of Associate Professor at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, where she has instituted UNT’s unique and very large celebration of Daniel Pearl Music Days, a university-wide collaboration in honor of the slain journalist and musician Daniel Pearl. She also teaches
regularly at summer workshops including the Amherst Early Music Festival, San Francisco Early Music Society (SFEMS), Lake Placid Institute, the International Baroque Institute at Longy, and the Madison summer workshops, among others. For nine years, she taught at Stanford University, where she produced
and directed seven fully staged operas. At Stanford, she also created an early music vocal and instrumental Collegium Musicum which, during its third year, performed Shadwell & Dryden’s The Tempest. Students of Ms. Lane’s have won awards from the Metropolitan Opera Council, the Orpheus Competition, and
the Holt Foundation, and have been admitted for graduate study at Peabody, Manhattan, the Royal Academy of Music/London, and Eastman, among others.

Praised by The New York Times for his “impressive … bright-voiced tenor,” Scott Ramsay is recognized for his dynamic performances in repertoire ranging from baroque and bel canto to 20th century opera. An alumnus of the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s prestigious Ryan Opera Center, Mr. Ramsay has sung in 13 Lyric productions including Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor opposite Natalie Dessay,
Mark in The Midsummer Marriage and The Painter/Sailor in Lulu. He has performed additional leading roles
with the Dublin International Opera Festival, Michigan Opera Theater, Opera Boston, Arizona Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Opera New Jersey, Syracuse Opera, Dayton Opera, and the Kentucky Opera.

Recent engagements include the title role in Faust with Eugene Opera, Fritz in La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein opposite Stephanie Blythe with Opera Boston, and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Vermont’s Green Mountain Opera Festival, Tchaikovsky and Taneyev’s Romeo and Juliet with the Pacific Symphony, Verdi’s Requiem with the Louisville Orchestra, Milwaukee’s Bel Canto Chorus with the Milwaukee Symphony, and Mozart’s Requiem with Chicago’s Music of the Baroque and the Pasadena Symphony Orchestra. Concert highlights include performances with the Ravinia Festival, Grant Park Music Festival, Berkshire Choral Festival, Bach-Collegium-Stuttgart and with the Chicago, Toronto, American, St. Louis, Nashville, Louisville and Albany Symphony Orchestras.

Lyric soprano Christine Steyer was recently awarded the Founders’ Award at the IX Altamura/Caruso International Voice Competition and 1st place in the National Opera
Association Competition. She has been highly praised for her superb artistry and her voice has been described as “an international-calibre voice of size and color used to reach an audience’s emotional core.” She recently sang the Marschallin from Der Rosenkavalier with Sinfonia
da Camera, the title role in Madama Butterfly with Battle Creek Symphony, the Brahms Requiem with the Galesburg Community Chorus, and a recital with Isola Jones.

Other engagements include Pamina in The Magic Flute and Frasquita in Carmen with Tulsa Opera, Abigail in The Crucible with Chamber Opera Chicago, and Violetta in Bellissima Opera’s La Traviata. She has also performed roles with Lyric Opera of Chicago in Street Scene, Sweeney Todd, Cunning Little Vixen,
and Manon Lescaut. Ms. Steyer is a frequent recitalist and has been acclaimed for her ability to present classical music to all audiences in highly accessible programs. She is featured on the new CD called Caroline Myss’ Voices of the Sacred available at major bookstores.

Gerard Sundberg’s compelling baritone voice is celebrated internationally for its beauty and clarity. For
the past eight seasons, he has captivated audiences with his performances of Handel’s Messiah with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Dr. Sundberg has distinguished himself as a concert artist with his mastery of bass/baritone repertoire.

Dr. Sundberg joined the Rockford Symphony Orchestra in March 2010 for the “God Save the King” concert.
Other recent performances include the St. John Passion conducted by John Nelson in Paris at the Notre Dame Cathedral. He has appeared as soloist with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers, and with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Robert Shaw. He maintains an impressive presence in the Chicago area and has frequently appeared as soloist with the West Suburban Choral Union, recently for a performance of Vaughan Williams’A Sea Symphony. He also has sung extensively with the Oregon Bach Festival under the artistic leadership of Helmuth Rilling.

Dr. Sundberg is a graduate of Bethel College (St. Paul, MN), and holds both a Master of Fine Arts and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Minnesota where he studied voice with Clifton Ware and Roy Schuessler. He is presently Professor of Voice at Wheaton Conservatory of Music (Wheaton, IL),
where he teaches studio voice and vocal pedagogy. Dr. Sundberg is an active church musician, and vocal and choral clinician.

Martha Bein, conductor, is a multi-faceted musician with extensive experience in conducting, vocal performance, musical theater, education, and church music. For over a decade she has directed the Mendelssohn Chorale, and the Chorale has been featured as the symphony chorus for the Rockford Symphony since 1999. As a choral conductor, Ms. Bein has prepared choruses for Chicago
Opera Theater, Lyric Opera Cleveland, and the Bel Canto Foundation, and for eight years conducted the annual performances of Handel’s Messiah for the Rockford Lutheran Chorale Union. She has served as Music Director of the Shaker Symphony in Shaker Heights, Ohio, where she also taught music
at the Laurel School.

Besides her tenure at the Laurel School, Ms. Bein served on the faculties of Lake Forest Academy (IL) and Keith Country Day School. A commissioned Associate in Ministry for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Ms. Bein directs the Music and Worship program at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Rockford, where she has developed a high-quality music program that engages all ages in worship and outreach. Ms. Bein holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory and a Master of Music degree from Cleveland State University and has been a recipient of a Klingenstein Fellowship
from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City, and a fellowship from the Northwestern University School of Music. In 2004, Ms. Bein received Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center’s “Starr of Excellence” award.