Winners Announced for Tafelmusik Vocal Competition

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Winners Announced for
Tafelmusik Vocal Competition

Toronto, January 16, 2016 … The winners of the inaugural Tafelmusik Vocal Competition have just been announced: Kim Leeds, mezzo-soprano; Zach Finkelstein, tenor; and Jonathan Woody, baritone, were selected by the four-person jury following the final round of competition this afternoon at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, Jeanne Lamon Hall. They will appear as soloists in Zelenka’s Missa omnium sanctorum, April 28 to May 1, 2016. The Audience Choice Award went to Kim Leeds.
In today’s final round of competition, the contestants performed three works accompanied byChristopher Bagan on harpsichord and organ: an assigned solo from Zelenka’s Missa omnium sanctorum, an aria from a Bach cantata or passion, and a Handel opera or oratorio aria. 
The esteemed jury for the competition consisted of Jeanne LamonMary MorrisonCatherine Robbin, and Ivars Taurins.
In addition to being given the opportunity to appear in concert with Tafelmusik, each of the three prize-winners will receive $2,000, and will be mentored by German soprano Dorothee Mields in a series of masterclasses. Well-known to Tafelmusik audiences, Ms. Mields will be featured as the soprano soloist in the Zelenka Mass and in Bach’s Wedding Cantata.
Kim Leeds is a recent graduate of the Boston Conservatory with her MMus in Vocal Pedagogy and Performance. She has appeared as a soloist in numerous concert performances, most recently in Mozart Requiem with the Philharmonic Society of Arlington, as Irene in Handel’sTheodora with Music at Marsh Chapel, in Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil and Zelenka’s Te Deumwith Cantata Singers, and in Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Harvard Pro Musica. As a choral artist, she has toured Italy and Germany with the Junges Stuttgart Bach Ensemble under the direction of Hans-Christoph Rademann, performed with the Berwick Chorus at the Oregon Bach Festival, and toured Eastern Germany under the direction of Helmuth Rilling with the Weimar Bach Academy. 
“Compelling tenor” (The New York TimesZach Finkelstein has quickly established himself as a leading tenor soloist in North America and abroad, from Koerner Hall to Lincoln Center, and from London’s Sadler’s Wells to the National Arts Center in Beijing, China. He is known for his “refined” and “elegant” (Vancouver Observer) interpretation of Bach, Mozart, and Handel, performing as a soloist with the Seattle Symphony, Nova Scotia Symphony, Victoria Symphony, Toronto Mendelsohn Choir, Mark Morris Dance Group, Early Music Vancouver, Music of the Baroque, Pacific Musicworks, Philharmonia Baroque, and Handel and Haydn Society.
Called “charismatic” and “riveting” by The New York Times, bass-baritone Jonathan Woody is a sought-after performer of early and new music across the United States. He is a member of the Grammy-nominated Choir of Trinity Wall Street, and has performed in recent seasons with New York Baroque Incorporated, Bach Collegium San Diego, Nashville Symphony, Pegasus Early Music, Spire Chamber Ensemble, Carmel Bach Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, Opera Lafayette, New Amsterdam Presents, and Beth Morrison Productions. Jonathan holds degrees from the University of Maryland, College Park, and McGill University, and currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.
Website:www.tafelmusik.org | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tafelmusik |
Twitter: @tafelmusik | Youtube: Tafelmusik1979  | Instagram: @tafelmusikbocc
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