Vocal Vistas - an Evening of Italian and Wagnerian Arias! (1)

Program to be announced soon. There is no cost to attend, but please register here.

Parking will be available at the venue for a $10.00 charge, payable on site. 

Featuring Soprano Charlotte Kelso and Tenor James Chamberlain, accompanied on piano by Wei-Han Wu.

James Chamberlain is a dramatic tenor who has been praised by OPERA NEWS for singing with "brilliance and passion" while being "eloquent and moving." His singing has also been described as having a "heroic sound that made the cinder block walls ring." The Houston Press added, “His wrenching final aria to Nedda was heartbreakingly tender.”

James made two role debuts in 2023 as Ruggero in Puccini’s La rondine and the title role in Wagner’s Siegfried. He has performed the role of Siegmund in Wagner’s Die Walküre with TUNDI Productions, Cavaradossi in Tosca with Mobile Opera and Druid City Opera, Canio in I pagliacciwith Opera Ithaca and Opera in the Heights, Roberto in Puccini's first opera Le Villi with Bel Cantanti Opera, Pollione in Norma with St Petersburg Opera and Don Jose in Carmen with Kingwood Summer Opera. He has performed both Turridu and Canio in a night of Cavallaria Rusticana and I Pagliacci. He has sung principal roles with Houston Grand Opera, Sarasota Opera, and Wichita Grand Opera.

James' orchestral works include the Tenor solo in Beethoven’s 9th symphony and Pilate in Bob Chilcott's St John's Passion, where he worked firsthand with the composer. He also has sung Des Grieux from Manon Lescaut and Bacchus from Ariadne auf Naxos in concert.

James spent three summers attending the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices where he worked with Dolora Zajick. He was twice an Emerging Artist with St Petersburg Opera. He also spent a season as a Studio Artist with Sarasota Opera. James studied at Penn State University where, as a baritone, sang roles such as Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, Rigoletto in Milton Granger's Talk Opera, Doctor Gregg in Douglas Moore's Gallantry, and King Melchior in Amahl and the Night Visitors. He also performed in two children's operas by Seymour Barab, Chanticleer as the Fox, and Little Red Riding Hood as the Wolf. His final role at Penn State was Peter in Hansel and Gretel.

James’ schedule for 2024 includes Don Jose in CARMENcita, a reduced version of Bizet’s masterpiece sung in English, in March and a recital for the Cypress Creek FACE Promenade Series in April. He will return to TUNDI Productions in August for the final opera in Wagner’s Ring Cycle, Götterdämmerung, in which he will perform the role of Siegfried, but before that he will be attending the American Wagner Project Program in July. 

Read more about James here.

Charlotte Kelso, an Australian soprano, graduated from the Royal College of Music, where she completed a Master of Performance as an RCM Scholar studying under Peter Savidge and Joseph Ramadan. Her studies were kindly supported by the Friends of State Opera South Australia. At the RCM, Charlotte created the role of Ingrid in Richie Johnsen’s opera, Three Penelopes RCM/Tete-a-Tete), and performed scenes from Les Pecheurs des Perles (Leila), and L’amico Fritz (Suzel.)

Charlotte was a 2018 Emerging Artist with State Opera South Australia (SOSA.) She made her debut with SOSA as a soloist in their Keep the Home Fires Burning WWI gala concert, and performed Peep-Bo in The Mikado, and also the title role in Edwards’ Christina’s World. The latter performance earned her a 2019 Adelaide Critics Circle nomination for Emerging Artists of the Year. In the 2020 Adelaide Festival, Charlottte covered Dodo in Scottish Opera’s Breaking the Waves (Mazzoli.)

She was a finalist in the 2021 Lies Askonas Competition, and also a finalist in the 2023 Llangollen International Eisteddfod’s Pendine Internaitonal Voice of the Future. Charlotte was also a finalist in The Opera Foundation for Young Australians’ Deutsche Oper Berlin Award and the Michael Byrne Vienna State Opera Award.

In 2022 and 2023, Charlotte participated in the Institute for Young Dramatic Voices in Nevada, studying in the American Wagner Project under Luana DeVol and John Parr. Her position in both years was generously sponsored by the Wagner Society of Washington DC. Charlotte recently performed Musetta in La Bohemefor North Wales Opera. In 2024, Charlotte will perform Donna Anna in Don Giovanni for both North Wales Opera and the International Belcanto Academy.

Read more about Charlotte here.