Conductor:

Soloists:

Aaron Crouch

An artist and activist, American tenor Aaron Crouch has been described by the Huffington Post as “riveting vocally and as an actor.”

Originally from Bowie, Maryland, he is a graduate of the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, studying under the guidance of Mikael Eliasen and Jonathan Beyer.

During his time at the Curtis Institute of Music, Mr. Crouch performed several notable roles such as Don Ottavio/Don Giovanni, Lensky/ Eugene Onegin, Prunier/La Rondine, and Anthony/Sweeney Todd.

In past summers, Mr. Crouch attended Houston Grand Opera's Young Artist Vocal Academy as well as the Glimmerglass Festival's Young Artist Program where he sang The Son/Blue & Tamino/The Magic Flute.

This season, Mr Crouch will debut with Virginia Opera in the role of Conte Almaviva in their production of Il Baribiere di Siviglia. Additionally, he will join several notable artists in “Morris and Friends.” A concert series curated by Bass Morris Robinson which showcases music from the gospel and operatic repertoire.

Colleen Daly

A luminary on St. Louis stages and in opera houses nationwide, Colleen Daly brings her soprano voice to roles that showcase her artistry and velvety tone.  Apart from opera roles, Ms. Daly has delivered compelling performances in major concert venues and with symphony orchestras, performing in oratorios and other sacred music works, musical theater roles, and interpreting art songs.  Ms. Daly is also an in-demand music educator and voice coach. In July 2020, Ms. Daly became the Concert Series’ third artistic director, developing programs that celebrate connection and community through music.

Sheng-Tsung Wang

Violinist Sheng-Tsung Wang gave his solo debut at the age of thirteen, performing with the Bremen Symphony Orchestra of Germany. Of the concert, Die Norddeutsche marveled that Wang “performed the difficult passages with astonishing understanding, as well as interpreting the lyric qualities with sweetness, bravura, and inspired tone.” He presented three evenings of solo and chamber performances in Carnegie Hall in 1999, under the auspices of the La Gesse Foundation. A more recent performance at Carnegie Hall with the Gemini Piano Trio was reviewed by notable New York City music critic Edith Eisler, who praised that the performers, “with such a high level of unanimity and rapport...were concerned only with the music, and used their technical command and tonal variety entirely in its service.”

Sheng-Tsung Wang earned his Doctoral of Musical Arts degree from the University of Maryland School of Music at College Park. He received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Peabody Conservatory, where he won the Marbury Violin Competition as a student of Victor Danchenko. Previous teachers have included Elaine Mishkind, Eugene Drucker of the Emerson String Quartet, Ik-Hwan Bae, and Mark Ulrich. As a chamber musician, Dr. Wang spent summers at the Yellow Barn Music Festival, La Jolla SummerFest, Taos School of Music, and Castleman Quartet Program. Dr. Wang has previous and current teaching positions at the University of Maryland School of Music at College Park, the Peabody Conservatory, Preparatory Division, and Howard Community College in Columbia, MD.

He has performed solo and orchestral works under the baton of guest conductors including Giancarlo Guerrero, Marin Alsop, the late Bramwell Tovey, and JoAnn Falletta. He has performed with classical artists including Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Joshua Bell, and Leontyne Price, and with contemporary artists including Andrea Bocelli, James Taylor, Jon Batiste, among others.

As Associate Concertmaster of "The President’s Own” Marine Chamber Orchestra, Gunnery Sergeant Wang performs regularly at the White House and other distinguished venues in the Washington, D.C. area.

Today's solo performance would mark his fifth with the Columbia Orchestra, having appeared as soloist after winning its Young Artist Competition, and in return performances as a guest artist over the years. Wang also served as guest concertmaster for the Columbia Orchestra in November 2020.