HANDEL'S MESSIAH
A San Antonio Tradition
December 3rd, 2023, 4:00pm
University Methodist Church
5084 De Zavala Rd., San Antonio, TX 78249
Our annual tradition continues with the presentation of Handel's Messiah at the beautiful University United Methodist Church in San Antonio. This year's performance features four outstanding soloists who have garnered international praise. Joined by talented instrumentalists from greater San Antonio and beyond, Dr. Yoojin Muhn leads the musicians in an uplifting performance to ring in the holiday season.
Megan Pachecano
Soprano
Praised by The New York Times for her “lucid soprano,” Megan Pachecano is making her mark performing rare operatic roles such as Beatriz in Daniel Catán’s La hija de Rappaccini with Chicago Opera Theater (Emmy-nominated production), a role in which Opera News said she “boasted an ample, shimmering lyric soprano,” the title role of Lady Jane Grey in the World Premiere and Recording of Arnold Rosner’s The Chronicle of Nine: The Tragedy of Queen Jane with Odyssey Opera and Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and Farinelli’s Trainer in David T. Little and Royce Vavrek’s Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera with Opera Saratoga. Her recent performances also include Valencienne (The Merry Widow) with both Musica Viva Hong Kong and Opera Saratoga, Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) with LoftOpera, Anne Page (Sir John in Love) with Odyssey Opera, Echo (Ariadne auf Naxos) with Austin Opera, and Frasquita with the Helena Symphony. Other beloved role highlights are Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Norina (Don Pasquale), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Cunegonde (Candide), and Cinderella (Into the Woods). She has sung with the Metropolitan Opera, Caramoor International Music Festival, American Lyric Theater, Opera Hispánica, St. Petersburg Opera, Opera in Williamsburg, and Orchestra of New Spain at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s Soluna Festival, among others. She will next return to the Opera Company of Middlebury to sing the role of Younger Alyce in Cipullo’s Glory Denied.
Tynan Davis
Mezzo-soprano
Tynan Davis is a playful vocalist and human. She won a Grammy for Best Opera Recording with Boston Modern Orchestra Project’s Fantastic Mr. Fox; singing a cider-drunk cellar rat named Rita. She’s toured with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the 25th anniversary North American tour of Phantom of the Opera. Her solo jazz album TYNAN is available on most streaming platforms, and is full of happy tunes you’ll know and love. Other favorite musical collaborations include Roomful of Teeth, Cantata Profana, Artefact Ensemble & The All’s Well Sisters. Tynan is also a passionate teacher and clinician, the mother of a ridiculously cute kid, and the wife of an insanely creative Broadway Properties Master.
Cameron Schutza
Tenor
Praised by Opera Magazine for his “clarity of tone, ringing high notes and clear German diction,” tenor Cameron Schutza is in demand for his “expressive spinto voice” (Opera Warhorses) in concert and opera worldwide. Mr. Schutza was awarded Second Prize and Orchestra’s Choice awards at the 2020 Lauritz Melchior International Singing Competition (LMISC) in Aalborg, Denmark. Recent performances include Old Deuteronomy in the National Tour of Cats, Erik in Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer, Radames in Verdi’s Aida, and a concert of Wagner where he sang excerpts form Tristan und Isolde and Die Walküre. For his performances with Baltimore Concert Opera’s Madama Butterfly, Maryland Theatre Guide stated, “CameronSchutza as B. F. Pinkerton navigates the demanding role with professional aplomb. In his opening arias, he quickly establishes himself as a quintessential tenor, able to control the signature high notes of the role with color and nuance…he was outstanding.”
Mr. Schutza was lauded for his company and role debut as Chairman Mao in the Princeton Festival’s production of Adams’ Nixon in China, with Bachtrack saying, “Cameron Schutza is the Heldentenor Adams imagined for Chairman Mao, a big voice with a ringing top,” and Parterre Box admiring the tenor’s “freaky tessitura” and “unearthly beauty.” He performed excerpts from the title role of Siegfried for The Metropolitan Opera Guild’s Wagner Ring Showcase at Lincoln Center’s Bruno Walter Auditorium, and was a soloist for the Lorin Maazel in Memoriam Concert with the Castleton Festival. In October and November 2021 he performed Calaf in Puccini’s Turandot with Ozark Lyric Opera and was soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Austin Symphony Orchestra.
Joel Nesvadba
Bass-baritone
Baritone, Joel Nesvadba is a passionate performer of early music, especially that of the Medieval and Renaissance eras. He has toured both nationally and internationally, singing with The Boston Camerata, The Broken Consort, Bach Collegium San Diego, and The Texas Early Music Project. He has performed at the San Francisco Early Music Society's Berkeley Festival and Exhibition, the Amherst Early Music Festival, and the Boston Early Music Festival with Early Music America's Young Performers Festival Ensemble. Joel is also active in contemporary popular music. He worked with electronic artist and DJ, Moby, on his recent record, These Systems are Failing, singing background vocals with The Void Pacific Choir. He is currently completing a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Early Music Performance at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music.
