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HARRY N. DUNSTAN, Ph.D., Founding Artistic Director, Tenor, Translator, Coach, Accompanist, Musicologist, Stage Director, Lecturer, and Raconteur has appeared with major regional orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States. As a performer who looks forward toward authentic, historically informed performances, he is equally at home on the opera, concert, or recital stage and his repertoire ranges from early to contemporary music, including roles in Haydn’s L’isola disabitata, Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera, and Kari Juusela’s modern opera, Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland, winner of the Vienna State Opera Award.
Recent operatic performances have included Cavaradossi in Tosca (“...rich and vibrant voice...” Gazette); Dick Johnson in La fanciulla del West ("It is certainly his best role." Concertonet.com); Roberto in Puccini’s Le villi; Luigi in ll tabarro, the title role in Puccini’s Edgar ("....heroic, ringing voice...." Concertonet.com); Rodolfo in La boheme (“...a bright and booming voice.” Palm Beach Post); and Marcello in the rarely heard Leoncavallo La boheme. He has appeared as The Prince in Sweethearts for the Maytime Light Opera Company (“...gorgeous natural lyric tenor...stylishly exploited.” Washington Post); the Besenbinder in Humperdinck’s Die Königskinder for Sarasota Opera; and as Don Jose in Carmen and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly for the Society of the Classical Arts (FL). He has been a featured soloist at such venues as the Kennedy Center, Wolftrap, Constitution Hall, the Smithsonian Museum, the Organization of American States, and The Music Center at Strathmore Hall. He was the featured soloist in the Papal Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II, which was seen by an international audience of over 200 million. His singing has been featured on all major television and cable networks in both national and international broadcasts: as the featured soloist for the Corpus Christi Symphony’s Star Spangled Fourth! (“His performance created a wildly enthusiastic audience.” Corpus Christi Post) and Night in Vienna also with Corpus Christi; in National Public Radio’s broadcast of Naughty Marietta; and as the voice of Otello in the Love Duet for the popular TV sitcom, Big Brother Jake. As a stage director, he has directed operas for music festivals both in the United States and Europe, including productions of The Telephone, The Old Maid and the Thief, A Hand of Bridge, and the world premier of Vignettes of Passion. Dr. Dunstan has also prepared several new performing editions of operas, from Puccini's Madama Butterfly: The Maestro's Edition, and Pauline Viardot's Cinderella. In addition to his performing career, Dr. Dunstan is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on the life, works, and performing practices of Giacomo Puccini, and his doctoral thesis on Puccini is internationally recognized for its contribution to Puccini scholarship worldwide. Dr. Dunstan is a frequent lecturer at major universities and acts as consultant to a number of opera companies in the United States and Europe. Dr. Dunstan is available for lecture engagements, program notes, or performances. Contact Dr. Dunstan |
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KAY KREKOW, Managing Director, Soprano, Coach, and Accompanist is an acclaimed interpreter of the heroines of Puccini. She has sung Anna in Le villi ("….a lovely supple soprano….a nuanced, convincing performance…." Times); Fidelia in the 1889, 1891, and 1905 editions of Edgar; both Mimi and Musetta in La bohème; the title role in Tosca (“...powerfully sung...striking….” Washington Post, “….colored her voice in daring ways….never compromised the beauty of her appealing voice….” Gazette; "in her prime vocally...impressive in the maturity of her artistry." Concertonet.com); Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly: The Maestro’s Edition (“Her delivery of the great aria Un bel di was as fine as any major soprano around the world. It was sung with a gorgeous tone and was impeccably phrased.” Concertonet.com); Magda in La rondine; and the triumvirate of Suor Angelica, Giorgetta, and Lauretta in Il trittico. Her recent triumph as Minnie in La fanciulla del West “can only be described as vocally magnificent and dramatically thrilling…” (Concertonet.com). Miss Krekow was recently featured as Madama Butterfly in the world premiere of Madama Butterfly/Miss Saigon, a conflation of the two scores sharing a common story, presented at The Music Center at Strathmore by the Young Artists of America and the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestras. Other opera roles include the rarely heard Mimi in Leoncavallo’s La bohème; Leonora in performances of Verdi’s Il trovatore, with the Silesian State Opera (Czech Republic); Beethoven’s Fidelio (MD Symphony Orchestra, Barry Tuckwell, conductor); and Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni (Maryland Lyric Opera).
Miss Krekow's many oratorio works include the Verdi Requiem at Washington National Cathedral under the baton of J. Reilly Lewis (“....a warm, powerful quality....” Washington Post); and the Poulenc Gloria with the New Dominion Chorale, under the direction of composer, Thomas Beveridge (“….sang with limpid tone and deep expressiveness….” Washington Post). She was the soprano soloist in the Opera Camarata of Washington’s presentation of Donizetti’s Requiem, marking only the second performance in the United States of this rare work. Other repertoire includes Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem; Hoiby’s For You, O Democracy; Honneger’s King David (“….big, luscious voice...a pleasure to listen to….” The Capital); Saint-Saen’s Christmas Oratorio; Handel’s Messiah; Bach’s Magnificat; and both the Pergolesi and the Rossini Stabat Mater. In partnership with her favorite tenor and husband, Harry Dunstan, she has appeared in programs such as Opera Goes to the Movies and Bella Italia. A specialist in the vocal music of women composers, Ms. Krekow has presented concerts featuring the poetry and music of women troubadours, songs of the Italian women of the Renaissance, the works of 19th Century opera divas and is a frequent recitalist presenting She is Music: a thousand years of vocal music by women. One of the highlights of her career was the critical acclaim received from Dr. William Ashbrook, perhaps the greatest opera scholar of our time, when he said, “Miss Krekow’s performance of Suor Angelica was one of the greatest musical dramatic events of my life”. Contact Ms. Krekow |
