DEREK CHESTER (tenor), praised by the Miami Herald for his effortless coloratura and firm, secure voice, is steadily making a name for himself in the world of classical singing. As a student of American tenor James Taylor, Mr. Chester completed his Masters Degree in Vocal Performance of Oratorio, Early Music, Song, and Chamber Music in 2006 from the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music. As a Fulbright Scholar, he spent a year in Germany working as a freelance musician and furthering his training as a student of acclaimed German tenor, Christoph Prégardien. In Germany, he is a member of the Gächinger Kantorei and has recently been heard as soloist in Bach Cantata's 22 and 23 with the Bach Collegium Stuttgart. He participated in master classes with Helmuth Rilling singing the Evangelist in Bach's St. John Passion during Bach Woche Stuttgart 2007. He has also participated in master classes with Lawrence Zazzo, David Daniels, and John Wustman. Mr. Chester made his Bay Area premiere as a semi-finalist in the 2006 American Bach Soloists & Henry I. Goldberg International Young Artists Competition. He also has appeared as soloist at the Oregon Bach Festival under Helmuth Rilling, in Handel's Messiah at the 2005 International Monteverdi Choir Festival in Budapest under Simon Carrington and in Monteverdi's Vespers with Seraphic Fire under Patrick Dupre Quigley, with whom he has also presented the complete motets of J.S. Bach (one voice per part). Other recent concert credits include Bach's Mass in B minor and Weihnachts Oratorium, Britten's Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, Mozart's Requiem, and Stravinsky's Svadebka (Les Noces). In January 2008, Mr. Chester will make his premiere with the American Bach Soloists in performances of Bach's Weihnachts Oratorium. Acclaimed as a versatile tenor, he has also excelled in the performance of opera and musical theatre spanning nearly six centuries in his repertoire. Theater and opera credits include Abel/Japheth in Children of Eden with New Works New Haven, Don Curzio in Le Nozze di Figaro with Athena Grand Opera, Grosvenor in Patience and Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas with the University of Georgia Opera Theatre. Mr. Chester currently works as a freelance musician in Europe and North America.
www.derekchester.com
