Information
Robert Hale - Bass-baritone
Robert Hale has blazed a career as one of the most esteemed heroic baritones of this decade, specializing in larger than-life-roles such as Wotan, leader of the gods in Richard Wagner's Ring series and the Dutchman in The Flying Dutchman. Considered the Wagnerian bass baritone of choice in European opera houses, where he sings regularly at Vienna State Opera, London's Covent Garden, La Scala Milano, Theatre du Chatelet Paris, Munich State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, The Bolshoi Moscow, and Hamburg State Opera. He returns to the United States for performances in such venues as New York's Metropolitan Opera House, Carnegie Hall, Cleveland's Severance Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.
In addition to his opera appearances, Robert Hale performs both as recitalist and as soloist with leading orchestras around the world. He has appeared with the orchestras of Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Washington D. C., Toronto and Montreal. In Europe, he has sung concerts with the Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Philharmonic, Paris Radio Symphonie Orchestre, The Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Amsterdam Concertgebow Orchestra, amongst others. Festivals include Ravinia, Tanglewood, Cincinnati and Wolftrap in the USA, and Salzburg, Munich, Bregenz, Bergen, Lausanne, Bordeaux, and Ravenna in Europe.
Mr Hale now makes his home in the Phoenix, Arizona area.
Julie Davis - Soprano
Texas native, Julie Davis, lyric soprano, enjoys an active stage career, performing with regional orchestras and opera companies. Most recently, Ms. Davis sang First Lady in (Die Zauberflöte) with Phoenix Opera and performed in Stephen Schwartz's world premiere of Séance on a Wet Afternoon with the Santa Barbara Opera. Other roles Ms. Davis has brought to life on stage: Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Rita Billingsley (A Wedding), Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), Corinna (Il viaggio à Reims), Dido (Dido and Aeneas), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), and Dewfairy (Hansel and Gretel). Some of Ms. Davis' concert credits include Poulenc's Gloria, Stravinsky's Pulcinella, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, Bernstein's Jeremiah, Mendelssohn's Elijah and Psalm 115, Handel's Messiah, Fauré's Requiem, Mozart's Vesperae de Confessore, and Beethoven's Choral Fantasia.
Ms. Davis also enjoys musical theater work and has performed Amalia Balash (She Loves Me), Dolly (Hello Dolly!), Annie Oakley (Annie Get Your Gun), and Mrs. Jefferson (1776).
Ms. Davis earned her Master's degree in Opera from the University of Oklahoma and her Bachelor's degree in Voice from Baylor University, with honors from both institutions. Ms. Davis was a winner in several competitions: the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, First in the Naftzger Young Artists Competition, Finalist in the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition, and named Singer of the Year at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Conference.
