Concerts
Week of January 19, 2019
The San Francisco Chronicle exclaims, “For theatrical charisma and musical bravado, it would be hard to top the performance of baritone Efraín Solís.” He is a recent graduate of the San Francisco Opera Adler Fellowship and while with the company sang his first performances of Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Dandini in La cenerentola, Schaunard in La bohème, Silvano in Un ballo in maschera, Sciarrone in Tosca, and Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly. In the 2016-17 season, he debuted the role of Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Memphis and was presented in recital by the El Camino College Center for the Arts. Other recent performances for the American baritone include Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette with Opera Carolina, Virginia Opera, and Toledo Opera, Slook in La cambiale di matrimonio with Nicholas McGegan conducting Philharmonia Baroque, and Glass’ Hydrogen Jukebox with West Edge Opera. He also joined the New Century Chamber Orchestra and Na dja Salerno-Sonnenberg as Gaspar in a semi-staged production of Donizetti’s Rita and the Berkeley
Community Chorus and Orchestra for Britten’s War Requiem. An active recitalist, he joined Steven Blier and the New York Festival of Song for its Compositura program and was presented in a Schwabacher Debut Recital in San Francisco. He is an alumnus of the prestigious Merola Opera Program in association with San Francisco Opera, at which he sang Junius in The Rape of Lucretia and covered Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro. He is also a former member of Opera Santa Barbara’s Studio Artist Program. In 2013, he was a Grand Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and sang arias from Rodelina and Le nozze di Figaro on the famed company’s stage with Marco Armilianto conducting. He was also a finalist in Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor McCollum Competition. He holds a Master of Music from San Francisco Conservatory of Music, at which he sang Guglielmo in Così fan tutte and Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and while at Chapman University, his performances included Beethoven’s Mass in C and Puccini’s Messa di Gloria. www.efrainsolis.com
John Charles Britton, a native of Fort Worth, TX, is a classical guitarist and vocal accompanist of the highest caliber. He studied with world-renowned guitarist Sergio Assad at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he received a Professional Studies Diploma in the spring of 2013 and a Masters degree in the spring of 2012. John also holds an undergraduate degree from the Peabody Conservatory, where he was a student of Julian Gray. He has performed in master classes with Odair Assad, Adam Holtzman, Nigel North, Pepe Romero, Eduardo Fernandez, William Kanengiser, and Anna Vidovic, among others. An accomplished solo performer, John gave the North American premiere of Jean Francaix’s Concerto pour guitare in collaboration with Maestro Alasdair Neale and the San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra in November of 2013. John is also a gifted arranger, and the winner of the first and second prize at the First Annual Seconda Prattica International Guitar Arranging Competition with arrangements of piano works by Debussy and Durey for solo guitar. In addition to solo guitar settings, John’s work in voice and guitar arrangements have put him in high demand. He recently arranged a variety of repertoire for guitarist Milos Karadaglic and soprano Angela Gheorghiu, who performed John’s arrangements at an intimate concert at the Verbier Festival in the summer of 2015. A sensitive accompanist, John has recently been heard in recitals with tenor Aaron Short, baritone Efrain Solis, and bass-baritone Philippe Sly. In addition to his recital appearances, John recently recorded two albums, accompanying well-loved spirituals with baritone Lester Lynch for a Pentatone release, On My Journey Now, and Schubert lieder with Philippe Sly on an album titled Schubert Sessions for Analekta. The arrangements featured on these albums are available through John’s exclusive publisher, Productions d’Oz. Schubert Sessions has been nominated for a 2018 Juno Award, Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral.