Lydia Saylor

Lydia Saylor

Lydia Saylor (soprano) has been a soloist for operatic and concert repertoire in her native NYC and abroad. Operatic roles include Gretel (Humperdinck Hänsel und Gretel), Zweite Dame (Mozart Die Zauberflöte), Morgana (Handel Alcina), Hypsipyle (Cavalli Il Giasone), and Spring and Fairy (Purcell Fairy Queen).

As a soloist with orchestra she has performed Fauré Requiem, Mendelssohn Elijah, Vaughan Williams Magnificat, Bach Cantata 51 (Jauchzet Gott) and A Festival of Psalms by Kerensa and David Briggs (world premiere). As an ensemble soloist in festivals she has performed works by Holly Herndon in Singapore and Evelyn Saylor in London, The Hague, and Vienna. Lydia loves performing contemporary music and has performed songs and chamber music by Steve Reich, Lukas Foss, Frederic Rzewski, Joel Mandelbaum, Mathew Rosenblum, and her father Bruce Saylor.

She received her Master of Music from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College. Lydia is a soprano section leader at the Church of the Heavenly Rest, where she also teaches and conducts their youngest choristers.

Anna Willson

Anna Willson is a vocalist and pianist from Yakima, WA. Anna Willson is a vocalist and pianist from Yakima, WA. In addition to singing with Canterbury Choral Society, both as a soloist and section leader, Anna sings regularly with Polyhymnia of St. Ignatius and St. Bartholomew’s Choir.

She is a regular member of the New York Continuo Collective, a chamber group of early musicians that present concerts at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. She also has a lute song duo “Good Pennyworths” that performs 16th century English Lute song. 

Anna Willson

Christopher Tefft

Christopher Tefft, Bass-Baritone, has toured as a singer to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China, Mexico, and all across the US and Europe. Christopher frequently sings as a soloist and section leader with Canterbury Choral Society. He recently appeared with the Bard Festival Chorale in Carnegie Hall.

As a member of the New York Philharmonic Chorus, he has performed at Lincoln Center, on PBS, and on tour. Last summer, Christopher sang La Damnation de Faust by Berlioz as part of the Bard Music Festival. Other appearances include with the Metropolitan Opera, National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, and Ember Chamber Choir. World Premieres: Voices of the Holocaust (Michael Shapiro); Emigre (Aaron Zigmen); In the Name of the Earth (John Luther Adams); Festival of Psalms (David & Kerensa Briggs).

Christopher studied the arts at Millikin University in Illinois and Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. www.ChristopherTefft.net 

Christopher Tefft

Blake Friedman

Blake Friedman

Tenor Blake Friedman has been cited by The New York Times for the “plummy fullness and dusky hue” of his voice and by New York Classical Review for his voice’s “buttery top.”  His “talent for a wide range of musical needs” (Chicago Reader) has appeared on concert, operatic and musical theater stages across the United States. As a regular soloist with Canterbury Choral Society, Blake has sung a wide range of musical offerings, from baroque masterpieces to newly rediscovered works. His Canterbury Choral Society highlights include: tenor soloist in Bach’s B-minor Mass, Christmas Oratorio, and St. Matthew Passion, the title role in Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus, as well as Jonathan in Saul, Nicolas in Benjamin Britten’s St. Nicolas, and the title role in the rediscovered Oratorio di San Francesco by Adriano Ariani.

Other notable concert performances include tenor soloist in Liebeslieder Walzer with New York City Ballet, which was also featured on the New York City Ballet 2021 Spring Gala Film directed by Academy Award-winning director Sofia Coppola; tenor soloist in Bruckner’s Te Deum and Beethoven’s Mass in C with Key Chorale; tenor soloist in Carmina Burana and Hayden’s Lord Nelson Mass with York Symphony; tenor soloist in Verdi’s Requiem with Concert Artists of Sarasota; and featured soloist for the world premiere of A Nation of Others by Grammy Award-winning composer/librettist duo Paul Moravec and Mark  Campbell at Carnegie Hall.

Notable operatic roles include Marc in the World Premiere of Freedom Ride by Dan Shore with Chicago Opera Theater, Irving Tashman in the New York City Premiere of Morning Star by Ricky Ian Gordon, Iago in Rossini’s Otello with LoftOpera, and Almaviva in both Il Barbiere di Siviglia by Rossini and The Ghosts of Versailles by John Corigliano with Chautauqua Opera where his “romantic and funny” portrayal “proved a highlight.” Other companies Blake has performed with include Dallas Opera, Anchorage Opera, St. Pete Opera, American Opera Projects where he served as resident tenor for the Composer’s and the Voice Symposium from 2015-2018, Bel Canto at Caramoor, Ash Lawn Opera, Bronx Opera and others.

On the musical theater stage he has performed Dr. Gordon in the National Tour of Saw: The Unauthorized Musical Parody, Tony Candolino in Masterclass with The Human Race Theater, The Magistrate/Man 3 in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder with Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater, understudy of Tony in West Side Story Suite with New York City Ballet, and understudy of Marcellus Washburn in The Music Man with Ash Lawn Opera.

 https://www.blakefriedmantenor.com

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