Artist Biographies
sembles as the Handel and Haydn Society, Seraphic Fire, Opera Boston, Emmanuel Music, the Hereford Three Choirs Festival, Boston Baroque, the Princeton Singers, Cut Circle, Bermuda Festival, Boston Cecilia, Conspirare, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Borromeo String Quartet, and Mark Morris Dance Group. When not singing, Bradford devotes his life to teaching and is Assistant Professor of Voice at Berklee College of Music. Passionate about chamber music from the medieval era to the present, soprano Jessica Petrus has been praised for her “impressive clarity and color” by the New York Times and for her “brilliant, agile soprano” by the San Diego Story. Highlights from her 2013–2014 season include solo and ensemble appearances with the Handel and Haydn Society, Oratorio Chorale of Maine, Yale Choral Artists, Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia, Staunton Music Festival, Cantata Profana, and Skylark Vocal Ensemble. Jessica is a core member of Etherea, an eightpart treble vocal ensemble making its Carnegie Hall debut in June 2014, and The Broken Consort, which made its debut with the Houston Early Music Festival in January. She graduated from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music’s Oratorio, Art Song, and Chamber Ensemble program where she sang with Yale Schola Cantorum. She now lives in Cambridge, Mass. “Pure and shining” soprano Clara Rottsolk has been lauded by the New York Times for her “clear, appealing voice and expressive conviction.” In a repertoire extending from the Renaissance to the contemporary, her solo appearances with orchestras and chamber ensembles have taken her across the globe with ensembles such as American Bach Soloists, Tempesta di Mare, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Les Délices, Pacific Musicworks, the Carmel Bach Festival, Piffaro— The Renaissance Wind Band, Magnificat
Baroque, Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, Colorado Bach Ensemble, Trinity Wall Street Choir, and Seraphic Fire under the direction of conductors including Joshua Rifkin, Bruno Weil, Paul Goodwin, Stephen Stubbs, Jeffrey Thomas, John Scott, David Effron, and Andrew Megill. Among her stage roles are Micaëla (Carmen), Dido (Dido and Aeneas), Arminda (La finta giardiniera) and Laetitia (The Old Maid and the Thief). Her solo recordings include French cantatas with Les Délices, and a “supple and stylish… and unflaggingly attractive” (Gramophone Magazine) recording of Scarlatti Cantatas with Tempesta di Mare. A native of Seattle, Ms. Rottsolk earned her music degrees at Rice University and Westminster Choir College. Currently she is based in Philadelphia and teaches voice at Swarthmore, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr Colleges. » www.clararottsolk.com Soprano Amanda Sidebottom is increasingly sought after as a soloist and chamber singer. Recent performances include solo turns with Yale Choral Artists and under the baton of Mark Morris in Vivaldi Gloria and Bach Jesu meine Freude. This season brought her duo WellTuned Words — with lutenist Erik Ryding — on tour, giving recitals in Milan, Paris, and Amsterdam. This spring, they will perform closer to home in New York, Connecticut, and Boston. As a soloist with period chamber ensembles Brooklyn Baroque and the Soul’s Delight, Amanda sang concerts throughout New York State and in Washington, D.C. Also an active ensemble singer, she made her Alice Tully debut with the American Classical Orchestra, singing Brahms and Mendelssohn, and will make happy returns with both the Yale Choral Artists and the Bach Choir at Holy Trinity. A founding member of New Haven-based Etherea Vocal Ensemble, Amanda can also be heard on their lauded debut album Ceremony of Carols as well