General admission tickets to Weill Recital Hall concerts are $35. Tickets may be obtained by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, by going online at www.carnegiehall.org, or by visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and 7th Avenue. $15 tickets for students and seniors (with proper ID) are available at the Carnegie Box Office. Weill Recital Hall is located at 154 West 57th Street. For more information, call MidAmerica Productions at (212) 239-4699 or visit our web site at www.midamerica-music.com.

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Tenor Jon Robert Cart has sung with the Baltimore Opera, the Harrisburg Opera, Opera Roanoke, Wolf Trap Opera, and the Amalfi Coast and Shaker Mountain Music festivals. His primary roles include Siegmund (Die Walküre), Radames (Aïda), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Don José (Carmen), Riccardo (Un Ballo in Maschera), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) and Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana). On the concert stage, he has performed in recital at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall (with MidAmerica Productions), Alice Tully Hall, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, the Mexican Cultural Institute, the Philip's Collection and at the White House. He has appeared in concert with the Indianapolis Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony, the Albany Symphony, and the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic, working with eminent conductors including Bernstein and Leppard. His discography includes Serenata Mexicana (Centaur Records) and Träume: the Songs of Wagner and Strauss (to be released). His recordings have been heard on WPRB 103.3 FM, Princeton, New Jersey, and on Contemporary Classical Internet Radio.

Dr. Cart is Dean of the College of Fine and Performing Arts at Rowan University. He attended the esteemed Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies in Aldeburgh, England, and holds a D.M.A. from the University of Maryland, an M.M. from Indiana University, and a B.M. from DePauw University.

Narciso Solero, piano, regularly appears in collaboration and has worked with such artists as Plácido Domingo, Harolyn Blackwell, Beverly Rinaldi, and TV/movie star Vanessa Williams. His repertoire is diverse, including concerti, solo literature, chamber music, and nearly 1,000 art songs. Concerts in the Washington D.C. area include Catholic University, Anderson House Museum, Lincoln Theater, and the Lyceum. He has appeared as guest artist of the United States Air Force Chamber Players, Mount Vernon Chamber Orchestra, and as a guest performer with Washington National Opera's Education Department. He also is a member of EcoVoce, a Northern Virginia-based chamber music ensemble. Mr. Solero has performed extensively throughout the United States and overseas, including concerto performances at Orchestra Hall in Chicago, solo recitals throughout the Midwest and in the Washington area, and concerts with singers in Hong Kong, Seoul, Bangkok, and Singapore, as well as television broadcasts on KBS-TV Korea. He has been guest artist at a number of universities as well in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and in the Midwest, and has been a featured panelist for the Virginia Music Teachers Association. Mr. Solero and three of his students were recently featured in an educational video released in June 2007.

For more information about MidAmerica Productions, please contact David Dutkanicz at 212-239-0205 or ddutkanicz@midamerica-music.com

General admission tickets to Weill Recital Hall concerts are $35. Tickets may be obtained by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, by going online at www.carnegiehall.org, or by visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and 7th Avenue. $15 tickets for students and seniors (with proper ID) are available at the Carnegie Box Office. Weill Recital Hall is located at 154 West 57th Street. For more information, call MidAmerica Productions at (212) 239-4699 or visit our web site at www.midamerica-music.com.

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The Bridge Duo, based in London, was formed in 2002, and has performed around the world to critical acclaim. Their recent CD, Phantasy, featuring British viola music from the first half of the twentieth century, exhibits the richness and quality of this repertoire, and also the duo's desire to bring this often overlooked music to today's audiences.

Violist, violinist, composer, teacher of Alexander Technique and Kundalini Yoga, and most promising British entrant in the 2003 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, Matthew Jones' recent recital schedule has included performances in the Purcell Room, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St. John's Smith Square, CBSO Centre (Birmingham), Wales Millennium Centre, Gower Festival, and live on BBC Radio 3. In the past year he has played in Israel, Japan, India, Germany, Malta, France and The Netherlands, and won major prizes in international competitions in Portugal and Italy. He is violist with the Debussy Ensemble, and frequently performs with the PM Ensemble and Sinfonia Cymru. He recently joined The Badke String Quartet. Matthew was born in Swansea and studied mathematics at the Universities of Warwick and Bologna (Italy), graduating with high honors. He was awarded a senior exhibition to study at the Royal College of Music, and studied privately with Rivka Golani. As a qualified teacher of the Alexander Technique and Kundalini Yoga, Matthew's holistic approach to music-making has led to great demand for his instruction and workshops. His extensive teaching experience includes work at the Royal College of Music, Trinity College of Music, Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, and Berklee School of Music in Boston.

Michael Hampton completed his studies at the Royal College of Music. He has since established himself as one of the leading young artists in his field, and has had regular coaching with both John Blakely and Roger Vignoles. In 1999 he was awarded a Sir Henry Richardson Award from the Musicians Benevolent Fund, as well as the Geoffrey Parsons Junior Fellowship in keyboard accompaniment (renewed for a further year) at the Royal College of Music. In 2000 he won the accompanist prize, The Ferdinand Rauter Memorial Award, in the Richard Tauber singing competition, and in 2001 was a finalist for the Birmingham Accompanist of the Year Award. Throughout his time as a student, Michael won many prizes as a soloist and accompanist, as well as for academics. In 1998 he became a member of the RCM Premičre Ensemble, with whom he has performed in Italy, Belgium, Holland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. During his junior fellowship, he organized and performed in concerts at the RCM tackling major repertoire. For the last three years he has been a pianist and coach on the OperaPlus Summer School in Belgium in conjunction with Vera Rosza, Sarah Walker and Tom Krause. Recent events include a performance of Winterreise in Usher Hall as part of the Edinburgh International Festival, a BBC Radio 3 Live lunchtime recital from Wigmore Hall, and the world premiere of Sir Richard Rodney Bennet's Songs Before Sleep with Jonathan Lemalu. He has given concerts at all major chamber music venues in London and at Royal Festival Hall, recitals in Italy and Sweden, and a performance of Brahms and Schumann Liebeslieder with Roger Vignoles at Queen Elizabeth Hall.

For more information about MidAmerica Productions, please contact David Dutkanicz at 212-239-0205 or ddutkanicz@midamerica-music.com

Tickets, at $94, 57, 35, may be obtained by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, going online at www.carnegiehall.org, or by visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at West 57th Street and Seventh Avenue in NYC. For more information, call our Box Office at (212) 239-4699 or visit our web site at www.midamerica-music.com.

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Charles Cushinery is currently director of orchestras at Clark High School in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mr. Cushinery received his BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and his MME from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He is currently a doctoral candidate in curriculum and instruction at UNLV. Professional affiliations include MENC, NMEA, ASTA, IAJE and UCA, and is currently serving as president of the Nevada Chapter of the American String Teachers Association in addition to being a zone representative for the NMEA.

Jeffrey Lacoff recieved his undergraduate degree from Ithaca College in 1990 and completed his graduate degree at Queen's College of the City College of New York in 1995.After teaching in the New York area for anumber of years, he took over the band and choir directorship at Ed W. Clark High School. The band program has flourished, receiving numerous superior awards and has performed at Walt Disney World twice, at Sea World San Diego, in New York City at Lincoln Center, and in the 2002 Fiesta Bowl Parade and National Band Championship in Phoenix, Arizona.

Hailed by the Miami Herald as "a conductor of persuasive fluency and fiery conviction," Thomas Sleeper enjoys an active dual career as composer and conductor. An active guest conductor in the U.S. and abroad, Sleeper has appeared with over 30 orchestras on four continents. A strong advocate of new music, he has conducted the premieres of works by numerous American composers, and has recorded on labels including Albany, Centaur, and Irida His compositions have been performed throughout the U.S. and in Europe, Asia, and South America. Sleeper's Concerto for Cello written for Jillian Bloom and the Florida Youth Orchestra is the seventh in a series of concerti written for exceptional performers.

For more information about MidAmerica Productions, please contact David Dutkanicz at 212-239-0205 or ddutkanicz@midamerica-music.com

General admission tickets to Weill Recital Hall concerts are $35. Tickets may be obtained by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, by going online at www.carnegiehall.org, or by visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at 57th Street and 7th Avenue. $15 tickets for students and seniors (with proper ID) are available at the Carnegie Box Office. Weill Recital Hall is located at 154 West 57th Street. For more information, call MidAmerica Productions at (212) 239-4699 or visit our web site at www.midamerica-music.com.

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The American Chamber Ensemble, co-directed by pianist Blanche Abram and clarinetist Naomi Drucker, has presented concerts for more than 30 years. In residence at Hofstra University, ACE is a consortium of distinguished musicians whose concerts explore music for clarinet and/or piano with strings, woodwinds and/or voice. ACE is dedicated to presenting the music of living American composers and has commissioned and presented world premieres by Elie Siegmeister, Meyer Kupferman, Vally Weigl, Max Lifchitz, David Hollister, Joelle Wallach, Albert Tepper, Marga Richter, Dana Richardson, Edward Smaldone, Jerry Rizzi, Katherine Hoover, Josef Alexander, and Herbert Deutsch. The ensemble has performed music by numerous American composers, and has recorded a number of these works for the Leonarda, Gasparo, Soundspells, Cala, Dionysus, and 4Tay labels. Under the Elysium Recordings label, the Ensemble has also recorded American Chamber Ensemble: American Clarinet Treasures (GRK 718).

A Long Island-based ensemble, ACE has, since 1980, included a work celebrating the Festival of Long Island Composers at each of its concerts. The ensemble aims to help audiences understand that today's composer is their neighbor, whose cultural contributions are too often unrecognized. Core members of the ACE are Blanche Abram, piano; Naomi Drucker, clarinet; Eriko Sato, violin; Deborah Wong, violin; Lois Martin, viola; Chris Finckel, cello; along with Deirdre Kingsbury, mezzo-soprano; Marilyn Sherman Lehman, piano; Dorothy Darlington, oboe; and Braden Toan, bassoon.

For more information about MidAmerica Productions, please contact David Dutkanicz at 212-239-0205 or ddutkanicz@midamerica-music.com

Tickets, at $94, 57, 35, may be obtained by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800, going online at www.carnegiehall.org, or by visiting the Carnegie Hall Box Office at West 57th Street and Seventh Avenue in NYC. For more information, call our Box Office at (212) 239-4699 or visit our web site at www.midamerica-music.com.

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David Thye (pronounced Tee), Principal Conductor-in-Residence with MidAmerica Productions in New York City, is a passionate conductor, educator, lecturer and clinician. With over 30 years of leadership experience in music, Thye has conducted and managed numerous music and drama organizations, from elementary to high school, university to adults, and community to professional ensembles-encompassing such varied genres as jazz, symphonic works, musical theatre, opera and oratorio. Having received his B.A. degree in Music Education and Voice from the University of Sioux Falls, Thye began his teaching career as a public school choral director. By 1992, he had earned both the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts Degrees in Choral Conducting from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. He has studied with such noted teachers as Eph Ehly, Weston Noble, Margaret Hillis, Don Moses, LeRoy Pogemiller, Gerald Kemner, Glenn Block, Ron Nelson, Rod Walker, Kerchal Armstrong and many others. Dr. Thye has conducted, performed in, or produced over 100 oratorios, operas, or large-scale productions throughout his career. Thye has been Director of Music and Worship in several churches with weekly attendance ranging up to 5,000 people. These churches include First Baptist Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, First Mennonite Brethren Church in Wichita, Kansas, and Grace Community Church in Tempe, Arizona.

Under Thye's direction, various high school, collegiate and professional choral organizations have been selected to perform in Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall and Carnegie Hall in New York City, in Los Angeles with the Young American's National Invitational Choral Festival, for the State Music Educators and ACDA of Kansas, South Dakota, Montana and Arizona, and for the MENC North Central Convention. In recognition of his outstanding success as a choral director and educator, the University of Sioux Falls presented him with its Alumni Pacesetter Award. Before coming to MidAmerica Productions, Dr. Thye was Founder of the Southwestern College Music Department in Phoenix, Arizona, where he was Professor of Music, Director of Choral Activities, and Music Department Chairman until 2005. Additionally, he was Professor of Music and Voice, and Director of Choral Activities at both the University of Montana in Missoula and the University of Sioux Falls in South Dakota. In addition to his work at MidAmerica Productions, Dr. Thye is the Robert L. Burton Chair of Graduate Conducting at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Chorus master of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

Josh Thye, conductor, is currently the Director of Bands at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix, Arizona. He joined the music faculty at Desert Vista High School in May of 2003, immediately following the passing of the school's first band director. Being a graduate of Desert Vista High School himself, Mr. Thye was very honored to teach back at his Alma Mater, replacing his former high school band director. Under his direction, the band program regenerated and grew to its current state of over 250 members. The band program at Desert Vista High School has been recognized in all areas of performance for their musical achievements at local, state, and national levels including concert band, jazz band, marching band, percussion, and winter guard. The Wind Ensemble of Desert Vista has achieved the highest ratings possible in the Arizona festival system: "Superior with Distinction". In addition, the ensemble has taken "Unanimous Superior" ratings from the SCSBOA circuit in Southern California. In 2006, the Winter Guard became State Champions in Class Scholastic A. The Tuesday Night Jazz Ensemble has performed throughout the southwest, receiving unanimous Superior ratings. The Desert Vista Thunder Marching Band is also acknowledged for its high level in the state resulting in multiple "Superior with Distinction" ratings at the Arizona State Marching Festival. In 2004 and 2006, the Thunder Marching Band was awarded the 'Milton Nunamker Award of Merit' at the University of Arizona Band Day. Desert Vista received this top honor out of 52 participating bands. In 2006, Desert Vista was also awarded the High Music caption. Mr. Thye completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Arizona in 2003 where he earned a Bachelor of Music in Music Education. Mr. Thye is currently in course work for two masters degrees: a Master of Administration through Northern Arizona University and a Master of Music Education through the American Band College of Southern Oregon University.

For more information about MidAmerica Productions, please contact David Dutkanicz at 212-239-0205 or ddutkanicz@midamerica-music.com