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Kirsten Lear

mezzo sporano

Kirsten Lear has led an active performing career singing in opera and musical theatre, as well as in recital, and with symphony orchestras. She graduated magna cum laude from both Carnegie- Mellon University in Theatre, and Syracuse University in Musical Theatre. Her daughter, Maya Rose Tweten is a happy 12th grader at NMSA. A frequent performer in the area, Ms. Lear’s performances as a soloist with the Santa Fe Symphony include the 2009 Viennese New Year’s Concert, De Falla’s El Amor Brujo, their highly acclaimed Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and Symphony No.4 by Mahler, Canteloube’s Chants d’ Auvergne, Copland’s Old American Songs and the Alto Soloist in Handel’s Messiah. She appeared as Elsa in Theaterworks’ production of The Sound of Music at the Lensic, and as a soloist in Santa Fe Pro Musica’s Bach’s Mass in b minor and their Baroque Christmas Concerts. Ms. Lear performed in the St. John’s College Recital Series with Robert Tweten, many concerts with Santa Fe New Music, and Berio’s Folksongs with Albuquerque’s Modern Ensemble, Chatter. This spring she appeared with Jacquelyn Helin in a full recital as part of the United Church Series. Kirsten has performed often with the Taos Chamber Music Group, the most recent being Jake Heggie’s The Deepest Desire.

Ms. Lear enjoyed two seasons as an apprentice artist with the Santa Fe opera. She sang with the company as Jenny in The Beggar’s Opera, and Cousin Hebe in H.M.S. Pinafore.

Kirsten’s other leading operatic roles have included: Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, and Polly in Weill’s Threepenny Opera. Kirsten played the role of Alice in Wonderland in Fragments of Alice, which was filmed by Rhombus Media and broadcast on Great Performances on PBS. With the Houston Grand opera, she performed in Dialogues des Carmelites and Showboat, which toured to the Cairo opera House in Egypt.

In Musical Theatre, Kirsten has performed in many major Broadway productions including Madame Giry in the Toronto Broadway production of Phantom of the Opera, Lillian in Happy End, and Marta in Company to critical acclaim.

Kirsten’s teaching has included a private Studio in Santa Fe since 2000. She is also a voice instructor for New Mexico High School for the Arts, where she loves encouraging teenagers to follow their talents.

Kirsten Lear, Mezzo soprano

Meet the Musicians

FIRST VIOLIN
Carmelo de los Santos
Karen McKinnon Concertmaster Chair
Sarah Tasker •••
Assistant Concertmaster
Ana María Quintero Muñoz
Heidi Deifel 
Juliana Huestis
Barbara Rivers
Nicolle Maniaci
Barbara Scalf Morris

SECOND VIOLIN
Rachel Jacklin •
Carol Swift •••
Julanie Lee
Liana Austin
Lidija Peno-Kelly
Sheila McLay
Jessica Retana
Brad Richards

VIOLA
Laura Chang
Kimberly Fredenburgh •••
Allegra Askew
Christine Rancier
Laura Steiner
Michael Anderson
Lisa DiCarlo
Joan Hinterbichler
Laura Campbell

CELLO
Amy Huzjak
Carla Lehmeier-Tatum
Ian Mayne-Brody
Dana Winograd
David Schepps
Lisa Collins
Elizabeth Purvis

BASS
Mark Tatum •••
Katherine Olszowka
Terry Pruitt
Marco Retana
Frank Murry

FLUTE
Valerie Potter
Esther Fredrickson
Noah Livingston ••

PICCOLO
Esther Fredrickson

OBOE
Kevin Vigneau
Amanda Talley

ENGLISH HORN
Melissa Peña ••

CLARINET
Marianne Shifrin
Lori Lovato •••
Jeffrey Brooks

E-FLAT CLARINET
Lori Lovato

BASS CLARINET
Jeffrey Brooks

BASSOON
Stefanie Przybylska •+
Denise Turner +
Zoe SirLouis •++
Avery Dabe ++

HORN
Peter Erb •+
Allison Tutton
Maria Long
Andrew Meyers

TRUMPET
John Marchiando
Brynn Marchiando
Sam Oatts ••

TROMBONE
Aaron Zalkind
Byron Herrington

BASS TROMBONE
David Tall +

TUBA
Richard White

PERCUSSION
Jeff Cornelius
Kenneth Dean
Emily Cornelius

Principal •
Associate Principal ••
Assistant Principal •••
Assistant ••••
Leave +
One-year position ++
Half-year position +++