Meet Our Guest Conductor and Soloists

Robert FRanz - Guest Conductor

• Acclaimed conductor Robert Franz, recognized as “an outstanding musician with profound intelligence,” has held to three core principles throughout his career; a commitment to the highest artistic standards, to creating alliances and building bridges in each community he serves, and a dedication to being a strong force in music education. As Music Director of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director of the Boise Baroque Orchestra and as the former Associate Conductor of the Houston Symphony, he has achieved success through his focus on each of these values.

  His appeal as a first-rate conductor and enthusiastic award-winning educator is acclaimed by critics, composers and audiences of all ages. Composer Bright Sheng praised Franz for his “extremely musical and passionate approach towards music making.” Franz is in increasing demand as a guest conductor, having collaborated with the Cleveland Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, North Carolina Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, and Italy’s Orchestra da Camera Fiorentinas. 2022 marked his debut with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.  His versatility has led to performances with a wide array of artists, including James Galway, Joshua Bell, Rachel Barton Pine, Chris Botti, Idina Menzel and Chris Hadfield as well as his work with composers such as John Harbison, Jennifer Higdon and Jordan Pal. An eloquent speaker, Franz recently presented a TEDx Talk entitled Active Listening and Our Perception of Time.      
  
  Music Director the Windsor Symphony Orchestra since 2013, Franz was recognized by The Windsor Endowment for the Arts with its Arts Leadership Award. Under his leadership the WSO released its first commercial recording in 15 years, “Christmas, eh.” Recent collaborations include the Windsor International Film Festival, Art Gallery of Windsor, Windsor Public Library, Canadian Historical Aviation Association, and the University of Windsor.      

  Franz’ serves as Artistic Director of the Boise Baroque Orchestra where he successfully launched an outdoor summer concert series at the Chateau des Fleurs in Eagle, Idaho. Curated digital concert series, partnerships with Opera Idaho and the Boise Philharmonic Master Chorale as well as with various educational institutions have been a hallmark of his time at BBO.

  Franz just concluded his fourteen-year tenure as Associate Conductor of the Houston Symphony where he was recently honored with the Raphael Fliegel Award for Visionary Leadership, celebrating his immense success in advancing the organization’s education and community engagement activities.  While in Houston Franz lead the North American premiere of Author Dan Brown’s musical children’s book, Wild Symphony.       
  
  As Co-founder and Conductor of the Idaho Orchestra Institute, now in its seventh year, Franz takes young musicians on an exploration of major orchestral repertoire that explores the complete musician.

  In addition to his current posts, Franz served as Associate Conductor of the Houston Symphony (2008-2022), Music Director of the Boise Philharmonic (2008-2016), and the Mansfield Symphony in Ohio (2003-2010). When not on the podium he can be found on the slopes, skiing slowly and carefully, stretching in a yoga class, and non-competitively trying his hardest to win at a game of cards with his family.

---

Jessica beebe - soprano

• Lauded by Opera News as “evocative and ethereal”, “a honey-colored tone”, and "the most radiant solo singing," – soprano Jessica Beebe is steadily gaining international attention as an affecting interpreter of repertoire spanning over four centuries, ranging from Renaissance music to contemporary American opera.

  In recent seasons, she has appeared as a guest soloist in concert with The New York City Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, The Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Hall, The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Raymond Leppard; The Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra; the Princeton Festival Orchestra; The English Concert under Harry Bicket, Bourbon Baroque, Piffaro The Renaissance Wind Band; The Folger Consort; the Delaware Symphony Orchestra; the Utah Symphony under the baton of Craig Jessop, and several other orchestras and ensembles.

  Ms. Beebe's vast solo concert and oratorio repertoire includes such major works like Monteverdi's Vespro della beata vergine; Vivaldi's In furore iustissimae iræ and Gloria; Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater; J. S. Bach's Mass in B minor, St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, Christmas Oratorio, and a wide range of cantatas; Handel's Messiah, Dixit Dominus, Samson, Semele, Jepthe, and Judas Maccabaeus; Mozart's Mass in C minor, Coronation Mass, Vespers, and Requiem; Haydn's Die Schöpfung, The Seasons, Te Deum, Lord Nelson Mass, and Harmoniemesse; Brahms' Ein deutsches Requiem; Fauré's Requiem; Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem; Delius' Requiem; and Orff's Carmina Burana. She has also performed late 20th & 21st-century works such as John Adam's El Niño; Andrea Clearfield's Alleluia; Donald McCullough's Song of the Shulamite; John Rutter's Requiem and Mass for the Children; and Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light.

  In the realm of opera, Ms. Beebe has performed a variety of roles including Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro (the role of her 2015 debut with the Princeton Festival), Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and Despina in Così fan tutte; Gluck's Euridice and Humperdinck's Gretel; 20th-century roles such as the First Niece in Peter Grimes with Princeton Opera Festival, and the First Daughter in Akhnaten with Indianapolis Opera, and in 17th-century repertoire, the commanding roles of La Gloire in Lully's Alceste and Purcell's Dido. Highlights of her operatic activity including covering the role of Lila in the 2016 East Coast premiere of Jennifer Higdon's Cold Mountain, and joining Norway's Bergen National Opera to cover the role of the Angel in Netia Jones' hi-tech staged production of Messiah. In 2017, she helped to create the role of Luna in the world premiere of David Hertzberg's The Wake World with Opera Philadelphia and in 2018 she covered Winnie in Lembit Beecher's Sky on Swings. In 2019, Ms. Beebe debuted with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the west coast debut of Meredith Monk's opera, Atlas. Beebe is a frequent performer of contemporary opera and is currently workshopping new operas with Opera Philadelphia by Jennifer Higdon and Missy Mazzoli.

  Ms. Beebe is a member of GRAMMY winning ensemble The Crossing, GRAMMY nominated Clarion Society, GRAMMY nominated Seraphic Fire, founding member of Variant 6, Lorelei Ensemble, Trio Eos and Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia.

  A native of the Philadelphia suburbs, Jessica Beebe earned her Bachelor of Music from the University of Delaware, her Master of Music in Early Music from Indiana University, and a Performance Certificate from London's Royal College of Music. Ms. Beebe is on faculty at both Franklin and Marshall and Muhlenberg Colleges.

---

Adriana Zabala - Alto

• Adriana Zabala is acclaimed for operatic, concert and recital performances throughout the U.S. and abroad. The New York Times has hailed her as “a vivid, fearless presence,” and the L.A. Times as “an extraordinary, vibrant mezzo-soprano.” In addition to traditional operatic roles such as Cherubino and Rosina, Ms. Zabala has created characters in distinctive new works such as Sister James in Cuomo and Shanley’s Doubt (recently broadcast on PBS’ Great Performances), Rosie Cheney in Puts and Campbell’s The Manchurian Candidate, Erminella in Musto and Campbell’s Volpone, the title character in Aldridge and Garfein’s Sister Carrie, Manja in Cohen and Brevoort’s Steal a Pencil for Me, and Lucy Talbott in Bolcom and Campbell’s Dinner at Eight.

  In U.S. premieres, the mezzo was heard as Amore in L’Albore di Diana, the title role in Dove’s The Adventures of Pinocchio, and received international acclaim for her role in Glass’ Waiting for the Barbarians with Austin Opera. She recently joined Arizona Opera as Paula in Florencia en el Amazonas, reprised the role with both San Diego and Madison Opera, sang Nicklausse in Les Contes D’Hoffmann, also with Madison Opera, and sang the role of Joanna in the revival of Carly Simon’s Romulus Hunt with Nashville Opera. She made her role debut as Mary Johnson in Spears' Fellow Travelers with Minnesota Opera, and reprised the role with Madison Opera. Ms. Zabala made her European operatic debut in Valencia, Spain under the baton of Maestro Lorin Maazel at the Opera Palau des Arts, and returned the following season for two productions conducted by Maestro Zubin Mehta.

  She has been a soloist with the New York Festival of Song, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the New Jersey Symphony, the Jerusalem Symphony, the Jacksonville Symphony, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Elijah with Bryn Terfel, among others. Recent engagements include Mahler’s Symphony no.2 with The Minnesota Orchestra and the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, The Mozart Requiem with both the Florida Bach Festival and the Jacksonville Symphony, the world premiere of Jeffrey Van’s Reaping the Whirlwind with the Susquehanna Valley Chorale, the title role in Annelies, an Anne Frank Oratorio, with both the Minnesota Oratorio Society and at Montclair State University, Beethoven’s Symphony no. 9 with Handel & Haydn Society of Boston, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with both the Colorado Symphony and with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. In recital, Ms. Zabala has performed at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the Barns at Wolf Trap, with the Source Song Festival, and on the Salzburg International Chamber Music Series, among many others. Her collaboration with composer and pianist Gregg Kallor is highly praised for their recording and performances of his compositions on the CD Exhilaration: Dickinson and Yeats Songs. Zabala and Kallor have performed this program in New York City, Minneapolis, and Salzburg, and on the Tuesday Musical of Akron guest artist series. Additional recent recordings include unpublished songs of Louis Durey, and world premiere recordings of Pauline Viardot’s Le Dernier Sorcier, and song cycles of Dominick Argento. Zabala also plays the title role in the chamber music play, Nadia, about the legendary pedagogue, conductor, and composer Nadia Boulanger.

  Recent engagements include the role of Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro with Opera Colorado, the world premiere of Paola Prestini and Mark Campbell’s The Miraculous Adventure of Edward Tulane, Orestes in La Belle Hélène with the Lakes Area Music Festival, Mary in Fellow Travelers with Madison Opera, Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw with On Site Opera in New York City, her role debut as Madeline in Jake Heggie's Three Decembers with the Berkshire Opera, and a reprisal of the role of Paula in the European premiere of Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas with Opera Tenerife in Spain. Zabala was a guest artist at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival on Luciano Berio's Beatles Songs, and gave a recital entitled I do not doubt I am to meet you again on the Yale Faculty Artist series with collaborative pianist JJ Penna. She was also a guest with the Yale Camerata, conducted by Dr. Felicia Barber, as the soloist in John Corigliano's Fern Hill. In the coming season Zabala will reprise the title role of Nadia Boulanger in NADIA: A Chamber Music Play at the American Church in Paris. 

  Adriana Zabala was born in Georgia and raised in Florida, Venezuela, and Texas. She is an alumna of apprentice programs at Tanglewood, Minnesota Opera, Seattle Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Wolf Trap Opera. She is a graduate of Louisiana State University and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and was a Fulbright Scholar at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. Ms. Zabala was an Associate Professor of Voice at the University of Minnesota, where she taught applied voice, graduate vocal literature, and Vive les Arts!, a Global Seminar in Paris. She is currently an Associate Professor of Voice at the Yale School of Music.

---

Dann Coakwell - tenor

• Dann Coakwell, tenor, has been praised as a “vivid storyteller” (The New York Times), with “a gorgeous lyric tenor that could threaten or caress on the turn of a dime" (Dallas Morning News). Coakwell can be heard as a soloist on the Grammy-winning The Sacred Spirit of Russia (2014), the two Grammy-nominated albums Considering Matthew Shephard by composer/director Craig Hella Johnson (2016), which peaked at number three on the Billboard Classical chart, and Conspirare: A Company of Voices (2009). All three collaborations joined Conspirare on Harmonia Mundi records. Coakwell also appeared on the 2016 Naxos release of composer Mohammed Fairouz’s Zabur (role: Jibreel), with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir and Orchestra.

  He has performed as a soloist internationally under additional such acclaimed conductors as Helmuth Rilling, Masaaki Suzuki, William Christie, María Guinand, Nicholas McGegan, Matthew Halls, Julian Wachner, and the late John Scott. Coakwell has performed at Carnegie Hall (Stern/Perelman and Zankel stages) and Lincoln Center (Alice Tully and David Geffen/Avery Fisher halls), as well as Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue and Trinity Church Wall Street, in New York. He has appeared as a soloist with organizations such as Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart in Germany, Bach Collegium Japan (across Europe, Mexico, and Japan), Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco, Oregon Bach Festival, Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, as well as the Charlotte, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Nashville, and Quad City symphony orchestras. He has also shared the solo stage with such celebrated singers as Thomas Quasthoff, Rufus Müller, Nicholas Phan, and Robin Blaze.

  Specializing in the Evangelist and tenor roles of J.S. Bach, Coakwell frequently performs the composer’s major oratorios — St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, Christmas Oratorio, and Mass in B-Minor — as well as many of Bach’s cantatas. An enthusiast of Benjamin Britten, Coakwell has appeared in several productions of Britten’s Canticles, Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, and St. Nicolas. Other prominent solo and titular roles performed also include: Rameau’s Pigmalion; Handel’s Samson, Judas Maccabaeus, Israel in Egypt, Alexander’s Feast, and Messiah; Haydn’s Creation and Missa in Angustiis; Mozart’s Requiem (Levin, Beyer, and Süssmayr completions) and Mass in c(original incomplete work and Levin completion); Mendelssohn’s Elijah; and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.

  Dr. Coakwell also serves as Assistant Professor of Voice at Ithaca College, and has made guest teaching artist residencies at institutions such as Yale University, El Teatro Teresa Carreño in Venezuela, University of Missouri Kansas City, Dartmouth College, Texas State University, and University of Idaho. He holds an Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music, a Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degree from Texas Tech University, and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Texas at Austin.

---

Kenneth overton

• Kenneth Overton is lauded for blending his opulent baritone with magnetic, varied portrayals that seemingly “emanate from deep within body and soul.” Kenneth Overton’s symphonious baritone voice has sent him around the globe, making him one of the most sought-after opera singers of his generation. In 2020, Kenneth became a GRAMMY AWARD WINNER for Best Choral Performance in the title role of Richard Danielpour’s The Passion of Yeshua with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by JoAnn Falletta.

  Last season, Mr. Overton joined the San Francisco Opera as Suleiman in Omar, while covering Abdul/Abe, and as the King’s Herald cover in Lohengrin. He also joined Portland Baroque Orchestra for the pastiche Dinner with Handel and Opera Montana as Marcello in La bohème. In concert he joined the Hartford Chorale for part one of Messiah and Bach’s Magnificat, Lyric Fest for their Love Songs Concert, New Choral Society for Elijah, Opera Philadelphia for their Sounds of America: Price and Bonds concert, as well as the Resonance Ensemble as a featured soloist in a recital of Black composers’ works, curated by Damien Geter. He curated his own concert for On Site Opera in honor of Juneteenth, on which he also performed, and he joined the National Philharmonic as the baritone soloist for Beethoven’s Mass in C. This season, he joins the Austin Symphony as Porgy in Porgy and Bess and the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir as the baritone soloist in The Ordering of Moses. 

  Recently, Overton featured prominently at the Welsh National Opera in two world premieres, leading their production of Migrations and performing the role of Duncan in The Shoemaker. Overton went on to sing Porgy in Porgy and Bess in a co-production with Opera Carolina and North Carolina Opera. Concert engagements included The Washington Chorus performances of Duruflé’s Requiem as a soloist and Undine Smith Moore’s Scenes from the Life of a Martyr as the narrator; additionally, Overton performed a concert staging of Porgy and Bess with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in Hamburg, Strauss’ Daphne with the American Symphony Orchestra, Bach’s St. John Passion with The Dessoff Choirs, Handel’s Messiah at the University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Chapel, A Knee on the Neck and Dona Nobis Pacem with the New York Choral Society, the African American Music Festival at Pennsylvania State University, and concerts with the Howland Chamber Music Circle and Spartanburg Philharmonic.

---