Program and Artist Biography

Chrystal E. Williams earned her bachelor's degree in voice performance in 2008 from Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied voice with Susanne Marsee. She is pursuing a master's degree at Yale University School of Music, where she studies voice with Doris Yarick-Cross.
 
Williams was a 2002–4 STAR participant with the Virginia Opera House, where she sang in the chorus and covered the role of Bersi in Andrea Chenier. She has covered the role of Hansel in Hansel and Gretel and performed such roles as Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro (scenes), Anita in Massenet's La Navarraise, Third Lady in The Magic Flute, Charlotte in Werther (scenes), the Secretary in The Consul, Bradamante in Alcina, the Second Lady in The Magic Flute, Gertrude in Hansel and Gretel, and the mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors.
 
Williams has been featured as a soloist recently in Catfish Row (selections from Porgy and Bess) and in Jack Stamp's Four Maryland Songs, both with the Yale University Concert Band. She has also been featured in performances of Handel's Messiah, the Christmas Oratorio of Camille Saint-Saens, Pergolesi's Magnificat, Scarlatti's St. Secilia's Mass, Mozart's Coronation Mass, Christian Kriegeskotte's Krljavestica (premiere 2008), as well as Simon Fink's In Dreams (premiere 2008).
 
In 2004, Williams founded the Chrystal E. Williams Scholarship to help students wishing to pursue a career in the performing arts. This scholarship is funded in part by her annual concert, An Evening with Chrystal E.
 
Williams has participated the Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, Italy, the University of Miami Frost School of Music at Salzburg, and the Aspen Music Festival and School.

Canadian pianist Lucas Wong has a diversified career as a soloist, collaborative artist, and vocal coach.   As a winner of the Début Young Artists Competition, he made his solo debut at the Canadian Broadcasting Company in Vancouver.  He was recently nominated by William Bolcom as a finalist for the Lili Boulanger Prize.  Among other top achievements are the Piano Encouragement Award at the Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition, the Yale School of Music Alumni Association Prize, and the Vancouver Foundation Award. He also received a Gold Medal from the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto, the conservatory’s highest honor for his ARCT Teachers’ Diploma. 

Wong was a featured artist alongside with violinist Soovin Kim and bassoonist Frank Morelli at the Banff Centre.  He appeared at James Levine’s vocal masterclass under the auspice of the Marilyn Horne Foundation in Carnegie Hall.  He promotes the solo piano works of William Bolcom and assisted the west coast premiere of his opera A Wedding.  Wong has made recordings on the First Impression Music (FIM) label.

Wong was invited to give masterclasses and perform the Shanghai premiere of Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn at the Sixth International Piano Academy.  He has been a clinician at the British Columbia Conservatory of Music and a guest lecturer on Debussy at the Juilliard School.  He adjudicated at the Young Musicians Festival at Fairfield University.  He is on the faculty of SongFest at Pepperdine, and on staff at the Yale Opera and the Opera Theater of Connecticut. 

Wong began his early training at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts.  He earned B. Mus. from the University of British Columbia, and MM and MMA from Yale School of Music.  He will be finishing his DMA at Yale under the tutelage of Boris Berman in May 2012.  Other major mentors throughout his career include Claude Frank, Peter Frankl, Michael Friedmann, Margo Garrett, Martin Katz, Warren Jones, Julian Martin, Edward Parker, Poon Tak, Rena Sharon, and Robert Silverman.  Wong also holds a Post-Graduate Fellowship from Bard Conservatory, where he worked closely with Frank Corliss, Kayo Iwama, and Dawn Upshaw.