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.  Kenneth is a 2020 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.

This season, Overton features largely at the Welsh National Opera, leading their production of Migrations and performing the role of Duncan in The Shoemaker, both being world premieres. Overton goes on to sing Porgy in Porgy and Bess, a co-production by Opera Carolina and North Carolina Opera. Concert engagements will include 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 will perform a concert staging of Porgy and Bess with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra in Hamburg, 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.

Portuguese-American conductor Jacomo Bairos continues to redefine what a conductor can be in the 21st century. He challenges the preconceptions of orchestral repertoire, blurs the lines of genres, and integrates the orchestra into the broader community in new, holistic, and organic ways. Bairos is the 17th Music Director for the Amarillo Symphony, Co-Founder and Artistic Director for Miami’s Nu Deco Ensemble, and performs regularly as a guest conductor with some of the world’s finest orchestras. 

Bairos’ performances have been described as “thrilling" (Providence Journal), “inspirational and highly communicative” (Singapore Straits Times), and having a “splendid sense of musicality” (Knoxville Mercury). The New York Times hails Nu Deco Ensemble as “chamber orchestra for the 21st century,” while Billboard called them “a sonically spellbinding experience.” 

In the 2019-2020 season, Bairos makes debuts with the Seattle Symphony, the Cincinnati Pops, returns to the Symphonies of San Francisco, Houston, Atlanta, and Sarasota, as well as releases his first studio album with Nu Deco Ensemble. Bairos also is in residency at the Peabody Institute for performances and lectures this fall, and makes his operatic debut with Britten's Turn of the Screw in collaboration with Illuminarts Miami. In June, Bairos made highly successful debuts with the Boston Pops, returned to the Atlanta Symphony and continued his relationship with the Sewanee Music Festival working with America's premier young musicians.