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Since founding Bach Collegium Japan in 1990, Masaaki Suzuki has established himself as a leading authority on the works of J. S. Bach. He has remained their Music Director ever since, taking them regularly to major venues and festivals in Europe and the USA, recording the complete cycle of Bach’s Sacred Cantatas and building up an outstanding reputation for the expressive refinement and truth of his performances. 

In addition to working with renowned period ensembles, such as Collegium Vocale Gent, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Suzuki is invited to conduct repertoires as diverse as Brahms, Britten, Fauré, Mahler, Mendelssohn, DvoÅ™ák and Stravinsky, with orchestras such as New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Philharmonia Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Bavarian Radio, Danish National Radio, Gothenburg Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra. 

This 2024–2025 season includes his return to Orchestre de Chambre de Paris and Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, and his debut with National Symphony Orchestra Washington, The Philadelphia Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, among others. Suzuki is also returning to Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de Bilbao, and Orquestra Sinfònica do Estado de São Paulo.

The young soprano Jone Martínez, from Bilbao, Basque Country, is one of the most prominent and versatile singers of the moment. She studied at Musikene (San Sebastián) with Maite Arruabarrena and continued her studies with Carlos Mena.

She collaborates with Bach Collegium Japan, La Cetra Barockorchester Basel, Gli Angeli Genève, European Union Baroque Orchestra, Orquesta Barroca de Sevilla, Forma Antiqva and other important baroque orchestras and ensembles. Her name also appears in seasons of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Galicia, Robert Schumann Philarmonie, Orquesta y Coro de RTVE, Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona, Orquesta Nacional de España, Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, Euskadido Orkestra, and Ensemble Intercontemporain Paris, among others.

This season, she is debuting in Japan, the United States, and South America performing works by Bach, Händel, Haydn, Mozart, and Mendelssohn. Her extensive and varied repertoire covers works from all periods and styles, working under the baton of conductors like Masaaki Suzuki, Pablo González, Carlos Mena, Andrea Marcon, Christoph König, Enrico Onofri, Pierre Bleuse, Alfredo Bernardini, García Calvo, Aarón Zapico, Tomàs Grau, and Marta GardoliÅ„ska.

In the field of opera she has debuted in the last season at the Teatro de la Maestranza with the title role in Alcina, by Händel; at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, and Arriaga with Orgia by Hèctor Parra and staged by Calixto Bieito; at the Teatro Real in Madrid with La liberazione di Ruggiero by Francesca Caccini, and in Dido by Graupner in Innsbrucker Festwochen in Austria.

Grammy^®-nominated American countertenor Reginald Mobley is celebrated for his mastery of baroque, classical, and modern repertoire. Known for his advocacy in diversifying music programming, Reginald became the first Programming Consultant for the Handel and Haydn Society after years of leading its community-focused Every Voice concerts. He also holds key positions as Visiting Artist for Diversity Outreach with Apollo’s Fire and Artistic Advisor at Portland Baroque Orchestra, and he leads an AHRC-funded project in the UK to uncover music by historically underrepresented composers.

In the United States, Reginald frequently appears with top U.S. orchestras, including the Pittsburgh Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Washington National Symphony, and Chicago Symphony, performing Messiah, Carmina Burana, and Mozart Requiem among other repertoire.

In Europe, he collaborates with Orchester Wiener Akademie, Freiburger Barockorchester, and Monteverdi Choir, the Budapest Festival Orchestra and, in 2025, will tour Netherlands with Nederlandse Bachvereniging, as well as performing in France with Orchestre de Chambre de Paris (St Denis festival) and the UK with Dunedin Consort. He will also tour Australia and make his solo debut in Japan under the baton of Masaaki Suzuki.

His first solo CD with ALPHA Classics, Because, was awarded the Opus Klassik Award and Edison Award. His second CD, Solitude, will be released in the autumn 2025.

In the 2024–2025 season, Hallam will make major orchestral debuts, firstly singing Mozart's Mass in C Major with Nathalie Stutzmann and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, later performing Handel's Messiah with Masaaki Suzuki and the National Symphony Orchestra, and also singing a baroque program with Emmanuelle Haim and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He will also sing debut Schubert's Mass No. 5 in A-flat with the São Paulo Symphony and sing a recital with Craig Terry at the Kennedy Center in for Vocal Arts DC. On the stage, Lunga will make a debut at Minnesota Opera returning to the role of Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia .

Last season saw debuts at Houston Grand Opera, Pittsburgh Opera and a return to Wolf Trap Opera for his first Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte . He began his career in Cape Town, where he studied at the University of Cape Town College of Music, and was in the Young Artist Programme at Cape Town Opera. There he performed the roles of Tebaldo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Roberto (Maria Stuarda), and Ramiro (La Cenerentola). He also founded a non-profit organization called Phenomenal Opera Voices in his home of Cape Town.

At the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Lunga appeared in the Harris Theater’s Beyond the Aria series alongside Joyce DiDonato, and his recent debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti as the Judge in Un ballo in maschera . Recent performances at the Lyric Opera include the Sunday in the Park with Lyric’s Rising Stars concert, as well as in the Chicago premieres of Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Adult Nathan) and Le Comte Ory (First Courtier). In the 2022–2023 season, he debuted at Wolftrap Opera as Don Ottavio ( Don Giovanni ) and Jupiter (Semele).

Dashon Burton’s 2024–2025 season begins with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, led by Gustavo Dudamel. Highlights of the season include his return to the Milwaukee Symphony for a second season as Artist-in-Residence, featuring Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and Bach’s Ich habe genug, both conducted by Ken-David Masur. Burton makes his Boston Symphony subscription debut performing Michael Tilson Thomas’ Walt Whitman Songs, conducted by Teddy Abrams, and his Toronto Symphony debut in Mozart’s Requiem under Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Additional performances include Brahms/Glanert’s Serious Songs and Mozart’s Requiem with the St. Louis Symphony under Stéphane Denève, Mozart’s Requiem with the Minnesota Orchestra conducted by Thomas Søndergård, and Handel’s Messiah with the National Symphony, led by Masaaki Suzuki.

A multiple award-winning artist, Burton earned his second Grammy Award^® in 2021 for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album for his role in Dame Ethel Smyth’s The Prison with The Experiential Orchestra (Chandos). He won his first Grammy^® in 2013 as an original member of the groundbreaking ensemble Roomful of Teeth for their debut album of new commissions. In 2024, he earned his third Grammy^® for their latest recording, Rough Magic.

Burton holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin College and Conservatory and a Master of Music degree from Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music. He is currently an assistant professor of voice at Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music.

The UMD Concert Choir is a 100-voice symphonic choir that has become the ensemble of choice for both the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) in repertoire such as Mendelssohn’s Elijah , the Brahms Requiem, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms , War Requiem of Benjamin Britten, Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony and Orff’s Carmina Burana . The UMD Concert Choir has worked with conductors including Marin Alsop, Helmuth Rilling, Donald Runnicles, Masaaki Suzuki, James Conlon, Markus Stenz and Laurence Equilbey, among many others.

In 2018, the UMD Concert Choir triumphed in performances of John Adams’ The Gospel According to the Other Mary with Gianandrea Noseda and the NSO. In May 2019, the UMD Concert Choir appeared with Noseda and the NSO at Carnegie Hall in New York City performing the Rossini Stabat Mater and the Dante Symphony of Franz Liszt. Critics of the performance described the chorus as “outstanding throughout, beautifully controlled and responsive,” with “a full range of dynamics” and “perfectly tuned chromatic lines and crisply unified staccato attacks.”

Most recently, the UMD Concert Choir sang skillfully and beautifully with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Jonathon Heyward. In the 2024/25 season, the ensemble is looking forward to performing with the National Symphony Orchestra.

On campus at The Clarice , the UMD Concert Choir has performed masterworks including the Bach Magnificat and Weinachts Oratorium , Mahler Symphony No. 2, the Verdi Requiem and Schumann’s Das Paradies und die Peri .

The 2024–2025 season is the National Symphony Orchestra’s 94th season and Music Director Gianandrea Noseda’s eighth season. Since its founding in 1931, the NSO has been committed to performances that enrich the lives of its audience and community members. In 1986, the National Symphony became an artistic affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where it has performed since the Center opened in 1971. The NSO participates in events of national and international importance, including the annual nationally televised concerts on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol, live-streamed performances on medici.tv, and local radio broadcasts on WETA 90.9 FM.

Since launching its eponymous recording label in 2020, the NSO has embarked on ambitious recording projects including the Orchestra’s first complete Beethoven Symphony cycle and the release of the first-ever cycle of George Walker’s Sinfonias, both led by Noseda. Recent projects include a new series of Four Symphonic Works by Kennedy Center Composer-in-Residence Carlos Simon conducted by Noseda, and William Shatner’s So Fragile, So Blue, recorded live with the NSO in the Concert Hall.

The NSO’s community engagement and education projects are nationally recognized, including NSO In Your Neighborhood; Notes of Honor; and Sound Health. Career development opportunities for young musicians include the NSO Youth Fellowship Program and its acclaimed, tuition-free Summer Music Institute.