English & American Art Song

Ann Baltz

Throughout her extensive career as a creator, educator, director, and pianist, Ann Baltz has been led by the principle that success is a direct result of how well a person’s whole being has been informed, nurtured, and cultivated. Ann’s desire to create a holistic, all-encompassing approach to performance training culminated in the curriculum that became the foundation of OperaWorks™, a nonprofit organization providing innovative training that has changed the landscape of performance education for over 30 years. As artistic director of the organization, Ann was the first to incorporate yoga, improvisation, business classes, conducting, and pastiche performances with contemporary themes into singer training, inspiring other programs to incorporate similar curricula over the years.

Amy Owens

American soprano Amy Owens is known for her “high-flying vocals” and “scene-stealing” charisma on operatic and symphonic stages, as well as her innovative, multi-disciplinary pursuits across genres. Her performing career has taken her to some of America’s most illustrious venues, including the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony, for her debut as the soprano soloist in Carmina Burana under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda. Amy has also performed the work with the Omaha Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Mobile Symphony and MidAmerica Productions for her Carnegie Hall debut.
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Recent operatic engagements include her main stage debut with Virginia Opera as Mabel THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE, where she was praised by Opera News for her “silvery, focused soprano caressing each melodic contour,” Lucy THE TELEPHONE on tour with Santa Fe Opera, Chrisann Brennan THE REVOLUTION OF STEVE JOBS with Utah Opera, Cunegonde CANDIDE with Wichita Opera, Emily OUR TOWN and Phoebe A GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER with the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater, her debut with Chicago Opera Theater as Yan BECOMING SANTA CLAUS conducted by Lydiya Yankovskaya, Johanna SWEENEY TODD with Utah Opera, Virginia Arts Fest, and Michigan Opera Theater, and Florestine in On Site Opera’s North American premiere of LA MÉRE COUPABLE.
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Recent concert engagements include Carmina Burana with D.C. Choral Arts, Mozart Exsultate Jubilate with the Tallahassee Symphony, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with the New Mexico Philharmonic, Handel Messiah with the Dayton Philharmonic and Lubbock Symphony orchestras, appearances with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, Brooklyn Art Song Society, the Florida Keys Concert Association and the role of Cunegonde CANDIDE with Utah Symphony.
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Amy’s affinity for new music has made her a sought-after soprano for developing contemporary works, including creating the title role in Augusta Read Thomas’ SWEET POTATO KICKS THE SUN with Santa Fe Opera, Ivy Sweet in the world premiere of THE COOK OFF with Nashville Opera, the Metropolitan Opera workshop of EURYDICE, and multiple workshops with American Opera Projects.

Amy was a resident artist with Utah Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Santa Fe Opera, and Central City Opera, and was a grand prize recipient from the Sullivan Foundation. She also holds awards from the Jensen Foundation (Finalist) and Metropolitan Opera National Council (Eastern Region Finalist). She is a multiple prize-winner with the George London Foundation and was a featured soloist on their recital series with Anthony Dean Griffey and Warren Jones.
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She released two collaborative albums in 2019: a debut album of original music, HAETHOR, which received acclaim in the electronica world as “an enchanted force” (Impose), and Songs of Leonard Bernstein, including previously unrecorded vocal music. Other discography includes her performance as Mater Gloriosa in Utah Symphony’s recording of Mahler Symphony No. 8 and in New York Festival of Song’s Picnic Cantata.

As an educator and producer, Amy co-founded The Collective Conservatory and developed a unique curriculum to forge new and innovative paths for online musical collaboration during the COVID19 pandemic. She assumed the role of director of the Young Voices of the Santa Fe Opera in Fall of 2023. She holds a M.M. degree in vocal performance from Rice University and a B.M. in vocal performance from Brigham Young University.

Professor of Voice at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee

Marilyn Bulli joined the Conservatory in 2002 and is an associate professor of voice. She teaches classical voice, opera, and musical theater students.
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Bulli has held teaching positions at St. Olaf College (Minnesota), Emerson College, the University of Rhode Island, the New School of Music (Massachusetts), and the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she also served as coordinator of the voice faculty. She has received many honors and awards throughout her teaching and performance career, including first place in the Nebraska District Metropolitan Opera auditions, finalist placing in the Oratorio Society of New York Competition (Carnegie Hall), and first place in the Bel Canto Regional Artists Competition (Wisconsin). She has also been a Bach Aria Festival and Institute fellow, an Amherst Early Music Festival scholarship fellow, and a St. Botolph Club Foundation performance grant recipient. Bulli is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, College Music Society, and the American Guild of Music Artists (board of governors member). A featured performer in numerous opera, oratorio, and recital performances, she has appeared on stage with Boston Lyric Opera as a soloist and core ensemble member (performing more than 50 productions with the company), Emmanuel Music, the Handel and Haydn Society, and Boston Baroque. She has extensive performance experience with conductors Seiji Ozawa, John Harbison, Stephen Lord, Christopher Hogwood, Grant Llewellyn, and William Christie and directors Nicholas Muni, Christopher Alden, Leon Major, Colin Graham, and Mary Zimmerman.
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Bulli holds a D.M.A. and an M.M. in vocal performance from Indiana University and a B.A. in music education from St. Olaf College. Additional studies include the opera program of the American Institute of Music Studies in Austria, the Wesley Balk Opera/Music-Theater Institute (Minnesota), and Kristin Linklater’s Freeing the Natural Voice workshops. She has coached opera repertoire with Joan Dornemann, Will Graham, and Susan Ormont, and she studied voice with Sharon Daniels, Phyllis Curtin, Martha Lipton, Reri Grist, and Virginia Zeani. She has also studied dance (ballet/modern), yoga, and Alexander Technique.

Robert Tweten

Robert Tweten has performed extensively and with distinction as both a pianist and conductor, and currently holds the positions of Head of Music Staff for The Santa Fe Opera, and Music Director of Graduate Opera Studies for the New England Conservatory. Robert has collaborated with many of the industry’s most notable singers in venues throughout the world, including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, and the Salzburg Festival. This year is Robert’s fourth season as curator and pianist for Performance Santa Fe’s Festival of Song series as well serving as Music Director and pianist for the Sag Harbor Song Festival.