Director of Choral Music, tenor Ryan Turner and music instructor, pianist George Lopez perform Kerner-Lieder, op. 35 by Robert Schumann, Oh Fair to See! by Gerald Finzi and songs of Stephen Sondheim and Kurt Weill.  

About the Kerner-Lieder, Schumann wrote: “ I find myself attracted to Kerner’s poems, drawn by their mysterious, supernatural powers. Every word exudes the cosmic harmony of the spheres, achieving real clarity and definition.”    Published posthumously, Oh Fair to See brings together previously unpublished songs by various poets including Hardy, Rossetti, Bridges and Gurney.

Ryan Turner, tenor, has performed to critical acclaim in oratorio, opera, and recital throughout the U.S. and Europe. The Boston Globe wrote “Turner has a pleasing tenor, and he can spin off coloratura with wonderful fluidity.”  Recent seasons have featured appearances with the Handel & Haydn Society, Seattle Baroque, Apollo’s Fire, Santa Fe Pro Musica, Boston Baroque, the Mark Morris Dance Group, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Landmarks Orchestra, Baltimore Choral Arts, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Opera Aperta, Ensemble Abendmusik, Boston Camerata, Boston Cecilia, Coro Allegro, Masterworks Chorale, Boston Secession, and the Handel Society of Dartmouth College.  He has worked with conductors Christopher Hogwood, Jane Glover, Grant Llewellyn, Paul McCreesh, Rinaldo Allessandrini, Bruno Weil, Benjamin Zander, Jeannette Sorrell,  and John Harbison.  Since 1998, he has been a soloist in Emmanuel Music’s famed Bach Cantata series under the direction of Craig Smith.  Mr. Turner’s festival appearances include Tanglewood, Holland Festival Oude Muzieke, the Boston Early Music Festival and the Carmel Bach Festival.  His operatic repertoire includes Ferrando in Cosí fan tutte, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore, The Sailor in Dido and Aeneas, Laomedonte in Cavalli’s Ercole Amante, Liberto and Il Soldato in L’incoronazione di Poppea, and Alfred in Die Fledermaus.  Mr. Turner’s discography includes Bach BWV 76 with Emmanuel Music for KOCH,  the role of Metagenes in Kapsberger’s Apotheosis with Ensemble Abendmusik for DORIAN and an upcoming release of works by Praetorius with Apollo’s Fire. 

In addition to his work as a singer, Ryan is an active conductor and teacher. He is in his second year as Director of Choirs at Phillips Exeter Academy and his seventh year as Music Director of the Concord Chorale (NH). He has held voice and conducting faculty positions at Boston College, URI, Plymouth State University, UMass Boston, and the New England Conservatory.  Recent guest conducting engagements include Emmanuel Music, Granite State Symphony, Boston Conservatory, Boston College, Plymouth State University, and St. Anselm’s College.   Ryan was recently named to the New Hampshire Union Leader’s list of “40 Under 40.”

George Lopez, piano, has performed internationally as a recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. A laureate of several international competitions, he has received critical acclaim for his interpretation of Bach Goldberg Variations at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and is now preparing the complete cycle of Beethoven Piano Concertos for his upcoming concert seasons.  At the invitation of the Holland Music Sessions, Lopez toured in Paris, London, Cologne, New York's Weill Recital Hall, and Los Angeles, where he was hailed by the L.A. Times for his "...musical perspective, continuity, and kaleidoscopic colors." He recently performed the Beethoven Third Piano Concerto in Switzerland, and gave recitals and master classes in Amsterdam and Holland. Lopez recently premiered a piano concerto written for him by Italian composer, Romeo Melloni.  His chamber music collaborations include the Emerson String Quartet, Trio of the Americas, and the Rainier Quartet. In New England, Lopez has appeared with the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra, the Granite State Symphony Orchestra, and the Midcoast Symphony of Maine. Most recently he performed Gershwin Rhapsody in Blue with the NH Music Festival Orchestra. Born in New York and raised in Belize, Lopez started playing the piano at the age of 11. He won his first competition at age 14 in Texas, and two years later was awarded a full scholarship to the Hartt School of Music in Connecticut. After graduating with honors, Lopez went to Paris on a Franco-American study grant and was given a unanimous First Prize for the Diplome Superieure. He completed his Masters Degree in Amsterdam cum laude.