The Voice of Prophecy, April 25, 2009
Baritone (Elijah), Gerald Dolter has established himself in opera houses and concert halls both in the United States and Europe. His performances have been described by Opern Welt magazine as “radiant,” by the Frankfurter Rundschau as “powerful baritonal presence,” and by England’s Opera magazine as “electrifying.” His operatic credits include appearances with the Pittsburgh, New Jersey State, Tulsa, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Arizona opera companies, as well as the opera companies of Frankfurt, Mannheim, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Düsseldorf, Gelsenkirchen, Krefeld, and Montpellier. From 1985–1991, Dolter was the leading baritone with Germany’s Bremen Opera. His repertoire there included such diverse characterizations as Germont in La Traviata, Escamillo in Carmen and Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress. His operatic repertoire includes more than 85 characterizations. Gerald Dolter joined the voice faculty at the Texas Tech School of Music in the fall of 1995. He became the Director of TTU Music Theatre in 1998. He has sought to program a wide variety of works to benefit students and the public interest. Johann Strauss’ operetta Die Fledermaus, Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Nicolai’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, a world premiere music drama, Bellini’s War, by Steven Paxton and Verdi’s La Traviata are a sampling. He has also built a reputation for staging works in unusual locations. His production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods, staged in a local Lubbock hotel atrium, represented a drastic departure for normal theatrical venues, in which he made use of the natural trees, brooks, pools, and shrubs to enhance the required stage settings. Gerald Dolter counts among his varied accomplishments a popular opera program for elementary school children, which has reached more than 65,000 students in Lubbock and the South Plains.
Soprano, Nicole Franklin completed her bachelor's degree in vocal performance at Baylor University. She then went on to receive a master's degree, also in vocal performance, from Rice University where she studied with Dr. Joyce Farwell. Nicole has participated in various training programs, such as AIMS in Graz, Austria and the Amarillo Opera Apprentice program. She has performed Tytania in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shepherd School of Music, Rice University), Norina in Don Pasquale (Mid-Columbia Symphony in Washington State, The Living Opera - Richardson, Texas, and with Amarillo Opera), Laetitia in The Old Maid and the Thief (New Jersey Concert Opera and in Dallas with The Helios Ensemble), Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro and Gretel in Hansel and Gretel (both with The Living Opera), Nella in Gianni Schicchi, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Lightfoot in Cold Sassy Tree (Amarillo Opera), and Sylvia in L’isola Disabitata (NY Philomusica). In addition to opera, Nicole has done solo work such as Mozart's Great Mass in C minor, in which the Dallas Morning News hailed her as "superb", with a "bright" and "tangy" sound. She has also appeared as a soloist in Dubois' Seven Last Words of Christ, Mozart's Requiem, Rutter's Requiem, and Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass. In 2006, Ms. Franklin sang as the soprano soloist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in their Christmas celebration, Hope. She sings the role of Laetitia on the first professional recording of Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief with Lone Spring Arts in Dallas, Texas. Nicole is currently teaching voice as an adjunct professor at Sam Houston State University.
Mezzo-soprano, Andrea H. Jaber received the first Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Voice granted by Rice University's Shepherd School of Music in May 2002, having studied with Dr. Joyce Farwell. A native of Arkansas, Dr. Jaber completed her Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music Education degrees at Arkansas State University. She studied with Walter Cassel at Indiana University and received a Diploma from the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she was a student of Nell Rankin. A mezzo-soprano, Andrea has performed with the Houston Masterworks Chorus, the Shepherd School Symphony and Chamber Orchestras, the Philadelphia Singers, and the Philadelphia Pops Orchestra. She has performed many operatic roles, including the Mother in Menotti's The Consul, Dorabella in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, Cornelia in Handel's Giulio Cesare, and Suzuki in Puccini's Madama Butterfly. She has served on the faculties of Rice University and University of Houston, as well as Houston Community College.
Tenor, Robin Roewe earned the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Baylor University. He currently serves as Interim Director of Worship/ Choir & Orchestra at Houston’s First Baptist Church. He has served on the faculty at Houston Baptist University and at Simpson College, Indianola, Iowa. He made his American debut as Alfredo in La Traviata with the Aspen Opera Theater and his international debut as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with the Orquestra da Camera del Nuevo Mundo in Mexico City. His portrayals of some of the most demanding roles written for tenor have been have been heralded as “…well-executed and masterfully sung… by the brilliant and large-voiced Robin Roewe…with …an apparent natural ease…” Mr. Roewe has appeared in numerous opera, oratorio, concert and recital venues throughout the world with such organizations as the Aspen Opera Theater, Des Moines Metro Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Waco Symphony, Des Moines Symphony, AIMS orchestra in Graz, Austria, Opera in the Heights in Houston and the Orquestra da Camara del Nuevo Mundo in Mexico City. He has been an international finalist in several prestigious competitions including the Eleanor McCollum competition with the Houston Grand Opera, a regional winner and national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a semi-finalist in the Mobil-Austria Meistersinger competition. He has also been awarded top honors as the Singer of the Year by the National Association of the Teachers of Singing. Mr. Roewe resides in Houston with his wife Suzanne and their children Adam and Lauren.
