Lisa Bielawa, Joseph Chappel, Melanie Russell & Co. Set for East Village Concert, May 24

American tenor John Kawa is an active performer in concert and opera throughout the New York Metropolitan area, both as a soloist and an ensemble member. Kawa's recent engagements have included singing Pasek (The Cunning Little Vixen) with the New York Philharmonic, Sander (Grétry's Zémire et Azor) with the American Classical Orchestra and DeYancey (Alice Parker's The Ponder Heart). His solo concert repertoire includes Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass, Joby Talbot'sPath of Miracles, Saint-Saens's Christmas Oratorio, Les Noces, Messiah, Elijah, Carmina Burana, and the numerous Bach cantatas and oratorios. Kawa has also sung the roles of Idomeneo, Orpheus in Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld, and Valére in Mechem's Tartuffe. As a graduate student, he had the joy of working under Kirke Mechem directly in a staged workshop of his most recent opera, Pride and Prejudice.

Versatile mezzo Kate Maroney is at home performing early and contemporary music. She has been heard recently at Bach Vespers NYC, Saint Luke in the Fields, Mostly Mozart Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, Berkshire Bach Society, and with Fairfield County Chorale and TENET. Maroney is currently part of the world tour of Glass's Einstein on the Beach, and she premiered Missy Mazzoli's Song from the Uproar this past February. Upcoming solo engagements include Vivaldi's Gloria with Mark Morris Dance and a commission project with the Brooklyn Art Song Society. Maroney holds degrees from Eastman, Yale, and SUNY Purchase. She resides in Brooklyn. www.katemaroney.com

Armenian-Argentinean mezzo-soprano Solange Merdinian is known for her versatility and interpretation as a recitalist, chamber musician, and opera ranging from baroque to contemporary repertoire. Some of her performances include, "Dawn Upshaw and Friends" for the Classical Singer Convention; Gonzales Cantata at Sosnoff Theater at Fischer Center; Dawn Upshaw's and Osvaldo Golijov's: Composing Song at Zankel Hall; Bard College Conservatory's premiere performance of Pierrot Lunaire by Schoenberg; Carnegie Hall performance Piazza Navona; soloist at Alice Tully Hall with the Juilliard Chamber Orchestra and the Choral Union; and alto soloist with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at the Metropolitan Museum in their Bach Cantata Program. She is currently singing in the world tour Einstein on the Beach by Philip Glass. Merdinian holds a Masters of Music and Vocal Performance degree from Bard College Conservatory, and Bachelors of Music from The Juilliard School.

Melanie Russell has performed and recorded with premier vocal ensembles in the U.S., including Trinity Wall Street Choir, Yale Schola Cantorum, and Conspirare. In addition to touring worldwide with Philip Glass' Einstein on the Beach, solo engagements in opera, musical theater, and concert repertoire have taken her from New Orleans (Die Fledermaus, The Buddy Holly Story, Mozart's Requiem) to New York (Opera Omnia's The Coronation of Poppea, Fauré's Requiem at Carnegie Hall), and to Moscow where she covered roles in Mark Morris' Dido and Aeneas. She recently presented newly arranged mélodies by Hahn and Fauré with guitarist Simon Powis in New York, and she looks forward to presenting works of Handel with Musica Poetica London. www.melanierussellsoprano.com

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