Two years ago, Ellen Hargis sang the soprano solos in Chicago Chorale’s performance of Bach’s St. John Passion. Lawrence Johnson, in Chicago Classical Review, wrote, “Sunday’s performance…benefited from some superb vocal soloists…Ellen Hargis’s clear, expressive singing and bell-like tone in her two arias made one wish the soprano had more to do in this work.“ Well, Ellen is back this season, singing the arias in the St. Matthew Passion; and Bach has granted that wish: she sings in no fewer than eight separate numbers. Her artistry and assured presence enliven all who perform with her— conductor, singers, and instrumentalists; and the audience easily senses the authority and appropriateness of her performance. Music of earlier times, becomes the living music of today, through her committed, gracious, engaged singing.
Chicago is incredibly fortunate to have an artist and teacher of Ellen’s stature living and working right in our midst. She is one of America's premier early music singers, specializing in repertoire ranging from ballads to opera and oratorio. She has worked with many of the foremost period music conductors of the world, including Andrew Parrott, Gustav Leonhardt, Daniel Harding, Paul Goodwin, John Scott, Monica Huggett, Jane Glover, Nicholas Kraemer, Harry Bickett, Simon Preston, Paul Hillier, Craig Smith, and Jeffery Thomas. She has performed with The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Virginia Symphony, Washington Choral Arts Society, Long Beach Opera, CBC Radio Orchestra, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Tragicomedia, The Mozartean Players, Fretwork, the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Emmanuel Music and the Mark Morris Dance Group.
Ellen performs at many of the world's leading festivals including the Adelaide Festival (Australia), Utrecht Festival (Holland), Resonanzen Festival (Vienna), Tanglewood, the New Music America Festival, Festival Vancouver, the Berkeley Festival (California), and is a frequent guest at the Boston Early Music Festival.
Her discography embraces repertoire from medieval to contemporary music. She has recently recorded the leading role of Aeglé in Lully's Thésée for CPO, nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Opera Recording in 2008, as well as Conradi's opera Ariadne, also nominated for a Grammy Award. She is featured on a dozen Harmonia Mundi recordings including a critically acclaimed solo recital disc of music by Jacopo Peri, and in Arvo Pärt's Berlin Mass with Theatre of Voices, and two recital discs with Paul O'Dette on Noyse Productions.
Ellen Hargis teaches voice at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, and is Artist-in-Residence with the Newberry Consort at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. Her local performances with the Newberry Consort, in Hyde Park, Evanston, and downtown, are highlights of the Chicago concert season. Follow this link for more information about the her performances this weekend!
When Ellen sings with Chorale, soprano members of our group inevitably comment, “I wish I could sing just like that. That is what I would sound like, if I could; and that is just the way Bach should be sung.” I invite you to come hear what they mean, March 29, 3 PM, at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel.