Joe Dan Harper, artistic director

Tenor Joe Dan Harper, is currently a Fulbright Scholar studying with renowned singing teacher Rudolf Piernay at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Mannheim. Prior to his Fulbright year, Mr. Harper distinguished himself as a wonderfully versatile singer of concert, recital & chamber music repertoire. As fellow at the Tanglewood Festival during the summers of 1997 & 1999, Joe Dan performed under renowned conductors Seiji Ozawa, Robert Spano & Tan Dun; & in 2000, he was invited to participate in Tanglewood's first annual Bach Institute, directed by Craig Smith. In 2002, Joe Dan was a Fellow of the Steanes Institute for Young Artists at the Ravinia Festival in Chicago.

He has performed with such renowned groups as Boston Academy of Music, Central City Opera, Handel & Haydn Society, Opera Aperta, Opera Unlimited, Plano International Arts Festival, South Carolina Opera, Utah Festival Opera & Utah Opera. His opera roles include "Jake Wallace" La fanciulla del west, "Figaro" The Barber of Seville, "Belcore" L'elisir d'amore, "Guglielmo" Così fan tutte, "Danilo" The Merry Widow, "Marco" Gianni Schicchi, "Slim" Of Mice & Men, "Dr. Cajus" Merry Wives of Windsor, "Le Mari" Les Mammelles de Tirésias, "Tobia Mill" La cambiale di matrimonio, "Dr. Malatesta" Don Pasquale, "Melchior" Amahl & the Night Visitors, "Assan" The Consul & "Captain Corcoran" H.M.S. Pinafore.

He has recorded Wesley Fuller's setting of five poems by William Carlos Williams, A Solace of Ripe Plums, released on Capstone Records. The soon to be released Arsis Audio CD of Daniel Pinkham's opera The Garden Party features Joe Dan in the role of "Adam".

Joe Dan performs frequently with his wife, pianist Anne Kissel Harper. Sought after as interpreters of contemporary music, the duo recently premiered the song cycle Come, Look Quietly, composed for them by Daniel Pinkham, & appeared in New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall on a concert devoted to the music of Daniel Pinkham. The duo was also featured in the Spring of 2003 on National Public Radio (WGBH Boston) Live Performances with Richard Knisely.

The Harpers are both founding members of the Florestan Recital Project, a Boston-based organization devoted to the art of the song recital through performance & education. They were awarded a grant by the St. Botolph Club Foundation to commission a song cycle from composer Lior Navok which was premiered in 2003 on a Florestan Recital Project concert. Florestan has garnered much attention in its first three seasons, exploring the topics American Students of Nadia Boulanger ; Ned Rorem & Daniel Pinkham in their 80th Year ; Les six ; & Complete Songs of Francis Poulenc.

As an educator, Mr. Harper has been a member of the voice faculty of Brown University as well as Phillips Academy. He has also been involved in projects bringing opera to public schools throughout Utah (Utah Opera), the southeastern U.S. (Opera for Kids) & greater Boston (Handel & Haydn Society & Opera Boston). A native of Texas, Joe Dan received his Bachelor's Degree from Southern Methodist University where he was a recipient of the Thomas Hayward Memorial Award. He received his master's degree with distinction in performance from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. His voice teachers, to whom he is deeply grateful, include Susan Clickner, Bruce Lunkley, Thomas Hayward, Ruth Ann Griffin & Rudolf Piernay.