MESSIAH

Handel’s Messiah is the undisputed favorite of the holiday season, featuring the Syracuse University Oratorio Society and spectacular soloists at beautiful Most Holy Rosary Church.

FEATURED ARTISTS

RACHEL SCHUTZ | soprano

Welsh-American soprano Rachel Schutz is known for her performances across opera, concert, and recital repertoire, as well as her research, publication, and teaching. She is an Associate Professor of Voice at Ithaca College, where she has taught since 2018. Her book Welsh Vocal Music: A Guide to Lyric Diction and Repertoire was published by Routledge in April 2025.

Recent highlights include winning first place in the NATS Artist Award Competition and the Pro Musicis Competition, giving a solo debut recital at Weill Hall, and performing a world premiere with The Orchestra Now at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium and Stanford’s Bing Hall. She has appeared with Opera Ithaca and Opera Parallèle, and at festivals including Cornell’s Mayfest, the Mostly Modern Festival, and Yellow Barn.

Her opera roles have included Lise in Glass’s Les enfants terribles, Papagena in Die Zauberflöte, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, and Giannetta in L’elisir d’amore. Her concert work includes Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass. She has performed at venues and festivals including Carnegie Hall, Ravinia, Ojai, Tanglewood, and Mostly Modern.

DANAN TSAN | mezzo-soprano

Danan Tsan is an award-winning singer-songwriter based in Central New York. She has performed her original songs across the United States for more than 10 years. After graduate school at the Eastman School of Music, she joined the United States Army Field Band’s Soldiers’ Chorus and later became lead singer of its rock band, The Volunteers. She toured with the groups for five years, including a solo feature with the London Symphony Orchestra.

Tsan moved to Syracuse in 2008. She has performed locally at the Music and Arts Over Syracuse Festival and the Boilermaker Expo in Utica, and won first place in the C&G Music Singer/Songwriter Showdown II. She has also performed with the Syracuse Opera chorus and in local theater productions.

SEOKHO PARK | tenor

Tenor Seokho Park is an Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and received the “Super Rookie award” from the 15th Korea Opera Awards. He has performed leading roles in operas including La bohème, L’elisir d’amore, Rigoletto, L’incoronazione di Poppea, La traviata, Così fan tutte, The Magic Flute, and Falstaff.

Park earned his bachelor’s degree at the Korea National University of Arts and his master’s degree at Binghamton University. He is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Minnesota. He has also completed programs with the Canadian Operatic Arts Academy and Accademia Europea Dell’Opera, and has participated in the Glimmerglass Festival Young Artists Program and the Canadian Opera Company Summer Intensive Program.

MARC WEBSTER | bass

Marc Webster is a singer, teacher, and artistic mentor, and an Associate Professor of Voice at Ithaca College. His work includes opera, musical theater, concert and oratorio performance, recital, guest teaching, and adjudication. He has been a member of Ithaca College’s voice faculty for more than fifteen years.

Recent operatic activity includes the Glimmerglass Festival’s 2025 season, where he performed in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress and Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George. He has also performed with Tri-Cities Opera, Syracuse Opera, Opera Ithaca, and Mercury Opera Rochester. His concert work includes appearances as a bass soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and The Syracuse Orchestra.

Webster holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree and a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, and an Artist Diploma in Opera Performance from The Juilliard School. He is a graduate of Ithaca College’s vocal performance and music education programs.

SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY ORATORIO SOCIETY | chorus

Founded in 1975, the Syracuse University Oratorio Society is a large chorus of Syracuse University students and community members. It regularly performs choral-orchestral masterworks with the Syracuse Orchestra and is directed by Dr. Wendy Moy.