Visiting Artists
2026-27 Featured Visiting Artists
January, Antony and Cleopatra will feature
Nola Richardson
"Lusciously polished...Exemplary, impassioned singing,” San Francisco Classical Voice. Making her mark as an "especially impressive" (The New York Times) soprano, Australian-American Nola Richardson has emerged as one of today's leading interpreters of Baroque and early music while earning increasing acclaim in contemporary opera and standard repertoire. Praised by The Washington Post for her "astonishing balance and accuracy," "crystalline diction," and "natural-sounding ease," she is equally recognized for performances that combine vocal brilliance with compelling dramatic artistry.
In 2025–2026 Richardson made a celebrated operatic breakthrough creating the title role in Sarah Kirkland Snider's Hildegard with LA Opera and Beth Morrison Projects. Seen and Heard International praised her as "the centerpiece of the production," citing her dramatic presence and "the crystalline beauty of her voice" while Opera News wrote “There were glimpses of the divine… in her tone and gestures.” The opera went on to receive the Music Critics Association of North America's 2026 Award for Best New Opera.
Richardson has become particularly sought after as a Handel interpreter. A leading Bach specialist, Richardson is the only singer to have won first prize in all three major American competitions devoted to the music of J. S. Bach: the Bethlehem Bach Competition (2016), the Audrey Rooney Bach Competition (2018), and the Grand Rapids Symphony Linn Maxwell Keller Award (2019). Since then she has appeared with many of North America's foremost Bach organizations. Her discography includes Bach's St. John Passion, Magnificat, and Easter Oratorio with Cantata Collective, Mozart's Requiem with Baltimore Choral Arts, and the Boston Early Music Festival recording of Desmarest's Circé. She also appears in numerous digital releases with Voices of Music, Seraphic Fire, Sonnambula, Musica Angelica, and Colorado Bach Ensemble.
Kristin Gornstein
American mezzo-soprano Kristin Gornstein is increasingly recognized for her "rich-voiced" timbre and "uncannily silky legato" (New York Times) across the US. With a career spanning historically informed performance and contemporary premieres, she brings a “deep, spacious sound” (Parterre) and rigorous stylistic integrity to the operatic, concert, and recital stage.
Specializing in the works of the late Baroque era, Ms. Gornstein has earned particular acclaim for her interpretations of Johann Adolph Hasse. Her portrayal of Piramo in Piramo e Tisbe (The Little Opera Theatre of New York) was described by Opera News as "masterful... a truly flawless lyric mezzo." Recently she has appeared as Antonio in Hasse’s Antonio e Cleopatra with the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, and alto soloist in Hasse’s Laudate Pueri with Crescendo Baroque.
A versatile ensemble artist and soloist, Ms. Gornstein is a member of both the Philharmonia Baroque Choir and Lorelei Ensemble, and has sung with Grammy-winning ensemble Seraphic Fire. Her concert experience includes the alto solos in Händel’s Messiah (Naples Philharmonic), Vivaldi’s Gloria (Sacred Music in a Sacred Space), and Mozart’s Mass in C Minor (American University of Beirut). As an ensemble member she has appeared at Lincoln Center with the New York Philharmonic (Jeanne d’Arc au Bûcher) and toured with the Mark Morris Dance Group in their acclaimed production of Dido and Aeneas.
February, Folias and Fandangos will feature
Carlos Cuestas, Guitar
Classical guitarist and early plucked instrumentalist Carlos Cuestas is an active performer based in New York City. His musical versatility has allowed him to perform as a soloist and in chamber, orchestral, and traditional music ensembles on different plucked instruments in the United States, Mexico, Colombia, and Ireland. As a guitarist, Carlos has done in-depth studies of eighteenth and nineteenth-century guitar repertoire, particularly music for keyboard and guitar, and the art of improvisation in the style of the early Romantic period. As a continuo player, he has participated in numerous projects including opera and oratorio productions in New York City, New Jersey, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle, and San Francisco. Carlos has also delved into the centuries-old son jarocho tradition from Veracruz, Mexico, playing a consort of traditional instruments, and was a member of New York City ensemble Radio Jarocho. He is also a member of the Cline/Cuestas Duo with flutist Jenny Cline. Their debut album "Facets" is available on Amazon music.
Carlos, a Colombian national, is a PhD Candidate in Ethnomusicology at the City University of New York, The Graduate Center researching the effects of environmental change in the poetic and musical practice of son jarocho.