Resources

Tenor Randall Outland has appeared in leading roles in many of the world's major opera houses. In Europe, he has sung at the Vienna State Opera, Cologne Opera, Berlin State Opera, Dresden Opera, Hamburg State Opera and at the Royal Drottningholm Theater in Stockholm, Sweden. In North America , Mr. Outland has performed with the New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego and Canadian operas. He has appeared in the Colombian cities of Bogot?, Medellin and Cali, and in Tel Aviv with the Israel Philharmonic. His operatic repertoire spans the history of opera, from the works of Monteverdi, Handel and Mozart to the twentieth century works of Richard Strauss, Hans Werner Henze, Leos Janek and Benjamin Britten. Mr. Outland has sung twenty-six roles in thirty-four different productions. He has collaborated with world renowned conductors and stage directors. Critics have lauded Randall Outland as "a tenor of high quality", "a tenor with an extraordinarily beautiful voice" who "sings with melting sweetness and gleaming top notes".

Mr. Outland's abilities on the recital stage were recognized by the Franz Schubert Institute in Baden, Austria, where he was awarded the prize for Excellence in the Interpretation and Performance of the German Lied and featured in a recital broadcast over Austrian National Radio. The tenor has performed as soloist at Lincoln Center s "Mostly Mozart Festival" with renowned conductor Robert Shaw. Randall Outland continues to perform recitals and concerts in the United States and Europe. He is a member of the voce faculty at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. webpage

A native New Yorker, baritone Joseph Amaya holds the Bachelor in Music Education from the Crane School of Music, Potsdam New York and a Master of Music and Doctor of Music in Performance from Florida State University where he studied with famed mezzo-soprano Elena Nikolaidi. Dr. Amaya has taught voice and opera at the University of Georgia, Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and the University of Texas at Arlington and has appeared in over fifty cities throughout the United States and Canada as both concert artist and interpreter of leading operatic roles, with such notable artists as Anna Moffo, Rosalind Elias, and Richard Woitach, all of the Metropolitan Opera. Dr. Amaya has received critical acclaim for such diverse roles as Germont in La Traviata, Dulcamara in Donizetti's Elixir of Love, Valentin in Faust, and Figaro in the Barber of Seville. Additionally, Dr. Amaya has sung in New York City with Musica Sacra under the direction of Richard Westenberg and guest conductors Leonard Bernstein and Lucas Foss. Recently he appeared as guest soloist with the San Antonio Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, San Antonio Choral Society, and Schola Contorum of Texas. Dr. Amaya joined Appalachian's School of Music faculty as the Director of the Opera Theatre and Associate Professor of voice in 1989.webpage

Mary Gayle Greene's combination of vocalism, musicianship, stage presence and theatrical ability has earned her enthusiastic worldwide praise: Das Opern Glas has lauded, "Ms. Greene's singing was superb...she has a bright voluminous voice." "One should note...the extraordinary mezzo-soprano Mary Gayle Greene. This is a voice of molten chocolate. What a voice!" exclaimed the News and Observer when describing Greene's "dark mahogany, deep plush mezzo-soprano sound." "...Mary Gayle Greene's singing was of the highest caliber" noted the Bonner Rundshau. The composer Gian Carlo Menotti "was absolutely struck by her terrific performance" of one of his works after she was called on short notice to fill in for a singer who became ill.

From the fioratura of Bach and Handel, to the dramatic proclamations of Richard Strauss, Greene commands an impressive breadth of repertoire encompassing many musical styles. Her interpretations include those of the bel canto of Bellini an d Rossini, as well as those of the lyric and dramatic music of Mozart and Verdi. Her distinguished performances on the operatic stage include appearances at the Edinburgh Music Festival, BÈhnen der Stadt Bonn, Chicago Lyric Opera Studio, and Opera Theater of Saint Louis. In concert performance, Greene has been a guest soloist with the Saint Louis Symphony and the North Carolina Symphony under the batons of Leonard Slatkin and Gerhardt Zimmermann. She has also appeared with the symphony orchestra s of Greensboro (North Carolina), Canton (Ohio), Chicago (Grant Park), and Knoxville (Tennessee).

Greene attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Education and a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance. She did post graduate studies at the Franz Schubert InstitÈt of German Lieder and at the Saint Louis Conservatory of Music. She studies voice with Edward Zambara of the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute, and coaches with John Wustman of the University of Illinois. She is a Metropolitan Opera National Auditions finalist, a Center for Contemporary Opera International Competition finalist as well as the recipient of a Metropolitan Opera Career Advancement Grant and a Franz Schubert InstitÈt Scholarship.

During two years in the North Carolina Visiting Artist Program (administered by the North Carolina Arts Council), Greene traveled throughout North Carolina performing opera, recital, and chamber music while continuing to be a busy soloist and recitalist throughout the United States. Recent concert and oratorio engagements include those of Verdi's Requiem, Bach's Magnificat, Handel's Israel in Egypt, Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder, Mozart's Mass in c minor and Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, the Greensboro Symphony, the Durham Civic Chorale, and the North Carolina Symphony. In the summer of 1997, at Maestro Gerhardt Zimm ermann's invitation, she sang the title role in Carmen at the Breckenridge International Music Festival in Colorado. Recent performances have featured her singing the role of Dorabella in Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte with the North Carolina Symphony, performing Handel's Messiah at Duke University, and appearing as guest soloist in Manuel de Falla's El Amor Brujo with the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle. webpage

The School of Music's own "APPropos!"