Tim Krol
Baritone
Tim Krol is a lyric baritone based in New York City. His repertoire
spans from early music to modern classical and opera, as well as musical
theatre and jazz. For nine years, Tim performed and toured worldwide
with Chanticleer, America's premier a cappella vocal ensemble. He can be
heard on thirteen Chanticleer recordings, including the Grammy
Award-winning "Colors of Love.” As a Bach specialist, Tim has performed
many of Bach’s cantatas, masses and Passions throughout the United
States. He was an Adams Fellow at the Carmel Bach Festival in 2004, and
has attended the festival every summer since then, singing various
choral and solo roles. Tim also portrayed Pilate in the critically
acclaimed staged production of Bach’s "St Matthew Passion,” directed by
Sir Jonathan Miller, at Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Tim was a soloist with the famed "Sacred Music in a Sacred Space” series
at St Ignatius Loyola in NYC, in Bach’s "B Minor Mass.” He was also
featured in two different productions of Leonard Bernstein's "Dybbuk”
with the San Francisco Ballet. He trained with a Greek Psaltist and a
Swami in order to prepare for his solo debut with Minnesota Orchestra
and the world premiere of "Ikon of Eros” by Sir John Tavener. In the
critically acclaimed recording of David Conte's chamber opera, "The Gift
of the Magi,” he played the lead role of "Jim.” He performed and
recorded three song cycles by Thomas Oboe Lee: Gregory
Corso’s"Marriage;” Oscar Wilde’s "De profundis;” and Ivor Gurney’s "The
Pity of War.” Tim’s album of a cappella lullabies, "All Through The
Night,” which he produced and sang with three Los Angeles colleagues in
1989, now reaches a worldwide audience, thanks to Amazon, CDBaby.com and
iTunes. Tim performs regularly with Trinity Choir, American Symphony
Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, and
Musica Sacra. He made his solo debut with the Berkshire Choral Festival
in August 2016, singing two different roles in an oratorio by the late
Stephen Paulus, "To Be Certain of the Dawn." In October 2016, Tim joined Clarion Music Society on a
tour of Russia, then London, to celebrate the release of Clarion’s
latest discovery of composer Maximilian Steinberg’s stunning a cappella
work, "Passion Week." The album was nominated for a 2017 Grammy Award for Best Choral Performance.
Rita Greenstein
Co-Founder/Rehearsal Pianist
Pianist, Tracks 5, 38, 43
Rita Greenstein was the first person to introduce Robert Franz’s songs to Tim Krol, and was instrumental in helping formulate a concept for this project. After graduating from NYU and CW Post College, Rita began teaching in the Farmingdale, Long Island school district in the late 1960s. She has been a teacher, coach and collaborative pianist ever since. She was introduced to Robert Franz’s songs over 40 years ago, while studying voice with the late Harriet Spink. After her husband passed in 2003, Rita’s children encouraged her to move to New York City. She has been a happy Manhattanite since 2005. In 2013, the Manhattan Neighborhood Network released a segment on Rita’s musical life, which can be found on YouTube. In 2016, cinematographer Dave Adams released another documentary about her, titled "Lovely Rita.”
Michael T.C. Hey
Pianist, Tracks 1-4, 6-25, 27, 28, 35, 37, 40-42, 44
Described as "scintillating” and "tremendously virtuosic” (The Straits Times, Singapore, 2016), concert organist Michael Hey has become increasingly visible, both in the US and on international concert stages.
Michael most recently appeared with conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony in Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Organ with Percussion Orchestra. In 2014 he was the featured organ soloist for the New York City Ballet’s newly commissioned work, "Acheron." Set to the music of Francis Poulenc’s Organ Concerto, Michael's performance was "vividly played," according to the New York Times. He has also performed at notable venues such as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, the Kimmel Center, the Kennedy Center, and the New World Symphony.
Not exclusively a solo organist, Michael enjoys a varied career collaborating with other artists on piano, including recitals, improvisation, and transcribing. He has performed live with soprano Renée Fleming, tenor Matthew Polenzani, and mezzo-soprano Isabel Leonard. He recently recorded an anthology of songs by Robert Franz with Grammy Award-winning baritone Tim Krol, which can be digitally downloaded at FranzFound.com
Michael is also the Organist and Assistant Director of Music at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. When Pope Francis visited the US in 2015, Michael played organ in his honor, at both the Cathedral and at Madison Square Garden.
Michael's work at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral continues. He plays for services throughout the week, which can be heard on broadcasts through Sirius XM radio, television, or online. A solo recording of Michael playing the organ of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral will be released by the JAV recording label in late 2017.
Michael graduated from The Juilliard School in 2014 where he received both his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees in organ performance under Paul Jacobs. He is represented in North America exclusively by Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists, LLC.
Colin Fowler
Pianist, Tracks 26, 29, 36, 39
Colin Fowler has been pianist and music director for the Mark Morris
Dance Group since 2005. He has performed over 40 pieces with the company
on almost every keyboard instrument possible, including the harmonium
and toy piano, and has conducted performances of Mozart Dances, Acis and
Galatea and The Hard Nut. Under the artistic direction of Mark Morris,
Fowler was a featured musician at the 2013 Ojai Music Festival,
performing in six different concerts. He was notably featured on the
closing day of the festival performing Lou Harrison's Concerto for Organ
and Percussion and Concerto for Piano and Javanese Gamelan,
performances the Wall Street Journal praised as 'hypnotic' and 'heroic'.
Hailed by the New York Times as 'invaluable' and 'central to Morris'
music', he was appointed music director in 2013.
A versatile musician and conductor, Fowler works in many arenas of the
music scene in NYC. He is a veteran of numerous Broadway shows, most
recently performing in the Tony Award winning musical Jersey Boys. A
seasoned church musician, Fowler has led choirs and services at Calvary
Baptist Church, Trinity Wall Street and Marble Collegiate Church. He
also leads services and concerts at Park Avenue Synagogue, where he has
served as Music Director since 2012. He has been a professor at both NYU
and Nyack College. As a classical soloist and collaborative artist, he
has performed and recorded with world renowned musicians and ensembles,
including Deborah Voigt, The Knights, the American Brass Quintet, James
Galway, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Mark Janas
Pianist, Tracks 30-34
Mark Janas began his piano studies at the age of three, composed a sonatina
at five, and by high school was conducting the Hammond Area Youth
Orchestra. At Indiana University he studied with pianist Karen Shaw,
composer Bernhard Heiden, and conductors Jan Harrington and Tibor Kozma,
among others. While a senior at Indiana, he was chosen by Leonard
Bernstein to conduct at Bernstein festivals in Israel and Austria. He
was twice Bernstein’s assistant, for concerts with the New York
Philharmonic and Boston Symphony orchestras. After receiving a bachelor
of music degree from Indiana University and a brief stint as associate
conductor of Texas Opera Theatre, he acquired a master’s degree in
orchestral conducting at Rice University, while simultaneously founding
and conducting a professional group, Orchestra Texas.
In 1982, he was a conducting fellow at the Los Angeles Philharmonic
Institute, studying with Bernstein, Tilson Thomas, Hogwood, and
Blomstedt. In 1984, he jumped the fence to musical theater, composing a
score for an historical drama The Lone Star, later recorded in London
with members of the LSO, and later conducted the Houston Symphony in a
performance of a Suite from the work. Janas music directed the world’s
largest production of Hello, Dolly!, creating all-new arrangements for
its star, Marilyn Maye. He performed all over the United States as
associate conductor for two national tours of Les Misérables, as well as
music directing for the Yale Repertory Theatre, Hippodrome State
Theatre, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, and New Dramatists, to name a few.
He music directed the Chautauqua Opera Cabarets in 1998 and more
recently has performed and released a CD with 2001 Best Debut BackStage
Bistro and MAC award winner Julie Reyburn. Performances with Maree
Johnson took him to Australia, and last summer two New York readings of
his original musical, PoeSCrypt, were very well received; a recording of
the work is currently in process.
Mr. Janas has taught at Yale, Barnard, Concordia, and NYU, as well as
his "Acting The Song" class with colleague Andy Gale. He received a
special Bistro Award in 2010 for creating "The Salon,” a NYC-based
open-mic event, and has been awarded eight MAC Awards – six for being
Salon’s Founder & Artistic Director, one for Best Host and one for
Best Song.