Tulsa Chorale begins its 33rd season of performances with “Music for Royalty,” September 28 at at 7:30 pm First Baptist Church Tulsa, 420 S Detroit Ave in downtown Tulsa. The concert features Coronation Anthems by Handel, Zadok the Priest, The King Shall Rejoice and Mozart Coronation Mass. Read more about the featured soloists below:
Tulsa native STEPHANIE WASHINGTON received her Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory and College. She furthered her studies with acclaimed soprano Carol Vaness at the Indiana Jacobs School of Music. At Indiana, Stephanie was a recipient of the Barbara and David Jacobs Fellowship where she served as an Associate Instructor of Voice. Stephanie was a National Semi-Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and a Semi-Finalist in Houston Grand Opera’s Eleanor Mccollum Competition. As a Tulsa Opera Studio Artist she appeared as Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Sister Catherine(Dead Man Walking), and A Lady with a Cake Box (Postcard from Morocco). She spent two summer apprenticeships with the Santa Fe Opera and two seasons with Cincinnati Opera’s outreach and education program. Ms Washington was also an Apprentice with Central City Opera in Colorado where she was a recipient of the E. Atwil Gilman Award. Other training programs include Music Academy of the West under mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, and the “Oberlin in Italy” program in Urbania, Italy. She has
appeared as a soloist with the Atlanta Symphony and the Southwest Florida Symphony. Most recently Stephanie performed as Isabelle/Madeline in Face on the Ballroom with Tulsa Opera. She currently is a Filstrup Resident Artist with Tulsa Opera this season where she will appear as a featured soloist in Tulsa Opera’s Grand Voices Concert in October and the role of Michaëla in “The Tragedy of Carmen” in February 2025.
CATHERINE CONGER is a native Oklahoman who owns a successful voice studio in Tulsa. Catherine holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Oklahoma, a Master of Opera from The University of Kansas and completed graduate work at the New England Conservatory of Music. Catherine has performed with The Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Tulsa Opera, and Theater Tulsa in roles including Maddalena (Rigoletto), Charlotte (Werther), Zita (Gianni Schicchi), Madame Thenardier (Les Miserables), Emma Goldman (Ragtime). She most recently served as the music director for Tulsa Performing Arts Centers production of Fiddler on the Roof. Catherine made her debut with the Bartlesville Chorale last season as the alto soloist in the Mozart Requiem. This season, Catherine is thrilled to make her debut with Tulsa Chorale as the alto soloist in the Mozart Coronation Mass. Catherine credits her husband and children as her muse and heart.
Praised by the Miami Herald for his “penetrating tenor,” JUSTIN KROLL is a focused singer who combines an exciting instrument with radiant musicality and an undeniable stage presence.
Justin is currently a Filstrup Resident Artist with Tulsa Opera, where he recently performed Larry/Matt in Henry Mollicone’s The Face on the Barroom Floor in a performance entitled “Opera Rocks the Country.” The 2024/2025 season is an exciting one for Justin, including several role and house debuts. Making a company debut with Landlocked Opera, Justin debuted the role of Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. Also making a company debut with Winter Opera of Saint Louis, Justin will debut the role of Riccardo Percy in Donizetti’s Anna Bolena. Justin will also be seen in concert with the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra performing operatic arias and ensembles, and as the tenor soloist in Dvořák’s Stabat Mater with Tulsa Opera.
Other recent performances include appearances with Opera Idaho, as a
2022/2023 Emerging Artist in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, Verdi’s Macbeth, and Dvořák’s Rusalka; Central City Opera, as a 2022 Bonfils-Stanton Apprentice Artist in Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza, and Strauss’s Die Fledermaus; Geneva Light Opera in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore, Madison Opera in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, Madison Symphony in Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Painted Sky Opera of Oklahoma City in Haydn’s La Canterina and Puccini’s Tosca.
In competition, Justin was recently the 4th Place winner in the 39th Annual Palm Springs Opera Guild of the Desert Competition in Palm Springs, California; the 3rd Place winner in the Texoma Region of the NATS Artist Awards Competition; as well as a semi-finalist for the 2024 Heartland Sings Competition in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the 2024 D’Angelo Young Artist Competition at Opera Tampa, and the 2023 Rochester International Voice Competition. Justin has also represented the United States in competitions abroad – winning both the Dr. Roselia Reimer Duersken prize and the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra prize at the 8th Linus Lerner International Voice Competition in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, and as a quarterfinalist at the 6th UNISA (University of South Africa) International Voice Competition in Pretoria, South Africa.
A native Texan, Justin holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Voice Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also holds the Master of Music degree in Voice Performance, and the Bachelor of Music degree in Music History & Literature, both from Baylor University, as well as an Associate of Arts degree in Music from McLennan Community College. Justin is currently Assistant Professor of Voice and Director of Opera Workshop at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma and maintains professional memberships in the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS), The National Opera Association (NOA), and the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA).
Baritone SAMUEL KRALL maintains a blended career as concert artist, choral singer, and educator. In 2014,Krall made his Carnegie Hall debut singing the role of Sir Thomas Morton in Howard Hanson’s Merry Mount with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Krall frequently appeared with the orchestra including as Narrator for Smith’s The Orchestra Games and as soloist for Bach’s Magnificat. Krall has been soloist with several orchestras and vocal ensembles on works includingMozart’s Requiem, Hayden’s Lord Nelson Mass, Stravinsky’s l’Histoire du Soldat, Finzi’s In Terra Pax, Bach’s St. John Passion, and Portman’s The Little Prince in which he sang the role of The King. Prior to moving to Tulsa, Krall was active in New York as a member of the professional vocal ensembles Voices, Vox Luminae, and The St. Michael’s Singers and is now currently member of Tulsa’s St. John’s Chamber Choir and The Oklahoma Bach Choir. With degrees in voice, classical guitar, and arts administration, Krall serves as Director & Applied Associate Professor of Arts, Culture, and Entertainment (ACE) Management at the University of Tulsa.