Our fall 2018 concert will feature the talented voices of Helene Zindarsian, soprano, and Sepp Hammer, baritone. Read about them below, and we look forward to seeing you at the show!

Helene Zindarsian

Helene Zindarsian is admired for a voice that “goes straight to the heart of the listener.” A native San Franciscan, she made her professional debut as the soprano soloist in Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the San Francisco Ballet Company after being “discovered” in Italy during an impromptu performance in a Sienese palazzo.

A frequent soloist with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Helene has been featured in Campra’s Requiem, Purcell’s Birthday Ode to Queen Mary, Rameau’s Grand Motet, Handel’s Samson, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Rosenmüller’s Magnificat, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Purcell’s Dioclesian, Cozzolani’s Dixit Dominus, and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasia. Recent highlights include Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacemand Mozart’s Requiemwith the Marin Symphony, and Haydn’s The Seasonswith Marin Oratorio. Other favorite solo appearances include Contra Costa Chorale’s 50^thAnniversary celebration where she appeared in Haydn’sLord Nelson Mass, Vaughan Williams’s Serenade to Musicand a world premiere by Stephen Main entitled Where Everything is Music. She also recently ventured into costume, playing the roles of “Venus” in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis, and the “First Witch” in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneaswith Marin Baroque.

Helene also enjoys performing with many other premier Bay Area ensembles including American Bach Soloists, San Francisco Symphony Chorus, San Francisco Opera Chorus, Mark Morris Dance Group, and the Carmel Bach Festival Chorale.

Beyond the Bay Area, she is also familiar to audiences in Chicago, where she hasperformed Berlioz’s Les nuits d’étéwith the Park Ridge Civic Orchestra, a group with whom she earned acclaim for her interpretation of Strauss’s Four Last Songson a prior tour. As a result of these performances, she received a grant to produce the album “Janabar,” a collection of Armenian liturgical hymns, some of which date to the 5^thCentury. The project received its international debut in a solo concert presented by Filarmonica Laudamo in Messina, Italy, where she has been invited to return for a third time to give a series of solo recitals in March 2019.

Sepp Hammer

Sepp Hammer’s voice has been described as showing “warm baritone gravity” (The Boston Globe). His recent concert engagements include the role of Jesus in Bach’s St. Matthew Passionwith California Bach Society, Rutter’s Mass of the Childrenwith Solano Symphony, Zelenka’s Gloriawith Chora Nova, Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songswith Contra Costa Chorale, and, with various ensembles, CharpentierMesse des Morts, Schütz Symphoniae Sacrae, Bach Magnificat, Bach B Minor Mass, Haydn Lord Nelson Mass, Schubert Mass in G Major, BrahmsRequiem, Fauré Requiem, and Duruflé Requiem.

On the opera stage, Sepp’s roles include Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas, the title role in Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, the Speaker in The Magic Flute, and John Proctor in The Crucible. Sepp holds a master’s degree in vocal performance from New England Conservatory and is a member of the Philharmonia Baroque Chorale.