Lauren Snouffer and John Holiday Featured in Ars Lyrica Houston's A VIENNESE NEW YEAR, 12/31

Ms. Snouffer was recently seen as Phénice and La Gloire in Armide with Mercury Baroque in Houston and Paris, Clorinda in Monteverdi's Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda with Juilliard415, and soprano soloist in Kurtág's Messages of the Late R. V. Troussova with AXIOM.

Ms. Snouffer's other roles include Ruth Baldwin in John Musto's Later the Same Evening, Minnie in Annie Get Your Gun, Florestine in John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles, the Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel, and Princess (#1) in Conrad Susa's Transformations.

Ms. Snouffer spent the summer of 2012 covering the role of Agnes in George Benjamin's Written On Skin with the Aix-en-Provence Festival and will revisit the piece in 2013 with Maggio Musicale in Florence; the Royal Opera, Covent Garden; and the Vienna Festival. She completed undergraduate studies at Rice University, where she sang Zerlina in Don Giovanni, and earned her master's degree at Juilliard. Future engagements include her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in 2014.

In repertoire encompassing George Frideric Handel's 'Giulio Cesare in Egitto' to Jonathan Dove's 'Flight' and beyond, countertenor John Holiday's expressive and richly beautiful voice has made him an increasingly sought after artist, possessing a "vocal instrument that threatens to equal the name artists in his range." (Herald Times)

In the 2012 – 2013 season, Mr. Holiday makes his Carnegie Hall debut as soloist in Bernstein's 'Chichester Psalms' with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under Robert Spano, as well as in performances for audiences in Atlanta. He will also join the roster of the Metropolitan Opera to cover Nireno in 'Giulio Cesare' under Harry Bicket in David McVicar's new production. Mr. Holiday made his company debut with Portland Opera in Phillip Glass's 'Galileo Galilei' in the 2011 – 2012 season and will reprise his roles in the same work at the Cincinnati Opera in the summer of 2013. He was soloist in Handel's Messiah with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra and performed with the Chorus of Westerly (Rhode Island) in their concert of Purcell's Come, Ye Sons of Art. He was also seen in a benefit concert at Dallas Opera having recently been the first place winner of the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition.

Recently, Mr. Holiday was an apprentice artist at Santa Fe Opera where he covered the role of Corrado in Peter Sellars's production of Vivaldi's 'Griselda'. Additionally, he was seen as Tolomeo in 'Giulio Cesare in Egitto' at the College Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, soloist with Bourbon Baroque in Louisville, and soloist in Handel's 'Messiah'. A career highlight includes an invitation by Pope John Paul II to sing as soloist for High Mass at St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel in 2002.

In addition to the Dallas Opera Guild Vocal Competition, Mr. Holliday recently received a first prize from the Sullivan Foundation for 2012 and was also awarded fifth place in the Palm Beach Opera Competition in 2011. In 2007, he was the first place winner in his district of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. From 2004 to 2006, Mr. Holiday was a first place winner of the TEXOMA region of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.

In addition to the classical repertoire, Mr. Holiday excels in jazz music having opened for Grammy award winner Jason Mraz in concert. He is a graduate of the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University, where he earned his Bachelor of Music in voice performance and received his Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music.

Ars Lyrica Houston: A Viennese New Year, is slated for Tuesday, December 31, 2012 at 9:00 p.m. The annual gala will be held afterward at 10:30 p.m. in Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, 800 Bagby St., Houston, Texas. For subscriptions and single tickets, call 713-315-2525 or visit Arslyricahouston.org. For more about Ars Lyrica, find them on Facebook and Twitter.

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