Soloists
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Thomas Cooley |
Thomas Cooley is equally at home on the opera, concert, and recital stage. His opera repertoire ranges from works of Monteverdi and Handel, through Mozart and Rossini, to the present day. As a member of the ensemble at the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich, he sang such roles as Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, the title role in Idomeneo, and Count Almaviva in Rossini’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia. As a concert performer, he has appeared throughout Europe and the U.S. with major orchestras and ensembles including the Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Bavarian Radio Orchestra, Bach Collegium Stuttgart, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, and Orchestra of St. Luke’s. His concert repertoire encompasses the works of Monteverdi, Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Elgar, Kodaly, Britten, and Penderecki.
In addition to his appearance with Music of the Baroque this season, Thomas Cooley returns to the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra for Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ and will perform Haydn’s “Lord Nelson” Mass with the Kansas City Symphony; Mozart’s Requiem in his San Diego Symphony début, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with Handel & Haydn Society, the Evangelist in Bach’s St. John Passion with Calgary Philharmonic, and Philip Glass’ Symphony No. 5 with Dennis Russell Davies in Germany.
Highlights of past seasons include his débuts with the Cleveland Orchestra (Welser-Most), St. Louis Symphony (McGegan), Kansas City Symphony (McGegan), and at the Carmel Bach Festival (Weil), as well as return appearances with the Atlanta Symphony (Spano), St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, tours of Spain and Germany with the Windsbacher Knabenchor, the title role in a concert version of Bernstein’s Candide with the Charleston Symphony, and concerts with the International Bach-Academie Stuttgart, as well as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in Japan with Eiji Oue.
Recent recital highlights include his performance of Britten’s Winter Words and Still Falls the Rain at the Britten Festival in Aldeburgh, and works by Haydn and Beethoven at the Göttingen Händelfestspiele. He performs regularly with the pianist Donald Sulzen.
Recent CD recordings include Handel’s Athalia with Peter Neumann and the Kölner Kammerchor (MDG), the world premiere recording of Vivaldi’s Dixit Dominus for Deutsche Grammophon, and Handel’s Samson with Festspiel Orchester Göttingen (McGegan), released in 2009 on the Carus label.