Meet the Soloists: ‘Messiah’ 2024
This December 7 & 8, we warmly embrace our cherished holiday tradition of Handel’s Messiah in Hill Auditorium. Under the baton of Scott Hanoian, the Ann Arbor Symphony and the UMS Choral Union will take the stage with four remarkable soloists.
We are honored to be joined by Lauren Snouffer, Eric Jurenas, Lunga Eric Hallam, and Christian Simmons for our 2024 Messiah performances.
Lauren Snouffer, soprano
Recognized for her unique artistic curiosity in world-class performances spanning the music of Claudio Monteverdi and Georg Frideric Handel through to Missy Mazzoli and Sir George Benjamin, American Lauren Snouffer is celebrated as one of the most versatile and respected sopranos on the international stage.
During the past season Lauren Snouffer made a Glyndebourne Festival debut as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte under the baton of Constantin Trinks and she created the principal role of Justine in the world premiere of Mikael Karlsson and Royce Vavrek’s opera Melancholia at the Royal Swedish Opera. Lauren Snouffer’s concert profile has yielded marvelous results with many of the world’s most distinguished conductors and orchestras including performances with Franz Welser-Möst and The Cleveland Orchestra, Rafaël Pichon and the Handel & Haydn Society, Maasaki Suzuki and the San Francisco Symphony, Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony, Jaap van Zweden and the New York Philharmonic, Alan Gilbert conducting the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Edo de Waart and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and with Marin Alsop and the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo.
Listen to Lauren Snouffer’s magnificent voice here:
Eric Jurenas, countertenor
Praised by The New York Times for his “beautiful, well-supported tone and compelling expression,” American countertenor Eric Jurenas has been featured on some of the world’s largest and most reputable stages. His dedication to baroque-era music, newly-created works, and everything in between, has established him as an influential voice.
Recent operatic engagements include productions at the Wiener Staatsoper, Komische Oper Berlin, Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, Theater an der Wien, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, The Santa Fe Opera, Michigan Opera Theatre, Opera Philadelphia, The Glimmerglass Festival, and Opera Lafayette.
A frequent concert performer and recitalist, he has been featured in programs of varied repertoire. Recent solo recitals include a program of Purcell, Ravel, and Mahler at New York’s Lincoln Center, British Heroes – a program of Handel’s English repertoire with La Chapelle Harmonique – at the Palace of Versailles, and Zeit steht still – a program of English lute song – at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music. A frequent performer of Handel and Bach, he has performed countless works with both modern symphony orchestras and baroque ensembles, including Boston Baroque, Colorado Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony, American Bach Soloists, Harvard Baroque Orchestra, Juilliard 415, Dayton Philharmonic, and Colorado Bach Ensemble.
Preview this selection of Handel featuring the wonderfully talented Eric Jurenas:
Lunga Eric Hallam, tenor 
This season, Hallam will make major orchestral debuts, singing Mozart’s Mass in C Major with Nathalie Stutzmann and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, later performing Handel’s Messiah with Masaaki Suzuki and the National Symphony Orchestra and also singing a baroque programme with Emmanuelle Haim and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
He will also debut Schubert’s Mass no.5 in A-flat with the São Paulo Symphony and sing a recital with Craig Terry at the Kennedy Center in Washington for Vocal Arts DC. On the stage, Lunga will make a debut at Minnesota Opera returning to the role of Count Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia.
Hallam debuted last season with the Houston Grand Opera, Pittsburgh Opera and a return to Wolf Trap Opera for his first Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte. He began his career in Cape Town, where he studied at the University of Cape Town College of Music, and was in the Young Artist Programme at Cape Town Opera.
At the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Lunga appeared in the Harris Theater’s Beyond the Aria series alongside Joyce DiDonato, and his recent debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti as the Judge in Un ballo in maschera. Recent performances at the Lyric Opera include the Sunday in the Park with Lyric’s Rising Stars concert, as well as in the Chicago premieres of Fire Shut Up in My Bones (Adult Nathan) and Le Comte Ory (First Courtier).
Hear Lunga Eric Hallam’s sensational voice in this performance of Bellini’s “La ricordanza” from Sole e Amore:
Christian Simmons, bass-baritone
Washington, D.C. native Christian Simmons, bass-baritone, was a winner in the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition. Simmons made his European debut with Deutsche Oper Berlin for the 2023-24 season, as a winner in the Opera Foundation’s 37th Annual Scholarship Competition.
With Deutsche Oper Berlin, Mr. Simmons was seen in Carmen, Anna Bolena, Tosca, Gianni Schicchi, Nabucco, Die Zauberflöte, Madama Butterfly, Lohengrin, La traviata, and La bohème. Also in the 2023-24 season, Simmons made his Atlanta Opera debut in La bohème and joined the Santa Fe Opera as an Apprentice Artist.
As a member of the Cafritz Young Artists of the Washington National Opera, Simmons has appeared on many stages within the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In the concert setting, Simmons was a featured soloist with Maestro Gianandrea Noseda and the National Symphony Orchestra, performing the bass soloist in Mozart’s Requiem and concert aria “Per questa bella mano” at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.
Simmons has performed with various festivals and companies around the world including the Morgan State University Theater, Bel Cantanti Opera Company, Washington Opera Society, Castleton Music Festival, Amalfi Coast Music Festival, Berlin Opera Academy, Bare Opera Company, and the Maryland Opera Studio. Simmons has also been featured as the bass soloist in such works as G.F. Handel’s Messiah, J.S. Bach’s Magnificat, Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem, and Franz Schubert’s Mass in G Major.
Hear Christian Simmons beautifully perform a selection from Mozart’s Don Giovanni:
