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Meet the Director
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Adrian G. Horn, Director of the Finger Lakes Choral Festival, has had
a lifetime of involvement in virtually every aspect of choral music. He sang with Robert Shaw for two years while still in
high school, interrupted his musical training by serving as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division to secure the GI
bill for college, received a BS in vocal performance at SUNY Fredonia (where he was Captain of the baseball team and also
played semi-pro football with the Fredonia Orioles) and a Masters Degree specializing in Choral Music from Columbia University,
where he concurrently was employed an Instructor in Music Education. After teaching public school music for two years, Mr.
Horn entered the Navy and was appointed Director of the Naval Aviation Cadet Choir while undergoing training as a Naval Aviation
Officer. After completing his tour of duty, Mr. Horn became a professional chorister with the San
Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera. Subsequently, he entered the doctoral program at Columbia University, but was
sidetracked from completing a thesis on developing community choruses by the priority of putting his ideas into action. What
followed was a remarkable adventure of choral activities, including: Founding Director, San Francisco Choral Society, a 250 voice symphonic chorus, regularly performing before
sold-out houses at Davies Symphony Hall
As a conductor, Mr. Horn has an extraordinary ability
to inspire singers to bring passion and meaning to their music. Singers stay on their toes because they don't want to
miss any of his colorful comments or unique musical insights. At one rehearsal, before a chorus and orchestra of nearly 500
performing the Berlioz Requiem at the cavernous San Francisco Civic Auditorium he quipped, "All I wanted to do was get
some people together to sing, and the whole thing got totally out of hand." At the height
of his success with the San Francisco Choral Society, after conducting three sold-out performances of Carmina Burana at Davies
Symphony Hall in October 1992, Mr. Horn left San Francisco to pursue perhaps his most challenging career, stay-at-home-Dad
for his three young boys. But music always seemed to follow, as did the Directorship of the Sequim Community Chorus in Washington,
and after relocating to New York, the Jamestown Choral Society. The Finger Lakes Choral Festival,
now entering its tenth season, is the current focus of Mr. Horn's life-long obsession with bringing people together to
sing great choral music.
Meet the Soloists
Baritone Jonathan Beyer has performed a wide variety of repertoire
with Oper Frankfurt, Pittsburgh Opera, Dallas Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Fort Worth Opera, Hong Kong
Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Opera Grand Rapids, Knoxville Opera, The Chautauqua Institution, Tanglewood Music Center, Accademia
Verdiana, and Teatro di Verdi. He has also appeared with the Chicago Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony,
Netherlands Radio Orchestra, Lorin Maazel’s Châteauville Foundation, Chatam Baroque, Baton Rouge Symphony, Vermont Symphony,
Southwest Michigan Symphony, the Erie Philharmonic and the Festival at Aix-en-Provence.
Mr. Beyer was a National Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council
Competition, 1st Place Winner at the Marian Anderson Prize for Emerging
Classical Artists, and has won the Sullivan Foundation, McCammon Competition,
Irma M. Cooper Competition, Violetta DuPont Competition, Rochester’s Classical
Idol, New Jersey Verismo Competition, Philadelphia Orchestra’s Greenfield
Competition, Astral Artist Auditions, Pittsburgh Concert Society Auditions, SAI
Competition, American Opera Society Competition, the Union League Civic and
Arts Foundation Competition, and the Bel Canto Foundation. He has also received
awards from the Sullivan Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, Jensen
Foundation, Solti Foundation, Loren L. Zachary, Irene Dalis, Liederkranz,
Charles Lynam Competitions, Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation, Orpheus
Competition, National Opera Association, Anna Sosenko Foundation, Shreveport
Singer of the Year, Mario Lanza Foundation, Dresden Opera Competition, NATS,
Giulio Gari Foundation, Palm Beach Opera, Jose Iturbi Foundation, Liederkranz
and Neue Stimmen competitions. In addition to a busy opera and concert schedule,
Mr. Beyer is an avid recitalist and has been awarded degrees from the Curtis Institute of Music and the Chicago College of
Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.
Celebrated basso and Narrator Thomas Paul has been widely acknowledged as
one of the most vocally gifted and musically versatile singers of his generation. Since his Carnegie Hall debut in 1961, he
has distinguished himself with enduring international success in an enormous operatic, oratorio and contemporary chamber music
repertoire.
Over the past five decades, he has been a frequent guest soloist in performances and recordings with the Boston Symphony,
the Chicago Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and other major orchestras
of the United States and Canada. Abroad, his engagements have included Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Mannheim, Zurich, Kiev, Helsinki,
Beijing and Shenyang for Bach's "Saint Matthew Passion", Bartok's "Bluebeard's Castle", Handel's "Jephtha", Shostakovich Symphonies
13 ('Babi Yar') and No. 14. His major recordings include works by Bach, Beethoven, Beach, Berlioz, Carter, Handel, Haydn,
Mendelssohn, Mozart, Rands, Schoenberg and Varese, winning a Grammy nomination for Haydn's "The Seven Last Words of Christ"
with the Juilliard String Quartet on SONY Classical, performed at Carnegie Hall and recorded at the Library of Congress.
Professor of Voice at the Eastman School of Music for three decades, and the resident basso soloist at the Aspen Music Festival
for twenty years, he established a vocal chamber music fellowship program and a Bach aria study and performance class. As
a member the the New York City Bach Aria Group, he toured the continent, sang, held master classes and conducted cantatas
in the Bach Aria Institute at SUNY Stony Brook. Currently, he is developing a role as narrator for the rich orchestra[ repertoire
that includes: "ALincoln Portrait", "Peter and the Wolf", "L'histoire du Soldat", "Oedipus Rex", "The Flood", "Henry V", "Egmont","A
Midsummer Night's Dream", Walton's "Facade" and "Henry V".
Soprano Seyoung Jeong, who holds a Doctoral of Musical Arts degree in Piano Performance, is rapidly gaining attention
as a singer. She has performed the role of Adina in L’elisir d’amor from the Eastman Opera Gala (March 2010),
the role of Sister Angelica in Suor Angelica by Puccini (January 2010), and the role of Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro at
Eastman Theatre (April 2009). She also appeared as a soprano soloist in performances of Dubois’ The Seven Last Words
of Christ with the Floris UMC Choir (April 2011), Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Eastman Summer Sing (July 2010), Beethoven’s
Missa Solemnis with the Finger Lakes Choral Festival, Brahms’ Requiem with the Eastman Summer Sing (July 2009), and
Beethoven's C-major Mass and Schumann's Requiem for Mignon with the Eastman-Rochester Chorus (December 2008). Her
previous concert performances include the Fifth Annual Mercury Opera Rochester Recital, the Society of Composers, Inc. Concert,
Benefit Performance for Cottrill’s Opera House, St. Thomas Center, a soprano soloist in Händel’s Messiah, the
Requiem of Gabriel Fauré, and Vivaldi’s Gloria. As a native of South Korea, Dr. Jeong has earned a BM and MM Degree
in Piano Performance at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea, another MM Degree from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh,
PA., and was awarded a DMA Degree from West Virginia University in 2007. She also finished her MM degree from Eastman School
of Music in Voice Performance and Literature in 2010. 
Mezzo Soprano Erin Gonzalez, rom Las Vegas, Nevada, just finished her Masters
in Vocal Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, where she studied voice with Jan Opalach. Erin received
her B.M in Vocal Performance from Chapman University in Orange, California. While at Chapman, Erin performed the roles of
the Third Spirit in Die Zauberflöte, Nancy in Albert Herring, Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus, La Infermiera in Suor Angelica,
and Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi. She also was a soloist in Mozart’s Mass in c minor with the Chapman University Choir.
In June 2009 she performed the role of Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with the Nevada Opera Theatre. Last spring, Erin covered
the role of Dorabella from Così fan tutte in the Opera Gala with Eastman Opera Theatre. In November, she was awarded second
place in the Friends of Eastman Opera (FEO) Voice Competition. She performed the title role of Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo
ed Euridice with the Eastman Opera Theatre in January 2011.
Tenor Pablo Bustos is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music, where he
received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Vocal Performance. He frequently appears as a concert soloist,
focusing his talents on the Baroque and Classical repertoire.
Mr. Bustos’ recent solo concert appearances include: Handel’s Ode to St. Cecilia, conducted by Ton Koopman
with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, as well as Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle with the Gregory Kunde
Chorale, and Handel’s Messiah, with the Fort Street Chorale. Upcoming engagements include: the Evangelist in Bach's
St. John's Passion with the Voices Ensemble, Honegger's King David with the Fort Street Chorale, and the arias for Bach’s
St. Matthew’s Passion, with Finger Lakes Choral Festival. Singing the role of Damon, opposite Metropolitan Opera singer
John McVeigh and Jennifer Aylmer, Pablo made his operatic debut in semi-staged performances of Handel's Acis and Galatea with
the Detroit Oratorio Society. Recent operatic engagements include Alfred in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, the Witch in Humperdinck's
Hansel and Gretel, the Snake in Portman's The Little Prince, Tamino in Mozart's Die Zauberflote with Opera Theatre of Weston
and the role of Scipione in the modern world premiere of Maria Teresa Agnesi's baroque opera La Sofonista with La Donna Musicale
Baroque Ensemble inBoston, MA.
In 2006, Mr. Bustos was a finalist in the Philadelphia Bach Festival’s International Bach Aria Competition. He continues
to study with soprano Rita Shane and regularly coaches with tenor Gregory Kunde. Mr. Bustos currently resides in Rochester,
NY , where he is the Organist and Director of the Music Ministry for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Reformation, as
well as Adjunct Voice Professor for the Rochester Institute of Technology, Liberal Arts College.
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Meet the Accompanists
Accompanist Dr. Ines Draskovic has performed throughout Europe and United
States. she is a graduate of University of Belgrade (Belgrade, Yugoslavia), Ithaca College (MM) and Eastman School of Music
(DMA). Her teachers include Alexei Nasedkin, Phiroze Mehta and Rebecca Penneys. Dr. Draskovic has won several piano competitions,
including the Ithaca College Concerto Competition, Republic of Serbia Piano Competition and Piano Competition in Stresa, Italy,
where she was a finalist. She has participated in festivals and masterclasses in Europe and United States (Colorado). Formerly
a faculty member at Ithaca College, Dr. Draskovic is currently teaching at the Finger Lakes Community College in Canandaigua,
NY. In addition to her solo career, she performs regularly with the Finger Lakes Chorale and College Singers.
Accompanist, Dr. Susan J. Avery, Associate Professor of
Music Education at Ithaca College, was the former director of vocal ensembles and department chair of Waterloo High School
for 24 years. She received her BM from the Eastman School of Music, MM from Ithaca College and a PhD from Eastman, where
she was awarded the Eastman Graduate Teaching Assistant Prize for excellence in college teaching. Dr. Avery conducts elementary,
junior high and senior high honors, All-County and Area All-State Choruses throughout New York State; judges solo vocal and
All-State Vocal Jazz as well as choral major organizations for the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA); and gives
clinics and workshops on the local, state and national levels in the field of music education. While teaching at Waterloo,
her men's ensemble Just Us was chosen to be the opening performing ensemble at the New York State School Boards Association's
state convention. Dr. Avery's choral ensembles consistently received high awards at festivals and her students participated
in all levels of local, state and national ensembles.
She currently conducts the Seneca Singers (an adult choir
in her hometown of Seneca Falls) and directs the faculty-staff choir voICes on the Ithaca College Campus in addition to her
teaching duties. Dr. Avery accompanies the summer conference Director’s Chorus and reading sessions and has served NYSSMA
as Piano Chair, High School Classroom Chair, Assistant Choral Chair; and the Choral Chair for New York State. Susan is currently
the Eastern Division Chair for the Music Educator’s National Conference (MENC) Adult and Community Music Education special
research interest group (SRIG). Her research on adult rehearsal preferences was presented at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Lifelong Learning Symposium in April 2005 and two posters sessions (for original research/best practice) were given at Society
of Music Teacher Education in September 2005. Susan provided choral experiences to adults in the New Horizons Band camp at
Interlochen in summer of 2006. She has published in American Music Teacher, The School Music News, Music Educators’
Journal and contributed to MENC’s Benchmarks in Action: A Guide to Standards-Based Assessment in Music. Susan will be
presenting a session on Working with Adult Musicians at MENC’s All-Eastern Conference in 2007.
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fingerlakeschoral@earthlink.net
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