Carmina Burana
Gerardo Edelstein
Music Director,
Conductor
This year marks Gerardo Edelstein's fourteenth season as music director/conductor of the Williamsport
Symphony Orchestra and under his leadership, the orchestra has reached new artistic heights
and secured financial stability.
Mr. Edelstein is also director of orchestral studies, music director of the Philharmonic and
Chamber Orchestras and artistic director of the Penn’s Woods Music Festival at the
Pennsylvania State University.
Maestro Edelstein has guest conducted the Israel Sinfonietta, the Israel Kibbutz Orchestra and
the Jerusalem Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra in Israel, the Bohuslav Martinu
Philharmonic in the Czech Republic, the Kharkov Philharmonic in the Ukraine, the Tucuman
Symphony Orchestra and Choir and the Symphony Orchestra of the Universidad Nacional de
Cuyo in Argentina, the Houston Chamber Orchestra, the Houston Ballet, the San Antonio
Metropolitan Ballet, the Pennsylvania Chamber Chorale and Orchestra and the Kalamazoo and
San Antonio Symphonies in the United States and at the International Orchestra Festival in
Dublin, Ireland and at the festival “Recontres Musicales Internationales des Graves” in France.
Most recently collaborated with cellist Kim Cook recording a CD with the Saint Petersburg State
Symphony Orchestra in Russia.
With the Penn State Philharmonic Orchestra he toured Spain and performed at Carnegie Hall in
New York, Kimmel Center in Philadelphia and Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh. For the fiftieth
anniversary of the Penn State College of Arts and Architecture Mr. Edelstein conducted a full
production of Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass” receiving raving reviews.
In Israel he was principal conductor of the Jerusalem Oratorio Choir and Orchestra with whom
he appeared on radio and television and toured throughout the country.
In the United States, Maestro Edelstein served as assistant conductor, associate conductor and
music advisor for the Richmond Symphony in Virginia for three seasons, conducting a variety of
performances including several subscription series. Under his leadership, the Symphony won
first prize in the year 2000 for innovative music programming awarded by the American Society
of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.
Committed to the education of young musicians, Mr. Edelstein was conductor of the Youth
Orchestra of San Antonio for three seasons and served as clinician and guest conductor for
many orchestra festivals in Virginia, Michigan, Texas, Vermont, New York, Colorado and
Pennsylvania. He has collaborated in side-by-side concerts with the San Antonio Symphony
and the Pittsburgh Symphony. Maestro Edelstein has given masterclasses and conducting
workshops in the United States as well as Buenos Aires, Argentina; Bordeaux, France; Istanbul,
Turkey; and Jerusalem, Israel.
Gerardo Edelstein graduated with high honors in Piano from the National Conservatory of Music
in Buenos Aires. He studied choral conducting at the J. J. Castro Conservatory of La Lucila in
Argentina and at the Bachakademie in Stuttgart, Germany. Mr. Edelstein received an Artist
Diploma in orchestral conducting from the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music in Israel where
he won the Leonard Bernstein Conducting Scholarship awarded by the American/Israel Cultural
Foundation. In the United States he completed a master’s degree in orchestral conducting at the
Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. His teachers include Mendi Rodan, Helmuth
Rilling and Larry Rachleff.
Sarah Shafer
Soprano Soloist
Sarah Shafer; praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer for her “crystalline sound, perfectly
true intonation, glowing warmth, and total presence,” and described by Opera News as
“remarkable, artistically mature … a singer to watch,” American soprano Sarah Shafer has
established herself as a versatile and compelling artist on leading operatic and concert stages
around the world.
In the 2023–24 season, Shafer returns to the role of Nuria in Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar with
Pacific Opera Victoria and creates the role of Sophia in the world premiere of Layale
Chaker’s Ruinous Gods at the Spoleto Festival USA. She will also appear with the Florida
Orchestra for Handel’s Messiah and with the Quad City Symphony Orchestra in
Fauré’s Requiem. Recent highlights include creating the role of the Empress in Jacob
Bancks’ Karkinos, portraying Krystyna Zywulska in Jake Heggie’s Two Remain, and debuts with
the Kalamazoo Symphony and Bellingham Symphony in works by Brahms and Mozart. She has
also appeared with Opera Philadelphia, Opera Lafayette, and Friends of Chamber Music
Portland.
In the 2019–20 season, Shafer returned to Opera Philadelphia as Iris in Semele, sang Cupid in
Blow’s Venus and Adonis with Opera Lafayette, and joined the roster of the Metropolitan Opera
in Le nozze di Figaro. She has performed with the Cincinnati Symphony, Philadelphia Chamber
Music Society, and Omaha Symphony, and recorded The Thirteenth Child (Bridge Records) and
Richard Danielpour’s Talking to Aphrodite (Naxos).
Her operatic career includes debuts with the Metropolitan Opera as Azema in Semiramide, San
Diego Opera as Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), and Cincinnati Opera in the title role
of L’incoronazione di Poppea. With San Francisco Opera, she has appeared as Pamina (Die
Zauberflöte), Mary Lennox (The Secret Garden), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), and Rosetta (Two
Women). She has performed leading roles with Tulsa Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, BBC
Proms, and multiple seasons with Opera Philadelphia, earning acclaim for her Adina (L’elisir
d’amore) and Nuria (Ainadamar).
Equally at home on the concert stage, Shafer has performed with major orchestras across the
United States. Her repertoire includes Orff’s Carmina Burana, Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s St.
John Passion and Mass in B minor, Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Mahler’s Resurrection
Symphony, Poulenc’s Gloria, and Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5. She has appeared
with the Milwaukee, Los Angeles Chamber, Detroit, Utah, Indianapolis, Harrisburg, and Eugene
symphonies, among many others.
An avid recitalist and chamber musician, Shafer collaborates frequently with pianist Richard
Goode, performing at Carnegie Hall, Spivey Hall, and Chamber Music Society of Detroit. She
has appeared with clarinetist Anthony McGill, guitarist Jason Vieaux, and numerous chamber
music festivals, including five summers at Marlboro Music.
Nic Stark
Tenor Soloist
Nic Stark is an Oklahoman tenor and voice teacher, currently based in central Pennsylvania. He
holds a Master’s degree of Music in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from Penn State and a
Bachelor’s of Musical Arts with a Spanish minor from Oklahoma Baptist University.
As a performer, Nic has most recently been spotted in the mountains of south Germany,
performing scenes and a Liederabend with IPAI in Bavaria. These partial roles included
Nemorino from L’elisir d’amore and Candide from Candide. His previously performed roles
include Giles Corey from The Crucible, Bardolfo from Falstaff and both Father Confessor and
Chevalier de la Force in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites.
During his time with IPAI in Bavaria, Nic was honored with 3rd place in the annual Aria
Competition. Previously, he collaborated in concert with the Penn State Early Music Ensemble
multiple times and performed in Penn State’s Lunar New Year Concert. During his graduate
study, Nic interpreted and performed Ralph Vaughan Williams’s cycle On Wenlock Edge and
presented research on Spanish composer Fermín María Álvarez.
Michael Hanley
Baritone Soloist
Michael Hanley is a frequent concert and operatic performer, appearing in recital,
opera, and oratorio across the United States. Recent engagements include Copland’s Old
American Songs with the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony
for the 50th Anniversary of Eisenhower Auditorium at Penn State. Favorite operatic roles include
Schaunard (La bohème), Mercutio (Roméo et Juliette), and Frank (The Impresario).
In addition to his performing career, Michael is in demand as a voice teacher and presenter both
nationally and internationally. His students have been accepted to top-rated undergraduate,
graduate, and young artist programs; performed on and off-Broadway, in national tours, and in
regional productions of opera and musical theater; and won prestigious competitions. He also
helps singers and voice teachers return to study to rebuild their voices and technique.
Michael is an Associate Professor of Voice at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where he
teaches studio voice and career skills courses. He previously served on the faculty of Syracuse
University’s Department of Drama and Setnor School of Music, teaching voice, voice for musical
theater, and musicianship.
A frequent presenter and clinician, Michael is passionate about exploring and refining
pedagogical methods for young and developing voices. In 2017, he joined Robert Swensen and
Kathryn Cowdrick to create Schubert to Sondheim: Pedagogy for the Male Voice, a summer
teacher training workshop at the Eastman School of Music. He presents annually at the Boston
Conservatory Vocal Pedagogy Professional Workshop and has presented for the Fall Voice
Conference, NATS, and other professional engagements.
Michael holds a B.M. in music education from the Eastman School of Music, an M.M. in voice
pedagogy and performance from Penn State University and participated in the 2016 NATS
Intern Program.