Joseph Holt, Conductor

Joseph Holt enjoys a wide-ranging musical career as pianist, chamber music performer, educator, conductor and arranger. Currently pianist with The United States Army Chorus and associate conductor/pianist for The Choral Arts Society of Washington, he has also served as Director of Choral Activities at The American University in Washington, DC, and Head of Accompanying at George Mason University in Virginia.

Joseph Holt made his Choral Arts conducting debut with Ariel Ramírez’s Misa Criolla during the 2002/2003 Season and conducted the chorus in performance at the Chester Summer Music Festival during the Society’s tour of England in 2002. He has accompanied many artists, notably Alessandra Marc, Jessye Norman, Denyce Graves, Roberta Peters and Richard Tucker among others. In July of 2000, he was one of 10 conductors who prepared a chorus of 2000 voices for a world premiere performance by the National Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin, conducting, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

He has produced a series of multi piano concerts for The US Army Band featuring ten pianists and five concert grand pianos. His recordings include music from The Holocaust Museum on Albany and Transcontinental, solo piano works of contemporary composer Gardner Read on Northeastern, accompanying soprano Janice Chandler on The Choral Arts Society Christmas CD, accompanying The United States Army Chorus in concert and accompanying John Mueller, euphonium. As a pianist he has been awarded numerous prizes, including the Brahms award from Wolf Trap, and his appearances in recital and with orchestras in North America, Europe, and the Middle East have elicited acclaim from audiences and critics alike.

In the Washington area he has performed at The National Gallery of Art, the Phillips Collection, the Organization of American States, and the Holocaust Museum, among others. He also appears regularly with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center and performed during their successful 1997 tour of Europe with Leonard Slatkin, conductor. Unusual highlights of his musical career include coordinating and conducting the Filene Center Orchestra for a gala performance featuring premier comedian Victor Borge at Wolf Trap, compiling and directing the music for Prodigy, a children's play about Mozart at the Kennedy Center, and assisting in the development of the National Music Conservatory in Amman, Jordan. While in Jordan, he performed for King Hussein and Queen Noor at the Jerash Festival and in Amman. He also performed in Damascus, Syria as part of a United States Information Agency tour.

Dr. Holt holds a bachelor of music degree with distinction and the Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, a master of music degree from Shenandoah Conservatory, and a doctor of musical arts degree in chamber music from The Catholic University of America. His primary instructors include David Burge, Nelita True and Marilyn Neeley.

Manuel J. Melendez, Tenor
Manuel Melendez is a native of New Mexico and a resident of Arlington, Virginia. He appeared with the Tanglewood Music Festivals, Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony, the National Symphony and the Roswell Symphony. Operatic appearances include the Florida Opera Association, Santa Fe Opera, and numerous roles with the Washington Opera at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Mr. Melendez was the official tenor soloist for the United States Air Force Band and Orchestra. While with the Air Force Band he was featured on tours throughout the United States, South America, Mexico and at events at Embassies and the White House. Conductor-cellist Mstislav Rostropovich invited Mr. Melendez to be the soloist with the First World Cello Orchestra in Constitution Hall composed of 250 cellists representing orchestras from around the world. He has sung the National Anthem on televised NFL football games. He was a featured soloist in ceremonies on the National Mall celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Smithsonian Institution.

Mr. Melendez has enjoyed recent acclaim performing the music of Spanish composers, in Spanish Zarzuelas, Classic Popular Songs and well known Folk Masses from Latin America. In Washington this repertoire has been performed at the Smithsonian Institution, the Organization of American States, Mount Vernon College, American University, the Alexandria Recital Series at the historic Lyceum and the Music Center at Strathmore. Other appearances as soloist include the Kennedy Center "Messiah Sing-Along," The New Dominion Chorale, Arlington Metropolitan Chorus, Cathedral Choral Society, the Fairfax Choral Society and benefit concerts for the Roswell Museum in New Mexico. The Choral Arts Society of Washington featured Mr. Melendez in performance and in their new compact disc recording of the Misa Criolla by Ariel Ramirez. U.S. release in November 2005 and the International release in February 2006. Mr. Melendez was invited to perform at the inaugural ceremonies for Governor Mark Warner in Richmond, Virginia and Governor Bill Richardson in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

José Sacin, Tenor
Peruvian tenor José Sacin, whose voice "has a velvety nap and nice variety of color" (Washington Post) and "has the wickedly high notes that stop the show" (The Capital—Annapolis, MD) has performed as a soloist with the Washington Opera (Prince of Persia in Turandot), the Caramoor International Festival, Brevard Music Festival (Rodolfo in La Boheme), Opera North (Nerone in L'Incoronazione di Poppea), the Annapolis Opera (Soloist in concerts), The Choral Arts Society of Washington, DC (soloist in Ramírez's Misa Criolla), the Pan American Symphony Orchestra (Paco in La Vida Breve), Opera Camerata of Washington (Fernando in the American Premiere of Donizetti's Marino Faliero, Tenor Soloist in Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle), Opera Diaspora (Donatien in Le Code Noir), Washington Conservatory Opera (Lenski in Eugene Onegin), Catholic University of America Hartke Theatre (Aegisthus in the World Premiere of the opera Agamemnon by Andrew Earle Simpson), Maryland Opera Studio (Tamino in Die Zauberflote), the Washington Bach Consort, Springfield Chorale, St. Ann's Festival Choir, Coral Cantigas and the In Series.

Most recently Mr. Sacin has appeared in recital at the Rachmaninoff Hall in Moscow, Russia and at the Montclair State University as well as singing the role of Lenski in Belcantanti's Eugene Onegin to critical acclaim. He was also a featured soloist in the Opera Fest presented by the New Dominion Chorale.  José Sacin has performed in such prestigious venues as the Kennedy Center, Embassies of Spain and Italy in Washington, DC, the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York City, Teatro Nacional in San Jose, Costa Rica, the US Department of State, the National Gallery of Art, the Library of Congress, Montpellier Cultural Arts Center, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Mexican Cultural Institute, the National Theatre and the Lyceum of Old Town Alexandria. The upcoming engagements include singing the role of the Young Gipsy in Rachmaninoff's Aleko with Belcantanti, covering Alfredo in La Traviata at the Caramoor International Festival, under the direction of Will Crutchfield, and his Kennedy Center Concert Hall Debut as a soloist in Ariel Ramírez's Misa Criolla with The Choral Arts Society of Washington.

Pablo Talamante, Tenor
Pablo Talamante began his acting and musical studies at the Escuela de Arte Teatral del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, where he performed many roles in documentary films, television, commercials, and movies such as Conan—The Destroyer. On the Theatrical Stage, Mr. Talamante has performed the lead roles in several plays including: El Relojero de Cordoba, Medusa, Rosalba y los Llaveros, Delicioso Domingo, Sonar, and others by Mexican playwright Emilio Carballido. Mr. Talamante moved to the United States to pursue his Bachelor's degree in Music at the University of Louisville where he made his American debut with The Kentucky Opera in Richard Strauss' Salome as the Third Jew. His credits on the operatic stage include appearances in the operas: Aida, Norma, Il Tabarro, Les Contes D'Hoffmann, Der Shauspieldirektor, La Traviata, Tosca, La Boheme, Dona Francisquita, Rigoletto, Jenufa, Amhal and the Night Visitors, Kismet, The Magic Flute, Il Pirata, Turandot, and Carmen.

In concert Mr. Talamante has performed with The San Francisco Symphony, The Louisville Orchestra, The National Symphony, The Chicago Symphony, The Paul Hill Chorale, The Washington Concert Opera and The Choral Arts Society of Washington. The conductors he has worked with include Sir Alexander Gibson, Erich Kunzel, Heinz Fricke, Eugene Kohn, Paul Hill, Steven Crout, Lawrence Leighton Smith and Placido Domingo. He currently serves as vocal soloist for the United States Army Chorus and Band ("Pershing's Own") in Washington, DC. Mr. Talamante has distinguished himself through his extensive repertoire of art-song, semi-classical and folk songs of Latin America. He has presented recitals and lectures in the United States for the Hispanic Gala Theatre, The Catholic University (where he was granted a full scholarship to continue his graduate studies), The Mexican Cultural Institutes of Washington, DC, and Miami, Florida, and The Mexican Embassy in Washington, DC.

Christal Rheams, Alto
Alto Christal Rheams, a native of Raleigh, NC, has performed on the same stage as Wayne Newton, Ricky Martin, and Trisha Yearwood. In addition, Ms. Rheams has had the pleasure of singing backup for a large amount of pop, country and R&B superstars. She attended the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a Major in Communications. Rheams is a prominent vocalist with the United States Army Band (Pershing's Own), and can also be seen as a featured vocalist in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area music scene.