Edmund Milly, bass-baritone, is sought after for his “perfect diction” (Los Angeles Times), distinctive “delicacy and personal warmth” (Boston Classical Review), and “rich and resonant” (KC Metropolis) sound. Equally at home as a soloist or in ensembles of the highest caliber, he has recently performed with the Choir of Trinity Wall Street, the U.S. Army Chorus, the Washington Bach Consort, Mark Morris Dance Group, Clarion Choir, Bach Akademie Charlotte, Oregon Bach Festival, New York Baroque Incorporated, and the Folger Consort. He has amassed solo credits on the BBC and CBC, and appears on several GRAMMY-nominated albums.

Edmund’s musical education began with cello lessons at age 3. As a student at the American Boychoir School, he amassed formative musical experiences under the batons of Seiji Ozawa, Kurt Mazur, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and André Previn. Edmund continued his education at McGill University and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, where he studied with James Taylor; as a soloist with Yale Schola Cantorum, he honed his craft under the direction of David Hill, Simon Carrington, and Masaaki Suzuki. In his Lincoln Center debut under Maestro Suzuki, Edmund portrayed an “authoritative and confident” Jesus in Bach’s St. John Passion (Seen and Heard International). Since then, he has sung the same role at Trinity Wall Street and the Oregon Bach Festival, among others. A dedicated interpreter of Bach, Edmund has performed over 70 of the cantatas, and returns to the Oregon Bach Festival this season to sing Jesus in the St. Matthew Passion.

Edmund often performs with his wife, mezzo-soprano Sylvia Leith, in their new vocal quartet, the Polyphonists. Recent and upcoming solo engagements include Carmina Burana with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, the Thirteen’s staged production of Brahms’ Requiem, Five Mystical Songs with the University of South Carolina Symphony, Carmina Burana with the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, the Charlotte Bach Festival, and Handel’s Messiah with Ensemble Altera. While early music is the foundation of his repertoire, Edmund always enjoys the opportunity to expand his musical comfort zone, and has the rare distinction of having shared the stage with Madonna at the Met Gala, 50 Cent at Radio City Music Hall, and Terry Riley at National Sawdust.

Soprano Elissa Edwards, hailed for her “pliant, seductive, free-ranging voice” (Gramophone) and “glistening tone” (Early Music America), is a distinguished interpreter of 17th- and 18th-century vocal chamber music. A specialist in sacred repertoire, she has been featured as a soloist in numerous oratorio and cantata performances in both the US and UK.

Performance highlights include appearances with the Washington National Cathedral, Washington Bach Consort, Bach in Baltimore, Harmonia Stellarum, the Barbara Strozzi Symposium at Princeton University, Gotham Early Music Series, Amherst Early Music Festival, Yorkshire Baroque Soloists, and The National Centre for Early Music (UK). Ms. Edwards serves as artist-in-residence at the Hammond-Harwood House Museum and has taught on the voice faculties of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.

She has received numerous awards and grants for her contributions to the field, including the Maryland State Individual Artist Award, support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and funding from the Winterthur Museum & Library for her scholarly music presentations. Ms. Edwards trained at the Royal College of Music in London and holds performance degrees from Boston University (BM) and the University of York, UK (MA).

Her critically acclaimed album Vago Desio, featuring cantatas and arias from Barbara Strozzi’s Opus 8 (Acis APL90277), is available online. (www.elissaedwards.com)