We are delighted to continue to add new members to our choir! Here are some highlights of a few of our newest singers:
Ernie Golez
Originally from the Philippines, tenor Ernie began singing when he was ten years old and moved into classical training at age seventeen. Since that time, he has sung with school choirs, including the University of the Philippines College of Medicine Choir. He enjoys Kundimans, Arias, and Broadway songs.
Since 2011, Ernie has lived in Mount Vernon with his wife and two children. He is a practicing Ophthalmologist at Cascadia Eye, seeing patients in Mount Vernon, Bellingham and Coupeville.
Ernie sang with the Bellingham Chamber Chorale in 2013, 2014 and 2016. We are thrilled to have him back!
Michele McBride
Michele and her husband Boyd recently moved to Bellingham from Connecticut. They both sang with professional and semi professional choral groups for many years, including Pro Arte and Charis.
Michele, a soprano, spent over twenty years as a member of the New York City Opera as a Principal Artist and as a Teaching Artist. Her credits there include Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Yum Yum (Mikado), Rosabella (The Most Happy Fella), Fiona (Brigadoon), Frasquita (Carmen), Marsinah (Kismet), Margot (Desert Song), Musetta (La Boheme), Marian Paroo (The Music Man), Marianne Beaunoir (The New Moon), Sonia (The Merry Widow), Anne (A Little Night Music) and Kathy (The Student Prince). She has been seen as Papagena in New York City Opera's nationally telecast production of Die Zauberflote and also as Barbarina in the national telecast production of Le Nozze di Figaro. Elsewhere the Palo Alto, California native has appeared as Marie (The Daughter of the Regiment) and Gretel (Hansel and Gretel) with Houston Grand Opera, Barbara (Casanova) with Minnesota Opera, Musetta with Central City Opera, Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro) and Marie (The Daughter of the Regiment) with Texas Opera Theater.
Ms. McBride received her training at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, earning both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree. She was a teaching artist with the New York City Opera for 12 years in the Opera is Elementary, Middle School “Opera and Literacy”, High School Partnership, and Pre-Professional Workshop programs.
Boyd Schlaefer
Boyd originally grew up in Marysville, WA, went to Washington State University and then to the University of Southern California for a Masters in Music/Vocal Arts. He came back to Seattle where he did an apprentice program with Seattle Opera and performed several small roles with the company.
After that, Boyd headed to New York where he sang as a member of New York City Opera for twenty-two years. At NYCO he sang roles in such productions as Sweeney Todd, The Visit (Stationmaster), The Dreyfus Affair (Judge), Esther (Teresh), Die Soldaten (The Officer) and was a member of the Regular Chorus as well as being on the Solo Roster for ten of those twenty-two years. On Television with NYCO he was seen as the Swedish Lumberjack and First Crony in the PBS Live from Lincoln Center broadcast of Paul Bunyan. Mr. Schlaefer also performs with the NYCO Education Department.
For nine years he performed in the Metropolitan Opera Guild productions of Gianni Schicchi, Don Pasquale and The Barber of Seville. Elsewhere his professional credits include several roles with the Seattle Opera Association, where he was a recipient of the Cecilia Schultz Award for young artists. He was Jake Wallace in the Portland Opera Association production of La Fanciulla del West and with the Eugene Opera Company, Guglielmo in Cosi fan Tutte, Malatesta in Don Pasquale and Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus. Mr. Schlaefer performed for two seasons with the Lake George Opera Festival, most recently as Schaunard in La Boheme. He has sung with the June Opera Festival and the American Music Theater of Philadelphia where he was the FBI Agent in the premier of Malcolm X. Other roles include Sulpice in The Daughter of the Regiment with Peoria Civic Opera and the title role in Babar the Elephant and Melchior in Amahl and the Night Visitors with the Little Orchestra Society of New York at Avery Fisher Hall. Mr. Schlaefer is the Artistic Director and founder of Northwest Opera In Schools Etc. (NOISE), a Seattle based company, which has been presenting educational opera programs in the Northwest for the last thirty years. He was also on the faculty at Western Connecticut State University for nineteen years until 2011. Boyd sang professionally in Connecticut with Pro Arte Singers and Music on the Hill and was a section leader in the choir at First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan.
Boyd and Michele have two grown daughters. One lives in Brooklyn, NY the other in Chicago. They both performed as child singer/actors with them in the New York City Opera.
They are looking forward to all that the Pacific Northwest and Bellingham have to offer.
The Bellingham Chamber Chorale looks forward to putting all this collective talent together for the 2019-2020 season! Stay tuned for more details as the year progresses, you won't want to miss a thing!