PETER HESS
Woodwind
NELSON PADGETT
Keyboard
Peter defies musical borders and has appeared
and/or recorded with Balkan Beat Box, Barbez,
David Sanborn, Asphalt Orchestra, Alarm Will
Sound, David Byrne, Tony Visconti, Songs:Ohia,
Slavic Soul Party, Tim Berne, Jabbo Ware,
Jack McDuff, Dirty Projectors, TV on the Radio,
Wu Tang Clan, ICE, the Hold Steady, Son Volt,
AntiSocial Music, Big Lazy, and dozens more.
He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory
of Music. His work composing and arranging
for winds and strings can be heard on over 50
recordings, HBO’s Bored to Death, PBS, and the
recent feature documentary Art and Craft. He
holds a deep love of the music of the Balkans,
which he has researched and studied in Roma
villages in southern Serbia.
An artist known for both his insightful musicality
and charismatic performances, Nelson enjoys
an important career whose activities range
from solo appearances with the Houston and
National Symphony Orchestras to collaborations
with artists such as violinist Elmar Oliveira, the
Mendelssohn String Quartet, and pianist Phillip
Bush. He has performed throughout the world
with the Philip Glass Ensemble since 1988. His
many competition successes include the Silver
Medal from the William Kapell International
Competition and a Beethoven Fellowship from
the American Pianists Association. His principal
teachers were Leon Fleisher at the Peabody
Conservatory of Music and Clifton Matthews at
the North Carolina School of the Arts.
RYAN KELLY
Onstage Audio Engineer
GREGORY PURNHAGEN
Baritone
Ryan is an audio engineer based in New York
City. Originally from Olalla, Washington, Ryan
attended Full Sail University’s Recording
Arts program. His career has included live
performance and studio projects with Nico
Mühly, Valgeir Sigurðson and Beyoncé.
Gregory enjoys an eclectic career that defines
the word “cross-over.” His long association with
Philip Glass includes La Belle et la Bête, Monsters
of Grace, Galileo Galilei and the 1992 and recent
revivals of Einstein on the Beach. He has sung
as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall,
Weill Recital Hall and other New York venues
for Musica Sacra, Voices of Ascension, Sacred
Music in a Sacred Space. An award-winning
cabaret artist, he has created several critically
acclaimed shows, one of which moved to OffBroadway (Babalu-cy! The Art of Desi Arnaz). His
recording work includes Early Music, New Music,
cast albums and guest vocals on Bjork’s album
Medulla. His work in contemporary opera has
included projects for Nick Brooke, Yoav Gal, Fred
Ho and Michael Kowalski. He is also the musical
director of the New Xavier Cugat Orchestra, an
ensemble that is preserving the great heritage of
vintage Latin American Music.
MARIE MASCARI
Soprano
Marie has performed as Siamese Twin and
Judy Garland in the Lincoln Center Festival’s
American premiere of Philip Glass’ White Raven,
as well as Monsters of Grace, which toured
throughout the US and Europe extensively.
Other Philip Glass performing tour credits
include Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, La Belle et La
Bête, Shorts and Anima Mundi. Marie delighted
audiences as Valetto and Fortuna in Opera
Omnia’s Coronation of Poppea, Servilia in La
Clemenza di Tito and Papagena in Die Zauberflföte
with Wolf Trap Opera Company, Nannetta in
Falstaff, and Adele in Die Fledermaus. She
performed the role of Lillian Russell in The
Mother of Us All with Glimmerglass Opera, a
part she also covered for New York City Opera.
A Metropolitan Opera Regional finalist, Marie
received her Bachelors and Masters degrees
from Indiana University for Vocal Performance.