Dave Beck, narrator

Dave Beck, cellist, joined the staff of Listener Supported Classical KING FM in September, 2013 as the afternoon music host. He is also the host and producer of the Seattle Symphony Spotlight on KING FM. Dave previously produced and hosted award-winning interviews and features at KUOW Public Radio as part of the KUOW programs Weekday, The Beat, and KUOW Presents. He was at Seattle’s KUOW from 1985, beginning his career there as classical music host and music director. An active musician as well as broadcaster, Dave is a member of the Auburn Symphony Orchestra and has served as principal cellist of the Bellevue Philharmonic Orchestra and the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra. His non-profit board service includes Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra (Board Chair 2006-2008), Simple Measures, and the MENC’s Young Musicians Excelling. He has performed in the Seattle-based chamber music society Klassikon and in the Bravura String Quartet. A University of Washington music graduate, Dave’s cello instructors have included Toby Saks, Raymond Davis, and Cordelia Wikarski-Miedel.

Alexandra Picard, soprano

Alexandra Picard is emerging as one of the most exciting sopranos in the Northwest. Most notable for her portrayals of the Queen of the Night, Konstanze, Musetta and Lucia, the Seattle Times speaks of her “bell-like clarity” while Classical Voice comments on her “charisma and spot-on singing” and, of her performances of La Bohème, the Everett Herald comments that she “makes a big impression … and knocks it out of the ballpark.” As the Queen of the Night, the Spokesman Review raves “… her singing was arresting… Alexandra Picard tossed off the notorious series of high F’s with complete assurance and at a dauntingly high speed.”

She has sung Queen of the Night in Die Zauberfloete for Tacoma Opera, Rogue Opera, the New Opera Festival in Rome, Italy, for the Willamette Concert Opera, and for Spokane Opera in Washington, and is currently singing her sixth professional engagement as Queen of the Night with University of Washington in collaboration with Pacific MusicWorks. She has sung Lucia di Lammermoor with the University of Washington Orchestra, and has performed Musetta in La Bohème in the Kammersaal in Graz, Austria, for Skagit Opera in Washington, and for the Russian Opera Centre in San Francisco. Other stage roles have included Pamina in Die Zauberfloete in Rome, Italy, and in Seattle, Washington, Olympia in Les Contes d’Hoffmann for Bellevue Opera in Washington, Arminda in La Finta Giardiniera in Oakland, California, and Gerhilde in Die Walküre with Hawaii Opera Theater.

In concert Alexandra has enjoyed performances of Gounod’s St. Cecilia Mass, Strauss' Four Last Songs, and Haydn’s The Creation with the Northwest Symphony Orchestra, and she originated the role of the Ghost of Butterfly in the jazz opera Welcome to the Voice for the Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival in New York with Elvis Costello on Broadway. She sang Orff’s Carmina Burana to great acclaim, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Queen of the Night for the Seattle Opera Guild, Brahms’ Requiem, Faure's Requiem, Handel's Messiah, as well as a gala concert for the Embassy of the United States in Paris, France. Other projects this year have included Brahms’ Requiem with both Yakima Symphony and Seattle ProMusica, the featured soloist in Brasilia Symphony Orchestra's upcoming gala concert in Brazil, and the headline soloist for Northwest Symphony Orchestra's Season Finale Concert.

Alexandra earned a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University, and received her Masters in Music from the San Francisco Conservatory. Ms. Picard is completing her second year as a Doctoral Candidate in Vocal Performance at the University of Washington. Upcoming projects included concerts with Seattle Modern Orchestra and Northwest Symphony Orchestra, and a performance with Seattle Wind Symphony at Benaroya Hall.

Visit her website: http://www.alexandrapicard.com/.