GUEST ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Jeffrey Swinkin, piano

Pianist Jeffrey Swinkin has performed throughout the U.S. as recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist and as a guest artist at numerous colleges and universities. He has collaborated with members of the Ying Quartet, New York City Opera, and San Francisco Symphony and is a prize winning concerto pianist. Swinkin earned his Bachelor of Music degree with High Distinction from the Eastman School of Music and his Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan. He teaches piano and music theory privately and is an adjunct faculty member of the performing arts department at the University of San Francisco.

Jane Berg, soprano

Soprano Jane Munson-Berg has received acclaim for her "brilliant soprano" singing a wide variety of opera and concert literature both in the U.S. and Europe, including performances with the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Munich's Residenz Theater, European Opera Genval, Tulsa Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Des Moines Metro Opera, Springfield Regional Opera, Mississippi Opera, Baton Rouge Opera, Sarasota Opera, New York's Center for Contemporary Opera, and Dorian Opera Theatre. She has been a soloist with the Orchestra of the Belgian Radio and Television, Arkansas Symphony, Florida Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Brazos Valley Symphony, and the Springfield Symphony. In 2001 she made her Carnegie Hall debut as soloist with the New England Symphony for the Haydn Lord Nelson Mass and the Magnificat by John Rutter. A Metropolitan Opera Regional Finalist, she was awarded the Anna Case Mackay Award for Outstanding Apprentice at the prestigious Santa Fe Opera. Leading operatic roles include Violetta (La Traviata), Mimi (La Boheme), Nedda (I Pagliacct), Rosalinda, Adele (Die Fledermaus), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Minette (The English Cat - Henze), Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte), Norina (Don Pasquale) and many more. Ms. Munson- Berg has made many appearances with symphony orchestras as soloist for such works as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Poulenc's Gloria, Handel's Messiah, Mendelssohn's Elijah, Bach's St Matthew Passion, Mozart's Coronation Mass, and pops performances such as A Cole Porter Celebration and selections from The Phantom of the Opera. Very active in the Ozarks area, the soprano has sung ten leading roles with Springfield Regional Opera, has made six appearances with the Springfield Symphony, and has guested with the Ozarks Chamber Orchestra and other area ensembles. Ms. Munson-Berg received the Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music and completed Professional Studies at the Hochschule fuer Musik in Munich, Germany, where she studied Opera and Art Song. She is Assistant Professor of Voice at Evangel University where she directs the Opera Workshop. Further, she has written, directed and produced The Impresario (Mozart) for tour performances throughout Missouri and also in Arkansas. She is married to Dr. Robert Berg, and they have a son, David.

David Hays, violin

David Hays earned his Bachelor’s degree at Indiana University and his MMUS and DMUS degrees at Northwestern University. A former concertmaster of the BUTI young artists’ orchestra at Tanglewood, he has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Chicago Symphony, and others. As a chamber musician, he has performed live on WFMT Chicago with the Sheridan Chamber Players and was a finalist at the 1998 Banff International String Quartet Competition as co-principal violinist of the Fry Street Quartet. As a member of the Hawthorne Trio, he has performed throughout the US, in Poland, the Czech Republic and England.

On baroque violin, David toured and recorded with Minneapolis-based Minstrelsy! for nine seasons and has appeared with Temple of Apollo, the Lyra Concert, the Newberry Consort, and the Chicago Baroque Ensemble. He has taught violin and chamber music at Northwestern’s National High School Institute since 1996. He has recorded on the Lyrichord, Narada, and Musical Arts Society labels. Dr. Hays currently serves as concertmaster of the Springfield Symphony. In recent seasons, he has performed with orchestra concertos by Sibelius, Lalo, Mozart and Beethoven. He has also appeared in solo and duo recitals in Springfield, Chicago and Bulgaria with his wife, violinist Svetla Kalcheva Hays.

For more information, please contact
Dr. Christopher Koch at 417-873-7298 or ckoch@drury.edu