Artist Bios

Jessica Cottis, guest conductor

Award-winning conductor Jessica Cottis, named ‘2019 Classical “Face to Watch”’ (The Times, UK), is much in demand, working regularly with leading orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Opéra Orchestre national Montpellier, L’Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi (laVerdi), l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo, new music ensembles such as London Sinfonietta and Bang on a Can, as well as numerous re-invitations at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the prestigious BBC Proms. She has recorded for the BBC, ABC, and Decca Classics labels.

One of the most outstanding Australian conductors working today, 2022 marks Jessica Cottis’s second season as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. Under her leadership, the orchestra has already developed a number of important new initiatives, including significant commissions and championing of Australian works. Recognised for her engaging, wide-ranging and thought-provoking programming, Cottis’ domain is music of the 19 th to 21st centuries. This season she will conduct major works by Wagner, Sibelius and Stravinsky in Canberra, and make highly anticipated debuts with orchestras including Bremer Philharmoniker, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Oslo Philharmonic, and Royal Danish Opera for Poul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale, and return to the Royal Opera House for the world premiere of Laura Bowler’s The Blue Woman.

Jessica Cottis grew up on her family’s sheep farm in southeastern Australia and quickly developed a lifelong interest in both music and the natural world. She is especially interested in the relation between music, nature and science, and the act of listening. She works widely as an advocate for classical music. A gifted communicator described as a “cool, contained, super-articulate and engaging” (The Scotsman), she has given masterclasses for the Royal Philharmonic Society and Royal Academy of Music, and has led courses for emerging women conductors for the Royal Opera House. She sits on the Board of new music organisation and record label Nonclassical, and is Chair of the Music Board of the Tait Memorial Trust for Young Australians, a body that supports young Australian and New Zealand performing artists studying in the UK. She is a frequent contributor on BBC radio and television, commenting on a wide range of artsrelated topics, from opera to architecture, synaesthesia, the environment, and acoustics.

Jessica Cottis’ early musical career was as an organist, pianist, and trumpeter. Awarded first class honours at the Australian National University, she continued her studies in Paris with pioneering French organist Marie-Claire Alain. After a wrist injury halted her playing career, she began conducting studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, studying with Colin Metters and Sir Colin Davis. She went on to serve as Assistant Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, where she worked closely with mentors Sir Donald Runnicles, Charles Dutoit, and Vladimir Ashkenazy. More recently she was honoured with the title of Associate of the Royal Academy (ARAM), an honorary award for formers students who have made a significant contribution to the music profession.

Jessica Cottis has undertaken Executive Leadership studies at Cornell University and Saïd Business School, University of Oxford. She resides in Stockholm and London, and outside of music pursues her passion for butterflies all over the world.

Patricia Westley, soprano

New Zealand-American soprano Patricia Westley is a dynamic and engaging performing artist who has been hailed as a “radiant” and “hugely impressive artist” who sings with “fluency and tonal grace” by Opera News and the San Francisco Chronicle. This season Patricia Westley was at the Mariinsky Theatre as the first-ever American accepted into the prestigious Atkins Young Artist Program and made her debut at Teatro La Fenice as First Niece in the theatre’s first-ever production of Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes.

Notable highlights in recent seasons include two productions as Gretel in Hansel & Gretel with Palm Beach Opera and Amarillo Opera, a world premier as Selena in Jake Heggie’s If I Were You, Elisa in Mozart’s Il re pastore with Merola Opera Program, and debuts with the Oakland Symphony as soloist for Brahm’s Ein deutsches Requiem, and the Pacific Symphony singing multiple roles in Ravel’s L’enfant et les sortilèges.

As a life long devotee of poetry, Patricia delights in her collaborations with pianists in the performance of song. She can recently be seen in a collaboration with Opera Santa Barbara for their digital recital series with pianist Timothy Accurso. In 2019, Patricia sang a recital of Wolf, Barber, and Brahms with Martin Katz in the Schwabacher Recital Series presented by Merola Opera and the San Francisco Opera Center. This was a recital in which she stepped as a replacement with fewer than 10 days notice.

Additionally, Patricia can be heard in cast recordings produced by Lamplighters Music Theatre as Amiam (YumYum) in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The (New) Mikado (minus the Yellowface), Casilda in The Gondoliers, and Elsie in The Yeomen of the Guard

Patricia is a two time participant in the prestigious Merola Opera Program, a Benenson Young Artist with Palm Beach Opera, and an alumna of the University of Oklahoma and Carnegie Mellon University.

Deanna Breiwick, soprano

American soprano Deanna Breiwick, hailed by The New York Times for her “sweet sound and floating high notes” and for being a “vocal trapeze artist,” is enjoying an exciting and diverse career.

In the 22/23 season, Ms. Breiwick makes her debut at San Francisco Opera, performing Sister Constance in Dialogues of the Carmelites. She will return to Bayerische Staatsoper for Adele in Die Fledermaus, and make debuts at the Gran Teatre del Liceu as Drusilla in L’incoronazione di Poppea, the Atlanta Opera as Cunegonde in Candide, and with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra as Oriana in Amadigi. In the 21/22 season, Ms. Breiwick returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos, reprised Drusilla with Opernhaus Zürich, debuted with Seattle Opera as Amore in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, and performed the roles of Bradamante and Pittura in Il Palazzo Incantato by Alarcon with Opéra National de Lorraine and The Royal Opera of Versailles. Finally, she appeared with the Pacific Chorale, performing in Vaughan-Williams’ Don Nobis Pacem. In the 20/21 season, Ms. Breiwick appeared with The Dallas Opera in a series of concerts of opera favorites and made a role and house debut with Opéra de Dijon as Bradamante and Pittura.

At the Metropolitan Opera, Deanna Breiwick has been featured as La Charmeuse in Massenet’s Thaïs, a Flower Maiden in Wagner’s Parsifal, a Shadow in the North American premiere of Nico Muhly’s Marnie, and a featured soloist in the company’s Summer Recital Series.

Past orchestral engagements include Fauré’s Requiem and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the San Antonio Symphony, Messiah with the Seattle Symphony, Detroit Symphony, United States Naval Academy and New Choral Society in Scarsdale, NY, Orff’s Carmina Burana in a joint project with the Charleston Symphony and Nashville Ballet, as well as with the El Paso Choral Society, and the Israelite Woman in Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus with the International Handel Festival in Göttingen, Germany.

Joseph Tancredi, tenor

Hailed by Opera News for his “high notes with a ringing, clarion tone,” tenor Joseph Tancredi from Bayville, New York, is currently pursuing his Professional Studies degree at the Curtis Institute of Music under the tutelage of Jack LiVigni.

Previous credits include Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Roderick Usher (The Fall of the House of Usher), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), the title role in Albert Herring, Conte Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia) and Raimondo (I due timidi). Joseph has participated in the Apprentice Singer Program at the Santa Fe Opera for two summers, where he sang the Peasant in Eugene Onegin and covered Benjamin in The Thirteenth Child and Jon Harker in The Lord of Cries. Mr. Tancredi has garnered ample recognition in the competition circuit and has recently been named a National Semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition this season.

Coming up, Joseph looks forward to performing as Lurcanio in Ariodante with the Curtis Opera Theatre, Harry in La fanciulla del West in his Cleveland Orchestra debut, and covering the title role of Idomeneo at the Aspen Music Festival as a Renée Fleming Artist.

Mr. Tancredi holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Classical Voice Performance from the Manhattan School of Music and a Master of Music degree in Opera Studies from the Curtis Institute of Music.