Since 1969, the internationally acclaimed vocal sextet, The Western Wind, has devoted itself to the special beauty and variety of a cappella music. The Ensemble's repertoire reveals its diverse background - from Renaissance motets to Fifties rock 'n' roll, from medieval carols to Duke Ellington, from complex works by avant-garde composers to the simplest folk melodies.

In addition to maintaining a demanding performance schedule, which has included such venues as Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, ArtPark, The Ordway Theater, The Metropolitan Museum, The Frick Museum, The Jewish Museum, Folger Shakespeare Library, Library of Congress, and the Cleveland Museum of Art, The Western Wind regularly conducts Workshops in Ensemble Singing. The workshops, attended by vocalists ranging from novice to professional, address the particular challenges of singing in small, largely un-conducted ensembles.

As part of its non-profit mission to spread the joy of music to people of all ages, The Western Wind coordinates a highly-acclaimed arts-in-education program in the New York City public school system called The Western Wind Goes To School for children ages 8-18. The curriculum ranges from the fundamentals of music notation and rhythm to highly-refined interpretation of challenging vocal repertoire.

Since 1989, The Western Wind has produced a series of radio programs distributed throughout the United States by National Public Radio and Public Radio International. The programs address topics ranging from settings of love songs throughout the centuries to a musical narrative of the Jewish High Holy Days.

The Western Wind has also produced nineteen recordings, eleven of which have been released on Western Wind Records, the group's own record label, distributed in the US and Canada by Albany Music Distributors.

Individual Singer Bios:

MICHELE KENNEDY (Soprano) is a versatile specialist in early classical and contemporary repertoire. Michele first discovered her affinity for music while playing the piano as a child, and soon fell in love with singing when she joined the San Francisco Girls Chorus at age nine. Michele continued her musical studies in college at Yale University, performing featured roles with the Yale College Opera Company and appearing in several productions at the Yale School of Music. Since moving to New York City in 2001, Michele’s concert highlights have included performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Bargemusic, Caramoor Music Festival, and the Washington National Cathedral. She has appeared as a soloist in Bach’s B Minor Mass, Haydn’s Messiah, Mozart’s C Minor Mass, Requiem and Coronation Mass, and with the Holy Trinity Bach Vespers Series, the Trinity Church Wall Street Choir, New York Baroque Soloists, REBEL Baroque Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Her recent projects have encompassed a wide range of repertoire from Medieval chant and Renaissance polyphony to new chamber opera productions with Harlem Stage / Aaron Davis Hall and Music-Theatre Group. As an ensemble singer, Michele performs regularly with Pomerium and The Western Wind Vocal Ensemble, and also has sung with the Vox Ensemble, Tiffany Consort, and Equal Voices. Please find more information at www.michele-kennedy.com.

LAURA CHRISTIAN (soprano) has sung principal roles in The Marriage of Figaro, Camelot, The Magic Flute, and virtually all of the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. She has performed with the small a cappella groups Cantori Amarylli and Vocal Arts Ensemble, with the University Musical Society Choral Union, and was soprano soloist for St. John’s Episcopal Church in Detroit. She played cello in the pit orchestra of several opera productions in Ann Arbor, and also served as stage director, music director, choreographer, and costume designer. She recently relocated to the New York City area to join The Western Wind, and has since appeared with Jubal's Lyre and in the Summer Music Festival of St. Bartholomew's Church.

TODD FRIZZELL (tenor) was featured on ABC-TV’s Nightline, singing music from a Mass written in the first millennium, which he performed in Limoges, France in May 2001. Todd has performed widely with New York’s Ensemble for Early Music, with whom he has been a resident artist for the past 5 years. Performances have included Sponsus: The Tale of the Wise and Foolish Virgins and featured solos on three of the group’s CDs. Todd serenaded Dame Judi Dench in June 2000 at Broadway’s Ethyl Barrymore Theater during a special performance of Her Majesty the Queen honoring Ms. Dench’s receipt of the Golden Quill award. He was the tenor soloist in Handel’s Israel in Egypt at Avery Fisher Hall with the National Chorale, and is a featured soloist the CD Responsoria. Todd has appeared at the Bard College Festival and performed with the New York Virtuoso Singers, Musica Antica at St. Bart’s, and the New York Concert Singers.

ELLIOT Z. LEVINE (baritone), Elliot Z. Levine (baritone), a native New Yorker, has sung with The Western Wind since its inception in 1969. A Master's graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, he has taught at City College, Upsala College, the Lighthouse Music School, and the Hebrew Arts School. He has been a featured soloist with the RAI Orchestra at Rome, the Rome Opera, La Fenice, Musica Sacra, The Folger Consort, the Kalamazoo Bach Festival and the Ensemble for Early Music. Mr. Levine is the cantorial soloist at Temple Emanuel in Great Neck, N.Y., and has been a composer-in-residence at St. Thomas More Church in New York City. Many of his works have been performed and commissioned by choruses and solo artists around the country. Harold Flammer, E. Henry David, Willis, Plymouth Music, Colla Voce, and Shadow Press publish his works.

RICHARD SLADE (tenor) Richard Slade (tenor) has toured the USA and Europe, singing with New York City Opera, New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players, Western Wind, and the Yale Whiffenpoofs. He has sung Tamino in The Magic Flute across New York State; has been a regularly featured singer at the Caramoor Festival; and has performed in rare revivals of important operatic works such as Donizetti's Gianni di Parigi and Martin y Soler's Una Cosa Rara, with Vineyard Opera. In concert, he has sung the title role in Händel's Judas Maccabeus, Messiah, and many of Bach's cantatas. With his wife, soprano Cynthia Reynolds, he performs a Gilbert & Sullivan cabaret: Oh Love, True Love! or The Lass That Lov'd a Tenor. In recital, Mr. Slade specializes in the parlor repertory of the Victorian era. He maintains a private voice studio, teaches at Concordia and Manhattanville Colleges, directs both church and synagogue choirs, and was recently named Music Director of the Sound Shore Chorale, in New Rochelle..

WILLIAM ZUKOF (Countertenor) is a founding member of The Western Wind. A New York City native, he was born in Manhattan and received his BA degree from The City University of New York. He has appeared as a soloist with the Roger Wagner Chorale, the Gregg Smith Singers, the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston, Musica Sacra of New York, and the St. Thomas Choir of Men and Boys. Mr. Zukof performed the Bach Magnificat under the direction of Leonard Bernstein at the Vatican in Rome. His operatic appearances include roles with the Washington Opera, the Eastern Opera Company, the Eastman School, and the University of California at Berkeley. As executive producer for The Western Wind, he produced Blessings and Batéy, The Chanukkah Story, The Passover Story, Mazal Bueno, O Western Wind, an (almost) A Cappella Songbook, The Birthday of the World: Music and Traditions of the High Holy Days, My Funny Valentine, Taste of Eternity, Part I; Holiday Light, Singing Angels, Silver Bells and The Man In The Moon, music of Robert Dennis. He also produced Castles of Gold, a St. Patrick's Day special for Public Radio International, featuring Frank McCourt and Roma Downey.