Chamber Singers

Lindsay Kesselman is a two-time GRAMMY-nominated soprano known for her warm, collaborative spirit and investment in personal, intimate communication with audiences. She regularly collaborates with orchestras, wind symphonies, chamber ensembles, opera/theater companies, and new music ensembles across the United States, often premiering, touring, and recording new works composed for her by living composers. She is a passionate advocate for contemporary music and has commissioned/premiered over one hundred works to date.   

Recent and upcoming highlights include the premiere of Darkening, then Brightening by Christopher Cerrone with the University of Illinois Wind Symphony; the wind transcription of Caroline Shaw’s Is a Rose, Energy in All Directions by Kenneth Frazelle with Sandbox Percussion at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center; the role of Anna in Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s The Seven Deadly Sins with the Charlotte Symphony; the role of Ada Lovelace in the new opera Galaxies in Her Eyes by Mark Lanz Weiser and Amy S. Punt; Astronautica: Voices of Women in Space with Voices of Ascension; the John Corigliano 80th birthday celebration at National Sawdust (2018); a leading role in Louis Andriessen’s opera Theatre of the World with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Dutch National Opera; and an international tour of Einstein on the Beach with the Philip Glass Ensemble (2012–2015).

Kesselman is Assistant Professor of Voice and Choral Music at the UNC Greensboro School of Music. Kesselman holds degrees in voice performance and music education from Rice University and Michigan State University. She is represented by Trudy Chan at Black Tea Music and lives in Charlotte with her husband, Kevin Noe, and son, Rowan.

A versatile singer, actor, musician, writer, arranger, and educator, Janinah Burnett is in demand and has thrilled audiences domestically and internationally in opera, recital, musical theatre, jazz, television, and film. Some of her signature operatic roles include Mimí in La bohème, Leila in Les pêcheurs des perles, Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Micaëla in Carmen, Marguerite in Faust, and Violetta in La Traviata. An original cast member of Baz Luhrmann’s La Bohème on Broadway as Mimí, she won a Los Angeles Theater Alliance Award and performed on the Tony Awards Presentation.

Burnett was on the roster of principal artists at the Metropolitan Opera for eight consecutive seasons debuting as Bianca in La Rondine. She was a member of the closing cast of Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, making appearances as “Carlotta Giudicelli” since 2016.

In February 2021, Burnett released her debut album, Love the Color of Your Butterfly, which features musical arrangements and collaborations with some of the world’s finest jazz musicians including Christian Sands, Sullivan Fortner Jr., Casey Benjamin, and Terreon Gully who produced the project. Released on her own record label Clazz Records, Love the Color of Your Butterfly is an amalgamation of jazz, opera, art song, oratorio, rhythm and blues, and spirituals and introduces her concept of “Clazz,” which encourages collaboration and redefines the parameters of genre while embracing parts of history that are erased, widely unknown and forgotten. Love the Color of Your Butterfly has been featured in numerous publications including the Financial Times, Playbill, Broadway World, Downbeat Magazine, and Opera News.

Burnett has been a guest artist and taught masterclasses at Eastern Mennonite University, The Cinema School, Clark University, and Bar Harbor Music Festival. She holds an MM from the Eastman School of Music and a BA from Spelman College.

The UNCG Choral program is recognized for excellence, creative performances, and high artistic standards. The UNCG Choirs are comprised of four ensembles: University Chamber Singers, University Chorale, Coro di Belle Voci, and Spartan Voices. These diverse offerings allow students the opportunity to experience a wide range of stylistic ideas through the exploration of music from various time periods and various cultures, including major choral-orchestral works as well as smaller chamber pieces. The UNCG Choirs have performed at state, regional, national and international conferences. Dr. Carole Ott serves as Director of Choral Activities and conductor of Chamber Singers and Chorale. Prof. Lindsay Kesselman is conductor of Coro di Belle Voci. Dr. Brett Nolker is conductor of Spartan Voices. 

The mission of the UNCG Choirs is dedicated to the teaching, performance, study and cultivation of choral music of the highest quality representing not just the western choral canon but also choral music of other cultures by a diverse body of historical and new composers. We believe that the UNCG Choirs are a serious and distinctive medium of musical expression, of vital service and importance to its members and to UNCG. Through ensemble performance, we strive to create an environment of trust, communication, and expressive freedom, to present outstanding performances throughout the year, and to enhance the institutional sprit and character of UNCG. To music as an art and a profession, the UNCG Choirs seek to bring increasing artistry, understanding, and respect by efforts within our own immediate sphere and by providing leadership and sponsorship to school choral programs and through cooperation with all other agencies pursuing similar musical goals.