Colin Eaton has been lauded as ‘a commanding tenor that sings with great aplomb’ (Washington Post) and ‘a young tenor whose name you shall not soon forget’ with ‘the ability to dazzle audiences with ease’ (Baltimore Sun). He was most recently featured as the tenor soloist for the 38th Annual Kennedy Centre Messiah Sing-Along, where he also collaborated as a featured soloist in master classes with Martina Arroyo and Curtis Rayam at the National Opera Association convention. Having grown up with his grandparents 'listening to Nat King Cole' Colin was eventually drawn towards the power of opera and soon understood that "when something is right, its right … and if you have the passion, you can overcome every obstacle”. His numerous oratorio solo performances have included Mendelssohn's St. Paul (National Philharmonic), Carl Orff's Carmina Burana , Rossini's Stabat Mater , Bruckner's Te Deum , and Mozart's Requiem , while his impressive opera credits include Mingo, Robbins and Sportin' Life in Porgy & Bess and Don Basilio and Don Curzio in Le Nozze di Figaro . As a member of the world-renowned United States Army Chorus, Colin had the honor of serving as a featured soloist at President Ronald Reagan's interment ceremony in 2004 and has performed before his nation's highest ranking government and military officials, as well as visiting dignitaries from around the globe.
Over the last 5 years, he has also been specially selected to sing for U.S. and Allied Forces deployed in areas of combat including in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. As well as enjoying the prospect of ‘opening the world to Opera’ he believes that Vai DaCapo presents a great opportunity to show that music is a universal language, no matter what kind of music it is.
The exciting young tenor Joseph Guyton , who comes fresh from two triumphant seasons in Pilzen, Czech Republic, singing as Des Grieux in Puccini's masterpiece Manon Lescaut, began his musical studies at the age of 16 with the soprano Martha Sheil - his passion having been ignited by hearing the original Three Tenors. He was encouraged to attend Interlochen Fine Arts Academy, and upon graduation received a full scholarship to the famed Juilliard School in New York City, followed by attendance at the Curtis Institute, where he performed in numerous concerts and opera scenes such as Don Jose in Carmen and Alfredo in La Traviata . As a result, he received an invitation to join the Domingo Young Artists Program in Washington DC, where he worked with Placido Domingo, Frank Corsario, Roberta Peters and Anna Moffo among others.
Joseph made his French debut at the Lyrique-en-Mer/Festival de Belle-Île as Rodolfo in La Bohème (a role he later sang with New York's Prism Opera), featured in ‘Come Fly With Me’ and toured throughout Spain and France as Riccardo in ‘Un Ballo in Maschera ’ with the Opera Company 2001.
He has since appeared at the Lyric Academy in Rome, the Eugene Opera in Oregan, the Treasure Coast Opera, the Tulsa Opera (as the Duke in Rigoletto , Rodolfo in La Bohème , and Alfredo in La Traviata ) and last December played Cassio in Verdi's classic Otello , with famed director Graham Vick. Joseph has said of DaCapo's coupling of classic-pop and classical music that "Good music is good music". By brushing aside stereotypes he hopes to breathe even more life into the art form he loves.
Panamanian-American Nmon Ford began studying piano, composition and singing at the tender age of three. With a voice of “ powerful and commanding beauty " (Corriere della Sera), he has since been a featured soloist on the triple Grammy Award-winning 'Songs of Innocence and of Experience' by William Bolcom, and recently made his Italian debut at the Teatro delle Muse in Ancona in the title role of the new Henning Brockhaus/Bruno Bartoletti production of Louis Gruenberg’s The Emperor Jones , for which he received the prestigious Franco Corelli Award. Earlier this season he also sang as Scarpia in Tosca , Billy Budd at the Hamburg Opera, Di Luna in Il Trovatore with Virginia Opera, and performed Mendelssohn's Elijah at Washington National Cathedral with the Cathedral Choral Society.
He is proud to have twice performed Shostakovich's Symphony #13 with James Conlon – first with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and then in his Ravinia Festival debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Over his exciting career he has also performed with San Francisco Opera, Hamburg Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Utah Opera, Portland Opera, Opera Memphis, Virginia Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and Spoleto Festival USA in the lead roles of Otello, Parsifal, Carmen, Aïda, Samson et Dalila, La Traviata and Tristan und Isolde .
Since graduating, cum laude, from the University of Southern California (where he was twice named Outstanding Vocal Arts Graduate) Nmon has sung with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke's, National Symphony and Pittsburgh Symphony with conductors including James Conlon, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Kent Nagano, Leonard Slatkin, Bruno Bartoletti, Marin Alsop, and John Adams. He made his New York recital debut in the Marilyn Horne Foundation's ‘On Wings of Song" series at the Kosciuszko Foundation and under the it's auspices has fulfilled artists' residencies with the New Jersey Symphony, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and the Huntsville Chamber Music Guild in Alabama. He is the recipient of top prizes from the Liederkranz Foundation of New York (First Place in the Wagner Division) as well as the Gerda Lissner and George London Foundations. He is also an award-winning songwriter, arranger and recording artist, most recently for Vai DaCapo’s debut CD, Songs of Delight, and the syndicated radio show, 'A Celebration of Womanhood !'
Nmon says that the moment Colin, Joe and he got together, they shared an ‘instant chemistry’ and laughs, ‘If Mozart were sitting in the balcony, I'm sure he would love this. There would be so much about the music to fascinate him ... it crosses centuries, cultures and just about every barrier that man can create!’