JESSE BLUMBERG (baritone) is an artist equally at home on opera, concert, and recital stages.   Last season he created the role of Connie Rivers in Ricky Ian Gordon's world premiere opera The Grapes of Wrath at The Minnesota Opera and The Utah Symphony and Opera.   For his performance in the title role of Monteverdi's The Return of Ulysses with Opera Vivente, the Baltimore Sun raved, "Jesse Blumberg commanded the stage, physically and vocally… lighting up the hall with his every appearance."  He also debuted with American Bach Soloists, the Jupiter Symphony Chamber Players, and Sacred Music in a Sacred Space. During the 2005-2006 season, Mr. Blumberg presented an On Wings of Song recital with pianist Martin Katz for the Marilyn Horne Foundation, which has since been heard around the nation on various radio broadcasts.  He made his Alice Tully Hall debut in the world premiere of Lisa Bielawa's new song cycle, The Lay of the Love and Death.  He and pianist Thomas Bagwell gave a recital of songs by Hugo Wolf at the Austrian Embassy, which the Washington Post described as "no less than revelatory." Mr. Blumberg has participated in young artist programs at The Santa Fe Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, the Ravinia Festival, and Chicago Opera Theater, and has toured with the Waverly Consort and the Mark Morris Dance Group.  He has been recognized in several competitions, and most recently was awarded first prize in the 2007 International Hilde Zadek Singing Competition in Vienna, as well as first prize in the 2007 National Federation of Music Clubs Young Artist Auditions. His 2007 - 2008 engagements include song recitals all around the U.S., Carmina Burana with the Pennsylvania Ballet, Little Women with Opera Delaware, and the Mass in B Minor with the Los Angeles Master Chorale.  In the summer of 2008, he will give the world premiere of Green Sneakers, a song cycle for baritone and string quartet by Ricky Ian Gordon, at the Vail Valley Music Festival. Mr. Blumberg received a Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and received undergraduate degrees in History and Music from the University of Michigan.  He is also the founder and Artistic Director of the Five Boroughs Music Festival, a new concert series in New York City.

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