Undying Love

Steve Wallace

Composer & Librettist

Steve Wallace is an award winning singer and composer from Chicago IL and most recently a composer with Theatre Now NY's Writer's Lab and BMI’s Lehman Engel Advanced Workshop for composers and lyricists where he is the recent recipient of the esteemed Harrington Award for creativity in musical theater. His professional expertise incorporates a plethora of genres and styles from Soul, Hip-Hop, Blues, and Classical. In the span of his career, Mr. Wallace has released 15 of his own albums as an artist, produced, performed and written on hundreds of albums with credits including Ledisi, Ghostface of the Wu-Tang Clan, De La Soul, and Eric Roberson, as well as gaining nods from the likes of Jay-Z, Jadakiss, Just Blaze and others for his fantastic and creative ideas. Steve has shared stages with Robin Thicke, Common, Talib Kweli, and Leon Ware. He has and continues to compose scores for television and film including networks such as MTV, BET, NBC, and his score for the film Four Seasons won the award for best musical score at the 2021 Diversity at Cannes film showcase. Steve created an arrangement of Lift Every Voice and Sing for the NAACP, worked with Sony Music, The Universal Music Group, and in 2010 he was the producer, composer and arranger for the theme song of the United Nations’ Humanitarian Day; "Be A Humanitarian" that was in the running for Grammy Awards the same year.

As a composer, Steve Wallace has written a book of 14 art songs, 2 symphonies, 3 operas, 4 musicals including the REMI (Worldfest Houston) award winning animated short "Humpty's Hatching Day" as well as a variety of chamber works for various instruments. Mr. Wallace is also a very accomplished classical singer and has performed worldwide as a soloist, on tours, and as lead tenor roles in operas such as Carmen, La Boheme, and La Traviata with respected opera companies nationwide. The groundbreaking film musical "Hal King" that Mr. Wallace created, composed, and produced was released on Feb 9th 2021 on Amazon Prime, distributed by Gravitas Ventures.

Brian Major

Taylor

Charismatic baritone Brian Major continues to be praised by critics for his velvety voice and “commanding stage presence.”During the 2020-2021 season, Mr. Major was engaged to make his Chautauqua Orchestra debut singing Paul Moravec and Mark Campbell’s Sanctuary Road as well as selections from Porgy & Bess, his Opera on the James debut as Scarpia in Tosca, and a debut with Maryland Lyric Opera as Ford in Falstaff (COVID19). In the spring of 2021, Mr. Major returned to Opera Grand Rapids as Gary in Douglas Pew’s Penny and will join Lyric Fest for a filmed recital of Kurt Weill songs, the Princeton Festival for an Opera Gala, and Opera Delaware for a concert of Shakespeare selections. During the 2021-2022 season, Mr. Major will return to the Columbus Symphony to sing Schaunard in La bohème and as the bass soloist in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony as well as returning to Opera Grand Rapids to sing Ping in Turandot.

Whitney Morrison

Angela

Rising star Whitney Morrison has earned praise for her “big, gleaming soprano” (Chicago Classical Review) and “vocally sumptuous” performances (Chicago Tribune). A Chicago native and recent alum of Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center, Morrison champions an African American aesthetic in classical music, embracing a style of performance that blends classical singing technique with elements of the gospel singing tradition. Morrison’s future engagements include 7 Deaths of Maria Callas with Marina Abramović at the Greek National Opera Athens. Recent credits include: Leonie Baker in the world premiere of Freedom Ride at Chicago Opera Theater, and Sister Rose in Dead Man Walking at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Curtis Bannister

Carlos

The 2020/21 schedule began with Curtis Bannister’s debut in Award-winning Apple TV+ series, DICKINSON, as Marquis for the show’s second season, returned to Chicago Opera Theatre as the Hotel Manager in new opera “THE TRANSFORMATION OF JANE DOE'', and in a joint collaboration with Heartbeat Opera NYC, the The Broad Stage in Los Angeles and the Mondavi Center, Curtis is featured in excerpts from Beethoven’s Fidelio (Florestan) and songs by H.T. Burleigh in the visual album, BREATHING FREE, which heightens the Black African American experience; this performance is nominated for a 2021 Drama League Award. Later in the season, Curtis returns to Chicago Opera Theatre as Baglioni in LA HIJA DE RAPPACCINI, performs with theater and film star, Heather Headley, for GOODMAN THEATER’s 2021 Gala and makes his debut at the TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL in the world premiere of the feature film “The Conductor”, highlighting the revolutionary conductor, Marin Alsop.

Tyrese Byrd

Jesse

Tyrese Byrd, tenor, is a native of Greenville, SC and a graduate of the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. He is currently pursuing a Masters of Music degree at the University of Michigan while studying with Dr. Louise Toppin. He completed his undergraduate studies at Furman University, where he studied with Dr. Grant Knox. Recent roles include Miles in Proving Up by Missy Mazzoli, Herr Vogelsang in Der Schauspieldirektor, Le Prince Charmant in Cendrillon, Arpad in She Loves Me, and the title role in Mozart’s Bastien und Bastienne. His concert repertoire includes Mozart’s Requiem, Coronation Mass in C and Handel’s Messiah, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah.

D-Composed

Chamber Orchestra

D-Composed is a Chicago-based chamber music experience that honors Black creativity and culture through the music of Black composers. Since 2017, they have created intimate, out-of-the-box experiences that celebrate a mix of genres and sounds of Black music throughout history. They take music out of the concert halls and share it in spaces like art galleries and cafes. They’re architects of creativity and merge various artistic mediums to properly honor the legacy and brilliance of Black composers. With their platform, they plan to change an entire field — and they’re doing it on their own terms.

Photo: Undying Love/Hearing in Color c. Forestt Strong LaFave