THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA | 2017-2018 54 A m e r i c a n -
Canadian Zach
Finkelstein has
quickly established
himself as a leading
tenor soloist in North
America and abroad,
from Seattle’s
Benaroya Hall to New
York’s Lincoln Center
to London’s Sadler’s
Wells to the National
Arts Center in Beijing,
China. Finkelstein’s debut album, Britten and Pears:
the Canticles, was launched October 1, 2017, with
CD release recitals in Seattle, Toronto, New York
and Vancouver during the 2017/18 season.
In the concert world, Finkelstein is known for his
“refined” and “elegant” (Vancouver Observer)
interpretation of the works of Bach, Mozart
and Handel, among others. His 2017 summer
festival appearances included Bach’s Mass in B
minor for Ottawa’s Music and Beyond Festival and
Magnificats by J.S. Bach and his son, C.P.E Bach,
for the Elora Festival. This season, he will be heard
in Messiah for the Calgary Philharmonic, Regina
Symphony and Florida Orchestra. Advent Canatas,
Matthäus Passion and Johannespassion are the
Bach works on his schedule for Pacific Music Works,
Chorus Niagara and the McGill Chamber Orchestra.
Hailed by Anthony Tommasini of The New York
Times as a “compelling tenor,” he made his New
York City Opera debut as Mambre in Rossini’s Mosè
in Egitto. Finkelstein has also been heard with the
Mark Morris Dance Group, Symphony Nova Scotia,
Portland Baroque, Victoria Symphony, and Music of
the Baroque in Chicago.
Finkelstein holds an artist diploma from the Royal
Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School in
Toronto and a bachelor’s of arts in political science
from McGill University in Montreal. As a young
artist, he participated in the Tanglewood Music
Festival, Banff Opera as Theatre, International
Vocal Arts Institute and the Britten-Pears Young
Artist Programme.
Lee Poulis is “virile
and heroic in both
appearance and
vocalism” (Opera
News) and has
been praised for
his “commanding
presence” and his
“dark baritone, rich
in color,” calling it a
voice “of power and
beauty.” Twice named
Best Young Singer
by Die Welt, Poulis has
performed at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden of Berlin,
Teatro Real of Madrid, Opera of Bilbao, Teatro Municipal
of Santiago, and with the Beethoven Orchestra of Bonn.
He performed the title role in the national premieres
of Doctor Atomic in Germany and at the Finnish
National Opera, a production which was nominated
for one of Europe’s top theater prizes, Der Faust.
This season Poulis performs Carmina Burana with
Valley Symphony Orchestra and Long Beach Camerata
and the Bach Mass in B Minor with the New York
Choral Society at Carnegie Hall. He participates in
the world premiere opera workshop of Joel Puckett
and Eric Simonson’s Black Sox Scandal as writer
Ring Lardner with the Minnesota Opera. He also
appears in recital with the New West Symphony
and sings Bach’s Cantata #82, “Ich habe genug”
in his Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra debut.
Poulis is the first prize winner in the 2008 Liederkranz
Foundation Vocal Competition, top prize winner in the
2008 Francisco Viñas International Voice Competition,
and first prize winner in the 2007 Chester Ludgin
International Verdi Baritone Competition, as well as
an Encouragement Award recipient in the 2008 George
London Foundation Awards competition. In addition
to San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, he is an
alumnus of Washington National Opera’s Domingo-
Cafritz Young Artist Program, as well as Music Academy
of the West. Poulis is a graduate of Harvard University.
ZACH FINKELSTEIN
Tenor
LEE POULIS
Bass-Baritone
Lee Poulis is virile Valley Symphony Orc