Baritone Harrison Hintzsche is recognized for his warm lyric tone, nuanced musicality, and dedication to text. His passion for Baroque music, art song, and choral music has led him to perform on world-class stages such as London’s Wigmore Hall, New York City’s Alice Tully Hall, and Seoul’s National Theater of Korea; and collaborate with great leaders in music such as Masaaki Suzuki, Graham Johnson, and Nicholas McGegan. 

Recent recording credits include the bass arias in J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion with Cantata Collective, as well as various Lieder by Luise Greger on New Muses Project’s inaugural self-titled album. Hintzsche sings regularly with some of the nation’s leading choral ensembles, including the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Ensemble Altera, and the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, and holds degrees in music from St. Olaf College and the Yale School of Music. He hails from DeKalb, IL, and now resides in Brooklyn, NY. 

Harrison’s most recent appearance with Bach Charlotte was at Charlotte Bach Festival ’25. He was a 2019 Bach Charlotte Vocal Fellow.

harrisonhintzsche.com

Characterized by The Dallas Morning News as a “countertenor full and fluent, glowing on top, dispensed with the loveliest legato,” Nicholas Garza has been hailed for inti-
mate, engaging performances across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. An early music specialist, Garza has performed with ensembles including the Chicago Arts Orchestra, Ars Lyrica, ensemble viii, Spire Chamber Ensemble, Publick Musick, La Follia, Oklahoma Bach Choir, Austin Baroque Orchestra, Tactus Ensemble, and Mountainside Baroque, among others. Working with noted singer and conductor Simon Carrington, Garza was twice a singing fellow at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival of Yale University; additional festival credits include the International Cervantino, Victoria Bach Festival, Big Moose Bach, and Hawaii Performing Arts Festivals.

Nicholas’s most recent appearance with Bach Charlotte was at WinterFest ’26.

Praised by the Boston Musical Intelligencer for her “clear soprano” and “tasteful dramatic interpretation,” MaryRuth Miller has appeared throughout North America as a concert soloist and choral artist. Recent performance highlights include solo features with Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society, Upper Valley Baroque, Pegasus Early Music, Bach Collegium San Diego, San Diego Baroque, Charlotte Master Chorale, the Baldwin Wallace Bach Festival, and the Oregon Bach Festival.

MaryRuth is one of six members of the newest VOCES8 Foundation ensemble, Lyyra. In 2024–25, she joined VOCES8 as a substitute soprano for performances in the U.S., Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Singapore, Australia and the U.K. (BBC Proms with the King’s Singers). She sings regularly with the Handel and Haydn Society, New York City’s Clarion Choir, the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, and Santa Fe Desert Chorale. 

Originally from West Columbia, SC, MaryRuth holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Winthrop University and a Master of Historical Performance degree from Boston University. She lives in San Diego, CA. 

MaryRuth’s most recent appearance with Bach Charlotte was at WinterFest ’26.

maryruthmillersoprano.com

With her “vivid, deeply satisfying sound” (Boston Music Intelligencer) and “rich, smooth mezzo soprano” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch), Kim Leeds engages audiences in her exploration of life’s essence through music. 

As a soloist, she has appeared with the GRAMMY®-winning ensemble Apollo’s Fire, True Concord Voices and Orchestra, Blue Heron, Tafelmusik Baroque Chamber Orchestra and Choir, the Oregon Bach Festival, Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Bach Charlotte, Piffaro, Les Délices, Upper Valley Baroque, Bach Society of St. Louis, Chicago Master Singers, Cantata Collective, and the Handel Society of Dartmouth, among many others. 

As a chamber artist, Kim has performed with such ensembles as The Crossing, Clarion Choir, Seraphic Fire, Handel and Haydn Society, Musica Sacra, Oregon Bach Festival, and Ensemble Altera. She has also toured with the Weimar Bach Academy under Helmut Rilling, and with the Junges Stuttgart Bach Ensemble under Hans-Christoph Rademann. 

She is a winner of the Tafelmusik Vocal Competition, served as a Virginia Best Adams Fellow at the Carmel Bach Festival, and worked with Philippe Herreweghe as a Britten–Pears Young Artist. 

Kim’s most recent appearance with Bach Charlotte was at Charlotte Bach Festival ’24.

kimleeds.com

https://ectsymphony.com/Paulina Francisco’s “vivacious soprano was a ray of sunshine” (The Guardian). Hailed for her “agility, impact, and vibrant projection” (ClassyKey) which “preserves a finesse of delivery allowing one to savor the ornamentation and agility” (Olyrix), Paulina enjoys an international career of singing, in demand as a soloist, collaborator, and project curator. 

Paulina is a winner of the 11th edition of Le Jardin des Voix with Les Arts Florissants and is a soloist in their internationally-celebrated production of Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, with staging and choreography by Mourad Merzouki. In March 2025, she made her London Handel Festival debut singing the role of L’Allegro in L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato with Jonathan Cohen and Arcangelo. During the 2023-2024 season,  Paulina was a Young Artist with Opera Lafayette, making her Kennedy Center debut in the role of Thalie in Mouret’s Les Fêtes de Thalie under the direction of Christophe Rousse.

Paulina has studied voice, historical performance, and music research at McGill University, Indiana University, the University of Southern California, and Carroll University. 

Paulina’s most recent appearance with Bach Charlotte was at Charlotte Bach Festival ’25.

paulinafrancisco.com

Hailed as an “impressive tenor” (The New York Times) who sings with “sweet vibrancy” (The Plain Dealer –Cleveland), Gene Stenger is one of the country’s most called upon Bach specialists who is also heralded for his performances of oratorios by Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, and Mozart. 

Gene has been a featured soloist with the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, Portland Symphony Orchestra, Helena Symphony, Winston-Salem Symphony, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, American Classical Orchestra, Odyssey Opera, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Resonance Works Pittsburgh, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Washington Bach Consort, Voices of Ascension, Bach Society of St. Louis, Colorado Bach Ensemble, TENET Vocal Artists, Emmanuel Music, Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, Baldwin Wallace University Bach Festival, Harvard Baroque Chamber Orchestra, Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra, and the Yale Symphony Orchestra. 

Originally from Pittsburgh, Gene holds degrees from the Yale School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music, Colorado State University, and Baldwin Wallace University Conservatory of Performing Arts.

Gene’s most recent appearance with Bach Charlotte was WinterFest ’26

genestenger.com 

Multi-talented Ian Watson has been described by The Times in London as a “world-class soloist,” performer of “virtuosic panache,” and by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung as “a conductor of formidable ability.” He is the Associate Conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society, Artistic Director of Arcadia Players period instrument orchestra, and Music Director of the Connecticut Early Music Festival.

Ian has appeared as soloist (piano, harpshichord, organ) or conductor with the London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, English Chamber Orchestra, Polish Chamber Orchestra, Irish Chamber Orchestra, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Bremen Philharmonic, Rhein-Main Symphony Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Handel and Haydn Society, English Baroque Soloists, and The Sixteen, among many others.

He is in demand as a chamber music partner, and has appeared in recital with Nigel Kennedy, Iona Brown, Julian Lloyd and Webber, among others. Ian’s first major appointment was as Organist at St. Margaret’s, Westminster Abbey, at the age of 19, a position he held for ten years.

Ian was invited to be the assistant conductor, organ and harpsichord soloist, and continuo player for Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s “Bach Cantata Pilgrimage,” performing all Bach’s cantatas on the correct liturgical day in places where Bach lived and worked. He has also been featured on more than 200 recordings and film soundtracks, including ​​​​Amadeus, Polanski’s Death and the Maiden, Restoration, Cry, the Beloved Country, Voices from A Locked Room, and the BBC‘s production of David Copperfield.

Ian’s most recent appearance with Bach Charlotte was WinterFest ’26.