The Downtown Singers are pleased to announce the soloists for this year's annual Messiah Performance.

Mezzo-soprano Dawn Pierce is a native of Olean, New York, and currently an assistant professor of voice and opera at Penn State University. Highlights from the operatic stage include Béatrice in Beatrice et Bénédict with Asheville Lyric Opera, Madelon in Andrea Chenier with Nashville Opera, Charlotte in Werther with Mobile Opera, and Carmen in Carmen with Opera Ithaca. She has performed Verdi Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth and Messiah with symphonies throughout the country. 

Dr. Heather Holmquest is based in Rochester, NY and is an active soprano soloist in the Western NY region known for her dynamic range and colorful vocal timbre. Primarily a concert artist, her recent solo appearances include Brahms' Requiem with SUNY Geneseo Choirs and Orchestra; Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël and Exsultate, Jubilate with Avanti Music in Buffalo; Poulenc’s Gloria and Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang with the Eastman Summer Community Sings; Handel’s Messiah and Michael Haydn’s Requiem with First Presbyterian Church in Pittsford; Bach’s St. John Passion and Mass in Bm with Voices; and Vivaldi’s Gloria, Fauré’s Requiem, and Bach’s BWV 140 “Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme” with Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester.In addition to performing, Heather is an instructor of music theory at Nazareth University and director of Scivias Medieval Ensemble, a treble ensemble that engages audiences through informative early music programs. She received her Ph.D. in music theory from the University of Oregon with a secondary area in vocal performance. 

Vale Rideout enjoys a career on the opera and concert stage. He has sung major roles with San Francisco Opera (Alfred in Die Fledermaus), Palm Beach Opera (Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni), Boston Lyric Opera (Quint in The Turn of the Screw), Kentucky Opera (Roméo in Roméo et Juliette), Central City Opera (Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor), Tulsa Opera (Tamino in The Magic Flute), and Nashville Opera (Frank Shallard in Elmer Gantry). He has sung with major symphonies including the New York Philharmonic (Maazel/War Requiem), Los Angeles Philharmonic (War Requiem), Seattle Symphony (Messiah), Jacksonville Symphony (War Requiem), Nashville Symphony (Messiah), Detroit Symphony (Beethoven 9), Washington Chorus (Missa Solemnis), New Orleans Philharmonic (Messiah, Christmas Oratorio), Trinity Church Wall Street (Britten - Serenade, Stravinsky - Les Noces) and Toledo Symphony (Verdi Requiem). He can be heard on World Premiere recordings of Elmer Gantry, Prince of Players & Wuthering Heights (Floyd), Rio de sangre (Davis), The Inspector (Musto), as well as recordings of Philip Glass’ Fifth Symphony (Trinity Church Wall Street), The Ballad of Baby Doe (Central City Opera), Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (Detroit Symphony), Carmina Burana (New Jersey Symphony) and his first solo CD of Britten and Finzi songs on the ACIS label.

Holden James Turner, a Baritone from Rochester, NY, is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and is currently pursuing his Master's in Voice Performance with an emphasis in Pedagogy at the Peabody Institute. He was most recently seen as the title role in Buffalo Opera Unlimited’s production of “Joshua’s Boots”. He has been a Vocal Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival in the Summer of 2024 and has appeared in numerous productions with the Eastman Opera Theatre, as well as been a featured soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He's been honored to perform as a Baritone Soloist for the Finger Lakes Opera on many occasions, the Rochester Oratorio Society, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Eastman Philharmonia and Eastman-Rochester Chorus, Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra, and many more groups throughout NYS and outside of it. Mr. Turner has worked with many artists ranging from Jon Batiste to Dawn Upshaw and Andris Nelsons. He is also a recipient of the Rochester Links Organization's "Young Black & Gifted" Scholarship and the William Warfield Scholarship and has received a proclamation from the Monroe County Legislature in Rochester, NY.