A dedicated interpreter of unusual repertoire, soprano Yulia Van Doren has thoughtfully cultivated a unique career as one of the foremost concert singers of her generation. Particularly recognized for her work in baroque repertoire, she has been presented as a guest artist by a majority of the premiere North American orchestras and festivals, has the distinction of being the only singer awarded top prizes in all the U.S. Bach vocal competitions, and is featured on two Grammy Award-nominated opera recordings with the Boston Early Music Festival.

In addition, she has had leading roles in a variety of diverse repertoire, including the world premiere of Shostakovich’s Orango with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, directed by Peter Sellars and released on Deutsche Grammophon; the modern revival of Monsigny’s Le roi et le fermier at Opera de Versailles, the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center with Opera Lafayette; concerts of works of Monteverdi concerts in Venice with Sir John Eliot Gardiner; and Alessandro Scarlatti’s rarely-performed opera Tigrane at Opera de Nice.

Other career highlights include Handel’s Acis and Galatea with the Radio Kamer Filharmonie at the Royal Concergebouw Amsterdam and with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin in Macau, marking the first performance of an opera by Handel in the Chinese region; eclectic 20th-century repertoire as the featured soprano of the 2013 Ojai Music Festival; several world premieres at Carnegie Hall; and nationally-televised performances at the Cartagena International Music Festival with soprano Dawn Upshaw, a cherished career mentor. Ms. Van Doren made her European debut singing the Hungarian premiere of Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915 with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. 

Passionate about cross-arts collaboration, she has been a frequent soprano soloist for renowned choreographer Mark Morris since 2007, singing many performances with his company. In 2019 she became the first opera singer to perform at the Essaouira World Music Festival, one of Africa’s largest, in a guest appearance with Moroccan Gnawa superstar Hassan Hakmoun.

Born in Moscow, Ms. Van Doren was raised in the United States in a music-filled household in which she and her seven younger siblings were taught by their Russian mezzo-soprano mother and American jazz-pianist father. After spending her high school years working in professional musical theater, she switched focus to classical singing and attended the New England Conservatory. Her graduate degree from Bard College Conservatory was generously supported by a Soros Fellowship, postgraduate study in Paris by a Beebe Fellowship, and she is an Astral Artist laureate. Yulia is also the founder of a holistic wellness brand that is an innovator in its genre, and author of three books that are award-winning international bestsellers, with over a quarter-million copies sold in eight translations. She is currently developing a project related the intersection of music, science, and holistic healing. 

"A hugely appealing, obviously important talent...Van Doren is startlingly subservient to the music at hand, inhabiting it so completely that she gives the illusion of barely thinking about her voice. Never does one sense a separation between the written vocal line and the voice singing it. With this comes an easygoing magnetism that attracts the ear rather than reaching out to it. Often the greater technical challenges fired her fantasy the most."

— David Patrick Stearns, Philadelphia Inquirer

CAGE | Four Walls | Ojai North Festival

“Van Doren appeared midway through to sing one unaccompanied bit with alluring directness.”

—  Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

BACH   | Cantata 47 | May Festival | Robert Porco, cond

“Displaying a bell-like soprano and excellent diction, Russian-American soprano Yulia Van Doren stepped in at the last moment for Rebecca Evans (who had to cancel). Her collaboration with violinist Kathryn Woolley in the soprano aria was a festival highlight.”— Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati Inquirer

         | Cantatas BWV 80, 140 | American Bach Soloists | Jeffrey Thomas, cond.

“The aria ‘Komm in mein Herzens-Haus’ was irresistibly sung by soprano Yulia Van Doren. The justly famous ‘Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme’ was given an enchanting reading, highlighted by the combined talents of soprano Van Doren and baritone William Sharp.” — San Francisco Classical Voice

         | Cantata No. 199 | Cleveland Orchestra | James Gaffigan, cond.

“…soprano Yulia Van Doren, who both rescued the Cleveland Orchestra's "Bach in Focus" finale and proved a treasure in her own right. Truly, her debut Thursday night with guest conductor James Gaffigan could not have been more elegant, even had it been planned…

Never mind the exceedingly contrite nature of the text. "Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut" ("My heart swims in blood") gave Van Doren a platform on which to reveal her considerable gifts as a vocalist and interpreter…

She was the complete Bach package, an artist possessed of a clear, mellifluous instrument and the rare ability to convey the literal and emotional core of each musical sentence. No doubt Cleveland, and the world, will be hearing more from her…

Lyrical phrases poured forth with melting poignancy, and intricate passages bubbled like sparkling fountains. Twenty-five minutes simply weren't enough. To Van Doren, one easily could have listened for hours.”

— Zachary Lewis, Cleveland Plain Dealer

| Christmas Oratorio | Music of the Baroque | Jane Glover, cond.

“Yulia Van Doren’s warm, focused soprano was used to charming effect in the “Echo aria” (“Flosst, mein Heiland, flosst dein Namen”), paired with oboist Anne Bach in a series of droll mirrored responses with a soprano/oboe backstage duo." — Michael Cameron, Chicago Classical Review

| Easter Oratorio | Music of the Baroque | Jane Glover, cond.

“breathtakingly beautiful, especially in the aria sung by soprano Yulia Van Doren accompanied only by Mary Stolper on the flute”. – Third Coast Review

| Mass in B Minor | Music of the Baroque | Jane Glover, cond.

"Soprano Yulia Van Doren sang with admirable clarity. Her top notes had delicate bloom and good shine, and she had gentle and nuanced expressiveness that brought the text to life." —M.L. Rantala, Hyde Park Herald

| Mass in B Minor | Baltimore Symphony Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“… Ms. Van Doren had numerous winning solos…The Russian-American soprano’s voice has a sparkling rather than warbling, indeed almost a theatrically mellifluous quality to it."

— David Rohde, DC Metro Theater Arts

         | St. John Passion | Music of the Baroque | Jane Glover, cond.

 “…bright-toned, flexible soprano…” — Lawrence A. Johnson, Chicago Classical Review

         | St. Matthew Passion | St. Thomas Choir & Orchestra | John Scott, cond.

“Yulia Van Doren sang with an appealing soprano and expressive conviction.”  — The New York Times

BOYCE | Solomon, a Serenata | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

"Soprano Yulia Van Doren's shapely, fresh-toned instrument was especially well-suited to the female role, and she sang with vibrant expressiveness, negotiating florid arias with ease and voluptuous charm."

— Georgia Rowe, San Jose Mercury News

“Soprano Yulia van Doren, as the female protagonist in Solomon, made it obvious that something very titillating was happening. She played with every word and every subtlety in the text, and sprinkled her singing with all kinds of excited little trills and sighs.”— Neils Swinkels, San Francisco Classical Voice

FAURÉ | Requiem | Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra | Robert Porco, cond.

“Soprano Yulia Van Doren sounded fresh and radiant in the ‘Pie Jesu,’ in her festival debut.”

— Cincinnati Enquirer

HANDEL | Arias | Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, conductor

“Van Doren showed plenty of power on the bottom. On top, she was astonishing for her speed, pitch in crazy leaps and running scales alike, and the fullness of voice through it all. She not only commanded Handel’s tricky rhythms, she made us understand why all that syncopation is in the piece at all…Van Doren did not merely get through this insanely difficult music — not to mention add even more spectacular ornaments the second time through — she got the idea of it. She made it flirtatious and funny with purely musical means, and she made it look and sound easy. This performance — the best single act of singing I’ve heard this 2012-13 season, a strong one for singing — drove the audience to an ovation that delayed the concert for several minutes.” — Tom Strini, Third Coast Digest

“In the solos, there was a chance for musical drama, spectacularly so in Van Doren’s coquette-ish solo from Orlando, a feast of wild leaps and playful ornament, in which she showed why she is a rising star on the baroque music scene.” — Paul Kosidowski, Milwaukee Magazine

“Van Doren's sound is clear, fluid and extremely facile. Van Doren and Taylor may produce decidedly different sounds, but they are close in range, with Taylor singing easily and convincingly in the mezzo soprano range. Their sounds contrast in solo passages and complement when heard together. The secret of their deliveries lay only partially in the contrast/blend of their voices. The real magic lay in their hand-in-glove musical interpretations. The two singers traded, answered and blended phrases exquisitely, sometimes matching the shape of the other's phrases in perfect sync, sometimes asking a musical question for the other to answer. They made ornaments sound simple and natural and used vibrato selectively, for musical expression or dramatic effect. They leaned close to one another to match pitch and blend sound, interacting like the best of musical friends.”— Elaine Schmidt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

               | Acis and Galatea | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra/Mark Morris | Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival

“After Acis’ death, Ms. Van Doren successfully commands our attention as she sings Galatea’s lament in an empty and darkened stage; side lighting picks her out as if against a void. But this is the aria where the drama moves beyond tragedy: The nymph-goddess transforms her dead lover into a fountain whose stream will renew both the pleasures and the plains of the landscape.” — Alastair Macaulay, New York Times

“…she made something very fine of Galatea’s moving music after Acis’s death, particularly the heartbreaking ‘Must I my Acis still bemoan’ enlivened by its arresting choral interjections.

— Christopher Corwin, Musical America

         Yulia Van Doren sang Galatea’s songs with easy charm” — James Jorden, New York Observer

               | Acis and Galatea  | Mark Morris Dance Group | Kaufmann Center - Kansas City, MO

“Yulia Van Doren as Galatea, however, was the star of this show. Her ringing soprano was present and fluid, every note warm and well-rounded. Watching such a performance, it can seem odd that we idolize pop and R&B divas for their “amazing” voices, when none has near the power and range of even an average opera soprano. And Van Doren is far above average.” — Hampton Stevens, The Kansas City Star

“Yulia Van Doren (Galatea) was her normal full-voiced, delicate self. A casual listener would identify her as a mezzo from the breadth of her voice, until she starts negotiating Handel's sometimes painful florid passages; then, only a fine soprano could pull it off.” — The Examiner

               | Giulio Cesare | “Cleopatra” | Nicholas McGegan, Conductor | Portland Baroque Orchestra

“Yulia Van Doren then took the stage in the role of Cleopatra for the first of three arias from Handel's Giulio Cesare. Looking the part in a royal purple gown with a bold necklace of golden coins, Van Doren immediately captivated the audience as she launched into the fast, furious aria ‘Anzi ti pur...Non disperar.’ It was immediately obvious why she is so highly regarded despite her relative youth; she sang in a dizzyingly intricate coloratura, flawless in timbre while executing rapid, difficult ornamentation with pinpoint accuracy despite the merciless tempo... She was able to switch from anger to joy to sadness as necessary, projecting the effortless calm of one singing for friends in the parlor of someone's home. She immediately penetrated to the heart of meaning in each text she sang all throughout the evening, her stage presence serving to enhance her shining musicianship.” — Northwest Reverb         

   | Joshua | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“…for sheer Baroque splendor, the evening’s standout was Yulia Van Doren. In the role of Achsah, the Russian soprano was a model of refined, effortless vocalism. In each of her arias — from Act I’s velvety “Oh, who can tell” to Act III’s exuberant “Oh, had I Jubal’s lyre” — Van Doren sounded lithe and expressive. In all, this was a brilliant appearance.” — Georgia Rowe, The Mercury News

“The evening’s bright star was soprano Yulia Van Doren, whose local appearances continue to shine with ever greater clarity and precision. As Achsah, her singing was by turns vivacious and tender, punctuated by elegant phrasing and effortlessly agile coloratura.” — Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

“…the sublime soprano…The clarity and flow of her tone, like liquid silver, brightened everything she touched.” — Steven Winn, San Francisco Classical Voice

               | Judas Maccabaeus | Music of the Baroque | Jane Glover, cond.

“Her bright, expressive singing and crystalline diction conveyed a full measure of heartfelt emotion.”

—  John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune

“…Van Doren conveyed her solos with a fresh, graceful quality. Van Doren’s deeply expressive rendering of “Ah! wretched, wretched Israel” was a highlight, plumbing a dark vein of feeling, aided by Craig Trompeter’s eloquent cello obbligato.” —  Lawrence A. Johnson, Chicago Classical Review

               | Messiah | Houston Symphony | Christian Knapp, cond.

“Yulia Van Doren’s sweet tone stole the show. Her voice filled Jones Hall with an emotional swell, as good as anything we have ever heard.” — Houston Press

               | Messiah | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, conductor

“…the wonderful soprano Yulia Van Doren, never lovelier than in the aria “Come unto him,” of which the alto sings the first part “He shall feed his flock,” set to the same gorgeous melody.” — Neils Swinkels, San Francisco Classical Voice

“came through with an exquisite “I know my Redeemer liveth’…” — Ashley Webb, Stark Insider

               | Messiah | Toronto Symphony Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, conductor

"This year’s big revelation is young American soprano Yulia Van Doren, a Baroque specialist with a ravishing lyric voice and an ease with vocal ornamentation that turned her into an enchanted songbird."

— Toronto Star

"It was immediately clear why she has been creating flutters of excitement in the Baroque-music world. Her coloratura technique was as impressive as the warmth of her delivery on Tuesday night, proving that she is an exceptional find." — Musical Toronto

“Yulia Van Doren, was perhaps the strongest of them all, especially her unique vocal ornamentation that fluttered through the work like a tropical songbird.” — Michael Vincent, Musical Toronto

               | Messiah | Cleveland Orchestra | Robert Porco, cond.

“Soprano Yulia van Doren exuded personality and sang with beguiling clarity and charm. Her bright red dress and gauzy white wrap added to her stage presence, but her fine narrative style in the shepherd recitatives and crisp melismas in “Rejoice greatly” also made her a standout.”

— Daniel Hathaway, Cleveland Classical

               | Orlando | "Dorinda" | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“...soprano Yulia Van Doren made the most of these comic implications in her portrayal of Dorinda but never overdid them.  Her voice blossomed as Handel fleshed out her character, and she brought consistently interesting, often athletic embellishments to the repeated sections.”  —    The New York Times

"Yulia Van Doren is a star-to-be among Handelians, and her Dorinda proved delightful in every way: a spring-water timbre, expert decoration and fabulous staccatos, and a telling way with text." — Opera (UK)

“...Van Doren sang gloriously, with subtle inflection, dynamic sensitivity and spunky charm...”

— The Financial Times

                                                                                   
“...Russian-American soprano Yulia Van Doren brought charm and a bell-like purity to her arias...”

— The Huffington Post

“The alluring Russian-American soprano Yulia Van Doren stole the show as Dorinda....Her luscious voice has a pure, shining high extension, and she sailed through the coloratura leaps, plunges and flourishes with uncanny ease.” —  Chicago Tribune

“She reminds me of Natalie Dessay...another performer who artfully combines singing and acting to wonderful effect on the operatic stage. Truly this is the trickiest role in Orlando, encompassing a wide emotional range including ignorance, irony, and resignation – yet Yulia Van Doren made it all seem terribly easy.” — The Boston Musical Intelligencer

“Yulia Van Doren, my pick for superstar of the evening, radiated charm, energy, brilliance, and the pleasure of having a soprano voice that was bright, flexible, sweet, and available for just about any whim she might be possessed to follow.” — The Berkshire Review

“Her singing, especially in the decorations she devised...had the ability to pull this listener far into the sadness of the character. It was not a light soprano kind of performance. It was a big luscious performance.” — The Berkshire Review

             | Saul | "Merab" | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“In the role of Merab, soprano Yulia Van Doren was sweet-voiced…Throughout, Van Doren sang with great clarity of tone. — James Roy MacBean, Berkeley Daily Planet

“a delectable joy in her light upper range, and her ability to convey fetching innocence provides a fine contrast to the more rooted sound of soprano Sherezade Panthaki (Michal, Saul’s other daughter)….their singing is heavenly” – Jason Victor Serinus, San Francisco Classical Voice

HAYDN | The Creation | Colorado Music Festival | Michael Christie, cond.

“The soloists themselves were also impeccable. Yulia Van Doren, a young soprano, negotiated Haydn’s florid runs so effortlessly that she seemed to float upon the music. Her two long arias left the listener wishing they were even longer.” — Boulder Daily Camera

HAYDN | The Creation | St. Louis Symphony Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“Russian-American soprano Yulia Van Doren, singing the parts of the angel Gabriel and Eve, didn’t have the largest voice on the stage, but she surely had one of the best-produced, intelligently used. She has a rich timbre and outstanding musicality, with clean coloratura and a seemingly instinctive grasp of the text.”

– Sarah Bryan Miller, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

KUHNAU | Ihr Himmel jubilirt von oben | Master Chorale of South Florida | Brett Karlin, cond.

“Soprano Yulia Van Doren expertly delivered the intricate passagework called for in her solos.”

— Mathew Evan Taylor, South Florida Classical Review

LULLY | Psyché  | “Femme affligée” | Boston Early Music Festival

“The singers were also consistently outstanding in their musical parts, their acting, and their ensemble work... Among these, Yulia Van Doren deserves special praise for her management of the complex ornaments in her part as the Grieving Woman in the Italian lament. With her rounded but limpid voice she brought historical correctness and attention to detail to a higher level of expression, which was ultimately very moving.”­— Berkshire Fine Arts

“…Van Doren's Grieving Woman, lamenting Psyché's projected fate in Italian, was a highlight.

— Opera (UK)

“Yulia Van Doren is the Anna Netrebko of early music…that’s a name you should keep your ears open for.”’

— OperaNow!

MONSIGNY | Le Roi et le fermier | "Betsy" | Opera Lafayette | Ryan Brown, conductor

“Yulia Van Doren as Betsy were the standouts; Van Doren singing with limpid sweetness…” — Bachtrack

“…the divine Betsy of Yulia van Doren, with her polished high notes. She is divine in this adolescent and naïve role. We salute her picaresque and moving theatrical commitment.” — Muse Baroque

“…sweet-toned lyric-soprano Yulia Van Doren was a charmer as Richard’s high-strung sister, Betsy.”

— The Washington Post

"The women excelled, with Yulia Van Doren's soprano sparkling as the 14-year-old Betsy." — Opera (UK)

MONTEVERDI | L’incoronazione di Poppea | “Poppea” | Early Music Guild of Seattle | Stephen Stubbs, cond.

“Yulia Van Doren, making her professional opera debut in the title role, is not only a perfect baroque voice but scorches the stage with her sensual presence as the femme fatale.” — Seattle Times

MOZART | Requiem | Oregon Symphony | David Danzmayr

"All of the soloists sang with conviction and beautiful tone, with Van Doren leading the

way." – Classical Voice North America

PERGOLESI   | Stabat Mater | Portland Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, Conductor
“…a pair of outstanding vocal soloists, soprano Yulia Van Doren and countertenor Matthew White....The combination of these two singers was even more than the sum of its very considerable parts. Both were individually warm and agile, with unerring shaping and clear diction, but together they showed themselves to be especially sensitive musicians, achieving an extraordinary blend and unity of phrasing through Pergolesi's exquisitely mournful lines.” — The Oregonian

                   | Stabat Mater | Seattle Baroque Orchestra

“Van Doren is a storyteller.  She gave the words dramatic emphasis and great expression…deeply moving…a memorable performance.” — The Gathering Note

POULENC | Gloria | Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra | Christoph König, Conductor

Van Doren created a mesmerizing blend of expressive delicacy and commanding singing. She created a fragile, pleading sound in spots, moving to a soaring, ringing sound elsewhere. She executed simple lines and large leaps with equal ease, using a decrescendo on several upward leaps to create breathtaking musical moments. — Elaine Schmidt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

PURCELL | Dido and Aeneas | “Belinda” | Mark Morris Dance Group

“I was truly fascinated by the performance of Yulia Van Doren, who sang with beautiful articulation and rich tone in the role of Belinda.” — Ballet.co.uk

               | Dido and Aeneas | “Belinda” | Boston Early Music Festival

“BEST OF 2010: Yulia Van Doren, who sang Belinda, began to make a mark in period opera a few years ago, and she has developed into one of the finest voices and artists…” — Berkshire Review of the Arts 

SHOSTAKOVICH | Orango | Los Angeles Philharmonic | Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor

"The level of the vocalism is high; unfortunately, only the lovely-voiced Russian-American soprano Yulia van Doren 

and trenchant, versatile Kazakh new-music tenor Timur Bekbosunov (playing non-Russian characters) prove 

comfortable with and convincing in the phonetics — a key factor, surely, in rendering Shostakovich’s stage works 

authentically." — Opera News

JORY VINIKOUR

BACH, JS | Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 | Deutschen Händel-Solisten | Karlsruhe Handel Festival

“Vinikour was also breathtaking in the extensive, incredibly difficult harpsichord part in Father Bach's 5th

Brandenburg Concerto, which is rightly considered the first real harpsichord concert in music history. Together with Susanne Kaiser (flute) and Andrea Keller (violin), the animated Handel soloists, led by the energetic Vinikour, made the popular baroque classic a revelatory feast.” - Badisches Neueste Nachrichten

BLOW, J | Venus and Adonis | Florentine Opera

“Mainly behind the success was the grace of the music itself under visiting conductor Jory Vinikour.”

— Dominique Paul Noth, Urban Milwaukee

FRESCHI | Ermelinda | Ars Minerva

“Ricci’s direction, operating on a bare stage against a backdrop of fetching visual projections, captured this quicksilvery dramatic vein perfectly. So did music director Jory Vinikour, leading a small complement of string instruments from the harpsichord and giving the whole performance a welcome sense of spontaneity and security.” – Joshua Kosman, Datebook

“Conductor Jory Vinikour presided from a harpsichord over a six-member onstage band. The orchestral work was sensitive and responsive. In ODC’s close quarters the musicians were bound to get into the act. Clorindo’s mad scenes involved some harassing of the players. Vinikour and his crew got their own licks in at one point, interrupting Freschi’s score with a quote from Handel. That small musical joke landed better than some of the other antics.” – Steven Winn, San Francisco Classical Voice

“Like Ricci’s direction, the musical guidance of conductor and harpsichordist Jory Vinikour divulged obvious cognizance of and respect for singers and singing, as well as an innate affinity for Freschi’s style. Ritornelli did not merely preface individual numbers or accompany characters’ entrances and exits: under Vinikour’s supervision, these interludes intensified the emotions of the scenes they punctuated. There are few places in the United States in which the joke of inserting a few bars of Cleopatra’s ‘Piangerò la sorte mia’ and Almirena’s ‘Lascia ch’io pianga’ from Händel’s Giulio Cesare and Rinaldo into the scene in which music is proposed as an effective treatment for amorous maladies could be expected to be appreciated, but the hilarity of this anachronism was not wasted on Ars Minerva’s audience. [So eloquent was the musicians’ playing of these fragments that Freschi would surely have forgiven Rosaura for succumbing to the temptation to sing the arias.] Vinikour collaborated with his orchestral colleagues with the camaraderie of a chamber musician, but his stewardship of the drama was the handiwork of a talented conductor not merely of specialized repertoire but of any music that he chooses to study. That this performance of Ermelinda was fastidiously prepared was palpable, but the energy and exuberance of the music making engendered an atmosphere of edge-of-the-seat spontaneity.”

Joseph Newsome,  Voix des Arts

“Although Jory Vinikour's instrumental ensemble contained only six players, it was focused and powerful. Violinists Cynthia Black and Laura Rubenstein-Salzedo, along with violist Aaron Westman and cellist Gretchen Claassen provided a lyrical pillow for the voices to ride on. The exquisite playing of theorbo player Adam Cockerham along with the fine musicianship of Vinikour who conducted from the harpsichord added to the lilting rhythms, graceful style, and Baroque intensity of the performance.” – Maria Nockin, Broadway World

“The program booklet does not credit an edition of Sig. Freschi’s little opera, thus we may assume that early music harpsichordist and conductor Jory Vinikour organized the production musically based on a manuscript found at Venice’s Marciana Library. It is lively music that flows in very natural speech rhythms enhanced with very inventive melodic riffs that tease and amuse us and become upon occasion quite specific songs. These players were a confident lot that gave us great delight in their ritornellos. The three instrument continuo cleverly supported the excellent performances center stage.” Michael Milenski, Opera Today

HANDEL | Messiah | Saint Paul’s Chamber Orchestra

“Vinikour made one wise decision after another, be it emphasizing crisp, clean attacks – the better to circumvent echo issues – or imploring the choir to make their celebratory tones extra exultant.”

—Rob Hubbard, Twincities Pioneer Press

   | Overture and Ballet Music from Rodrigo | Deutschen Händel-Solisten | Karlsruhe Handel Festival

“Conductor Jory Vinikour turns the small dances into sparkling treasures, sparked a pointed swing in the spirited Matelot and set colorful accents between the ensemble and the striking solo violin (Andrea Keller) in the Passacaglia.” -- Badische Neueste Nachrichten

 | Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno | Opera Neo

“Adroitly moving from the harpsichord to the chamber organ, conductor Jory Vinikour’s spirited direction smartly developed the score’s effulgent drama as he coaxed vibrant commitment from Opera Neo’s onstage chamber ensemble.” – San Diego Story

MONTEVERDI | The Coronation of Poppea | Florentine Opera

“The orchestra, with Vinikour conducting from a harpsichord … gave a wonderfully refined, articulate performance of Monteverdi’s score…” — Elaine Schmidt, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“With meticulous precision, the conductor, revisionist and harpsichord master Jory Vinikour brings a thoughtful anchor to the melodic construction and pace.” — Dominique Paul Noth, Urban Milwaukee

“Period instruments played by the Florentine Opera Baroque Ensemble—expertly led at the harpsichord by Jory Vinikour—lend Poppea yet further historical gravitas.” — John Jahn, Shepherd Express

“Cuing singers and instrumentalists with instinctual timing whilst playing the harpsichord with the technical acumen for which he is renowned, Vinikour guided performances that demonstrated mesmerizing musical and emotional continuity. “ — Joseph Newsome, Voix de Arts

PALLAVINCINO | Messalina | Ars Minerva

         “The joys of Saturday’s performance came from the music, suavely led by conductor Jory Vinikour,

accompanied by a first-rate instrumental ensemble” – Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

PURCELL | Dido and Aeneas | Florentine Opera

“Mainly behind the success was the grace of the music itself under visiting conductor Jory Vinikour.”

— Dominique Paul Noth, Urban Milwaukee

PURCELL | Fairy Queen | Chicago Opera Theatre

“What authenticity there is in this updating comes from the stylish sounds Jory Vinikour elicits from the 17 period instrument players of Chicago’s Haymarket Opera Orchestra….Conducting from the harpsichord, he sharpens rhythms deftly, supports vocal lines securely and refines textures sensitively. He has a considerable amount to do and does it all expertly.” – John von Rhein, Chicago Tribune

STRADELLA | Ester, Liberatrice del Popolo Ebreo | (Recording)

“Vinikour has highlighted the main points of his version of the oratorio, emphasizing an expressiveness based on a brilliant virtuosity that spontaneously transmits warmth, from the voices and the instruments”. – Sonograma (Spain)

“Extensive experience at the harpsichord and on the podium for performances of works like

Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea and Domenico Freschi’s Ermelinda is discernible in Jory Vinikour’s work in this traversal of Ester, both in his intuitive playing of harpsichord and organ continuo and in his spirited, inspiriting conducting of the performance. Owing to his innate affinity for pacing Stradella’s music with complementary interpretive freedom and rhythmic firmness, the recording constitutes a true performance of the oratorio rather than a disarticulated, studio-bound recital of the score’s musical numbers. Passages of gravitas are treated as the climaxes that they were undoubtedly meant to be, but every choice of tempo and dynamics is guided by historical authenticity. The greatest marvel of Vinikour’s leadership is the manner in which adherence to Seventeenth-Century practice is regarded as a catalyst, not a constraint. Under his stewardship, principals, chorus, and orchestra perform their parts with perceptible unity of purpose, Vinikour’s supportive direction encouraging

his fellow artists not just to study but to feel Esther’s courage and Ester’s music. Unwaveringly attentive to the nuances of Vinikour’s guidance, the playing of Camerata Grimani contributes markedly to the stylistic legitimacy of this traversal of Ester. Faithful to historical models and the composer’s scoring, the ensemble’s smallness facilitates intimacy, but Vinikour and the musicians ensure that neither power nor excitement is missing in passages of dramatic intensity.” – Joseph Newsome, Voix des Arts

“This new recording by Camerata Grimani led by Jory Vinikour goes a long way to upgrade the oratorio’s standing in the audio catalog, with a superb ensemble captured in the vivid acoustics of the Sala della Carità in Padua….Under Jory Vinikour’s direction, the oratorio bubbles with excitement, and there’s enough elasticity of tempo for the singers to emphasize musical and dramatic points.” – American Record Guide

VIVALDI | Four Seasons, arrangement for mandolin | St. Louis Symphony Orchestra

“At the end of each concerto, the audience applauded; at the end of the complete work, the audience roared…a superb technician with an idiomatic, committed approach to the music.”

— Sarah Bryan Miller, St. Louis Post Dispatch

“He was always connected to the emotion in the music, whether directing a wistful serenade to the violins or practically leaping from his chair during the closing thunderstorm of "Summer."” — Chuch Lavazzi, KDHX