Join Us For This Special Holiday Tradition!
Mark Daniels, tenor
Tenor Mark Daniels and pianist Rob Goodling are returning for their sixth Holiday Bravo recital. In 2017, Mark and Rob began a collaborative partnership that has resulted in more than forty often sold-out performances here in New York State and from Maine to Florida. One reviewer stated, “What immediately grabbed my attention was Mark and Rob’s flawless sense of each other AND conveying that to their audience. One was caught, drawn in, and surrounded by the passion of their music!” In 2020, they released their first CD Recording, The Lyric Tenor in Recital and in 2021 they were featured in Rochester’s 585 Magazine!
Mark Daniels is a versatile tenor who hails from Kennebunk, Maine. His early studies were with David Goulet in Portland, Maine, where he made his professional debut as Charlie Dalrymple in Lerner and Loewe’s Brigadoon. Mr. Daniels continued his studies at the Eastman School of Music in the studio of Rita Shane, where he made his Eastman Opera Theatre operatic debut as Sam in Carlisle Floyd's Susannah. Mark performed the role of Bingley in the world premier performance and recording of Amanda Jacobs and Lindsay Warren Baker’s Jane Austin’s Pride and Prejudice. He sang the role of Ferrando in Mozart’s Così fan tutte in Italy as well as many other roles here in the USA. Mr. Daniels is in frequent demand as a soloist with various orchestras.
Jessica Ann Best, mezzo soprano
Ms. Best is a versatile artist bridging opera, jazz, and musical theater; singing performances across the globe. Her operatic performances include: LA Opera, Opera Tampa, Buffalo Opera Unlimited, Nickel City Opera, Salt Marsh Opera, and The Center for Contemporary Opera. She is a featured artist with The Buffalo Philharmonic and Chorus and The New Jersey Festival Orchestra. Ms. Best has been featured at Birdland Jazz and the Savannah Music and VOICE Festivals. She is known for her nuanced interpretation of Carmen, as well as Mrs. Otis in The Canterville Ghost, Alice Ryley, Madeline in Three Decembers, and The First Prioress in Dialogues of the Carmelites. Ms. Best sing Bessie and Mary Rivers on the Naxos album of, Jane Eyre, by Louis Karchin. Ms. Best is a three time soloist at Carnegie Hall and tours the country singing The Great American Songbook. Ms. Best recently performed at the Rochester International Jazz Festival, in tribute to Alec Wilder with Mark Daniels and Rob Goodling. Ms. Best is on the voice faculty at the Rochester Institute of Technology, teaching voice. She is delighted to return to a performance at the Opera Guild of Rochester to sing with Mark and Rob.
Rob Goodling, pianist
Rob Goodling is a well-known Rochester teacher, conductor and accompanist. Having taught music history courses at the Hochstein School of Music and Dance for twenty years, Mr. Goodling was also the vocal music and choral director at Churchville-Chili High School for twenty-eight years, where many of his students went on to outstanding music careers. His choirs consistently won state and national honors that resulted in their representation of New York State in international performance tours that included singing for his holiness, Pope John Paul II. Mr. Goodling has received Outstanding Music Educator awards from the RPO, Roberts Wesleyan University, SUNY Fredonia, MIT and has been named in various editions of “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers.