Halcyon Voices
Saturday, March 11, 2023 at 7:30 P.M. at Our Lady of Grace Church
Halcyon Voices
Halcyon Voices is a women’s vocal ensemble founded in 2019 by Grettelyn Darkey, Sarah Richards, and Amanda Rodriguez. The organization aims to promote the performance of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music by collaborating with other music professionals in Pittsburgh. Earlier this year, they partnered with the Gregorian Institute of Pittsburgh in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. They have also recorded a series of pieces in collaboration with We Are One Body® Audio Theatre and harpsichordist/organist Alan Lewis.
Grettelyn Darkey
Grettelyn has had a varied musical career, including engagements as a professional member of the Pittsburgh Opera Chorus, the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh, and the Saint Vincent Camerata. She was a featured soloist in the Gregorian Institute of Pittsburgh’s performance of Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. She has also been featured numerous times with the Saint Vincent Camerata, including in Handel’s Dixit Dominus, Bach’s Cantata BWV 61, and Schubert’s Mass in G. She sang the part of Rosalinda in the Saint Vincent College production of Die Fledermaus, and Phyllis in their production of Iolanthe. She also soloed in the Bach Choir’s production of Bernstein’s Mass. She has also recorded several CDs of polyphony and Gregorian chant with Fr. Stephen Concordia. Most recently, Grettelyn founded Halcyon Voices with Amanda Rodriguez and Sarah Richards. Together they have made several recordings for We Are One Body® Audio Theatre. When she’s not singing, Grettelyn enjoys writing novels and short stories, and playing with her two beautiful children.
Sarah Richards
Moving effortlessly from Renaissance and Baroque classics to contemporary opera and “new music,” soprano Sarah Richards demonstrates an enviable command of multiple periods and genres. But it is in the melancholic melodies of 17th century music that Ms. Richards’s lovely, rich voice truly sparkles.
She has recently performed as soprano soloist in Pergolesi’s challenging Stabat Mater as well as appearing in virtual ensembles for zFestival Arts 2020, where she sang Lily Desmond’s edgy What is There to Do? Her operatic roles include La Musica in L’Orfeo and Amore/Damigella in L/incoronazione di Poppea by Claudio Monteverdi under the direction of Avi Stein and Sigrid T’Hooft. She has also sung the roles of Aldimira in Franceso Cavalli’s L’Erismena at Amherst Early Music Festival under the direction of Julianne Baird and Richard Stone and Mrs. Pinkerton in The Old Man and the Thief by 20th century composer Gian Carlo Menotti.
She also promotes the performance of sacred Baroque music as one of the founding members of the vocal trio Halcyon Voices. A Pittsburgh native, Ms. Richards studied with Steven Rickards and Dana Marsh at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music, where she earned he Master’s Degree in Early Music Voice.
Amanda Rodriguez
Amanda Rodriguez is passionate about giving her voice as a service to perpetuate the artistry in every piece of music and to bring back its true meaning. She is particularly known for her versatility in a variety of styles and genres. Ms. Rodriguez has performed a variety of music, from choral works such as Berlioz’s Faust, to solo works such as Manuel deFalla’s Siete Canciones Populares Españolas, to singing Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony with a variety of choral groups. She most recently performed Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater in collaboration with the St. Gregory Institute of Sacred Music in Pittsburgh, and made her operetta debut as Katisha in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado with the Pittsburgh Savoyards. Ms. Rodriguez graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a BA in Sacred Music, where she contributed to the schola cantorum’s CD Exultate Deo. She continues her education with Hilerie Klein-Rensi at Higher Voice Studio, and remains an active member of the Pittsburgh music community, performing with the Mendelssohn Choir in Pittsburgh and singing in the parish choirs of St. Raphael the Archangel, and Most Precious Blood of Jesus.