Cantate is pleased to host CAAPA’s George Shirley Masterclass Series, featuring baritone Lester Lynch. Presented and funded by the Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts (CAAPA), this program brings professional classical artists together with students for performance, instruction, and mentorship.

In the first Lift Every Voice Oratorio Fellowship event of 2026-2027, Maestro Lynch shares expertise gained from a career on the world's top opera stages and as an accomplished concert and recording artist. Also a dedicated technician, he is a professor of voice at San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a guest artist-educator, clinician, and lecturer across the U.S. and Canada. We are honored to welcome him to work with some of our 26-27 Lift Every Voice cohort of oratorio fellows: soprano Amber Rogers, tenor Ja'Marvae Lard, and baritones Justin Harrison and Lysle Follette, IV. Join us in support of these extraordinary singers and learn with them about oratorio performance and building a career as a classical singer. We invite you to stay after the event for a light reception with the artists. While admission is free, donations are warmly welcomed.

Celebrate the accomplishments of this year’s cohort of oratorio fellows at our first-ever Lift Every Voice Showcase. Our incredible quartet of emerging singers along with our conducting fellow present oratorio solos and ensembles polished and perfected throughout their year of residency with Cantate.

Soprano Amber Rogers, countertenor Ian Pathak, tenor Ja’Marvae Lard, bass-baritone Justin Harrison, and conductor Lysle Follette, IV, bring you thrilling excerpts from Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Gloria, the Requiems of Mozart, Brahms, and Verdi, and more!