NATS- LA Spring Symposium
“Mastering the Art of Contraltos, Countertenors, and Basses”
featuring
Louise Lofquist, Contralto
Darryl Taylor, Countertenor
&
Reid Bruton, Bass
Sunday, May 4, 2025
1:00 - 6:00 PM PDT
Whittier College
13445 Philadelphia St.
Whittier, CA 90601
Open parking on the weekends at the College. The parking lots in front of and behind the Music Building/Arnold Hall (#5), and behind the Shannon Center for the Performing Arts (#3) are the closest/best lots for this. There is also some street parking on Philadelphia.
NATS-LA members: Find a carpool buddy!
Simply go to the NATS-LA online directory and use the map to find members in your area.
The NATS-LA spring symposium, "Mastering the Art of Contraltos, Countertenors, and Basses," will spotlight unique voice classifications. The symposium will be led by experts from each of these fachs who will present and provide a short masterclass. Louise Lofquist is our contralto guest presenter, Darryl Taylor our countertenor guest presenter, and Reid Bruton our bass guest presenter.
Come hear each of these singers and teachers present on each voice type as well as present masterclasses highlighting teaching applications specific to contraltos, countertenors, and basses. The symposium will be held on Sunday, May 4 at Whittier College, from 12-6 PM.
Louise Lofquist
LOUISE LOFQUIST, contralto and pianist, has had an unorthodox musical career. She made her pianistic debut with the National Symphony at the age of 18 but initially pursued a liberal arts education and received degrees in European History from Duke and Stanford. After finally deciding she belonged in music, Louise was pursuing a master’s degree in voice when a severe injury to her vocal cord cut short her singing career. She then returned to her pianistic studies, earning a master’s degree in Accompanying from UC/Santa Barbara and a doctorate in Keyboard Collaborative Arts from USC. Since that time, Louise has become a respected collaborative pianist, vocal coach, and voice teacher in Southern California. As a pianist, she has performed with such artists as violinist Gilles Apap, baritone Rod Gilfry, cellist Zuill Bailey, and clarinetist Fred Ormand. As a piano soloist, she has performed regularly with the Ventura Symphony and with the Channel Islands Chamber Orchestra. In 2001, she joined the music faculty at Pepperdine, where for over twenty years she taught voice, diction, and vocal accompanying and served as Co-Director of the Pepperdine Summer Music Program in Heidelberg, Germany. Her classical voice students have appeared with the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Opera San Antonio, the Heidelberg Opera, Meiningen Staatstheater, Virginia Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Chautauqua Opera, and at Carnegie Hall. Her musical theatre students have appeared on Broadway and at many venues throughout Southern California. Louise lives in Camarillo with her husband, Grant Specht, an attorney. They have two sons, Dylan, also an attorney, and Shane, a landscape painter.
Darryl Taylor
Darryl Taylor's performances have been noted for their compelling artistry and authority. His is an international career highlighted by performances of art song, opera and oratorio. Opera highlights: title role in Phillip Glass' Akhnaten for Long Beach Opera; L.A. Opera’s Dido and Aeneas; Purcell’s The Fairy Queen and King Arthur for Long Beach Opera; Pergolesi and Vivaldi Stabat Mater with Lyra Baroque Orchestra of St. Paul, Minnesota; performances with the Carmel Bach Festival; Theodora with Bach Collegium San Diego under Richard Egarr, Solomon with the City Choir of Washington under Robert Shafer and performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Founder of the African American Art Song Alliance <artsongalliance.org>, his extensive discography of recordings on Naxos and Albany record labels has received lavish praise. He was recently inducted to the American Academy of Teachers of Singing, and served as a 2022 Master Teacher for the NATS Intern Program.
Reid Bruton
Reid Bruton’s first voice teacher was the well known vocal pedagogy pioneer, Richard Miller whose teachings instilled in Reid an interest in vocal science and a unique understanding of vocal physiology. He then studied with Judith Natalucci, under whose technical guidance he began a flourishing professional career. Reid has appeared as a soloist with the LA Phil both at Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl in several productions including Stravinsky’s Renard, Philip Glass’ Koyaanisqatsi and Puccini’s Tosca conducted by Dudamel. Reid is also a member of the LA Opera chorus where he has performed regularly for over 25 years. “Being on stage with most of the famous opera singers of today and yesterday has been my greatest voice lesson“. He has also sung roles in LA Opera's productions of Salome, Billy Budd, Der Rosenkavalier, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Gianni Schicchi, Thaïs, Die Zauberflöte, Macbeth, Carmen, and La Bohème. But he may best be known as the voice of The Grinch for The Boston Pops’ Christmas CD. Aside from his classical performances and teaching… Reid has also sung on the soundtracks of more than 250 major motion pictures, including everything from Wicked to Avatar and all of the recent Star Wars movies, just to name a few. He has also sung back-up for artists such as Barbara Streisand, Seth MacFarlane, Adele, Lady Gaga, Josh Grobin, Andrea Bocelli and Michael Buble' both in recordings and live at events such as the Oscars awards show. Now as a teacher, Reid passes onto his students the knowledge he has gained from his studies with great teachers and coaches together with his extensive and varied experience on stage.
ADMISSION
NATS-LA member - $25
Non-member - $35
Student - $5
No Fee to Apply to Sing