Nina Guo, soprano

Soprano Nina Guo is interested in the sounds of recent and ongoing times, and her performance practice includes interpreting notated music, improvising, and collaborating on interdisciplinary projects. 

An in-demand concert soloist, she has made appearances with the London Sinfonietta, ICTUS, Contrechamps, Ensemble Modern, Decoder, and others. She recently made her Symphony Hall debut, performing Aventures & Nouvelles Aventures (Ligeti). She specializes in experimental opera, working with groups such as Neuköllner Oper, Guerilla Opera, ECCE, and Opera Lab Berlin.  

Her upcoming projects include releasing a new recording of Morton Feldman’s Three Voices, and performing the music of experimental composers Robert Ashley and Jennifer Walshe. She will also premiere a new production of Sciarrino’s Perseo e Andromenda, singing the role of Andromeda. 

Nina hosts, writes, and performs a live radio show, The Entertainment, on Cashmere Radio (Berlin). The Entertainment is a comedy variety show presenting experimental and contemporary music.

She can be found in digital form at www.facesound.org

Edward Kass, double bass

Praised as a “master of his instrument” (Fanfare), bassist Edward Kass performs internationally as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician, specializing in contemporary performance. A graduate of the San Jose Unified Public School system, Kass is noted for his “phenomenal musicianship” (Which Sinfonia) and “terrific precision” (The Arts Fuse). 

A frequent performer with groups including the International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, and Sound Icon, recent appearances include Lucerne Festival, Tanglewood, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Donaueschinger Musiktage, and Elbphilharmonie Visions. Dedicated to the creation of new music, Kass has premiered dozens of new works, including commissions by Katherine Balch, Sarah Gibson, Unsuk Chin, and more.

Sought after as an artistic leader and pedagogue, Kass serves as a Contemporary Leader for Lucerne Festival, a role that combines performance with artistic curation, creation of new works, and pedagogy. In addition to teaching at the Lucerne Festival Academy, he has been in residence at Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Brandeis University, UC Santa Barbara, University of Georgia, and more. With pianist and music therapist Renate Rohlfing, Kass co-created “Tell Your Story”, a community-based, creative engagement project for Spoleto Festival USA to create sonic memoirs preserving the oral history of the greater Charleston area.