Featured Soloists & Musicians

Scott Bass is a countertenor and multi-instrumentalist based out of Chicago, Illinois. Scott received a Bachelor’s of Music in Vocal Performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts. Over the years, Scott has built up a vast portfolio of vocal, instrumental, composition and production work. Praised for the versatility of a large spanning vocal range and performing with ensembles from secular to sacred, Scott takes pride in the diversity of musical language, taking influence from a vast pool of musical history from Sacred, Pop, Baroque and beyond. Scott has been a featured soloist with orchestras and choirs around Chicagoland and beyond, including the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, West Suburban Symphony, Kol Zimrah Jewish Community Singers, and Evanston Chamber Opera, and currently works as a cantorial soloist and instrumentalist at various synagogues around Chicagoland.

For three decades, Eric Miranda has performed throughout Chicago, gracing audiences with his “pliable, warm baritone” (Chicago Classical Review). Eric has appeared as a soloist at Orchestra Hall and Millennium Park, and as a versatile and sought-after singer, he is a frequent collaborator with chamber ensembles including Bella Voce, New Earth Ensemble, Newberry Consort, and the newly formed Chroma, conceived by LaRob Rafael His concert repertoire includes the Requiems of Brahms, Fauré and Duruflé, Händel’s Messiah, and Vaughan Williams’s Dona Nobis Pacem. In the realm of opera, he has appeared with Haymarket Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, and Lyric Opera of Chicago. Eric is also a member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus and the Grant Park Chorus. Later this year, Eric will appear at St Peter’s in the Loop, where he serves as cantor, in a recital of Puerto Rican art songs. Also, he will once again join Newberry Consort in A Mexican Christmas.

Emily Mwila is a soprano from New Zealand and Zambia, now based in Chicago, Illinois. She made her professional debut in the United States singing with the Metropolitan Opera chorus in their 2021 production of Porgy and Bess, and recently performed in the revival of the show in the Met’s 2025/2026 season. From 2022 to 2024 she toured with the cast of Antony Davis’ X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X performing the show at Detroit Opera, Omaha Opera, and The Metropolitan Opera. She also appeared as a soloist on the Grammy Nominated recording of X: The Life and Times of Malcolm X by Boston Modern Orchestra Project. Emily has been singing with Lyric Opera of Chicago since 2022 both as a soloist and in the chorus. She made her Lyric Opera of Chicago mainstage debut in 2022 singing the role of ‘Evelyn’ in Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up In My Bones. She subsequently sang the roles of ‘Lucia’ in Blanchard’s Champion (2023/2024), soprano soloist in Mozart’s Thamos King of Egypt (2023/2024), and ‘Sina’ in Missy Mazzoli’s The Listeners. For the past two years she has been a soprano soloist with Oak Park’s Handel Week Festival in L’Allegro, Il Moderato, ed il Penseroso (2025) and in a concert of Handel’s English, Italian and German songs and cantatas (2026). She made her operatic debut in New Zealand at Eternity Opera (Zerlina/ Don Giovanni); other roles include Susanna/Le Nozze di Figaro, Mae Jones/Street Scene, and Euridice/Orfeo ed Euridice. Emily also has a cameo appearance in the 2020 opera rom-com Falling for Figaro currently streaming on AMC+. Emily is a graduate of the Mannes School of Music in New York where she received both her Master of Music and Professional Studies Diploma in Voice.