Derek Chester

Derek Chester has quickly established himself as a preeminent interpreter of early music and oratorio repertoire. Chester holds voice degrees from University of Georgia and the Yale School of Music. As a Fulbright Scholar, he spent a year in Germany working as a freelance musician and furthering his training. Chester recently completed his DMA in Voice Performance and Opera Studies from the University of North Texas, with a dissertation on the juvenile song compositions of Samuel Barber. Recent appearances include Bach’s St. John Passion at Chicago’s Beethoven Festival; Bach's St. Markus Passion with Barokksolistene of Norway; Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 with Boston Baroque; and all of the major works of Bach with American Bach Soloists. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Voice at the University of Northern Colorado.