RACHEL ALLEN, soprano, comes to the Chicago area from California and has performed here as well as in Italy and the Napa Valley. Recognized for her ingénue roles, she is equally comfortable with comedic opera roles and sacred concert music, with a repettoire spanning works by composers such as Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Puccini, and Britten. Ms. Allen earned her master’s degree in vocal performance at the Chicago College of Performing Arts of Roosevelt University. This is her third concert with the West Suburban Symphony.

THOMAS DYMIT, tenor, is an accomplished singer of works ranging from Bach to Stravinsky and Schoenberg. He has appeared frequently as soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under many conductors, and is a featured soloist on several Grammy-winning recordings. Mr. Dymit has appeared with the Joffrey Ballet, Champaign-Urbana Symphony, and West Suburban Symphony, and in the Handel Week Festival in Oak Park. He is a resident of Wheaton.

LON ELLENBERGER, countertenor, appears with the West Suburban Symphony for the first time in July 2008. A versatile vocalist, he has sung baritone and tenor with the Grant Park Symphony Chorus and Chicago Symphony Chorus, and has won high marks from reviewers for appearances with the Light Opera Works in Evanston and the Chicag o Opera Theater. He is an avid performer of early music and sacred repertoire and has been featured live on WFMT, as vocalist in art movies, and as a soloist at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. He holds a doctor of music degree from Northwestern University and teaches voice.

DEBORAH GUSCOTT, mezzo-soprano, has been acclaimed by critics as a "superb soloist" with a "powerful, unforced voice." She has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with whom she has a Grammy-winning recording, and the Grant Park Symphony and Ravinia Festival orchestras. She joined the West Suburban Symphony for the first time February 25-26, 2006. Ms. Guscott, who lives in Naperville, is also an accomplished opera singer and art song recitalist.

KEVIN HALL, bass-baritone, has performed and recorded widely, in opera and concert roles, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Grant Park Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, and Music of the Baroque, among others. A critically acclaimed singer, he has a particular love of the art song repertoire of Vaughn Williams, Schubert, and Faure. He returns this season to once again delight West Suburban Symphony audiences. Mr. Hall is a resident of Westmont.

HILLARY HEMPEL, an award-winning violinist from Lyons, is a senior at Timothy Christian High School. She won the West Suburban Symphony’s 2004-05 high school concerto competition and performed her winning solo with us in an April 2005 concert. She has also performed as a soloist with several other Chicago-area community orchestras and regularly plays violin duets with her sister at special events. When not pursuing her musical interests, Hillary enjoys roller blading and swimming. She plans to major in violin performance in college.

PATRICIA HURD, soprano, has performed across the country in opera and musical theater roles to rave reviews, and appears on concert stages throughout the Midwest, with groups including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Grant Park Orchestra. In a review of her role as Carlotta in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and on national tour, the Boston Globe pronounced her "a clear-voiced knockout." A resident of Hinsdale, she performed with the West Suburban Symphony for the first time in October 2005.

LYUDMILA LAKISOVA, a Steinway Artist, returns to thrill West Suburban Symphony audiences with her passionate and powerful piano performance. She is a native of Minsk, Belorussia, where she was the official pianist for the Belorussian State Philharmonic. Ms. Lakisova emigrated to Chicago in 1995 and is a member of the Landolfi Piano Trio and appears as a solois t with orchestras throughout the Chicago area; she has also performed on tour in England and Africa. She also serves as Director of Worship and the Arts at Long Grove Community Church.

RAYLENE LOWE, flute, is the winner of the West Suburban Symphony Society's 61st annual concerto competition for Illinois high school students. She has been playing flute since age 11 and is also a soprano. Ms Lowe's previous musical honors include first place in University of Northern Iowa Flute Wonders Competition earlier this year. She studies flute with Professor Kimberly Risinger at Illinois State University. A home-school senior in Normal, she plans to seek a doctoral degree in flute performance and pursue a career as a professional flutist and professor. When asked what she most enjoys about playing, Ms Lowe replied: "Victor Hugo once said, 'Music expresses that which cannot be said with words, and on which it is impossible to be silent.' I love playing the flute because through it I am able to express my deeper emotions and communicate them to others."

TREVÓR MITCHELL, tenor, is best known for his work in oratorio and early music, Trevór Mitchell sings a wide range of classical, popular, and spiritual repertoire. Recently a critic wrote: “Simply the most uniquely beautiful and easily produced tenor instrument most people will ever hear.” Mr. Mitchell’s singing engagements have taken him across the United States as well as Europe, the United Kingdom, and the Ukraine. A native and resident of Chicago, Mr. Mitchell joins the West Suburban Symphony for the first time in May 2008.

WARREN MOULTON, baritone/tenor, is loved by audiences for putting a light touch on the classics. After working as a cartoonist, printer’s assistant, country-western musician, nightclub comic and radio announcer, Moulton made his operatic debut in 1986. Since then he has performed to rave reviews in over 50 opera and operetta productions in the Midwest. A veteran of more than 200 concert and recital performances, Warren has soloed with the orchestras including the Elgin, Illinois Valley, Waukegan, Wheaton, and West Suburban symphonies and has sung numerous roles in the Maud Powell Festival, based in LaSalle, Illinois.

ELIZABETH NORMAN, soprano, has charmed Chicago audiences in her regular appearances with the Grant Park Symphony, the Chicago Sinfonietta and Bach Week in Evanston. Nationally, Ms. Norman has appeared at the White House and the Kennedy Center, as well as with the symphony orchestras across the country. Internationally, she has performed in Europe, Israel, and several African nations. A member of the voice faculty of Roosevelt University, Ms Norman appears with the West Suburban Symphony for the first time in May 2008.