Tenor Nathan Davis is just trying to figure out how to get back to Carmel. As a member of the quartet of singers participating in the Virginia Best Adams master classes and singing in the chorale of the Carmel Bach Festival this summer, he has spent the past month enjoying the intensely creative company of many of the world's finest Baroque music specialists who gather here every summer in the name of J. S. Bach.

For five weeks the festival's instrumentalists, singers, soloists and directors joyfully pour their formidable talents, hearts and energies into making music of such consistently high quality that, as Davis feels, the opportunity to repeat the experience must seem like pure gold.

Now that the festival has settled comfortably into the newly renovated Sunset Center, the staff is expanding its educational programs to give more aspiring singers and instrumentalists the chance to learn from the master musicians of the core ensemble. The Virginia Best Adams program is the crown jewel of these special learning environments.

With the final days of the festival at hand, this year's four Adams fellows took a few moments after Monday's master class to talk about their experiences in Carmel. Davis, along with soprano Emily Sinclair, countertenor Daniel Bubeck and baritone Tim Krol have been filmed this week during sessions conducted by David Gordon, director of the program, and his distinguished colleague baritone Sanford Sylvan.

The four participants sat together for a joint interview with Lamont Johnson, a longtime patron and fan of the festival. Johnson, a Hollywood filmmaker, is producing a documentary about the Adams master classes that focuses on the final two sessions of this summer's cycle of six public sessions.

"I've been going for years whenever I could, and I have always been astounded at the progress these young professional singers make in this repertoire under David and Sanford," Johnson says. "To see the light go on in their eyes, to see the differences and nuances that happen is dramatic to me."

Another Master Class enthusiast, music writer Nathalie Plotkin, has been following the Adams fellows for the better part of a decade.

"What I mainly have witnessed over the years is how these sessions have opened the eyes and minds of these singers, enlightening them to many important facets of their musical understanding and to the importance of knowing the background of what was going on around the compositions they were studying," Plotkin says.

Davis, who is setting out on a double career as a singer and conductor, appreciates the immensely supportive atmosphere of the Bach Festival.

"There is a comfort level here which I am going to try and reproduce in future concerts," Davis says. "I want to remember how easy it was to sing for these people. My next concert may not be in such a friendly environment, and I want to remember that it can be like this."

Baritone Tim Krol sang for nine years with the internationally famed San Francisco ensemble Chanticleer. In 2002, he answered a call for baritones and sang for the first time at the Bach Festival in the chorale. He went to the Carmel Presbyterian Church on a whim to check out the master classes.

"I watched and found out I had filled one of the little donation envelopes, because I needed something to take notes on. I was so fascinated with the things these professionals were singing and learning. I watched every class and thought someday I've got to do this myself."

Krol, who is making the transition from ensemble singer to soloist, is amazed at what he is learning from Gordon and Sylvan.

"I am learning to do less, to just trust my voice to tell the story. Though it's a leap of faith, I am learning to relax into it."

Sinclair, who comes to the VBA experience from a strong opera background, confesses to a "Baroque phobia" before the Carmel sessions.

"People have said my voice is too big for this repertoire, too romantic," she says. "I am learning to trust. You don't have to make the interpretation happen.

"For me, watching Kendra Colton (the Bach Festival's soprano soloist) has been great because she just honestly sings. Seeing that this is a desirable Baroque quality has made me want to do more Baroque music."

VBA countertenor Daniel Bubeck is also stunned at what he has learned in the space of a few VBA sessions.

"I am being bombarded with all these wonderful ideas that I wasn't hearing before," he says.

During a rehearsal with members of the festival orchestra for their Saturday showcase concert, the Adams fellows all marveled that the instrumentalists were producing stunningly beautiful music just sight reading.

"It is such a synergy to be around them," says Krol, "Whether they are a violinist or an oboist; whatever, they are really the best, at the top of their professions. That they all converge on Carmel for five weeks is a thrill."

The world-class nature of the Bach Festival is not a secret but many have not discovered it yet. For these talented Adams fellows, the discovery process takes place at the heart of the festival, in the crucible where the music happens.

© 2004 Monterey County Herald and wire service sources.
All Rights Reserved. http://www.montereyherald.com