Who are
THE PINNACLE SINGERS?
The Pinnacle Singers are Giles Howe, Cass Panuska, Torlef Borsting.
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Featured guest artists currently include Ashley Nunez (playing Liu in Turandot) and guitarist Scott Niebauer who features prominently in many of our live shows. Former guests artists have included mysterious Russian virtuoso accordionist Gregory Polovinka; pianist Darren Bartolo, and contralto Jeanette Longerbeam.
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Giles
Howe
In 2018 Giles Howe was awarded two prestigious RTN Awards: Outstanding Vocal Performance and Best Male Vocalist following his New York cabaret debut as a special guest at Manhattan's Triad Theatre.​
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Giles has sung extensively worldwide performing with artists including Josh Groban, Frozen's Idina Menzel, and Queen's Brian May performing in venues including London's Royal Albert Hall, China's Great Hall of the People, and the Bukanmara Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
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Headlining acts Giles has featured in which have toured internationally include The 12 Tenors (National Tours of China and Japan respectively), Viva Voce (worldwide), and Stars of Opera (England and Wales). He has performed extensively as a soloist, recently in a residency with classical guitarist Scott Niebauer performing an acoustic set of Adult Contemporary material.​
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Giles is a celebrated vocal and performance coach who offers private tuition specializing in bringing repertoire to life by exploring the dramatic clues within a text. He is currently developing an album of original New Wave music.
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Co-founding The A STAGE KINDLY New Musical Theatre Initiative with Katy Lipson, Giles produced many UK and World Premieres of new musical theatre and contemporary operas as well as an acclaimed series of new writing revues, he developed new works across the United Kingdom and Europe creating many unique opportunities to support creatives in their work.
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​Giles is the founder and Creative Producer of The Pinnacle Singers. As a theater producer his credits include the UK Premieres of sixteen original musicals including Michael Colby's Slay It With Music, David Reiser's Ballets Russes, Rick Williams' Maya and many others making their debut on the London stage. Giles also produced live and studio sound recordings of many of these productions.​
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Giles produced the Original Concept Album of SOVIET ZION: an ambitious 2.5 hour contemporary opera he both wrote himself and arranged for a large orchestra, also releasing an accompanying album of bonus material on which he features as a special guest vocalist and translator. SOVIET ZION is the second opera he has written. Following several productions in London, plans are being made to present it in New York.
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Cass
Panuska
Cass Panuska has sung professionally throughout the United States making her role debut in 2021 as Mother in Hansel and Gretel with Opera Orlando after preparing and rehearsed the character of The Rose in The Little Prince with First Coast Opera in 2020 (Saint Augustine, FL).
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Cass returned to First Coast Opera to perform Mrs. Gobineau in Menotti’s The Medium, and was in Opera Orlando’s ensemble for “The Daughter of the Regiment.”
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A former soloist at First Church of Christ Scientist in Daytona Beach, and currently of Unity Church, Cass is also an active member of NATS (National Association of Teacher’s of Singing) and owns and operates Deland's premier vocal academy Banana Street Voice Studio where as Head Teacher she offers vocal instruction.
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Cass produces and hosts an acclaimed series of intimate annual concerts featuring musicians visiting the area, a highlight of the local Arts scene.
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For many of her performing years, Cass’s home base was the San Francisco Bay Area where she enjoyed bringing opera roles to life with professional organizations such as Berkeley Opera, Opera San Jose’s Outreach Program, Opera Frontier, Pocket Opera, Goat Hall Productions, and Solo Opera.
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Cass recorded two pieces for “The Life Before Us,” a CD of new compositions produced by Parma Recordings on their Navona Records label and is a featured vocalist on “Meditations,” by Chaz Underriner, which was performed at its CD Release Concert in February of 2022.
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Cass earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine and her Master of Music Degree in Vocal Performance from Colorado State University.
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Whilst studying in Colorado, Cass was a church choir section leader at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and taught both voice and piano at Pleasanton (California’s New World Music Academy) for five years before relocating.
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Torlef
Borsting
Torlef Borsting’s powerful baritone fuses sensitivity, compassion, and lyricism to lend a musical and dramatic depth to characters such as Scarpia in Tosca, Germont in La Traviata, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, and Jack Rance in The Girl of the Golden West. His is a voice ideal for the commanding presence of Verdi, the emotional swell of Puccini, the flexibility and movement of Donizetti, and the nuance of Mozart.
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Other leading roles in his repertoire include Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Prince Yeletsky in Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame, Dr. Bartolo in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, Leporello in Don Giovanni, Sgt Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, and Horace Tabor in The Ballad of Baby Doe, where his vocal prowess was lauded by East Bay Times as having “appropriate gusto…[moving] convincingly from rowdy full-voice banter at the saloon with his pals to sotto voce crooning to Baby Doe.”
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A native of Hawaii, Torlef has spent most of his time on the West Coast, performing leading and supporting roles with companies including San Francisco Opera, Opera Parallèlle, West Bay Opera, Sacramento Opera, Opera San Jose, Livermore Valley Opera, Opera San Luis Obispo, Berkeley Opera,and others. In concert, he has performed as a soloist with Pacific Chamber Symphony, Mendocino Music Festival, Oakland Symphony Chorus, Symphony Parnassus, Cantare con Vivo, Oakland Civic Orchestra, and his recent debut with Orlando Sings in their inaugural Choral Festival.
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In 2018, Torlef made a move across the country with his family to Florida, where he now resides. He has since made company debuts with Opera Orlando, Indianapolis Opera, New York City Opera, and was thrilled to be invited by opera legend Sherrill Milnes and Co-Founder/ President Maria Zouves to make his debut with the Savannah VOICE Festival in August 2022. He makes his on stage debut with First Coast Opera as Mr Gobineau in the Medium and looks forward to the summer of 2023 with a return to the Savannah VOICE Festival.
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Torlef continues to explore different forms including Musical Theater and producing a concert series with his wife, Cass, in partnership with the Golden Magnolia Marine Resort in Daytona Beach, Florida. His credits include Jeff Douglas in Brigadoon in Savannah, GA and an upcoming debut with Citrus Alliance for the Arts as Captain Newton in Amazing Grace the Musical.
Featured Artists Include
Ashley Nunez
Playing the role of Liu in The Pinnacle Singers' curious reimagining of Puccini's TURANDOT, Cuban-American soprano Ashley Nuñez recently premiered the role of Lilian in The Eleanors at the National Opera Association in collaboration with the Savannah VOICE Festival. An alumna of the Milnes VOICE Studio, Ms. Nuñez was selected as an Emerging Artist for two consecutive summers under the mentorship of world-renowned baritone, Sherrill Milnes. Her recent engagements include being the Soprano Soloist in Orff's Carmina Burana with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Stetson University, a featured performance at the Indiana Landmarks Holly & the Ivy Concert, and débuting the role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with the Miami Music Festival.
Ashley’s operatic repertoire spans celebrated companies across the United States such as the Florida Grand Opera, Vero Beach Opera, Painted Sky Opera, and the San José Chamber Orchestra. Her standout roles include Manon in Massenet’s Manon, Frasquita in Bizet's Carmen, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck, and Krysia in Two Remain (Out of Darkness) by Jake Heggie.
Ms. Nuñez has also distinguished herself in numerous vocal competitions earning accolades in the St. Petersburg Opera Guild Voice Competition, Nightingale Opera Theatre Competition, Music International Grand Prix, Mobile Opera Rose Competition, and the Giffin Vocal Competition. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Stetson University and a Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Louisiana State University.
Scott Niebauer
​Scott, who plays in many of our live shows, received his Master of Music (M.M.) degree from Austin Peay State University where he was awarded the Outstanding Music Major Award and was invited to join the Phi Kappa Lambda honor society. He received his Bachelor of Music degree (B.M.) from the State University of New York College at Fredonia where he majored in music education and music composition. Scott has performed and taught music all over the country, and has also studied and performed classical Spanish guitar while living in Caracas, Venezuela. Focusing his efforts on dual passions of performing and composing music, Scott completed a course of study in music education, composition and performance before earning his Master’s Degree in Classical Guitar Performance at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennesseeafter which he headed to California where he took part in the San Francisco Guitar Society. Throughout his travels, Scott was able to complete masterclasses and informal lessons with leading classical guitar luminaries including Leo Brouwer, Christopher Parkening, Luis Zea, Roland Dyens, and Lawrence Ferrara.
Darren Bartolo
​As a collaborative pianist and educator, Darren - who played in many of our shows at the Artisan - has built a career around building accessible programming for people of all backgrounds and ability levels while still maintaining his dedication to solo and collaborative piano performance. He began his piano career at the age of 12 when he started accompanying high school instrumentalists at county music competitions and at 18, he received his first official post when he was appointed a lead pianist for Florida’s capital cathedral in Tallahassee, the Co-Cathedral of St. Thomas More. Since then, he has had the honor of playing for such notable organizations as the Orlando Ballet Company, the Pacific Northwest Ballet School, Central Florida Community Arts, and the Orlando Gay Chorus. Darren’s passion for community programming developed right after receiving his masters from the Chicago Conservatory of Performing Arts. After graduation, he was hired to build a performing arts program for one of Chicago’s most successful inner-city high schools that eventually led to a complete choir and band program with additional performing arts classes offered before and after school taught by local professional artists. He continues to create programming for underserved communities, most notably with Central Florida Community Arts where he helped pioneer a choir for adults with special needs as well as a musical theater program for adults with Down syndrome that is still running today.
Jacqueline Compton who joins The Pinnacle Singers at the piano for the show A Night at the Opera is a graduate of Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. She started piano lessons at the age of seven and has been at the 88’s ever since. Since college she has played for singers in international solo competitions across the United States, in New York City, South America, and Europe. She performed with the Bach Choir and Orchestra in Winter Park. She has been staff pianist at Rollins College and also Orlando Ballet for over twenty years. She has performed numerous times onstage at Bob Carr Auditorium with Orlando Ballet.The summer of 2023, she played for a retreat in Switzerland and church services in Germany.Jacqueline plays for weddings and has been a part of the artist series in Jacksonville’s St. John’s Cathedral.Presently she is enjoying her life as a staff pianist at Stetson University.