Sherezade Panthaki, soprano
Soprano Sherezade Panthaki enjoys ongoing international collaborations with many of the world’s leading conductors including Nicholas McGegan, Masaaki Suzuki, Martin Haselböck, Mark Morris, Nicholas Kraemer, Matthew Halls, Stephen Stubbs, and Gary Wedow. Celebrated for her “full, luxuriously toned upper range” (The Los Angeles Times), and “astonishing coloratura with radiant top notes” (Calgary Herald) particularly in the music of Bach and Handel, recent seasons have included performances with the New York Philharmonic, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Bach Collegium Japan, Wiener Akademie (Austria), NDR Hannover Radiophilharmonie (Germany), the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Boston Early Music Festival, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (Canada), Minnesota Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Mark Morris Dance Group, St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue New York, The Choir and Orchestra of Trinity Wall Street, and Voices of Music.
Ms. Panthaki is no stranger to classical and modern concert repertoire; she is in high demand for her interpretations of Mozart, Haydn, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Poulenc, and Orff, as well as numerous new music premieres. Her discography includes the recently released recording of Handel’s Joseph and his Brethren with Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Baroque, solo Bach cantatas with the Cantata Collective, and Graupner’s opera Antiochus und Stratonica with the Boston Early Music Festival.
Born and raised in India, Ms. Panthaki holds graduate degrees with top honors from the Yale School of Music and the University of Illinois, and a Bachelor’s from West Virginia Wesleyan College. She is a founding member and artistic advisor of the newly-debuted Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble – a vocal octet celebrating racial and ethnic diversity in performances and educational programs of early and new music. Ms. Panthaki is a frequent guest clinician and masterclass leader across the United States. She has taught voice to graduate music students at Yale University, and currently heads the Vocal program at Mount Holyoke College.
“I just love the idea of music being so ravishing, so beautiful, so filled with passion and expressivity that even heavenly bodies have no choice but to acquiesce to his power” – Sherezade Panthaki on Handel’s The Power of Music
Rachael Wilson, mezzo-soprano
Admired for her dramatic intensity and vocal versatility, Rachael Wilson is rapidly earning distinction across a wide and varied repertoire. Whether inhabiting the emotional depth of Bizet’s Carmen, the spiritual transcendence of Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans, or the blazing ardour of Mozart’s Donna Elvira, she brings a rare combination of vocal finesse and fearless stagecraft to each role.
In the 2025/26 season, Rachael makes two major role debuts in new productions: Venus in a new production of Tannhäuser at Opernhaus Zürich and Blanche de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites at Staatsoper Stuttgart. She returns to Komische Oper Berlin as Olga in Eugene Onegin and to Bayerische Staatsoper as Hänsel in Hänsel und Gretel. Her concert engagements reflect equal range and ambition: she will perform Messiaen’s Harawi at Opéra de Lille; sing Mahler’s 8th Symphony with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin at Tempelhof Airport; and tour Asia with The English Concert under Harry Bicket, making her role debut as Armida in Handel’s Rinaldo.
In the 2024/25 season, Rachael made her debut at the Komische Oper Berlin as the Alto Soloist in Damiano Michieletto’s staged Messiah at the Tempelhof Airport. She sang Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni at Staatsoper Hamburg and returned to Theater Basel in the title role of Carmen. At the Glyndebourne Festival, she appeared as Varvara in Katya Kabanova under Robin Ticciati. Highlights of recent seasons include role debuts as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni for Santa Fe Opera and Malmö Opera, and as Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana at the Royal Opera House. She debuted at Opernhaus Zürich as Balkis in Offenbach’s Barkouf, returning as Olga in Eugene Onegin, and at Teatro Real, Madrid as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro.
“I’m excited just to be in the States. I don’t get to perform there very often, so it’ll be lovely to just be able to invite family and friends to see some things.” – Rachael Wilson talking to OperaWire
James Way, tenor
Tenor James Way is fast gaining international recognition for the versatility of his voice and commanding stage presence. Having followed his initial interest in baroque music through the young artist programmes of Les Arts Florissants and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment he immediately became in demand as a soloist for conductors including William Christie, Rene Jacobs, Harry Bicket and Trevor Pinnock.
Equally comfortable in later repertoire and has a particular affinity for the music of Britten and Stravinsky. His performances include Flute in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Dalia Stasevska at Glyndebourne Festival and also for Garsington Festival under Douglas Boyd, The Son in Laurent Pelly’s production of Les Mamelles de Tiresias (winner of Best New Opera Production at the 2022 Opera Awards) with Robin Ticciati also for Glyndebourne Festival, Young King George Benjamin Lessons in Love and Violence with Orchestre de Paris, Sellem in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress with the Munich Philharmonic and Barbara Hannigan and Holy Fool Boris Godunov with the Philharmonia Orchestra under Jakub Hrůša. Performances of various Handel roles continue to take him around the world with performances at Carnegie Hall, Tokyo Opera City, Barbican and Paris Philharmonie amongst others.
This coming season’s highlights include returning to Glyndebourne for Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream Flute with Bertie Baigent, Hans Zender’s arrangement of Schubert Winterreise with the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra, Bach St Matthew Passion with Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Laurence Cummings, Bach St John Passion with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and l’Opera Royal de Versailles, a tour of Mozart’s C Minor Mass with the Orchestra of the 18th Century as well as projects with Les Arts Florissants.
“One of my favorite phrases that I get to sing in this piece is “the sparkles that flash in their eyes.” In most editions, this aria is sung by a bass, but in the Dublin version, it’s sung by a tenor. So I get to fulfill my dream of being a Handelian bass, at least for a few notes!” – James Way on Handel’s The Power of Music
Preview the Music
Music Director Peter Whelan leads the first U.S. performances of Handel’s 1742 Dublin version of Alexander’s Feast in Handel’s The Power of Music, performed on period instruments and in the style of the time. The concerts feature soprano Sherezade Panthaki, mezzo-soprano Rachael Wilson, tenor James Way, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and Philharmonia Chorale under the direction of Valérie Sainte-Agathe.
Program
George Frideric HANDEL — Alexander’s Feast, or The Power of Music (1742 Dublin Version) (U.S. PREMIERE)
Peter Whelan, conductor
Sherezade Panthaki, soprano
Rachael Wilson, mezzo-soprano
James Way, tenor
Philharmonia Chorale, directed by Valérie Sainte-Agathe
Performances
Wednesday, November 11, 2026 • 7:30 PM
Bing Concert Hall
327 Lasuen St., Stanford, CA 94305
This program is co-presented as part of Stanford Live’s 2026/27 season.
Friday, November 13, 2026 • 7:30 PM
Herbst Theatre
401 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102
Saturday, November 14, 2026 • 2:30 PM
First Congregational Church of Berkeley
2345 Channing Way, Berkeley, CA 94704
Tickets
Tickets start at $40, and three-concert subscriptions start at $96. For tickets or information, call (415) 295-1900 (Mon-Fri, 10 AM-4 PM) or visit philharmonia.org/power.
