Barcarolles & Bites
Sunday, January 11, 2026
3:00 pm
Hosted by Carol Linne & Paul Irvin
20 guests • $100
Wit, warmth, and a dash of mischief—just what you’d expect from Leonard Bernstein! Join vocal duo Jocelyn Claire Thomas and Zachary Lenox, with the LeRoi Nickel Piano Duo, as they bring Bernstein’s delightful “Arias and Barcarolles” to life. The setting is a mid-century home near Reed College with art that is as stylish as the sounds. Add tasty bites, fine wine, and a whole lot of Bernstein brilliance, and you’ve got the recipe for a perfectly lovely afternoon.
- More About Jocelyn Claire Thomas
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Praised for her “staggeringly brilliant…etherial soprano” (The Source) Jocelyn Claire Thomas has engaged audiences with her haunting sound, musical intelligence, and unusual versatility. Her history includes performances with Tacoma Opera, Eugene Opera, Inland Northwest Opera, Opera Bend, Brava Opera Theatre, Opera Theater Oregon, Portland Concert Opera, Bravo Northwest, The Bremerton Symphony, The Central Oregon Symphony, The Beaverton Symphony, 45th Parallel, The Bach Cantata Choir, Cascadia Chamber Opera, and Portland SummerFest, working with conductors such as Andrew Bisantz, Keith Clark, Alan Futterman, Michael Gesme, Travis Hatton, Lance Inouye, Martin Maikut, Maria Manzo, Ralph Nelson, Clinton Smith, and Dean Williamson.Originally from Columbia, MO, Jocelyn holds a B.M. from the Oberlin Conservatory, a M.M. and a Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory. Currently based in Portland, OR, Jocelyn maintains a private studio in voice, piano, and flute. She also serves as Artistic Director for Ping & Woof Opera, which is dedicated to bringing intimate and accessible opera experiences to the Portland-area community, and making opera available to everyone through donation based admission.
- More About Zachary Lenox
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Viewed as “a broad, resonant baritone that is exquisitely controlled throughout his entire range,” Zachary Lenox has performed leading roles across North America. Notable roles include “Silvio” in Pagliacci, “Marcello” in La Boheme, “Marullo” in Rigoletto, “Count Almaviva” in Le nozze di Figaro, “Guglielmo” and “Don Alfonso” in Cosi fan tutte, and more!Mr. Lenox has appeared with Portland Opera, Eugene Opera, Tacoma Opera, Opera Parallèle, Opera Bend, Pacific Music Works, Cascadia Chamber Opera, Portland Summerfest, Portland Chamber Orchestra, Portland Concert Opera, Eugene Concert Choir, Bravo Northwest, and the Astoria Music Festival.
Zachary is a past winner of the Pacific Northwest Sings competition as well as the MONC Idaho/Montana District Auditions. He received his B.M. and M.M. from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam.
- More About Tim and Nancy LeRoi Nickel
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The LeRoi-Nickel Duo have been researching, arranging, and presenting ensemble keyboard music for over twenty-five years. As a piano duet team, Timothy Nickel and Nancy LeRoi Nickel have performed twice at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in New York and gave their UK debut at the Purcell Room in 1990 after studying at the Guildhall School in London. The Duo have performed the small but intriguing organ duet repertory throughout the Pacific Northwest and at concerts in England, France, and Germany. At their Berlin organ duet recital in August of 1996, the critic at Die Welt wrote of their “virtuosic playing, a virtual swirling dance without ever getting entangled.” The Duo have three CD’s available on the Arsis label from E. C. Schirmer in Boston (http://www.arsisaudio.com) - “Romantic Connections” - piano duets by Schumann, Goetz and Mendelssohn, “For Two to Play” - a collection of organ duets recorded on the Fritts/Richards organ at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Seattle, and “Family Classics” - French piano duets by Bizet, Ravel, Fauré and Florent Schmitt inspired by childhood.
