Schubert Club Courtroom Concert: Scott J. Brunscheen, tenor; Celeste Marie Johnson, piano

Hosted by composer Abbie Betinis, our popular Courtroom Concerts take place at noon most Thursdays in the Landmark Center in downtown Saint Paul. This series features accomplished musicians and composers from the Twin Cities and surrounding area, as well as occasional musical newcomers to the area. These one-hour concerts are free and open to the public.

• Scott J. Brunscheen, TENOR
• Celeste Marie Johnson, PIANO

About the Artists:

Scott J. Brunscheen’s “warm, effortlessly produced vocalism” (Opera News) has garnered acclaim in a wide range of repertoire. His performances of Handel’s Il resurrezione, Caccini’s La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina, Haydn’s L’isola disabitata, Marais’ Ariane et Bachus, and Cesti’s L’Orontea with Haymarket Opera received praise from publications including the Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, and Opera News. Scott recently made his debut at the Kennedy Center under the baton of Christophe Rousset in the modern premier of Mouret’s Les Fêtes de Thalie with Opera Lafayette. Other favorite operatic engagements include Purcell’s The Fairy Queen, the world premier of Stewart Copeland’s The Invention of Morel, and Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with Chicago Opera Theater; Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites and Donizetti’s La Favorite and Lucrezia Borgia at the Caramoor Bel Canto Festival; Puccini’s Tosca and Mozart’s Der Zauberflöte with Madison Opera; Purcell’s The Fairy Queen at Long Beach Opera; Rossini’s La Cenerentola with Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Lyric Unlimited; and Britten’s The Turn of the Screw and The Rape of Lucretia with Chicago Fringe Opera.

Outside of his operatic work, Scott has been the tenor soloist for Haydn’s The Creation, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s The Messiah and Judas Maccabaeus, Pergolesi’s Magnificat, Bach’s Magnificat, Resphigi’s Lauda per la Nativita, Donizetti’s Miserere, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Britten’s Serenade and Canticles, and numerous cantatas of Bach, Buxtehude, and Rameau. He can be heard on an album of Agostino Steffani duets produced by Musica Omnia.

Celeste Marie Johnson is a pianist, coach, chorus director, and educator dedicated to exploring the compelling intersection of text and music in vocal repertoire. Currently the Principal Coach and Chorus Director at Minnesota Opera, she has held music staff positions with companies and festivals across the country, including the Lakes Area Music Festival, Opera Saratoga, the Boston University Opera Institute, Odyssey Opera, Inland Northwest Opera, the Atlantic Music Festival, and the Hawai’i Performing Arts Festival.

A sought-after recital partner, Celeste presented Songs of Sun and Snow with tenor Evan LeRoy Johnson as part of the MNOP+ recital series in 2024. She regularly performs in the Schubert Club Courtroom Concerts recital series, including a world premiere of Libby Larsen’s North Shore Songs with mezzo-soprano Clara Osowski in 2021. She has been featured by LOFT Recital and curated a program for the MN Opera Apart Together Artist Showcase series during the pandemic. She was a part of Renée Fleming’s Song Studio at Carnegie Hall in 2020 and is a former recipient of the Marc and Eva Stern Fellowship at SongFest.

Celeste received her BM in Piano Performance from Baylor University, MM in Ensemble Arts: Vocal Accompanying from The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, and DMA in Collaborative Piano from Boston University. Passionate about holistic approaches to wellbeing for artists, she became a Certified Professional Coach through the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching in November 2021. Celeste enjoys yoga, hiking, poetry, and spending time with her husband Keith, son Luka, and cat Pushkin.