Aretha: Queen of Soul

Lucas Waldin is a dynamic and versatile conductor whose flair for audience engagement and passion for performance have delighted audiences across North America.

Based in Edmonton, Alberta, Lucas joined the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra as resident conductor in 2009 and was subsequently appointed artist-in-residence and community ambassador, the first position of its kind in North America. He has appeared with the orchestra more than 150 times and has collaborated with artists Angela Cheng, Jens Lindemann, Sergei Babayan and Bill Eddins, and conducted in Carnegie Hall during the ESO’s participation in the 2012 Spring for Music festival. Lucas was awarded the Jean-Marie Beaudet Award in Orchestra Conducting by the Canada Council for the Arts and received a Citation Award from the City of Edmonton for his outstanding achievements in arts and culture.

With an ability to slide easily between styles and genres, Lucas has worked with a range of pop and crossover artists, including Carly Rae Jepsen, Ben Folds, Chantal Kreviazuk, the Barenaked Ladies and Buffy Sainte-Marie, in addition to conducting presentations such as Disney in Concert, Blue Planet Live and Cirque de la Symphony. Lucas has been a guest conductor for numerous orchestras in Canada and the United States, including this orchestra, the Grant Park Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Toronto and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras and the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.

A native of Toronto, Ontario, Lucas received degrees in both flute and conducting from the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Capathia Jenkins can definitely act but all those who know her also know that this diva can blow and blow and blow you right off this planet. This woman who grappling with two dueling passions each with a strong grip: acting and music, yet she refuses to pick one because they both represent her soul. Capathia approaches a song the same way she approaches a script, like an artist. She looks for the nuances, the secret hidden within the notes or text. She seeks the melody, harmony and rhythm. She asks herself: what am I trying to say? What do I want my audience to experience with me? She wants to take her audience on a journey.

This Brooklyn-born and raised actress most recently starred as ‘Medda’ in the hit Disney production of Newsies’ on Broadway. She made her Broadway debut in The Civil War, where she created the role of Harriet Jackson. She then starred in the Off-Broadway 2000 revival of Godspell, where she wowed audiences with her stirring rendition of ‘Turn Back, O Man’ which can still be heard on the original cast recording. She returned to Broadway in The Look of Love and was critically acclaimed for her performances of the Bacharach/David hits. Ms. Jenkins then created the roles of ‘The Washing Machine’ in Caroline, Or Change and ‘Frieda May’ in Martin Short-Fame becomes me where she sang ‘Stop the Show’ and brought the house down every night.

In 2007 she went back to Off-Broadway and starred in (mis) Understanding Mammy-The Hattie McDaniel Story for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. She was also seen in Nora Ephron’s Love, Loss, and What I Wore.

An active concert artist, Ms. Jenkins has appeared with orchestras around the world including the Cleveland Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony (with Marvin Hamlisch), National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Utah Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, San Antonio Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Memphis Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Toledo Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony, San Diego Symphony and the Hong Kong Philharmonic. She was a soloist with the Festival Cesky Krumlov in the Czech Republic. In 2011 Capathia had the great honor of performing in the ‘Broadway Ambassadors to Cuba’ concert as part of the Festival De Teatro De La Habana. Ms. Jenkins was a guest soloist with Peter Nero and the Philly Pops and with the Cincinnati Pops.

Her Television credits include 30 Rock, the Practice, Law & Order SVU, the Sopranos, Law & Order. She can be seen in the 2012 film ‘Musical Chairs’ directed by Susan Seidelman. She can be heard on the following film soundtracks: Nine, Chicago, Legally Blonde 2.