Best Classical Solo Vocal
Letters From The Front
As seen on CBS 2’s “Eye on Chicago”
“A grand musical tapestry of American history, hope, faith, aspiration, despair and optimism in time of war.”
– John von Rhein, former longtime classical music critic of the Chicago
“conceptually stunning … a new, major American work.”
– Joshua Thompson, “Classical Beat,” Classical Music Indy
Ordinary People. Extraordinary Courage.
Composed by Patrick Zimmerli with libretto by Mirabelle Ordinaire, Letters From The Front is a new work for four voices and piano based on real letters sent by ordinary American service members and their loved ones during wartime. The work is tribute to men and women who made this sacrifice over the course of 250 years of American history, especially veterans. Each song represents hope that their duty was done for a greater purpose: for their families, friends, neighbors, communities, and country.
Pianist Ian Gindes and Tenor John Riesen, along with Mezzo-soprano Angela Born, Bass-baritone David Govertsen, and Soprano Desirée Hassler, bring to life the voices of the writers by telling their stories through music — stories of love, longing, tragedy, hardship, loss, survival, adventure, and coming home.
Ian Gindes Pianist
Pianist and Executive Producer Ian Gindes has performed as a solo artist around the US, including at Carnegie Hall in New York and with the St. Louis Philharmonic. His 2023 recording, Rachmaninonoff (Navona) was lauded by The Whole Note magazine (Canada) for his “illustrious renditions..” of “…Rachmaninoff masterworks.” Gramophone magazine (UK) praised his work on his previous release, American Visions (Centaur, 2016), for his “keyboard brilliance.” Ian has served in the Illinois Army National Guard for over 21 years and currently holds the rank of Major, working as the Executive Officer of the 34th Division Support Troops Battalion.
John Riesen Tenor
Hailed as “every inch the hero in stature and voice” (Classical Voice North America), award-winning American tenor John Riesen is consistently impressing audiences with his “impassioned…and vibrant” voice (Opera Today). He has released over 85 studio recordings that have reached well over 10 million streams on Spotify and Apple Music. John is the head of Spotify promotion for Emitha LLC and served as an associate producer on the Grammy-Nominated project The Impossible Dream. His recent performances include appearances at Carnegie Hall with the New York Oratorio Society, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic, the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, the Virginia Symphony, the Brevard Music Center Orchestra, the Nashville Opera, and Opera Las Vegas.
Angela Born Mezzo-soprano
Earning critical acclaim for her “rich, clear voice” that is “geared towards storytelling” (Chicagoland Musical Theatre), Chicago-based mezzo-soprano Angela Born is a fach-defying opera theatre artist and interpreter of new classical works. Her many operatic roles include Marjorie in Fizz and Ginger (Whitney E. George), Lucinda in Dark Sisters (Nico Muhly), Patience in Patience and Sarah (Paula Kimper), the titular role in Princess Ida, and The Witch in Hansel und Gretel. She is also the recipient of multiple Chicago DCASE grants and is the 2023 songSLAM winner for her premiere performance of Michelle Isaac’s “What Every Woman Must Not Say.” Ms. Born has performed with many opera companies, including the Lyric Opera of the North, the Loveland Opera Theatre, the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, the Ouroboros Opera Company, and the Chicago City Opera.
Desirée Hassler Soprano
In addition to singing in the full-time chorus at Lyric Opera of Chicago, soprano Desirée Hassler has sung and covered roles at Lyric in Four Portraits, Cendrillon, West Side Story, Tannhäuser, Oklahoma!, Manon, Macbeth, Boris Godunov, Show Boat, Elektra, and Der Rosenkavalier. Alongside her Lyric Opera of Chicago colleagues, Hassler won her first Emmy in 2022 for Outstanding Achievement for Arts/Entertainment—Long Form Content for Pagliacci. She enjoys performing music from the Renaissance to the 21st century– in recital, concert, opera, and performance art mediums.
David Govertsen Bass-baritone
Chicago native bass-baritone David Govertsen has been active as a professional singer for nearly twenty years, portraying a wide variety of opera’s low-voiced heroes, villains, and comic characters. Mr. Govertsen has appeared as a soloist with numerous local and regional opera companies, including Lyric Opera of Chicago, Santa Fe Opera, Tulsa Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, and the Haymarket Opera Company. He is a member of the vocal chamber quartet Fourth Coast Ensemble and has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Grant Park Orchestra.
Patrick Zimmerli Composer
Patrick Zimmerli is a New York- and Paris-based composer, producer, and saxophonist. His full-length opera, Lucia Joyce, will receive its premiere in Dublin in April of 2026. Zimmerli was recently awarded a Copland Fund grant to support the 2025 release of his new album Messages. He has created a new label, Emergence Music Productions (EMP), whose first release in May 2025 was Zimmerli’s Songs of Innocence, featuring Kevin Hays and Satoshi Takeishi. A Columbia University graduate and winner of the Thelonious Monk Composers Competition, he also premiered his Alan Seeger: Instrument of Destiny, a 90-minute Oratorio based on Seeger’s works and letters during World War I, at the Cathedrale des Invalides in Paris in 2017.
Mirabelle Ordinaire Librettist
Mirabelle Ordinaire is a French director, librettist and translator based in Paris and New York. She joined the Metropolitan Opera Stage Directors in 2018, and is thrilled to have been the revival director of Zeffirelli’s iconic Boheme production there for the past three seasons. Productions she has created this season include Les Pêcheurs de Perles at the Opéra de Dijon and Don Pasquale at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, Belgium. She also conceived, wrote and staged the oratorio Alan Seeger: Instrument of Destiny by Patrick Zimmerli (Invalides, Paris, 2017; Cathedral St. John the Divine, NYC, 2019), in addition to the acclaimed Kurt Weill Story (Académie de l’Opéra de Paris, 2018). Mirabelle Ordinaire earned her PhD. In Theatre at Columbia University in 2011 and is also the artistic director of the Compagnie Extra.
Letters From The Front
Release date: July 3, 2026
Label: Lexicon Classics
A production of Gindes Music Productions, LLC.
Executive Producers
Ian Gindes, Owner, Gindes Music Productions, LLC
Jonathan Estabrooks, President, Lexicon Classics, LLC
Musical Artists
Pianist Ian Gindes
Tenor John Riesen
Mezzo-soprano Angela Born
Soprano Desirée Hassler
Bass-baritone David Govertsen
Composer Patrick Zimmerli
Librettist Mirabelle Ordinaire
Production Team
Producer Patrick Zimmerli
Associate Producers Maria Valdes and John Riesen
Recording and Sound Engineering Charlie Post
Editing and Mixing Tom Lazarus and Patrick Zimmerli
Mastering Patrick Conlon
Consultant and Artistic Originator Steve Robinson
Creative Director Ann Gindes
Artistic Consultants Anne Marie Kuhny and Kitt Wakeley
Development Jeff Camp
Social Media Manager and Consultant Jamye Hunter
Artists and Designers Dan Kwarcinski, Andy Camp, and Andrew Russell
Piano Technician Chris Crowley
Studio
Recorded at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, Skokie, Illinois
Special thanks to Emergence Music Productions for recording arrangements.
Promotion provided by Emitha LLC.