Visionary performer Janinah Burnett is one of the foremost performing artists of her generation. A versatile singing actor, musician, writer, arranger, and educator, Janinah is in demand and has thrilled audiences domestically and internationally in Opera, Recital, Musical theater, Jazz, Television, and Film. Some of her signature operatic roles include Mimí in La Bohéme, Leila in Les Pêcheurs des Perles, Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Micaëla in Carmen, Marguerite in Faust, Violetta in La Traviata and many more. An original cast member of Baz Luhrmann’s La Bohéme on Broadway as Mimí Janinah won a Los Angeles Theater Alliance Award and performed on the Tony Awards with this production. Shortly thereafter, Janinah joined the roster of principal artists at the Metropolitan Opera and remained there for 8 consecutive seasons.

Janinah is currently in the cast of Phantom of the Opera on Broadway in 2016, making appearances as “Carlotta Giudicelli” and will remain until its final performance. 

In February of 2021, Janinah released her debut album entitled Love Color of Your Butterfly which features Janinah’s musical arrangements and collaborations with some of the world’s finest jazz musicians including Christian Sands, Sullivan Fortner Jr., Casey Benjamin and Terreon Gully, who produced the project. Released on her own record label Clazz Records, Love the Color of Your Butterfly is an amalgamation of Jazz, Opera, Art Song, Oratorio, R and B, and Spirituals and introduces her concept of “Clazz" which encourages collaboration and redefines the parameters of genre while embracing parts of history that are erased, widely unknown and forgotten. Love the Color of Your Butterfly has been featured in numerous publications including the Financial Times, Playbill, Broadway World, Downbeat Magazine, Opera News and is available anywhere music is sold. 

Benjamin Perry Wenzelberg is is a countertenor, symphonic, and operatic conductor, composer, and pianist. A 2021 Metropolitan Opera National Council District Winner, he has performed as a soloist with/at the New York Philharmonic, New York City Opera, Atlanta Opera, American Bach Soloists, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Columbus, Portland (ME), and Phoenix Symphonies, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Carnegie Hall.

In December 2024, the studio recording of Wenzelberg’s holiday-time cantata composition, Any of Those Decembers — which was commissioned and premiered by Lyric Fest (Philadelphia) with him conducting — will be released on Parma Records (all streaming platforms), and this season he is a Conducting Fellow with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester (Hamburg, Germany), plays for and sings in a recital with Barbara Hannigan at Casa Menotti (Spoleto, Italy), and guest conducts with the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century (Netherlands), Dutch National Opera Academy, and Noord Nederlands Orkest. Previous guest conducting highlights include the Boston Pops and Tonkünstler-Orchester (Austria).

In 2022, Benjamin conducted the premiere of his opera NIGHTTOWN with Lowell House Opera, who commissioned it; the piece won The American Prize in Composition and an ASCAP Award and was acclaimed by the Boston Globe. He also won an ASCAP Award for his first opera, The Sleeping Beauty, a new opera for family audiences, which premiered with a cast featuring several Metropolitan Opera singers. Wenzelberg is a graduate of the Dutch National Master’s in Orchestral Conducting, Harvard College, and Juilliard Pre-College, and sang as a child soloist and chorister at the Metropolitan Opera for eight seasons.

Taiwan Norris, an internationally hailed, rich-voiced lyric tenor, has been blessed to share his gift all over the world. He has sung with six of the major companies of New York’s illustrious Lincoln Center complex: the esteemed Metropolitan Opera (through which he holds a Grammy Award certificate), the former New York City Opera, the New York Philharmonic, Jazz at Lincoln Center, The Alice Tully Hall, and most recently, his solo debut at Damrosch Park. Norris is thrilled to be returning LC as tenor soloist at David Geffen Hall in National Chorale’s Messiah Sing-Along this winter.

Abroad, Taiwan has graced such stages as the Grand Theatre de Geneve in Geneva, Switzerland, the Komische Oper Berlin in Berlin, Germany, Hamburgische Staatsoper in Hamburg, Germany, Dvořák Hall in Prague, Czech Republic and the Hungarian State Opera IN Budapest, Hungary to name a few. He has also taken his musical talents to Quito, Montevideo, Santiago, Buenos Aires and many other South American cities.

Norris was also afforded the opportunity to make his solo debut at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York City. Other career highlights include singing the lead role of Paul Laurence Dunbar in the world premiere of "A Mask in the Mirror: The Marriage of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Alice Ruth Moore" with Trilogy: An Opera Company of NJ. Recent operatic roles encompass Remus in "Treemonisha", Mayor Kenneth Gibson in "The Three Mayors", Uncle Crosby in "Emmett Till" and also his Lyric Opera of Chicago debut as Robbins in Porgy and Bess. He has performed in numerous productions with Opera Philadelphia and San Francisco Opera, among others, and was a featured artist with the Evansville Symphony and the Harrisburg Symphony.

Norris travels internationally as a soloist with the renowned American Spiritual Ensemble. Taiwan began honing his craft at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC , and holds a B.A. in Vocal Performance from Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD.

Christopher Burchett has performed with opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States and Europe including the London Philharmonic, New York City Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, the Estates Theatre in Prague, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Beth Morrison Projects, BBC Orchestra, Glimmerglass Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Prototype Festival, Fort Worth Opera, The Holland Festival, Palm Beach Opera, Kentucky Opera, Virginia Opera, Bard SummerScape Festival, Opera Omaha, Opera Saratoga, Eugene Opera, Indianapolis Opera and Opera Orchestra of New York. 

Christopher has also appeared with many of the country’s finest Bach festivals, including the Carmel Bach Festival, Boulder Bach Festival, Louisville Bach Society, and Bethlehem Bach Festival, where he sang Bach’s B Minor Mass as part of an Emmy winning national PBS broadcast entitled “Make a Joyful Noise”. 

Other engagements include appearances with the Louisville Orchestra, Washington Chorus at the Kennedy Center, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Trinity Baroque Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall, Omaha Symphony, American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Princeton Pro Musica, New York Choral Society at Carnegie Hall, New Hampshire Music Festival and Orchestra Now at Carnegie Hall.  Christopher can be heard on the Naxos, Bridge Records, Toccata Classics, VIA, Cantaloupe, and Albany record labels.

Pittsburgh-born James D. Wetzel is the Director of Music and Organist of the Parish of Saint Vincent Ferrer and Saint Catherine of Siena on Manhattan’s Upper East Side where he directs the professional Schola Cantorum.

James previously served as Organist and Choirmaster of midtown’s Church of Saint Agnes and as Organ Scholar of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.

From 2011-2016 he was an adjunct lecturer in Hunter College’s music department, and since 2010 he has also been Assistant Conductor for the Greenwich Choral Society in Connecticut. He is the Dean of the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists and a board member of the Catholic Artists Society and the New York Purgatorial Society.

A graduate of the Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music, his private teachers have included Paul Jacobs (organ) and Robert Page and Kent Tritle (conducting).

Everett McCorvey is the Artistic Director of the National Chorale.

Vocal Excellence is a hallmark of Dr. McCorvey’s work with professional choirs and with professional singers in concerts, masterclasses and workshops throughout the United States, Europe, South America and Asia, Poland and other countries.

Over a span of almost 30 years, Dr. McCorvey has engaged choirs and audiences in moving and dynamic experiences with his unique and committed interpretation of choral music of all genres.

Dr. McCorvey is a native of Montgomery, Alabama. He received his degrees from the University of Alabama, including a Doctorate of Musical Arts. He has performed in many cities and theatres around the world including the Metropolitan Opera, the Kennedy Center, Aspen Music Festival, Radio City Music hall, Birmingham Opera Theater, Teatro Comunale in Florence, Italy, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, England, as well as performances throughout Spain, the Czech and Slovac Republics, Austria, Japan, China, Brazil, Ireland, Poland, Portugal and Hungary, Mexico, Peru and France.

Dr. McCorvey is also the founder and Music Director of the American Spiritual Ensemble, a group of 24 professional singers performing spirituals and other compositions of African-American composers. In its 25-year history, the group has presented over 400 concerts including 17 tours of the United States and 16 tours of Spain. In February of 2017, US Public Broadcasting Stations (PBS) presented a nation-wide special featuring the American Spiritual Ensemble.

Raised in the belief that every citizen in the country should find ways to give back to his or her community, city and country, Dr. McCorvey has been very active in his volunteer activities, working to keep the arts as a part of the civic conversation locally, regionally and nationally. He is a frequent advisory panelist and on-site reviewer for the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C. and he has served on the Boards of the National

Assembly of State Arts Agencies, National Opera Association and the Kentucky Arts Council. Dr. McCorvey has recently been invited to serve as a jurist on the Opera For All Voices initiative established by San Francisco Opera and Santa Fe Opera. The panel will review new operatic works for the industry with the goal of bringing new audiences to opera

Dr. McCorvey has served on the faculties of the New York State Summer School of the Arts in Saratoga Springs, New York and the American Institute of Musical Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria. He holds an Endowed Chair in Opera Studies and Professor of Voice position at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky.

In September of 2010, Dr. McCorvey served as the Executive Producer of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Alltech 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games held in Lexington, Kentucky. The Opening Ceremony was broadcasted on NBC Sports and was viewed by over 500 million people worldwide. The Alltech 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games was the largest equestrian event to ever be held in the United States. He is married to soprano Alicia Helm. They have three children. On working with the National Chorale, Dr. McCorvey says that “Celebrating the 55th Anniversary of great choral singing with the National Chorale is indeed an honor and a privilege. It is my fervent hope that we can continue to sing, share and experience the goodness of humanity through music and learn of each other better through sharing in the arts.”

Dr. Bryan Zaros is an American conductor recognized for his “strong musical imagination” and “deep sense of musicality and communication.” He is the Associate Director of Music & Choirmaster at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City where he leads the Cathedral Choirs, Orchestra and Brass in liturgical as well as concert performances in the grand space of the world’s largest Gothic cathedral. He is also the Music Director of the Pro Arte Chorale, Music Director of Central City Chorus and a frequent guest lecturer at the Manhattan School of Music and at music conferences throughout the USA. Currently he serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Choral Consortium, on the Advisory Board to Music Sacra New York and is a conductor for the American Federation Pueri Cantores.

Recent conducting engagements have included invitations with choirs and orchestras throughout the USA, Europe and South America. Most notably he has conducted ensembles at David Geffen Hall, Alice Tully Hall, the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., at American Choral Director’s Association Conferences, on the film set at Warner Bros. Studios and at various cathedrals in England including Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral-London and Canterbury Cathedral.  In the summer of 2023, he returns to England conducting choirs at Westminster Abbey, Ely, Lincoln and Liverpool Cathedrals. 

A native New Yorker, Dr. Zaros began his professional musical training as a member of the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus and as a boy chorister at The Church of the Transfiguration in Manhattan.  He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Westminster Choir College, a Master of Music degree in Conducting from the University of Michigan and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting from the Manhattan School of Music.  He is a recipient of several conducting awards and fellowships including an American Prize award in Conducting. 

Deborah Simpkin King, Ph.D., is a choral conductor, new music advocate, and master teacher. She plays an active role in the vibrant Manhattan choral scene and serves the national and international music community through her guest conducting and body of published work.

Her leadership as a conductor is ongoing with the semi-professional Ember of Ember Choral Arts, as Director of Music and Arts at the historic Trinity Episcopal Church in Asbury Park, NJ, as Conductor of the Manhattan School of Music Chorale, and as a conductor within Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival.

Her commitment to nurturing the next generation in the arts can be seen through the arts education initiatives at Ember Choral Arts, her long-standing leadership of the NJ-ACDA High School Choral Festival, and the expansion of the New York Choral Consortium (which she Chairs) work to include young singers through the Big Sing Jr.

Through PROJECT: ENCORE (which she founded), Dr. King is at the cutting edge of the new music industry. She works with composers to secure post-premiere performances and commissions and performs many premieres herself.

She also serves the music community internationally as a monthly columnist with ACDA’s Choral Journal and host of public radio’s Sounds Choral (syndicated through WWFM).

Gregory Hopkins was born and reared in Philadelphia, PA. He received his advanced education in voice from Temple University, and in opera from Curtis Institute of Music. Hopkins has won prizes in competitions including: The Verdi Prize in Busetto, Italy; Outstanding Tenor Award, Mantova, Italy; The Dealy Award and The Opera Index Grant.

As a singer, pianist, organist, choral conductor, teacher and clinician, Hopkins has traveled throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia and The Middle East, with recent performances including The Cervantes and Pitic Festivals (Mexico); Orvieto, Rome and Umbria Festivals (Italy); Vienne Festival (France) and Vitoria-Gasteiz Festival (Spain). Additional performances included Mozarteum (San Juan, Argentina); Teatro Mayor (Bogota, Columbia); Sodre (Montevideo, Uruguay); Pro Arte (Cordoba, Argentina). His Harlem Jubilee singers recently completed a tour of Chile with the Concepcion Symphony performing Porgy and Bess. He also conducted performances of Gershwin’s “Blue Monday”, Britten’s “The Burning Fiery Furnace” with Harlem Opera Theater and HL Freeman’s opera “Voodoo”. Earlier this year saw concerts in Argentina and Japan. Recently Hopkins has been contracted to provide and prepare singers for Martina Arroyo’s “Prelude to a Performance” and Alvin Ailey’s “Revelation” Celebration at Lincoln Center. Hopkins has served The National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses as Director of Performance Ministries; The Hampton University Minister's Conference as Recital Co-Coordinator; and Gospel Music Workshop of America as Assistant Music Director to the Men's Department. He has been honored three times to prepare and present musicals for the National Baptist Convention, and was musical director for the NAACP's Centennial Celebration. At Arkansas Baptist College's EC Morris Institute and Ithaca College he has been Choral Clinician. For the Million Man March he was selected by Minister Farrakhan to sing immediately following the address.

Equally occupied as an educator, he has served on the faculties of: Community College of Philadelphia; Morgan State University; Westminster Choir College and NY Seminary of the East. Currently, he is Coordinator of Classical Voice and Operatic Activities at Howard University DC.

For more than 1/3rd of a century he has been Minister of Music for Harlem's Convent Avenue Baptist Church. He is also Artistic Director for Harlem Opera Theater, Music Director for the Harlem Jubilee Singers and Cocolo Japanese Gospel Choir.

He is a featured artist on more than 6 commercially released CD projects; one of which was nominated for a Grammy.

John Daly Goodwin has conducted concerts in major venues around the world including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, The Grand Theater in Shanghai, Palacio de Bellas Artes and Sala Nezahualcóyotl in Mexico City, the Cathedrals of Notre Dame and Chartres in France, and the Basilica of San Marco in Venice.  He has prepared performances for Marco Armiliato, Leonard Bernstein, Joseph Colaneri, Dennis Russell Davies, Robert De Cormier, Lukas Foss, Margaret Hillis, Fabio Luisi, Yehudi Menuhin, John Nelson, Daniel Oren, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Eve Queler, Corrado Rovaris, Julius Rudel, Gerard Schwarz, Robert Shaw, Leonard Slatkin and Robert Spano.

Mr. Goodwin has conducted or prepared choruses for 17 national television broadcasts including the 1998 Grammy Awards. He served as Music Director of the New York Choral Society from 1987 to 2012, principal guest conductor of the Coro del Teatro de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, and was a founding member of the New York Choral Consortium.  With a strong personal commitment to music education, Mr. Goodwin has done extensive volunteer work to benefit aspiring musicians and young children in the New York City Public Schools. 

James John is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at Queens College’s Aaron Copland School of Music, where he directs the Queens College Vocal Ensemble, the Queens College Choral Society, and heads the graduate program in choral conducting. Dr. John is also Artistic Director of the Manhattan-based vocal ensemble Cerddorion, a select chamber choir dedicated to adventurous programs that span the breadth of the choral repertoire.

Under his leadership, the choral program at the Aaron Copland School of Music has become recognized as one of the finest collegiate choral programs in the region, with performances at state and divisional conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, as well as performances in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. His ensembles are featured on several recordings, including The Partsongs of Hamish MacCunn, released by the QC Vocal Ensemble, and Songs of Peace and Praise, a compilation of choral music by Queens College composers, released on the NAXOS label. The QC Vocal Ensemble’s world premiere recording of Shanan Estreicher’s cantata, A Concordance of Leaves, was released on the NAXOS label in February of 2024.

Dr. John’s guest conducting appearances include Brahms’s Requiem and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Tokyo Oratorio Society and Oratorio Sinfonica Japan, the annual Messiah Sing-In at David Geffen Hall, a concert of American choral music with the Virginia Chorale, and honor choirs throughout New York State. As a teacher and scholar, Dr. John has served as guest lecturer in conducting at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany and presented seminars on American choral music in Basel and Stockholm. He has given presentations at both divisional and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association and is in demand as a clinician and adjudicator throughout the United States.

Dr. John received his Doctor of Musical Arts in conducting from the Eastman School of Music. His prior appointments also include Director of Choral Activities at both Tufts University (Boston, MA) and Nassau Community College (Garden City, NY), as well as Conducting Fellow at Dartmouth College.

Jason C. Tramm has been hailed as a “conductor to watch” by Symphony Magazine and “filled with Italianate passion” by the Huffington Post. Maestro Tramm’s work in the operatic, symphonic, and choral realms has received critical acclaim throughout the United States and abroad. He also currently serves as Director of Choral and Orchestral Activities at Seton Hall University (where he was named the 2017 University Faculty Teacher of the Year), Executive Director of the Light Opera of New Jersey, Director of Music at the 6500-seat Ocean Grove Great Auditorium, Artistic Director of the MidAtlantic Artistic Productions, Music Director of the Taghkanic Chorale and Principal Guest Conductor of the Long Island Concert Orchestra.

A frequent guest conductor, he has led symphonic and operatic performances in Italy, Romania, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. He also hosts Music Matters with Jason Tramm, a podcast on YouTube that explores artistic innovation under extreme circumstances, as seen through the eyes of distinguished artists.

Dr. Jennifer Pascual was appointed Director of Music at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City in 2003, the first woman to hold this prestigious liturgical music position. Jennifer earned a D.M.A. in Organ Performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, a M.M. in Piano Performance from the Mannes College of Music, NYC and the B.M. in Piano and Organ Performance and B.M.E. from Jacksonville University, Florida. She has served as an organist and choir director in four US dioceses and three Roman Catholic cathedrals. From 2007 to 2014, Dr. Pascual was professor and Director of Music at St. Joseph’s Seminary in New York. She currently also serves as the Director of Music of the New York Archdiocesan Festival Chorale.

She has served as a member of several sacred music organizations as well as a frequent recitalist, clinician and adjudicator at national conventions. She has participated in numerous international music festivals in the United States and abroad, is a recipient of the Paderewski Medal and Theodore Presser and Paul Creston awards and has performed as an organist and conductor in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Spain and the United States.

Highlights of her career include the privilege of overseeing the liturgical music Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to New York in 2008, as well as the visit of Pope Francis in 2015. She also served as conductor for Mass (2008) and Vespers (2015) at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Mass at Yankee Stadium (2008) and Mass at Madison Square Garden (2015). In 2008, she conducted the St. Patrick’s Cathedral Choir for President Bush at the White House for National Day of Prayer and was also named a Dame of the Order of St. Gregory the Great, papal recognition of service to the Church. Annually, Dr. Pascual participates as a conductor in the Handel Messiah Sing In at Lincoln Center.

With the broadcast of live Mass from St. Patrick’s Cathedral on The Catholic Channel, SIRIUS/XM 129, the St. Patrick’s Cathedral Choir which she conducts can be heard at the 10:15 a.m. Mass on Sundays from September to June. Since 2006 she has hosted a weekly radio talk and music show called “Sounds from the Spires” broadcast on the same channel on Saturdays at 1:00am, Sundays at 12:00am, 6:00am, 8:00pm, and Thursdays at 1:00 p.m. (all Eastern times). Three of Dr. Pascual’s organ recordings and a St. Patrick’s Cathedral Choir recording can be found at JAV Recordings.

www.jenniferpascual.com

Joey Chancey most recently conducted the sold-out concert of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies at Carnegie Hall. On Broadway he has conducted and played piano for An American in Paris, Beautiful: the Carole King Musical, Annie, and Gigi. Music Supervisor: A Chorus Line with Antonio Banderas (Spain); Symphonic: Anthony Warlow & Faith Prince in Concert (Australian Tour); NYC Concerts: Nine, Sweet Charity, Peter Pan, The Music Man, Man of La Mancha, and Promises, Promises. Chancey is the Director of Music at The Church of St. Paul the Apostle, NYC in Columbus Circle. Training: BM Shenandoah Conservatory. www.joeychancey.com @joeychancey

John J. Palatucci enjoys a distinguished career as a performing musician, conductor, clinician, an adjudicator and educator. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music education and​ a Master of Arts degree in music performance from Montclair State College of New Jersey as well as​ a Master of Education degree in educational leadership with the accompanying supervisory and administrative certifications from NJ EXCEL. He has served on the faculties of Caldwell, Montclair State, and William Paterson State Universities as well as Columbia Teachers College.

Mr. Palatucci has performed in concert under the batons of such noted conductors as Henry Brant, Lucas Foss, Morton Gould, Skitch Henderson, Alan Hovhaness, and​ Karel Husa. Appearances with other musical luminaries range from Placido Domingo, Jerome Hines and Robert Merrill to Dave Brubeck to Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. In 1991, he recruited and managed a 3,000 voice choir for appearances by the Rev. Billy Graham in what was then the Brendan Byrne Arena. ​Several pieces composed for men’s chorus have been dedicated to Mr. Palatucci and his ​setting of The​ Sussex Mummers’ Christmas Carol has been published by the International Percy Grainger Society.

From 1990 through 2023, Mr. Palatucci was music director of the Orpheus Club Men’s Chorus (OCMC) of Ridgewood, NJ. During his tenure, he strove to uphold and enhance the OCMC’s proud history, tradition, and reputation. These efforts included performances​ of​ Johannes Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody with the Adelphi Chamber Orchestra, Randall Thompson’s The Testament of Freedom and Giuseppi Verdi’s Hymn to the Nations with the Orchestra of Saint Peter-by-the-Sea, Howard Hanson’s Song of Democracy, Ottorino Respighi’s Laud to the Nativity, Aaron Copland’s Old American Songs, the revised finale to Richard Wagner’s opera Tannhäuser, David Avshalomov’s arrangement for men’s chorus and winds of the Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album with the Ridgewood Concert Band, now the NJ Wind Symphony, and joint performances of Carmena Burana between the OCMC and the Summit Chorale. This past summer, the OCMC honored him with the title of conductor emeritus.

​Mr. Palatucci​ led the OCMC in its 2005 Lincoln Center debut, performing at the Lincoln Center Library with the Palisades Virtuosi chamber ensemble. During the OCMC’s centennial year in 2009, he led a Ridgewood community choral festival which culminated in a performance with orchestra and soloist Ron Levy of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy.  In 2011, with Mr. Levy ​he again​ prepared the OCMC and its sister ensemble, the Ridgewood Choral, for a performance of the Beethoven Choral Fantasy with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. A 2012 state-wide tenor-bass choral workshop and concert was spearheaded by the OCMC along with the NJ Choral Consortium of which Mr. Palatucci was vice president while he led members of the OCMC in a 2013 performance​ at ​Carnegie Recital Hall.

For more information about OCMC conductor emeritus John J. Palatucci, please visit the OCMC web site.

https://www.ridgewoodorpheusclub.org/musical-director-emeritus.html

Kathryn E. Schneider is Musical Director & Conductor of the New York City Bar Chorus, whose leaders and members are all legal professionals.  With a New York City Mayoral Proclamation marking the day, the chorus recently celebrated its 30th anniversary as a goodwill ambassador of the New York City Bar Association, bringing the healing power of music to those who cannot easily access it.  Kathy and the chorus have given more than 300 concerts at venues serving seniors, the visually impaired, people living with cancer and AIDS, those in substance abuse rehabilitation, and more. The chorus has also appeared off-Broadway, on local and national television, in exchanges with other legal choruses, at American Bar Association conventions, and at the New York City Bar's landmark midtown Manhattan headquarters. Kathy led the chorus in its first Carnegie Hall performance at the 2019 National Fall Sing — Remembering 9/11 Commemoration.

Kathy studied choral conducting at Westminster Choir College and Teachers College, Columbia University (learning from, among others, Drs. James Jordan and Dino Anagnost). She studied organ principally with Dr. George Stauffer at Columbia, and, while pursuing her law degree there, served as Assistant University Organist, performing frequently on the Aeolian-Skinner organ at St. Paul's Chapel. She studies voice with acclaimed soprano Harolyn Blackwell. Kathy is delighted to be returning to Geffen Hall for a seventh time collaborating with Maestro McCorvey as a Messiah Sing-In conductor.

Marina Alexander founded the Arcadian Chorale (NJ) in 1992, and has led Richmond Choral Society (Staten Island) since 1995. Noted for her scholarship and innovative programming, she has resurrected rarely heard masterpieces and presented US or NY area premieres of many works, including her own compositions.

Ms. Alexander has performed at Carnegie Hall on several occasions, conducting Te Deum settings by Otto Olsson and Antonin Dvorak, and appeared as Guest Conductor with many NY area orchestras leading major works, including the Verdi Requiem, Mozart “Great” Mass in C minor, and Beethoven Symphony #9. She is Adjunct Associate Professor at the College of Staten Island-CUNY, teaching Conducting, Ensemble Vocal Performance, and Music History, and often appears as a clinician at choral workshops and music festivals.

Ms. Alexander is also vice-president of the NJ Choral Consortium, where she serves as the Programming Chair.

For info on her activities, please visit www.marinaalexander.com

Michael Spierman is the artistic and music director of the Bronx Opera. Under the leadership of Mr. Spierman, the Bronx Opera has set a high standard for operatic productions. His artistic intuitiveness, hard work, foresight, and sound business sense have all contributed to the company's reputation for providing some of the highest-quality operatic productions in the country.

The opera company's stage is widely recognized as one of the few places today where young, gifted singers and musicians can launch their careers. Many have gone on to appear in roles at the Metropolitan Opera and other famed operatic venues. It is also a place where talented, dedicated, and seasoned performers can continue to demonstrate their skills.

Mr. Spierman has applied an eclectic approach to presenting the borough with opera, choosing to perform the works of living composers, classics from the repertoire that still have massive appeal, and lesser-known operas from the past that he believes deserve more attention. All of the company's productions are performed in English.

Robert Baldwin is Director of Orchestras and Professor of Conducting at the University of Utah. He is also the Music Director and Conductor for the Salt Lake Symphony, the founding conductor for Sinfonia Salt Lake, and is an honorary adjunct professor at Wuhan University Center for the Arts in China. Recently, he conducted for the National Chorale’s Messiah Sing-In at Lincoln Center in New York. International appearances include the Eutin Festspiele in Germany, Kuopio Academy in Finland, and the Hermitage Camerata in Saint Petersburg, Russia, the Busan Maru Music Festival in South Korea, and the Hunan, Wuhan University, and Wuhan Conservatory Symphonies in China. He holds degrees from the University of Northern Colorado, the University of Iowa, and the University of Arizona. Also a published poet, his works have appeared in various publications, including Poetry Quarterly and Haiku Journal. Desert Crossing, his second chapbook of poems, will be published later this year.

Robert J. Seebacher is Music Director and Conductor of the Johnson City Symphony Orchestra in Tennessee, Marlene and David Grissom Associate Professor of Music and Director of Instrumental Programs at Centre College, and Assistant Conductor of the National Chorale in New York. Previously, he was Director of Orchestras and conductor of opera at the University of South Alabama and Music Director of the Mobile Symphony Youth Orchestra. He has appeared with the Lexington Philharmonic, Youngstown Symphony, Salt Lake Symphony, Warren Philharmonic, and Mobile Symphony Orchestras.

He has conducted numerous All-State and Honors Orchestras and Bands in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Alabama. His guest artist collaborations have included those with Chee-Yun, Béla Fleck, Mark O’Connor, Midori, The Harlem Quartet, The Canadian Brass, Arlo Guthrie, Lynn Harrell, Bella Hristova, David Ludwig, Joseph Schwantner, Valentina Lisitsa, Gregory Turay, Billy McLaughlin, Tessa Lark, Reggie Smith, and Melissa White.

For the past 18 years, Dr. Seebacher has been the Assistant Conductor for the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre’s summer production of “It’s a Grand Night for Singing,” which recently won two regional Emmy awards.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education (cum laude) from Youngstown State University, a master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting from Bowling Green State University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Orchestral Conducting from the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Seebacher has participated in training workshops at The Cleveland Institute of Music and The School of Music, Theatre, and Dance at the University of Michigan. He conducted the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as part of their inaugural conducting symposium. His teachers include William B. Slocum, Stephen L. Gage, John Nardolillo, Emily Freeman Brown, and Gustav Meier.

Dr. Thomas Juneau is thrilled to be returning to the Messiah Sing-In with the National Chorale this year! He is the Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor at Wagner College where he conducts the College Choir and teaches courses in Conducting, Orchestration, and Music History. He is also the Music Director of Summit Chorale in Summit, NJ. 

Dr. Juneau’s choirs have performed at internationally recognized venues including Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, La Madeleine in Paris, the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, and twice at the Vatican. He recently led performances of Bruckner’s Te Deum and the Durufle Requiem.

Vagarshak Ohanyan, Conductor, Baritone, Educator, and Voice Teacher, was born in the former Soviet Union. In 2007, he performed in New York in a concert production of Leoncavalloʼs Pagliacci, singing Silvio. At the New York City Opera, he debuted as Sid in Pucciniʼs La Fanciulla Del West. In March, he performed with the Bachanalia Orchestra at St.Peterʼs Church. Last summer, he recorded a CD with Carlos Luis Garcia of Pucciniʼs opera IlTabarro.

With the Armenian Philharmonic he sang Sharpless in Madame Butterfly. As a guest soloist, he appeared with the American Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein, in a concert production of Rachmaninoffʼs Francesca Da Rimini in January 2002 at Avery Fisher Hall.

In March 2002, he performed songs by Rachmaninoff at Carnegie Hall. He sang a baritone solo in Durufleʼs Requiem with the Plymouth choir and orchestra at Plymouth Church. In 1997-98, he performed at the Tchaikovsky Rediscoveries Festival at Bard College and at the Trinity Church. He also performed at Carnegie Hall with the Russian Chamber Chorus and was invited to participate Virtosi Moskow Conductor Vladimir Spivakov Moscow Cantata at Carnegie Hall and Tanglewood with the Russian American Youth Orchestra and Chorus of New York. In 2007 he became an ensemble member and vocal coach for Hampton Synagogue. One of his distinguished students is New York and Hampton Synagogue cantor Netanel Hershtik.

Other highlights include solo recitals with the Boston Chamber Orchestra and the Rhode Island Chorale. He was a soloist in Faureʼs and Mozartʼs Requiems with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (Russia) in 1994-95. Mr. Ohanyan continues to perform internationally at many prestigious festivals and opera houses. As a member of the Artist in Residence Program of National Chorale he teaches advanced voice and is a principal conductor of the elite choir at Professional Performing Arts School New York City.

Mr. Ohanyan holds a Doctorate of Arts Ed. and a MA in Vocal Performance from the Armenian State Conservatory and a certificate from the Julliard School. In 1996, he became a union member of the American Guild of Musical Artists. Vagharshak is a CO founder of the 2009 Youth Talent (AYT) Music Competition at Carnegie Hall. A month ago, Mr. Ohanyan was awarded with a medal from the government of Armenia, their highest award for education and dedication to the arts - a diploma for a Professor Honoris Causa Degree from the Yerevan Haybusak University (International Academy of Education.)