Ms. Brea starts her 2023-2024 season reprising one of her most performed roles, Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen at the Hogfish Festival in Maine with a star rising cast. In the fall of 2023 she will be performing the role of Clomiri in Handel's adaptation of Imeneo with Opera Essentia in New York City with a baroque specialized 415 ensemble. She returns to the University of Notre Dame to sing a recital accompanied by Israeli pianist Dror Baitel. In December 2023, Maria makes her awaited debut with the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra singing Handel's Messiah, an adaptation in Spanish under the baton of Maestro Tito Muñoz. In January 2024 you will hear her with Vero Beach Opera in her return to the role of Donna Anna with a stellar cast. Maria makes her Canadian debut performing Odaline Martinez: Four Afro-Cuban poems with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.

In the 2022-23 season Ms. Brea represented Venezuela in the prestigious Operalia. She started the season singing the role of Lucette in L'arbre Enchanté with the Hogfish Music Festival under the baton of the Ryan McAdams. Maria returned to the American Spirtual Ensemble for their New Orleans Opera recital where she was a distinguished soloist under the baton of Maestro Everett McCorvey. Additionally, Maria returned in December 2022 to The World Renowed Carnegie Hall to make her debut singing Handel's Messiah with the prestigious Oratorio Society of New York under the baton of Kent Tritle. She made a reprise of Messiah and her debut with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra in December 2022. In January 2023 Maria made debut with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra singing her very first Beethoven 9th under the masterful leadership of Maestro Jose Luis Gomez. Ms. Brea made her debut with the Amadeus Ensemble doing an All Mozart concert. She did her Mahler Symphony No. 2 debut with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra as a last minute schedule addition, ten days later she made her Boston debut with Boston Philharmonic singing Mahler Symphony No. 2 at Symphony Hall with the legendary conductor Benjamin Zander. Maria made her Schubert Club's debut in Saint Paul, Minnesota along with the Jasper Quartet in a premiere of award winning Venezuelan composer Reinaldo Moya; In addition, she was headlining at the Schubert Club's 140th season which also featured legendary mezzo-soprano Anne Sophie von Otter. Maria makes her debut at The Metropolitan Opera in their American Ballet production of Like Water for Chocolate in June 2023.

Lauded as “exquisite” in the SF Chronicle for her summer 2023 performance as Renata in Cruzar la Cara de la Luna, Kelly Guerra continues to light up stages as a versatile and passionate performer.

Recent engagements include Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia with the Princeton Festival, the title role in Astor Piazzolla’s María de Buenos Aires with Kentucky Opera, Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Scalia/Ginsburg with Chautauqua Opera and the title role in Luisa Fernanda with Opera Williamsburg.

Other notable past credits include work with Opera Omaha, Los Angeles Philharmonic, California Symphony, Lucerne Festival, and a national tour with Esperanza Spalding for Wayne Shorter’s …(Iphigenia).

Upcoming: Carlotta in Zorro with Opera Santa Barbara and alto soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Pomona College.

Nathan Munson has been praised for his vocal beauty, maintaining a versatile presence on the concert and operatic stage. He has sung leading and supporting roles with the Sarasota Opera, Hawaii Opera Theatre, the Atlanta Opera, Opera North, Piccola Opera San Antonio, Capitol City Opera, dell’Arte Opera, and the Illinois Opera Theatre. Roles include Beppe in Pagliacci, the Steersman in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer, Tom Snout in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor, Pedrillo in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Remendado and El Dancaïre in Carmen, Rodolfo in La bohème, Roméo in Roméo et Juliette, Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Cassio in Verdi’s Otello, and Dr. Baglioni in a world premiere revision of Daniel Catan’s La Hija di Rappaccini. Recent performances with the Atlanta Opera include roles in Carmen, Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Frida, Salome, The Seven Deadly Sins, and Turandot.

In addition to his operatic appearances, Dr. Munson has been a frequent visitor to the concert stage. Most recently, he sang the Carmina Burana with the Georgia Symphony Orchestra. He premiered a new work for tenor and orchestra by Thomas Ludwig in April of 2021, entitled To Be or Not To Be? Before cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he was to have sung with the Greenville Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and Carmina Burana with Berry College. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and debuted with the Helena Symphony Orchestra (Montana) in Handel’s Messiah. He has been soloist in Bruckner’s Te Deum, Bach’s B-minor Mass, Saint John’s Passion and Magnificat, and Mozart’s Requiem. He has also been featured with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, and the Huntsville Symphony.

Dr. Munson can be heard on the world premiere recording of The Golden Ticket (Albany Records) and was a featured soloist in a Christmas Concert with the Atlanta Opera, which was recorded live for broadcast by WABE-Atlanta. He is an Assistant Professor of Voice in the School of Music at Stetson University.

Michael Preacely - an American baritone currently based out of Lexington, Kentucky–has proven himself a rising star on the operatic stage. Over the course of his burgeoning career, Michael has worked with numerous major and regional opera houses and orchestras in the United States and abroad and has consistently garnered critical acclaim. Mr. Preacely’s international career has spanned the globe, having featured performances in Europe, Asia, Russia, and Canada. Domestically, the Cincinnati Opera, Opera Company Philadelphia, Opera Memphis, Kentucky Opera, and Cleveland Opera rank among the multitude of reputable opera companies with whom Michael has been featured as a performer. Likewise, he has performed alongside many of the nation’s top leading orchestras–including the Cincinnati Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Hilton-Head Symphony, Asheville Symphony, Oakland East Bay Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Hamilton-Fairfield Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Cleveland Pops, the Cincinnati Pops, the American Spiritual Ensemble, and most recently the American Pops Orchestra. Alongside his noteworthy stage credits and history of critical acclaim, Mr. Preacely has also received a great many accolades, including his reception of awards in the Fritz and Jensen Vocal Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.

Currently, Mr. Preacely is on faculty with the University of Kentucky as a Lecturer in Voice.

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).

Robert Baldwin is Director of Orchestras and Professor of Conducting at the University of Utah, and Music Director and Conductor for the Salt Lake Symphony. He is also the founding conductor for Sinfonia Salt Lake, a professional chamber orchestra that made its critically acclaimed debut in 2016. In 2019, he was appointed to an adjunct position at the Wuhan University Center for the Arts in Wuhan, China.

Dr. Baldwin has appeared across the North America, Europe and Asia as a conductor and performer on viola and viola d’amore. International conducting appearances include the Hunan Symphony and Wuhan University Orchestras in China, Busan Maru International Music Festival in South Korea, Eutin Festspiele in Germany, Kuopio Academy of Music in Finland, and the Hermitage Camerata in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In demand as a guest conductor and clinician, he also has conducted performances with the Utah Arts Festival, University of Kansas Symphony, Great Falls Symphony, Lafayette Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic, Lexington Singers, Flagstaff Festival of the Arts, Tri-Collegiate Opera, and numerous All-State and educational-festival orchestras across the U.S.A. His performances and ensembles have received international attention and have been featured on New York’s WQXR Classical Radio, and nationally broadcast radio programs, including Performance Today, Highway 89 and Weekend Edition.

Also an accomplished violist and viola d’amore player, he has had a variety of experiences, including guest appearances with the Amadeus Trio, and both the Saint Petersburg and Stanford String Quartets, as well as at the Sedona Chamber Music Festival, SMU Music Festival and Park City International Music Festival. He was violist of the Arizona-based Coconino Chamber Ensemble from 1989-1999, and was principal violist for the Flagstaff Symphony, Arkansas Symphony, and Arizona Opera. Solo and chamber appearances on viola and viola d’amore include recitals and concertos in the United States, Germany and Mexico.  Always on the lookout for new experiences, he recently played a program or solo Bach and recited poetry inside the large cave for Timpanogos Cave National Monument’s Centennial Celebration.

Previously, he has held faculty and conducting positions at the University of Kentucky, Lexington Philharmonic, New American Symphony, Flagstaff Symphony and Northern Arizona University. Dr. Baldwin studied conducting in the United States and in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds degrees in viola performance from the University of Northern Colorado and the University of Iowa, and a DMA in orchestral conducting from the University of Arizona. He makes his home in Salt Lake City, Utah where, in his spare time, he enjoys reading, writing, hiking, and spending time with his family. In addition to published writings on music, he is a published poet. His poems have appeared in Poetry Quarterly, Utah Life, Grey Sparrow Journal, and Haiku Journal. Thirty, his first chapbook of poetry, was published in 2022.

Blog: http://beforethedownbeat.wordpress.com/

Websites:

https://music.utah.edu/faculty/robert-baldwin.php

http://www.saltlakesymphony.org/

Acclaimed for his "commanding stage presence" and "dramatic fire," (Raoul Abdul, Amsterdam News) baritone Courtney Carey has established himself as a singer of singular talent. Since his operatic debut as Morales with the Komische Kammer Oper Munchen in Georges Bizet's Carmen, he has gone on to sing principal roles in Le Nozze di Figaro (II Conte Almaviva), Cosi fan tutte (Don Alfonso and Guglielmo), Susannah (Elder McClean), Romeo et Juliette (Mercutio), L'elisir d'amore (Belcore), and many others. Under the direction of maestro Joseph Colaneri, Mr. Carey created a stir with his carefully crafted portrayal of the villainous Lantello in the world premiere of Noam Sivan's Fruits of Folia. Other important career highlights include collaborations with eminent maestri such as David Effron, David Gilbert, Joshua Green, Matthias Kuntzch, Jay Meetze, and Ted Taylor. He has participated in renowned programs for young artists, such as The University of Miami Frost School of Music at Salzburg, Brevard Music Center, Centro Studi ltaliani, B.A.S.O.T.1., New York Summer Opera Scenes, and was a resident artist with the Opera Company of Brooklyn. As a noted recitalist, Mr. Carey has performed in many concerts, recitals, and festivals, including the Cleveland Art Song Festival, a week-long festival of intensive recitals and masterclasses featuring distinguished talents such as baritone, Vladimir Chernov, tenor, Anthony Dean Griffey, and pianist, Warren Jones. Recent career highlights include concert performances of Brahms' German Requiem, and Bach's Cantata 147, Vaughan Williams' Mass in G, and the preview of Ricky Ian Gordon's new opera Intimate Apparel (a co-production between the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center Theater).

A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Mr. Carey earned a B.A. degree in Music from Morehouse College, an M.M. degree in Choral Conducting from the Eastman School of Music, and a Professional Studies Diploma in Voice from Mannes College of Music. While a student at Mannes College of Music, Mr. Carey was approached by the Metropolitan Opera Guild to sign on as one of its teaching artists. He enjoyed a lengthy relationship with both the Metropolitan Opera and Metropolitan Opera Guild until he stepped down in 2018 to pursue non-profit management.

His wide range of experience includes teaching at all levels of public and parochial school music education and conducting church, community, chamber, and collegiate choruses. He has served as guest conductor of the Manhattan School of Music Pan African concerts, Associate Conductor at the Ephesus Seventh-day Adventist Church, Associate Adjunct Professor and Director of Jubilee Singers at Westminster Choir College, and Director of Music Ministries at the First African Methodist Episcopal Church: Bethel, and Director of the Brooklyn Ecumenical Choir. In addition to his work as a singer, lecturer, and conductor, Mr. Carey is an accomplished composer/arranger. His choral arrangements "My God is So High", "I Ain't Got Weary Yet,” “Lord, I want Two Wings,” “Calvary,” and “You Can Tell the World” are published by GIA Publications, the Lorenz Corporation, and Carus Verlag respectively. His solo vocal arrangements are published by CSOT publishing and are available at www.cstarsoftomorrow.com. His spiritual arrangements can be heard on the album “I Wanna Be Ready” (Navona Records).

In 2014 he formed Courtney’s Stars of Tomorrow, a New York-based non-profit organization committed to presenting top tier classical music events. Under his leadership, the organization has performed sold-out concerts to enthusiastic audiences at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, with its programs having garnered the fiscal support of powerhouse brands and grant makers such as New York State Council on the Arts, Staples, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, News Corp., Columbia Community Service, and Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone.

Jason Max Ferdinand, Professor – Conductor – Composer – Speaker, is the founding artistic director of The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers: An Ensemble of Exceptional Talents, and was the director of choral activities, chair of the music department, and a full professor at Oakwood University, where he conducted the Aeolians of Oakwood University. He is a published author and composer with GIA Publications, featuring the book, Teaching with Heart: Tools for Addressing Societal Challenges Through Music, and The Jason Max Ferdinand Choral Series (Walton Music).

A native of Trinidad & Tobago, Ferdinand received his Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance from Oakwood College (now Oakwood University), his Master of Arts in Choral Conducting from Morgan State University, and his Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Maryland. He attributes a lot of his success to the many influential people and experiences that helped shape him into who he is today.

In February 2019, the Aeolians performed at the National Conference of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA). The performance garnered a lot of attention and some even commented, “They broke the ACDA.” The ensemble was also selected to be the feature choir at the National Collegiate Choral Organization conference, which was held at the University of Maryland, College Park. In 2023, the Jason Max Ferdinand Singers, will perform at the national conference of the American Choral Directors Association.

He maintains an active schedule as a guest conductor and lecturer at schools, universities, churches, and choral festivals and conferences, domestic and international. He is energized when he gets the chance to make music with All-state and festival choirs.

His ensembles have most recently released recordings, The Aeolians (2019) and Solace, The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers (2021). He has enjoyed collaborations with Jacob Collier, Donald Lawrence, Coldplay, Take 6 and others in recent years.

Cultural maladies presented during the year of the pandemic inspired the compilation of Teaching with Heart: Tools for Addressing Societal Challenges Through Music to provide support and encouragement for music educators. The unique circumstances of 2021 also opened a creative opportunity to birth The Jason Max Ferdinand Singers in a virtual concert Live from London - Spring! The ensemble began its unifying journey to breathe life into choral works of underrepresented composers and positively affect the cultural health of our world.

Jason Max Ferdinand is thankful for his parents, Dr. T. Leslie and Mary Ferdinand, who are both retired educators. He and his siblings, Alva Ferdinand, JD, PhD, and Abdelle Ferdinand, MD, attribute any academic accomplishments they have attained to their parents. He is married to Meka, who is a registered nurse, and they are the parents of Caleb, Ava, and baby Jamē.

Elizabeth Guglielmo is the Director of Music for NYC Public Schools. In this role, she guides all aspects of K-12 music education across the five boroughs, including curriculum and instructional resource development, music-specific professional learning, and music-focused partnerships and special opportunities for students, music teachers, and school leaders.

For 27 years, Elizabeth has taught music and served as a school administrator in NYC.

Elizabeth is a cum laude graduate of Yale University where she earned her BA Music and graduated with Distinction in the Music Major. Elizabeth also holds her Master of Music Education degree from Westminster Choir College.

She is a recipient of the Yale University Distinguished Music Educator Award and the Most Dedicated Educator Award from the Foundation for Korean Language & Culture in the USA.

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.

James John is Professor of Music at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College-CUNY, where he directs the QC Vocal Ensemble and 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.

Darryl Jordan, Ed.D., conductor/singer/songwriter, has a Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University and holds a B.S. and M.M. in Music Education from NYU and Boston University, respectively. He has spent the better part of his career training multi-faceted young singers for a new generation as a Vocal Teacher/Choral Conductor at LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. Armed with the desire to “develop singers for every stage,” he has spent the past twenty years conducting choirs and training singers in Maryland, D.C., and New York for everything from classical to gospel and jazz. An Assistant Conductor of the NYC All-City High School Chorus, he has also served as a workshop facilitator for citywide workshops in the NYC Department of Education Office of Arts and Special Projects. He is an Adjunct Professor at Nyack College where he serves as the Director of Music Education, Voice Instructor, and Conductor of the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. He is also an Lessons Instructor and Ensemble Conductor at Teachers College, Columbia University. His students have performed everywhere from Carnegie Hall, Broadway, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Apollo Theater, and a host of churches, community centers, and public events! Thanking God for his own musical gift, he seeks to empower the community through the gift of song as a baritone/tenor singer in and outside of the Tri-State area. Along with his music group FreeMind, he brings his own unique brand of neo-gospel-soul music to the world! They will release their new album, TIME, later this year.

Dr. Thomas Juneau is Director of Choral Activities at Wagner College in New York City. He serves as Music Director of the Summit Chorale, now in its 111th season, and as Minister of Music at Saint Joseph’s Church in Carteret, NJ. Additionally, Dr. Juneau teaches general music at Saint Joseph’s School.

A prolific conductor and composer, Dr. Juneau has conducted many major works, including Handel’s Dixit Dominus, Beethoven’s Mass in C, the Requiems of Mozart, Fauré, Duruflé, Brahms and most recently John Conahan’s Three Doors: A Requiem. As a composer, his compositions for chorus are published by Walton Music, Alliance Music, Southern Music Company, Hal Leonard Corporation, and Carl Fisher Music Company. An album of his music, Visions Eternal, recorded by the Juneau Vocal Alliance in collaboration with The Summit Chorale, was released in 2015 on the Ravello label and distributed by Naxos of America.

As an educator, Thomas is deeply committed to furthering the education of young conductors as they begin their professional journeys. He frequently collaborates with young conductors; offering them guidance, mentorship and opportunity through the early stages of their professional careers.

Dr. Juneau’s newest major choral and orchestral work Missa Jubilate Deo, now the Missa Pacem in Terra, was premiered in July 2018 as the centerpiece of the inaugural Season of “The Premiere Project”, a collaborative initiative of The Continuo Arts Foundation and the Fondazione Pro Musica e Arte Sacra, in Rome, Italy. Dr. Juneau is in high demand for commissions and his compositions have been performed around the world.

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.”

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.)

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

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

Kathryn E. Schneider is Musical Director & Conductor of the New York City Bar Chorus, whose leaders and members are all legal professionals. Since 1993, the chorus has served as goodwill ambassadors of the New York City Bar Association to bring the healing power of music to those who cannot easily access it, giving 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 for a fifth time collaborating with Maestro McCorvey as a conductor at this wonderful holiday event.

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, Billy McLaughlin, Tessa Lark, Reggie Smith, and Melissa White.

For the past 15 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.

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 New York Choral Consortium’s (which she Chairs) work to include young singers through the Big Sing Jr.

Through PROJECT : ENCORE (which she founded), Dr. King is at the leading edge of the new music industry, working with composers in securing post- premiere performances, and commissioning and performing many premieres herself.

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

Michael Spierman, Bronx Opera artistic and music director

Thanks to Mr. Spierman’s artistic intuitiveness, hard work, foresight and sound business sense, the Bronx Opera continues to provide the borough and New York City with 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 as well 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.

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 have 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.

BRYAN ZAROS is a young American conductor recognized for his “strong musical imagination” and “deep sense of musicality and communication.” Bryan 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 Central City Chorus, Music Director of The Pro Arte Chorale 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.

A native New Yorker, Bryan 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, NYC. He earned his Bachelor of Music in Sacred Music from Westminster Choir College, a Master of Music in Conducting from the University of Michigan and is a candidate ABD for the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Conducting at the Manhattan School of Music.

Recent conducting engagements have included invitations with choirs and orchestras throughout the USA, Europe and South America. Most notably he has conducted ensembles at Alice Tully Hall-Lincoln Center, 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. He is a recipient of several conducting awards and fellowships including an American Prize award in Conducting. For more information about Bryan, visit www.bryanzaros.com