Performances in the 2004-2005 concert season

• Sunday, Sept. 12, 2004, 5:00 pm: Vocal ensemble Cantabile will perform an all Josquin des Prez program in memory of founding member Catherine L. Bowers at Pacem in Terris , 96 Covered Bridge Rd., Warwick, NY 10990.
  
  
• Saturday, Sept. 25, 2004, 8 pm: Performance of Franz Schubert's six songs on texts by Heinrich Heine, from his final song cycle Schwanengesang (Swan song), with fortepianist Monica Jakuc on a concert entitled “Schubert’s Last Works," which also includes the final piano sonata in Bb major. This is the first concert of Monica's series "Schubert Times Three."  Sweeney Concert Hall, Sage Hall, Smith College, Northampton MA.
  
  
• Sunday, Sept. 26, 2004, 5:00 pm: House concert, home of Suzannah Fabing and Sandy Muspratt, Amherst, MA, with Kayla Werlin, mezzo-soprano, and Ian Watson, harpsichord. Music of Henry Purcell, cheifly drawn from The Fairy Queen. Benefit for Arcadia Players. Cocktails and croquet at five, music at six, a little schmoozing afterward.
  
  
• Friday, Oct. 8, 2004, 8 pm:  Tenor soloist in Johann Sebastian Bach's Cantata No. 37, Wer da gläubet und getauft wird, with Arcadia Players, Ian Watson, Artistic Director. Program also includes Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C,  and his Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D. Helen Hills Hills Chapel, Smith College, Elm St., Northampton MA. $22 general admission, $40 reserved, $10 students.
  
  
• Saturday, Oct. 9, 2004, 8 pm:  Program of songs and readings on texts by Emily Dickinson, with soprano Laura Doughty and tenor James Mead, reader Doris Abramson, pianist Jamie Goodnow, violinist TBA. I will be singing seven songs by Willis Bridegam and joining the others for duets and trios. Part of the 9th biennial "Emily Dickinson's World Weekend" sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst. First Congregational Church, 165 Main St., Amherst MA.
  

• Sunday, Oct. 31, 2004, 9:15 am & 11 am:  Songs from the cycle Gravestones at Hancock N.H. by Nicolas Slonimsky, accompanied by Gregory Hayes at the piano, during both morning services of the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence, 220 Main St., Northampton MA.
  
  
• Sunday, Nov. 7, 2004, 3 pm:  Singers' Project, in which I sing baritone and tenor, will present a concert version of a full liturgical mass from the 17th century, William Byrd's Mass for Five Voices, complete with the propers (special hymns, chants and anthems) for All Saints Day, which happens to be celebrated on the same day. Elizabeth Hart, director. Grace Episcopal Church, Boltwood Ave. (on the common), Amherst MA.
  
  
• Sunday, Nov. 14, 2004, 10 am:  Premiere of a musical setting of Psalm 23 by Willis Bridegam, Amherst composer and Librarian Emeritus of Amherst College.  During 10 am worship service at South Congregational Church, 1066 South East St. (on Fiddler's Green), Amherst MA
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• Friday, Dec. 3, 2004, 8 pm: Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir in which I sing baritone and tenor, presents Christmas with Novi at  Hampton Congregational Church, 63 Main Street (Rte. 97), Hampton, CT. This program is Novi’s traditional fine arts concert, with Christmas music spanning the ages, from Gregorian chant to contemporary. This year Novi will perform motets by Schütz, Clerambault, Gombert, and Poulenc, with contemporary arrangements of familiar carols by Willcocks, Cleobury, and others. Organist John Anderson will accompany on the pipe organ and harpsichord, and will do several solo works appropriate to the season.
  
  
• Saturday, Dec. 4, 2004, 3:30 pm: Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir in which I sing baritone and tenor, presents its annual Carol Festival at First Congregational Church, 18 Broad St., Westfield MA. This is a program for people of all ages, with audience participation in several carols accompanied by brass quartet and organ. Novi will perform a portion of their fine arts program, and the New England Brass Quartet and organist John Anderson will each perform solo numbers. This concert will feature two premieres: an arrangement of "Angels We Have Heard on High" by director Allan Taylor, and "A Christmas Medley" for brass quartet, arranged by Steve Glover, bass trombonist with the New England Brass.
  
  
• Sunday, Dec. 5, 2004, 4 pm: Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir in which I sing baritone and tenor, presents Christmas with Novi at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, 82 Howard St., Springfield MA. See details for Dec. 3 concert above.
  
  
• Friday, Dec. 10, 2004, 7:30 pm: Tenor soloist and chorus member in complete performance of Handel's Messiah, presented by Arcadia Players Baroque Orchestra and Chorus, Ian Watson, director. Christ Church Cathedral, 35 Chestnut St., Springfield MA. Check Arcadia's website for ticket prices, directions, etc.
  
  
• Saturday, Dec. 11, 2004, 7:30 pm: Tenor soloist and chorus member in complete performance of Handel's Messiah, presented by Arcadia Players Baroque Orchestra and Chorus, Ian Watson, director. Helen Hills Hills Chapel, Smith College, Elm St. (Rt. 9), Northampton MA. Check Arcadia's website for ticket prices, directions, etc.
  
  
• Sunday, Dec. 12, 2004, 1 pm: Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir in which I sing baritone and tenor, presents Christmas with Novi at the Old Meeting House, Route 57, Granville MA. See details for Dec. 3 concert above.
  
  
• Saturday, Dec. 18, 2004, 8 pm:  Hodie, a newly formed chamber choir under the direction of Smith College choral conductor Deanna Joseph, presents its first concert of familiar and unusual Christmas music as a benefit for Jessie's House, a shelter serving homeless families in Hampshire County. Hodie (Latin for "This day") draws its membership from the Smith College community as well as singers from a number of area choral ensembles who can't get enough of a good thing.  Helen Hills Hills Chapel, Smith College, Elm St. (Rt. 9), Northampton MA.
  
  
• Sunday, Dec. 19, 2004, 3 pm: Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir in which I sing baritone, presents its annual Carol Festival at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 335 Longmeadow St. (Rt.5), Longmeadow MA. See details for Dec. 4 concert above.
  
  
• Thursday, Jan. 13, 2005, ca. 6:30 pm:  Vocal ensemble Cantabile (in which I sing bass) performs a short program of chanson and motets by Josquin des Prez prior to a private Renaissance dinner hosted for the Amherst Rotary Club at the Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
  
  
• Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2005, ca. 8:30 pm:  Tenor soloist (Evangelist) in a read-through of Parts 1-3 of J.S. Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium (Christmas Oratorio). Hampshire Choral Society, Allan Taylor, director. First Church of Christ (UCC), 129 Main St., Northampton MA
  
  
• Sunday, Jan. 30, 2005, 10 am:  Premiere of a musical setting of Psalm 33 by Willis Bridegam, Amherst composer and Librarian Emeritus of Amherst College. Duet with soprano Anita Cooper. During 10 am worship service at South Congregational Church, 1066 South East St. (on Fiddler's Green), Amherst MA
  
  
• Sunday, Feb. 13, 2005, 2:30 pm:  Baritone soloist in a Community Sing of Ein deutsches Reqiuem (A German requiem) by Johannes Brahms, presented by the Grace Church Center for Sacred Music, Elizabeth Hart, director. Grace Epicopal Church, Boltwood Ave., Amherst MA. Free.
  

• Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005, 4 pm:  Complete performance of the Romantic song cycle Die schöne Magelone (The lovely Magelone) by Johannes Brahms, with pianist Janet St. Jean, with two Amherst College narrators, Greg Hedin’06 and Wendy Mejia’05. Based on a 15th century French tale retold by German poet Ludwig Tieck, this song cycle features a valiant young knight, Count Peter of Provence, in pursuit of the beautiful Italian maiden Magelone and their action-packed adventures involving jousts, shipwrecks, abduction, desertion, and love forever. The piece consists of 15 songs which are interspersed in a fairy-tale like narration. Performance in German, with side-by-side translations provided. Sponsored by the Departments of German and French, the European Studies Program, the Eastman Fund, and the German House. Porter House, 46 Boltwood Ave., Amherst MA (next to Lord Jeffery Inn). Free and open to the public. See the poster (in PDF format). For directions to Porter House, see: http://www.amherst.edu/about_amh/visit/
  
  
• Friday, Mar. 11, 2005, evening:  After the 30th Anniversary Banquet of Valley Light Opera, I will sing the role of Archibald Grosvenor in a concert performance of All at Sea (A Gilbert and Sullivan Dream) by David Stevens and Harvey Worthington Loomis, which artfully weaves together songs, choruses, and characters from five of the best-known G&S operas. Directed by Bill Venman, principal roles will be sung by many of VLO's past, present, and most talented performers. University of Massachusetts Campus Center Auditorium, Amherst MA
  
  
• Sunday, Mar. 13, 2005, 3:30 pm: The vocal octet Cantabile (in which I sing bass) performs a concert entitled Saints and Sailors: Sacred, Sad and Silly Songs of the Sixteenth Century, including works by Josquin Desprez, Mateo Flecha, Gaspar Fernandes, Juan Vasquez and Tomas Luis da Victoria on the Music at First concert series, First Church of Christ, Congregational ("Old First Church"), Court Square, Springfield MA. Free admission.  See the program.
  
  
• Friday, Apr. 8, 2005, 8 pm:  Complete performance of Franz Schubert's song cycle Winterreise (Winter journey), with fortepianist Monica Jakuc, presented jointly by Arcadia Players and the Music at South Church concert series. The piano being used in this concert is a 6 1/2 octave replica inspired by a Conrad Graf fortepiano of c.1819 in Goat Castle, near Prague, Czech Republic. South Congregational Church, 1066 South East St. (on Fiddler's Green), Amherst MA. Free-will offering. (listen to selections from our March 5, 2004 performance)
  
  
• Saturday, Apr. 16, 2005, 8 pm:  Tenor soloist and chorus member in Lully & Purcell: Music for the Chapels Royal, including Lully's Te Deum and Purcell's Queen Mary Funeral Music, one performance only, presented by Arcadia Players Baroque Orchestra and Chorus, Ian Watson, director. Helen Hills Hills Chapel, Smith College, Elm St., Northampton MA. Check Arcadia's website for ticket prices, directions, etc.
  
  
• Friday, Apr. 22, 2005, 7:30 pm: Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir (in which I sing baritone and tenor), presents the first performance of its spring program. Repertoire: Mozart's Vespers for the Feast of a Confessor, selections from Monteverdi's Selva Morale e Spirituale, and choral songs by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. First Church of Christ, 81 High St., Suffield, CT. (directions)
  
  
• Sunday, Apr. 24, 2005, 4 pm: Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir (in which I sing baritone and tenor), presents the second performance of its spring program. Repertoire: Mozart's Vespers for the Feast of a Confessor, selections from Monteverdi's Selva Morale e Spirituale, and choral songs by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. St. John's Episcopal Church, 48 Elm St., Northampton MA.
  
  
• Sunday, May 1, 2005, 2:30 pm: Performance of Franz Schubert's six songs on texts by Heinrich Heine, from his final song cycle Schwanengesang (Swan song), with fortepianist Monica Jakuc on a concert entitled “Schubert’s Last Works," which also includes the final piano sonata in Bb major. Our Mother of Sorrows Chapel at Providence Place, 5 Gamelin Street, Holyoke, Massachusetts.
  
  
• Sunday, May 1, 2005, 4 pm: Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir (in which I sing baritone and tenor), presents the third performance of its spring program. Repertoire: Mozart's Vespers for the Feast of a Confessor, selections from Monteverdi's Selva Morale e Spirituale, and choral songs by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. Basilica of St. Stanislaus, 566 Front Street, Chicopee, MA
  
  
• Saturday, May 7, 2005, 11 am: Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir (in which I sing baritone and tenor), will sing Bainton's And I saw a new heaven at a memorial service for our recently-deceased member Jim Rogers, tenor and organist.
  
  
• Sunday, June 5, 2005, 3 pm: Tenor soloist in Handel's Utrecht Jubilate and Utrecht Te Deum, with Hampshire Choral Society, Allan Taylor, director. John M. Greene Hall, Smith College, Elm St. (Rt. 9), Northampton MA.
  
  
• Tuesday, June 7, 2005, 8 pm: Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir (in which I sing baritone and tenor), presents the fourth performance of its spring program. Repertoire: Mozart's Vespers for the Feast of a Confessor, selections from Monteverdi's Selva Morale e Spirituale, and choral songs by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. Cathedral of St. Paul, 38 High St., Worcester MA. 7 pm
  
  
• Sunday, June 26, 2005,  6 pm:  The vocal octet Cantabile (in which I sing bass) will perform Mediterranean Madrigals in Spanish, French and Italian at Arcadia Players' New Season Celebration, Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies, 650 E. Pleasant St., Amherst MA, immediately following the 5 pm Annual Meeting of Arcadia Players, Inc., and followed by a pot luck supper (bring a favorite dish to share!) and an auction to benefit Arcadia Players, including their famous Cake Auction! Bring two cakes-we'll enjoy one for dessert, and bid on the other.  Free admission. Supper Reservations: 413-256-4888.
  

• Wednesday, July 27, 2005, 6 pm: Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir (in which I sing baritone and tenor), presents the fifth performance of its spring program. Repertoire: Mozart's Vespers for the Feast of a Confessor, selections from Monteverdi's Selva Morale e Spirituale, and choral songs by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel. Trinity College Chapel, Hartford CT.
  
  
• Thursday, July 28, 2005, 12:15 pm:  I will sing a short recital, accompanied by Gretchen Saathoff, piano, on Thursdays at Grace, a series of noontime concerts sponsored by Grace Episcopal Church, 14 Boltwood Ave. (on the town common), Amherst MA. We will will perform songs based on the poetry of the great German/Jewish author Heinrich Heine, to be sung in German and in English translation. The works we have selected were composed from the 1830s through 2000, and will include: a brief song cycle Auf dem Meere (On the sea) by the 19th century songwriter Robert Franz; seven songs by Edvard Grieg, Norway's greatest composer; Looking back, a song in English by Paula Kimper, whose opera The Captivation of Eunice Williams saw its premiere in Deerfield in 2004; and the song cycle To Heine by New York composer Alfred Heller. We also hope to involve the audience in ranking several comparative musical settings of the same poem by different composers.
  
  
• Sunday, August 21, 2005,  3 pm: "Music for Marc" house concert, home of Monica Jakuc, Florence, MA, with Monica, Margaret Irwin-Brandon and Ian Watson, fortepiano, Alice Robbins, cello, a violinst, and myself. I sang Beethoven folksong settings with texts by Robert Burns; also on the program were sonatas by DeFesch and Mozart.  Benefit for Arcadia Players in honor of our founding patron, Marc Futter, with champagne reception after the performance.