Performances in the 2005-2006 concert season

• Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2005, 12:15 pm: with pianist Monica Jakuc I will sing eight songs by Franz Schubert on texts by Ernst Schulze on the Mid-Week Music series at All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church, 399 Main St., Greenfield MA. Free.
• Saturday, Sept. 24, 2005, 8:00 pm: "Schubert and Schulze" with pianist Monica Jakuc. The first event in Schubert X 3, a series of three musical events. I will sing eight songs by Franz Schubert on texts by Ernst Schulze, and Ms. Jakuc will play Schubert's Piano Sonata in A Major, D. 959. Featuring a copy of an 1819 Conrad Graf fortepiano. Sweeney Concert Hall, Smith College, Northampton MA. See Smith College Music Dept. Calendar for other events in this mini-series. Free.
• Friday, Sept. 30, 2005, 8:00 pm: Cantabile, the vocal ensemble in which I sing bass, will sing Marenzio's madrigal cycle Baci, soavi e cari at the "March the Music Back" benefit for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. John M. Greene Hall, Smith College, Elm St. (Rt. 9), Northampton MA.
• Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005, 3:00 pm: Arcadia Players presents a Baroque Oktoberfest, featuring soprano Kayla Werlin and myself in J.S. Bach's Peasant Cantata, BWV 212, at Old First Church, 50 Elm St., Court Square, Springfield MA. Tickets ordered in advance: General seating $22, Preferred seating $40, Student $10. At door pricing: General seating $25, Preferred seating $43.  For more information go to the Arcadia Players website.
  
• Sunday, Oct. 9, 2005, 1:30 pm seating, 2:00 pm concert: Arcadia Players presents a Baroque Oktoberfest, featuring soprano Kayla Werlin and myself in J.S. Bach's Peasant Cantata, BWV 212, at the Iron Horse Music Hall, 20 Center St., Northampton MA. Tickets ordered in advance: General seating $22, Preferred seating $40, Student $10. At door pricing: General seating $25, Preferred seating $43.  For more information go to the Arcadia Players website.
  
• Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005, 7:00 pm:  House concert to benefit ENTS (Eastern Native Tree Society) at the home of Monica Jakuc. Monica and I will perform songs and piano works by Edward MacDowell, Amy Beach, Kaeza Fearn and others. By invitation only.
• Sunday, Oct. 16, 2005, 4:00 pm:  Tenor soloist in An Afternoon Schubertiad: The Lesser Known Masterpieces of Franz Schubert, at the Wistariahurst Museum, 238 Cabot St., Holyoke MA. The concert will be staged as an historical re-enactment of an 1820s "Schubertiad," an impromptu gathering of Schubert and his friends. I will be singing Auf dem Strom with Jean Jeffries, horn, and Gregory Hayes, piano. The program will include other solo songs, part-songs for small chorus, and music for piano four hands. A pre-concert talk will be given by Alisa Pearson at 3:15. Tickets $10/$8 students & seniors. For more information go to the Wistariahurst website.
• Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2005, 12:30 pm:  Music in the Noon Hour concert: In Praise of Nature, with Monica Jakuc, pianist. Monica and I will perform songs and piano works by Edward MacDowell, Amy Beach, Kaeza Fearn, and Edvard Grieg. Sweeney Concert Hall, Smith College, Green St., Northampton MA. Free. For more information go to the Smith College Music Dept. website.
• Saturday, Oct. 29, 2005, 7:30 pm:  The vocal sextet Cantabile, in which I sing bass, will perform a brief selection of unaccompanied repertoire from the Italian Renaissance (including works by Marenzio, Monteverdi and Banchieri) at the annual Choral Spectrum at the Fine Arts Center Concert Hall, University of Massachusetts Amherst. Several UMass choral groups will be performing, conducted by E. Wayne Abercrombie, along with the Mass. ACDA Honors Choirs and guest conductors. Tickets: $5/$10 ($3 for groups of 3 or more students). For more information go to the UMass Music Dept. Calendar of Events.
  
• Sunday, Oct. 30, 2005, 4:00 pm: Solo vocal recital with Gretchen Saathoff, pianist. 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; eight 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 comparative ranking of several musical settings of the same Heine poem by different composers. Applewood at Amherst, 1 Spencer Dr., Amherst MA.  Free.
• Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005, 8:00 pm:  The Center for Sacred Music at Grace Episcopal Church, Amherst, presents "Eternal Light", a choral concert directed by Elizabeth Hart, featuring works by living American composers, including two Grace Church parishioners: the world premiere of Tyran Grillo's Reqieum for Mary Porcari, and two short pieces by  noted composer Anne Kearns. Morton Lauridsen's Lux Aeterna will also be sung. Grace Episcopal Church, 14 Boltwood Ave., Amherst MA. Free.
• Saturday, Nov. 19, 2005, 8:00 pm: Arcadia Players presents a complete performance of Claudio Monteverdi's daring and colorful sacred masterwork, the Vespers of 1610, with period instrument orchestra and chorus of soloists. St. Mary's Catholic Church, 3 Elm St., Northampton MA. Tickets ordered in advance: General seating $22, Preferred seating $40, Student $10. At door pricing: General seating $25, Preferred seating $43.  For more information go to the Arcadia Players website.
• Saturday, Dec. 3, 2005, 3:30 pm:  Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir directed by Allan Taylor (in which I sing baritone and tenor), presents the first performance of 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.
• Sunday, Dec. 4, 2005, 4:00 pm:  Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir directed by Allan Taylor (in which I sing baritone and tenor), presents the first performance of Christmas with Novi at St. Paul's Catholic Church, 235 Dwight St., Springfield MA.  This program is Novi’s traditional fine arts concert, with Christmas music spanning the ages, from the Renaissance to contemporary works. Organist John Anderson will again join the group as accompanist and soloist.
• Sunday, Dec. 11, 2005, 1:00 pm:  Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir directed by Allan Taylor (in which I sing baritone and tenor), presents the second performance of Christmas with Novi at the Old Meeting House, Route 57, Granville MA. See details for Dec. 4 concert above.
• Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2005, 8:00 pm: As part of my sabbatical project on musical settings of Heinrich Heine, I am presenting Songs of Love and the Sea on the occasion of the great German/Jewish poet's 208th birthday. The concert will consist entirely of vocal chamber music based on the twelve poems in Heine's Die Nordsee, Erster Zyklus (The North Sea, First Cycle) and will include several world premieres commissioned especially for this concert, including works by area composers Willis Bridegam, Kaeza Fearn, Zeke Hecker, David Kidwell. I will be joined by pianists Monica Jakuc, Susan Dedell, and Gretchen Saathoff, and the “Nordsee String Quartet” from southern Vermont. Reception in celebration of Heine’s birthday following the concert. Free-will donation. South Congregational Church, on Fiddler’s Green, 1066 South East St., Amherst MA. See poster  Listen to final song on program
• Saturday, Dec. 17, 2005, 8:00 pm: Hodie, an ad-hoc seasonal chorus directed by Smith College choral director Deanna Joseph, presents a Christmas concert to benefit the Sidney F. Smith Toy Fund. First half of the program will be a cappella choruses in a variety of styles, and the second half will be the fourth part of J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, with soloists soprano Alisa Pearson, tenor Peter W. Shea, and bass Steve Curylo. Helen Hills Hills Chapel, Smith College, Elm St. (Rt. 9), Northampton MA.
     
• Sunday, Dec. 18, 2005, 3:00 pm:  Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir directed by Allan Taylor (in which I sing baritone and tenor), presents the second performance of its annual Carol Festival at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 335 Longmeadow St. (Rt.5), Longmeadow MA. See details for Dec. 3 concert above.
  
• Saturday, Jan. 14, 2006, 4:00 pm: I will be singing the role of Recitant (Narrator) in a complete performance of L'Enfance du Christ by Hector Berlioz, with the Rockland Camerata under the direction of Sheila Schonbrunn. Nyack Reformed Church, 18 South Broadway, Nyack, NY. Free admission, donation accepted.
• Friday, Jan. 27, 2006, 7:30 pm: I will be tenor soloist in a complete performance of Rachmaninoff's Vespers, also know as the All-Night Vigil, with the Brattleboro Community Chorus of the Brattleboro Music Center, directed by Susan Dedell. St. Michael's Catholic Church, 48 Walnut St., Brattleboro VT. Free admission, donation accepted.
• Saturday, Jan. 28, 2006, 7:30 pm: I will be tenor soloist in a complete performance of Rachmaninoff's Vespers, also know as the All-Night Vigil, with the Brattleboro Community Chorus of the Brattleboro Music Center, directed by Susan Dedell. Presented by Stone Church Arts.  Immanuel Episcopal Church, 12 Church St., Bellows Falls VT. Free admission, donation accepted.
• Friday, Feb. 3, 2006, 8:00 pm: Arcadia Players presents Mozart Chamber Music in celebration of his 250th birthday. I will sing four songs and the cantata Die ihr des unermesslichen Weltalls Schöpfer ehrt by W. A. Mozart, with Arcadia Players Artistic Director Ian Watson on the fortepiano, on a program that also includes works by Mozart for piano solo and four-hands played by Watson and Smith College music professor Monica Jakuc. Pre-concert talk at 7 pm about the music and the time in which it was written. Mount Holyoke College Art Museum, Lower Lake Road, South Hadley MA Tickets ordered in advance: General seating $22, Preferred seating $40, Student $10. At door pricing: General seating $25, Preferred seating $43.  For more information go to the Arcadia Players website.
• Saturday, Feb. 4, 2006, 8:00 pm: Arcadia Players presents Mozart Chamber Music in celebration of his 250th birthday. Caswell Library, Main School Building, Deerfield Academy, Deerfield MA. For more information see listing immediately above, or go to the Arcadia Players website.
• Sunday, Feb. 5, 2006, 3:00 pm: Arcadia Players presents Mozart Chamber Music in celebration of his 250th birthday. Music Room, Wistariahurst Museum, 238 Cabot St., Holyoke MA. For more information see listing for Friday, Feb. 3, or go to the Arcadia Players website.

• Saturday, Feb. 18, 2006, 8:00 pm: Lyrical Intermezzo I, the fourth concert in my sabbatical series on musical settings of Heinrich Heine, in which several musical friends join me in beginning a journey of musical exploration of the first half of Heine’s most popular collection of poems, the Lyrisches Intermezzo. 33 songs in a multitude of languages and musical styles, including world and Valley premieres. In observance of the 150th anniversary of the poet's death in 1856.  The National Yiddish Book Center, on the campus of Hampshire College, Rt. 116, Amherst. Admission fee $6. See article in The Republican (MassLive).  See article in the Daily Hampshire Gazette (Gazettenet).  See poster
  
• Wednesday, Mar. 1, 2006, 4:00 pm: The Amherst College German Department and German Club present an intimate house-concert performance of Robert Schumann’s song cycle Dichterliebe and other Heine settings, including highlights from the Feb. 18 Lyrical Intermezzo I concert. I will be accompanied by pianist Gregory Hayes. Porter House, 46 Boltwood Ave., Amherst MA (next to the Lord Jeffery Inn). Free and open to the public.
• Saturday, Mar. 11, 2006, 4:00 pm: Cantabile, the vocal ensemble in which I sing bass, will sing a program entitled From Venice to Padua: Italian Madrigals on Kissing, Boating and Singing, including Luca Marenzio's madrigal cycle Baci, soavi e cari and the madrigal comedy La Barca di Venezia per Padova by Adriano Banchieri. With harpischordist Gregory Hayes. Music Room, Wistariahurst Museum, 238 Cabot St., Holyoke MA.
• Sunday, Mar. 26, 2006, 4:00 pm: Commonwealth Opera Annual Gala Guild Concert, "A Night After the Opera" under the artistic direction of well-known area musician Clifton J. Noble, features an opera/jazz musical revue. I will be singing with soprano Jane Hanson, mezzo-soprano Eileen Ruby, bass Donald Boothman, with accompanists Clifton J. Noble, piano, Genevieve Rose, double bass, Bob Sparkman, clarinet.  Guild members free, all others $12. Sweeney Concert Hall, Smith College, Northampton MA.  For more information see the Commonwealth Opera website.
  
• Saturday, Apr. 1, 2006, 8:00 pm: Cantabile, the vocal ensemble in which I sing bass, will sing a program entitled From Venice to Padua: Italian Madrigals on Kissing, Boating and Singing, including Luca Marenzio's madrigal cycle Baci, soavi e cari and the madrigal comedy La Barca di Venezia per Padova by Adriano Banchieri. With harpsichordist Gregory Hayes. Great Hall, Unitarian Universalist Society of Northampton and Florence, 220 Main St, Northampton MA.
• Saturday, Apr. 8, 2006, 8:00 pm: Arcadia Players presents Voices of Arcadia. Arcadia's distinguished vocal ensemble sings music from England’s several “golden ages” of choral music, including anthems by William Byrd and Orlando Gibbons, John Taverner’s Song for Athene, sung at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Benjamin Britten’s Hymn to St. Cecilia, addressed to the patron saint of music herself. Pre-concert talk at 7 pm about the music and the time in which it was written. Helen Hills Hills Chapel, Smith College, Elm St. (Rt. 9), Northampton MA. Tickets ordered in advance: General seating $22, Preferred seating $40, Student $10. At door pricing: General seating $25, Preferred seating $43.  For more information go to the Arcadia Players website.
• Sunday, Apr. 9, 2006, 3:00 pm: Arcadia Players presents Voices of Arcadia. Our Mother of Sorrows Chapel, Providence Place, 5 Gamelin St., Holyoke MA For more information see listing immediately above, or go to the Arcadia Players website.
• Saturday, Apr. 15, 2006, 8:00 pm: Lyrical Intermezzo II, the sixth concert in my sabbatical series on musical settings of Heinrich Heine, in which several musical friends join me in continuing and concluding a journey of musical exploration of the second half of Heine’s most popular collection of poems, the Lyrisches Intermezzo. 33 more songs in a multitude of languages and musical styles, including world and Valley premieres. Part of the celebration of National Poetry Month at The National Yiddish Book Center, on the campus of Hampshire College, Rt. 116, Amherst. Admission fee $6.
  
• Wednesday, Apr. 19, 2006, 7:00 pm: Cantabile, the vocal ensemble in which I sing bass, will sing a program entitled From Venice to Padua: Italian Madrigals on Kissing, Boating and Singing, including Luca Marenzio's madrigal cycle Baci, soavi e cari and the madrigal comedy La Barca di Venezia per Padova by Adriano Banchieri. With harpsichordist Gregory Hayes. Amherst Community Television, 246 College St., Amherst MA Free, public invited. Live taping before a studio audience. Contact ACTV to reserve a seat. Reception catered by The Pub of downtown Amherst.
• Sunday, Apr. 23, 2006, 4:00 pm:  Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir directed by Allan Taylor (in which I sing baritone and tenor), presents the first performance of its spring concert series at St. John's Episcopal Church, 166 Holden Street, Worcester MA. We will sing works by Palestrina, Mozart and J.S. Bach. Directions
  
• Sunday, Apr. 30, 2006, 4:00 pm:  Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir directed by Allan Taylor (in which I sing baritone and tenor), presents the second performance of its spring concert series at St. John's Episcopal Church, 48 Elm Street, Northampton MA. We will sing works by Palestrina, Mozart and J.S. Bach. Directions
• Sunday, May 21, 2006, 4:00 pm:  Novi Cantori, the Longmeadow-based chamber choir directed by Allan Taylor (in which I sing baritone and tenor), presents the second performance of its spring concert series at Mittineague Congregational Church, 1840 Westfield Street, West Springfield MA. We will sing works by Palestrina, Mozart and J.S. Bach. Directions
• Sunday, June 11, 2006, 3:00 pm:  I will be singing the role of Evangelist (narrator) in Johann Sebastian Bach's Johannespassion (St. John Passion) with Hampshire Choral Society and orchestra, directed by Allan Taylor.  Other soloists include Sudie Marcuse, soprano, Amanda Powell, alto, Raymond Delisle, tenor, Steve Curylo and Jose Peres, basses. Tickets are $12 for adults, $7 students, and will be available at the door. John M. Greene Hall, Smith College, 60 Elm St. (Rt. 9), Northampton MA. Directions