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Bachtoberfest

October 27, 2019 @7:00 pm

Program

Prelude in A minor BWV 543                                                            

Trio Sonata No.5 in C Major BWV 529 – Largo

Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 565

Cello Suite in C major BWV 1009

  1. Prelude
  2. Allemande
  3. Courante
  4. Sarabande
  5. Bourrée
  6. Gigue

Ein Feste Burg ist unser Gott Cantata BWV 80

  1. Chorale fantasia
  2. Aria e chorale (bass & soprano)
  3. Recitative (bass)
  4. Aria (soprano)
  5. Chorale
  6. Recitative (tenor)
  7. Aria duetto (tenor & alto)
  8. Chorale

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS

Evan Ayars was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, but moved to Virginia not long after. He grew up in McLean and graduated from Langley High School in 2001. While at Langley, Evan was in the Madrigals all four years. He also was active in the Drama department and was nominated for a Cappie Award for his role as the Teen Angel in Grease in 2000. Evan graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Vocal Music Education from James Madison University in 2005. Currently, Mr. Ayars is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Music Education at George Mason University. Evan has been teaching general music, chorus, and piano in Fairfax County Public Schools for 13 years. Evan is an avid performer; singing at weddings and performing in choral groups in the DC area.

John Clewett has sung with the Lewinsville Chancel Choir as a section leader since 2003, initially with the tenors and more recently with the basses. He has also been a paid section leader at Potomac United Methodist Church, the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Opera Camerata of Washington, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (Rock Creek Parish), and the Bethesda Jewish Congregation. He has sung with The Choral Arts Society of Washington (choralarts.org), a 180-voice symphonic chorus, since 1986 (as a tenor, and tenor section leader for the last five seasons), and with the Choral Arts Chamber Singers, a 30-voice ensemble, since its inception in 2014 (some years as a tenor and some as a baritone). With Choral Arts he has performed at the Kennedy Center, and in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Italy, England, France, Russia, and China. He has sung on 20 commercially released recordings, including CDs with the Choral Arts Society, the Choral Arts Chamber Singers, the Washington Men’s Camerata, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. A graduate of Stanford University and UCLA Law School, he is now retired, and lives in Falls Church with his wife, Cindy Speas, who sings alto in the Choral Arts Society and in the Lewinsville Chancel Choir.

Zachary Gutierrez is a baritone, teacher and conductor residing in the DC metro area. He received his B.M in Vocal Performance and Choral Conducting at The Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, CT. Opera performance credits include Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, David in Barber’s A Hand of Bridge, Jupiter in Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and George Jones in Weill’s Street Scene. Choral soloist credits include Bass Soloist for Handel’s Messiah and Haydn’s Paukenmesse. Mr. Gutierrez is a fervent lover of art song and has performed songs and cycles by Purcell, Strauss, Poulenc, Debussy, Berg, Schoenberg, Schumann, Schubert, Ives, and more. As a conductor, he has conducted works by Holst, Stravinsky, Byrd, Vaughan-Williams and Mozart. He was featured as conductor for a performance of Bruckner’s Ave Maria with the Hartt School Chamber Choir at the Connecticut Music Educators Association Conference in 2016 and as an opera scenes conductor with Hartt Opera Theatre. He currently works as a Voice and Piano Instructor for Quartertonez Music in the Friendship Heights area of northwest DC, and is also the assistant conductor for Quartertonez “Flying Notes” Children’s Choir.

Soprano Heather Fetrow made her Carnegie Hall Weill Recital Hall debut this September with Angels Vocal Art chamber orchestra in scenes performances of Adina in L’elisir d’amore, Gilda in Rigoletto and Frasquita in Carmen. 2019 also included her debut with Washington National Opera in the chorus of Eugene Onegin.  She has released her first solo album with collaborative pianist Mila Henry, Voices of Women: From Unknown to Renowned. An OperaNews review of the album praised Ms. Fetrow’s “brilliant high notes” in Massenet’s Gavotte from Manon and noted her “sensitive shaping” of Barber’s St. Ita’s Vision. A native of Warren, Ohio, and a graduate of Westminster Choir College, Ms. Fetrow is a member of AGMA and ACDA and is a sought-after soprano and soloist with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Kinnara Ensemble and the Shrine of the National Basilica in Washington, DC. She will appear in solo recital this March at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. Ms. Fetrow also directs the choral program at the Madeira School in McLean, Virginia. 

 Katie McCarthy hails from Annapolis, MD. She holds a B.M in Cello Performance from The University of Maryland. She is currently pursuing her M.M in Cello Performance, also at UMD, under the tutelage of Dr. Eric Kutz. Ms. McCarthy has performed with the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra since her first year of undergraduate study, with which she occasionally holds a principal position. She regularly performs with her string quartet in the area. Passionate about new music, she performs new works and premiers with the student-run contemporary music ensemble, TEMPO. Ms. McCarthy runs an active private cello studio. Ms. McCarthy has performed in various summer festival orchestras. At the Interlochen Summer Arts Festival, she played in the World Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Interlochen Philharmonic, where she held a principal position. She has played in the Brevard Music Center Orchestra side-by-side with esteemed faculty members. In the summer of 2017, she attended the National Symphony Orchestra Summer Music Institute at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., giving performances on the Millennium Stage and in Symphony Hall. Most recently, Ms. McCarthy was selected to participate in the National Orchestral Institute and Festival, in which she performed in the NOI Philharmonic, a string quartet, a “conductor-less” orchestra, and a fully staged performance of Igor Stravinsky’s “Petrushka.” Her past teachers have included Daniel Shomper, Felix Wang of Vanderbilt University, and Rachel Young of the National Symphony Orchestra. She has worked closely in chamber music with musicians such as Irina Muresanu, Benjamin Sung, James Stern, and the Shanghai Quartet. Ms. McCarthy has also participated in masterclasses with members of the Shanghai Quartet, Hai-Ye Ni, the current principal cellist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Astrid Schween, the cellist of the Juilliard Quartet.

Clay McConnell has been part of the Lewinsville Presbyterian Church Chancel Choir since 2007. He earned his B.A. in Music and European History from Furman University in Greenville, SC, where he was principal cellist in the Furman Symphony, was a member of the Furman Singers, and performed several roles with the Furman Opera Theatre. A communications and public relations executive by day, Clay is a bassist and vocalist with area rock bands Suburban Legend and Repeat Offenders.

Jeannette Mulherin has served as the Lewinsville Chancel Choir’s alto section leader since 2001. She holds an undergraduate degree from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and a graduate degree in Islam and Muslim-Christian Relations from Georgetown University. Jeannette is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in the Writing and Rhetoric program at George Mason University. She works as a consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton. In her spare time, Jeannette writes for the Maryland Theatre Guide, handcrafts her own soap, and plays a mean Irish fiddle.

John Nothaft from Vienna, Virginia, serves as the Director of Music Ministries at Lewinsville Presbyterian Church in McLean, VA. John graduated with his M.M. 18’ from the studio of David Higgs at The Eastman School of Music. John received his B.M. 16’ from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and Hutton Honors College, studying with Janette Fishell.  He is first prize winner of the NFMC Collegiate Organ Competition. He has recently performed at the Piccolo-Spoleto festival in Charleston, SC, on Pipedreams Live!, and at Truro Cathedral and Chester Cathedral, UK, as a recipient of the Oundle Music Festival’s recital prize. Upcoming recitals include St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Fredericksburg, VA and Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington D.C, and an all-Bach program at Chevy Chase Presbyterian, Washington D.C. John is an USPTA-certified tennis pro. John’s children’s book “Old McHandel & His Musical Farm” is on sale in major music institutions in the U.S., Europe, and through Amazon.

 Laura Snyderman prides herself in performing a variety of styles, from Aperghis to J.S. Bach. Laura sang Gilda in an excerpt of Rigoletto with the Ashdod Symphony Orchestra in Jerusalem. She performed Suor Genovieffa in Suor Angelica and La Chauve Souris/La Chouette in L’enfant et les Sortileges with IMAO NYC under the direction of Richard Barrett. She debuted Julia in the world premiere of Moshe Zorman’s opera, Albert, and Chloe in an “outstanding performance,” of Thomas Whitman’s revised chamber opera, Sukey in the Dark. Other credits include Suor Dolcina in Suor Angelica with Bel Cantati Opera; Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro under the baton of Keith Chambers, and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte under the direction of Benoit Renard with Manhattan Opera Studio. In concert, Laura performed Lieschen in three settings of The Coffee Cantata, including a previously unperformed J.S. Buchberger cantata. She was a featured artist with the UN International Day for Citizenship ceremony, Smithsonian Institute Fabergé Egg and Russian Romance Seminar, the Union Square Chamber Art Series, the Sowebo Arts and Music Festival, and Blank Space Baltimore. Recently, Laura’s performance of Alban Berg’s “Die Nachtigall,” was presented twice on Maryland PBS. A Master of Music graduate from the Peabody Conservatory, Laura recently completed her education as a Graduate Performance Diploma candidate in the studio of Elizabeth Futral.

Orchestra:

Violin I – Mica Page
Violin II – Sara Berger
Viola – Michael Sinni
Cello – Katiei McCarthy
Bass – Joseph Koenig
Double Reeds – Moelle Drewes and Kathleen Keese
Continuo – Paula Maust

Lewinsville Chancel Choir, directed by John Nothaft

Soprano: Kate Edwards, Heather Fetrow, Kylie Johnson, Megan Leslie, Laura Snyderman, Susan Thomas
Alto: Susan Bartram, Mary Frase, Libby McConnell, Sally McKeown, Jeannette Mulherin, Cathy Saunders, Cindy Speas, Amy Yurkewitch
Tenor: Evan Ayars, David Foster, Zachary Gutierrez
Bass: Scott Bartram, Bob Bastian, Jack Calhoun, John Clewett, Mike Deese, Bob Gottke, Clay McConnell

To see the FULL PROGRAM, click on SAVE PDF above to download or open in a new window.

Permission to broadcast this music program obtained from One License with license #A-708462.