SPRING FEVER CONCERT & 8TH ANNUAL GALA BACHFEST
Concert: Sunday, March 4 at 4 pm
Gala BachFest begins immediately after the concert at 6 pm
Church of the Redeemer, 5603 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21212
This concert was part of Bach in Baltimore’s 2017-2018 Season. View the full season in our Archives.
FULL PROGRAM:
Bach’s Cantata 149: Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg
Bach’s Orchestral Suite, No. 3 in D major
FEATURED SOLOISTS:
Stephanie Kruskol Batchelder, soprano
Claire Galloway Weber, alto
Michael Dodge, tenor
STUDENT VOICE EXCHANGE GUEST CHOIR:
Baltimore City College High School
Usher in spring with our Spring Fever Concert featuring Bach’s Cantata 149: Man singet mit Freuden vom Sieg (There are joyful songs of victory). Composed in 1728/29 for the Feast of Saint Michael, this bright and festive piece features trumpets and timpani setting the stage for a polyphonic rallying cry triumphing good over evil. Of all the Bach instrumental music, none is more exhilarating and festive than his Orchestral Suite, No. 3 in D major. In addition to the powerful fanfares in the trumpets, this suite is beloved for the famous slow movement, nicknamed “Air on a G String.”
Please stay for our Gala BachFest with Silent Auction immediately following the Gala Concert. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be served throughout the evening as the Silent Auction progresses, while music and entertainment will be provided by the talented musicians of Bach in Baltimore.
Concert Tickets: $20 advance / $22 door
BachFest & Silent Auction Admission: $25
Claire Galloway, alto
British-American soprano Claire Galloway’s theatricality covers the gamut of “palpable pain” and “splendid, funny moments” (B.I.T.R.). She has performed such roles as Dinah in Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, Contessa in Nozze di Figaro, and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni. She has also premiered roles in Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park and Frances Pollock’s award-winning opera Stinney, seen in the 2019 Prototype Festival. In 2018 Ms. Galloway was a semifinalist in the Mildred Miller International Voice Competition and a finalist in the Saltworks Opera Competition and will join Saltworks Opera to sing Blanche in Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites this Summer. She will portray Vitellia (La Clemenza di Tito) with Lidal North, Oslo and reprise her role as Blanche (Dialogues) under the direction of Fabrizio Melano in the Savannah Voice Festival.
In past seasons, Ms. Galloway has performed with Baltimore Concert Opera, the Savannah Voice Festival, Bel Cantanti Opera, and Stillpointe Theatre.
This season she will present a recital based on the life of Rosa Ponselle at the elegant George Peabody Library. Ms. Galloway is a curator of the related Ponselle exhibit at the Peabody Institute, where she currently teaches.
Ms. Galloway’s innovative recital programming has resulted in the best-attended concert event at the Baltimore War Memorial Arts Initiative in past seasons.
A frequent soloist with Concert Artists of Baltimore, Ms. Galloway has also performed concert and oratorio works with Bach in Baltimore, the American Symphony Orchestra, and the Peabody Concert Orchestra.
Stephanie Kruskol Batchelder, soprano

Stephanie Kruskol Batchelder, soprano
Stephanie Kruskol is a soprano based in the greater Washington, D.C. area. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Voice Performance from The Peabody Conservatory. Past performances with Bach in Baltimore include Bach’s Christmas Oratorio as well as Haydn’s Paukenmesse. Most recently, she was the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem at the Wintergreen Performing Arts Festival. Other solo engagements include Handel’s Messiah,Vivaldi’s Gloria, and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. She has been involved in several world premieres, including premiering the role of Roxy in Do Not Disturb, a new comic opera by Sean Pflueger and Laura Fuentes which debuted at the 2016 Capital Fringe Festival, and was the featured soprano soloist in Jerry Ascione’s piece entitled One Hundred Eighty-Seven with the New England Wind Symphony. On the operatic stage, she has performed the role of Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre in Prague, Czech Republic. Other operatic roles include Suor Dolcina in Suor Angelica, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Flora in The Turn of the Screw, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, and Despina in Così fan tutte.
Michael Dodge, tenor
Hailed by The Baltimore Sun for his “eloquent phrasing” and “persuasive acting,” tenor Michael Dodge is a singer of art song, oratorio, and opera based in Baltimore. He can be seen frequently on the opera and concert stages throughout Baltimore and Washington D.C. collaborating with groups such as Lyric Opera Baltimore, Concert Artists of Baltimore, Baltimore Concert Opera, Charm City Baroque, Bel Cantanti Opera, the Great Noise Ensemble, and more.
Recent appearances include the tenor soloist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Concert Artists of Baltimore, Governer and Vanderdendur in Candide (Bernstein) with the Manchester Choral Society, soloist in Bach’s Coffee Cantata with Charm City Baroque, Mozart in Mozart in Salieri (Rimsky-Korsakov) with Bel Cantanti Opera, Obadiah in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with The Bassi Brugnatelli Symposium in Robbiate, Italy, and as the tenor soloist in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass as a resident artist with the New Hampshire Music Festival.
This season, Mr. Dodge makes his debut with Opera Northwest where he will sing the roles of Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.
As a scholar of musicology and theory, he has presented research papers on vocal music at conferences in the United States and abroad.
BachFest Gala with Silent Auction
Please stay for our Gala BachFest with Silent Auction immediately following the Gala Concert. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be served throughout the evening as the Silent Auction progresses, while music and entertainment will be provided by the talented musicians of Bach in Baltimore.
Funds raised by the BachFest Gala & Silent Auction will support Bach in Baltimore’s mission to provide outstanding Baroque musical performance and education to our community by offering:
- Seven to eight free concerts for seniors living in nursing or assisted living programs;
- One free community concert in October with choir, soloists, and orchestra;
- An exceptional artistic home for our many talented musicians, soloists, and choir members;
- Student Voice Exchange, now one of the largest music education programs in Maryland, that brings a full choir of students to each and every concert and provides them the singular opportunity to work directly with Maestro Dimmock.
BachFest Gala Tickets: $25
Some of the items you can look forward to bidding on…
Vacation Homes in the Berkshires and Montreat
Professional Family Photography
Theatre and Music Tickets
Winery Tasting Package for 10
Fine Dining Restaurants including Ruth Chris and Petit Louis Bistro
Boat Trips on one of Baltimore’s Historic Ships
Lessons, Tutoring, and Other Services
Gift Baskets and More!