FULL PROGRAM:
Bach’s Cantata 140: Wachet Auf (Sleepers Wake)
Bach’s Cantata 4: Christ lag in Todesbanden (Christ lay in death’s bonds)
Bach’s Oboe Concerto in D Minor, Mvmt II, BWV 1059R
FEATURED SOLOISTS:
Kerry Holahan, soprano
Morgan Mastrangelo, tenor
Karl Hempel, bass
STUDENT VOICE EXCHANGE CHOIR:
Maryland State Boychoir*
* The Student Voice Exchange Choir for this concert is endowed by Preston & Nancy Athey.
Learn more about our Permanent Endowment Fund HERE.
Beethoven once said of Bach’s music, “It should not be called Bach, but the sea, because of its infinite, inexhaustible wealth of sound combinations and harmonies.” This sentiment could not ring truer! The music of J.S. Bach is one of humanity’s greatest treasures. It not only expresses the profound depth of feeling, it provides infinite joy to listeners and performers.
Join Bach in Baltimore and the Maryland State Boychoir in a collaborative performance of a Brilliant Bach Trio. The afternoon begins with the angelic voices of the Maryland State Boychoir performing two of the most beloved and best-known cantatas of the master: Cantata 140: Wachet Auf (Sleepers Wake) and Cantata 4: Christ lag in Todesbanden (Christ lay in death’s bonds). The concert concludes with the Bach in Baltimore Orchestra performing Bach’s Oboe Concerto in D minor. Mvmt. II.
Kerry Holahan, Soprano
Kerry Holahan, soprano, is a solo and ensemble singer acclaimed for her versatility and interpretation of Historically Informed music, especially of the Renaissance and Baroque eras. She has appeared as soloist with American Bach Soloists in San Francisco, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and recently debuted with Grammy-winning vocal ensemble Seraphic Fire at the Aspen Music Festival, as well as the 21st Century Consort and the Folger Consort in Washington, D.C. Kerry is a staff singer at St. John’s Church, Lafayette Square and regularly appears with the Washington National Cathedral Choir. Prior to coming to the DMV, Kerry lived in Beijing for eight years where she toured with Chinese and international music ensembles and coordinated cross-cultural initiatives with Chinese and US arts organizations. While in China, she appeared as soloist with world-renowned Early Music soprano Dame Emma Kirkby and Metropolitan Opera bass-baritone Shenyang. Kerry is fluent in Mandarin and is one of the few American sopranos to be actively singing Chinese traditional and contemporary works both in the United States and China. Kerry earned a BA in East Asian Studies from Wesleyan University; a Master of Music, Early Music Vocal Performance from the Peabody Conservatory; as well as a Vocal Performance Diploma, with Distinction, from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, UK.
Morgan Mastrangelo, tenor
Morgan Mastrangelo lives and works in Manhattan, where he specializes in the tenor leggiero repertoire of Rossini and Donizetti. After completing his undergraduate studies at Northwestern University, he made his role debuts as Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola) with Joseph Rescigno at the Al. Ringling Theatre. Recent role debuts include Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi) and Basilio (Le nozze di Figaro) with the Montefeltro Festival in Novafeltria, Italy. He sang productions of George Gershwin’s Funny Face with Michael Mayer at Ballet Hispánico, the Tenor solo in Handel’s Messiah with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic, and Frank Martin’s Mass for Double Choir with Ryan Jackson and the Fifth Avenue Chamber Choir. This past summer, Morgan joined Opera Saratoga as a festival artist, where he covered Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, sang Tobias in Sweeney Todd, and sang the tenor solo in Rossini’s Petite messe Solennelle. Morgan is an Encouragement Award winner from the Metropolitan Opera National Council, and begins the fall season as a contestant in the Ottavio Zinno International Vocal Competition in Rome Italy, with an audition tour of Europe.
Karl Hempel, bass
Karl Hempel manages a busy schedule performing oratorio works, requiems, masses and opera with several Washington, DC and Baltimore area professional ensembles, including: Washington National Cathedral Choirs, Cathedra, the Washington Bach Consort, Washington Concert Opera, District Eight and others. Receiving his Graduate Performance Diploma from Peabody Conservatory, Karl studied opera in the studio of Stanley Cornett. His operatic roles include Pistola in Verdi’s Falstaff, Bacchus in Purcell’s Masque in Dioclesian, Figaro in Mozart’s Le Nozze Di Figaro, and Luther, Crespel, and Shlemil in Offenbach’s Les Contes D’Hoffmann. A native of Cape Cod, Karl Hempel began his singing career at age 21, and has toured and studied extensively throughout Europe and Russia, singing in celebrated venues such as the Great Hall at Moscow Conservatory, Capella Hall in St. Petersburg, St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Tirana Opera House in Albania, St. John’s Smith Square, Westminster Abbey in London, and many other notable halls and churches canvassing the British Isles, Europe, Russia and Siberia. He has been coached and tutored extensively in vocal technique and performance style with such renowned professors as Dale Moore, Craig Timberlake, Dorothy Richardson, David Arnold, Richard Miller, William Sharp, and Louise McClelland.
Maryland State Boychoir
Founded in 1987 by Frank Cimino with just 14 boys, the mission of The Maryland State Boychoir has remained clear: to foster the boychoir tradition by offering talented boys opportunities to sing and build self-esteem, self-discipline and character. Thirty years later, the Boychoir still embraces that goal.
Today, The Maryland State Boychoir (MSB), Maryland’s “Official Goodwill Ambassadors,” is comprised of approximately 130 choristers, ages 7 to 20, who represent a wide range of ethnic, socioeconomic, and religious backgrounds. They come from nine Maryland counties, Baltimore City, and the D.C. suburbs.
The Maryland State Boychoir is a diverse group of talented boys who love to sing. Qualified applicants are accepted regardless of their families’ financial means and are not discriminated against on any basis. Prior musical training is not expected, but an audition is required. Auditions are held in the fall, winter and spring for potential members who are not required to have prior music training. A qualified applicant is any boy who loves to sing, is committed to the organization, and can sing in tune with a pleasant voice.
Not only do choristers receive training in voice lessons and music theory, they also develop friendships with boys from varied backgrounds, build self-esteem and self-discipline through hard work and dedication, and develop a sense of community through their commitment to the organization.
Maryland State Boychoir Center for the Arts
3400 Norman Avenue, Baltimore
Plentiful street parking available in neighborhood setting.
Conveniently located in Baltimore’s Mayfield neighborhood, the Center for the Arts is home to the Maryland State Boychoir. Bach in Baltimore is grateful to The Maryland State Boychoir Center for the Arts for inviting us to share their home.
Learn more here.