HANDEL’S MESSIAH
Two Performances at Two Locations!
Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.
First Lutheran Church
3604 Chatham Rd., Ellicott City
Sunday, Dec. 8 at 3 p.m.
St. Casimir Church
2800 O’Donnell St, Baltimore
FULL PROGRAM:
Handel’s Messiah
FEATURED SOLOISTS:
Elissa Edwards, Soprano*
Jessica Renfro, Alto
Dr. Min Jin, Tenor**
Lorenzo Zapata, Bass***
* The soprano soloist for this concert is endowed in perpetuity in memory and honor of the Rev. Andrea R. Hagen-Arndt
** The tenor soloist for this concert is endowed in perpetuity in honor of Pastor (Ret.) Dr. Otfried O. Arndt; given by the Rev. Andrea R. Hagen-Arndt
*** The bass soloist for this concert is endowed in perpetuity in memory of T. Herbert Dimmock, Jr.
Learn more about our Permanent Endowment Fund HERE
Tickets: $40 Regular / $42 Door
Lorenzo Zapata, bass
Argentine-American bass-baritone Lorenzo Zapata most recently received a vocal fellowship at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara performing in the west coast premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s “Cold Mountain” directed by James Darrah. His other recent performances include soloing in Bernstein’s MASS under Marin Alsop and working with composer Jake Heggie in a re-premiere of his opera Out of Darkness: Two Remain. Other recent performances include as Homecoming Soldier in The Falling and the Rising and Dulcamara in L’elisir d’amore. Mr. Zapata made his solo orchestral debut last Fall under Ed Polochik in Haydn’s Harmoniemesse, and also won first prize in the annual Peabody Song Competition last Spring where he also received his undergraduate degree in May 2019. Mr. Zapata is thrilled to be joining Herb Dimmock and Bach in Baltimore to make his Messiah debut.
Elissa Edwards, Soprano
Soprano Elissa Edwards, hailed for her “pliant, seductive, free-ranging voice” (Gramophone) and “glistening tone” (Early Music America), is a distinguished interpreter of 17th- and 18th-century vocal chamber music. A specialist in sacred repertoire, she has been featured as a soloist in numerous oratorio and cantata performances in both the US and UK.
Performance highlights include appearances with the Washington National Cathedral, Washington Bach Consort, Bach in Baltimore, Harmonia Stellarum, the Barbara Strozzi Symposium at Princeton University, Gotham Early Music Series, Amherst Early Music Festival, Yorkshire Baroque Soloists, and The National Centre for Early Music (UK). Ms. Edwards serves as artist-in-residence at the Hammond-Harwood House Museum and has taught on the voice faculties of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University.
She has received numerous awards and grants for her contributions to the field, including the Maryland State Individual Artist Award, support from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and funding from the Winterthur Museum & Library for her scholarly music presentations. Ms. Edwards trained at the Royal College of Music in London and holds performance degrees from Boston University (BM) and the University of York, UK (MA).
Her critically acclaimed album Vago Desio, featuring cantatas and arias from Barbara Strozzi’s Opus 8 (Acis APL90277), is available online. (www.elissaedwards.com)
Jessica Renfro, alto
Alto Jessica Renfro holds a B.M. from the University of Connecticut and a M.M. from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. She has performed with Baltimore Opera, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Dicapo Opera, Opera Vivente, Jacksonville Lyric Opera, Mid-Atlantic Symphony, Bay-Atlantic Symphony, and many others in opera and concert works alike. Her opera credits include multiple appearances as Angelina in La Cenerentola, Dorabella in Così fan tutte, Nancy in Albert Herring, and Hansel in Hansel and Gretel, as well as the roles of Carmen in Carmen, Dido in Dido and Aeneas, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Romeo in I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Concepcíon in L’heure Espagnole, and Prince Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus.
Also an accomplished concert artist, Ms. Renfro has appeared as the soloist in Mahler’s Rückertlieder, Crumb’s Madrigals, Books I-IV, and Rorem’s Evidence of Things Not Seen, as well performing as the alto soloist in many sacred works including Mozart’s Requiem and “Grand” C minor Mass, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Paukenmesse, Bach’s Magnificat and BWV 82, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Handel’s Messiah, and the Duruflé Requiem.
In December, Ms. Renfro will play Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with Boheme Opera New Jersey.
Dr. Min Jin, tenor
Tenor Dr. Min Jin has a versatile and wide-ranging career as a leading operatic tenor, recitalist, conductor, and voice professor. Praised for his easy lyricism, emotional intensity, and extraordinary top notes, Dr. Jin has delighted audiences throughout the world. He has appeared at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center as a recitalist, opera performer, and oratorio soloist with choral societies. His past opera performances include leading roles in La Boheme, Lucia di Lammermoor, Romeo et Juliette, Carmen, L’elisir d’amore, The Magic Flute, La Rondine, La Traviata, Tosca, Manon, Werther, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and La Vera Costanza. He has performed with the New Jersey State Opera, Ann Arbor Opera, Aspen Opera, Rochester Mercury Opera, Dicapo Opera, Academic Opera, Mannes Opera, Eastman Opera, Grand Valley State University, Kwang Ju City Opera, and Po Hang City Opera.
As an oratorio and chamber music soloist, he has been featured in Carmina Burana and Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings with the Finger Lake Music Festival and the Grand Valley State University. Other featured solo engagements have included Haydn’s Creation and The Seasons, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Requiem, Dubois’ The Seven Last Word of Christ, Mendelssohn’s St. Paul and Elijah, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Mass in C Major and Symphony No. 9, Frank’s Mass in A Op. 12, and Schubert’s Mass No. 2 in G and Mass in A flat with orchestras in the U.S. and around the world.
He was a first prize winner of the Artist International Music Competition, Korean Music Association Competition, and a winner of the Heida Hermann International Voice Competition, the Oratorio Society Voice Competition, and a finalist in the Caruso International Voice Competition.
Dr. Jin holds a D.Mus.A. degree in vocal performance from the Eastman School of Music. He served as a principal conductor for the Tedeum Choir in Chicago and as the orchestra conductor at the Central Wesleyan Church in Holland. As a studio voice teacher, many of Dr. Jin’s students are awarded at voice competitions, festivals, and young artist programs at the national and international levels. He currently works as an assistant professor of voice at Towson University.