FULL PROGRAM:
Instrumental favorites selected by our first chair musicians.
FEATURED SOLOISTS:
Celeste Blase, Violin
Sandra Lisicky, Oboe
Terry B. Ewell, Bassoon
Bozena Jedrzejczak Brown, Harpsichord
T. Herbert Dimmock, Organ
Out with the old and in with the new! Usher in the fresh New Year with our cherished annual tradition, featuring Baroque instrumental favorites selected by our beloved first chair musicians on flute, violin, oboe, and harpsichord. There is no better way to welcome 2022!
Terry B. Ewell, bassoon
Terry B. Ewell, bassoon, has been a musician with Bach in Baltimore for over twenty years. For seven years he served as Principal Bassoon of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and later he was Principal Bassoon of the Wheeling Symphony and Acting Principal Bassoon of the West Virginia Symphony. He has performed with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra and is currently Principal Bassoon of the Mid-Atlantic Symphony. As a soloist he has performed with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the IDRS 2004 Conference Orchestra (Melbourne, Australia), and with several regional orchestras in the USA. His performances as a chamber musician have been heard in Germany, Hong Kong, Portugal, Hungary, and throughout the United States. He has recorded for Musical Heritage Society, Hong Kong Records, Pickwick Records, Cambria Records and with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra for Naxos. In the summer of 2022, he taught at music festivals in North Carolina (Masterworks Festival) and Hungary (Crescendo Summer Institute).
Dr. Ewell is a professor of digital instruction and bassoon at Towson University. Throughout the world he is recognized as a leading pedagogue for the bassoon. His 400+ “Bassoon Digital Professor” videos have well over one million viewings on YouTube and 2reed.net and are available in six languages. His articles on various aspects of bassoon pedagogy have received international attention with publications in American, Dutch, British, and Spanish journals.
Celeste Blase, violin
Celeste Blase, violinist, received her early training at the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music and obtained her B.M. and M.M. degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. Her teachers have included Berl Senofsky, Charles Libove and Herbert Greenberg, as well as chamber music studies with Karen Tuttle and Leon Fleischer. A frequent performer in the chamber idiom, Ms. Blase has been a member of the Rymland Quintet and has performed with the Women Composers Orchestra and Music in the Great Hall, as well as chamber concerts at the Library of Congress. Formerly a member of the U.S. Marine Orchestra, Ms. Blase is now performing with the Baltimore Chamber Orchestra.
Sandra Lisicky, oboe
Sandra (Gerster) Lisicky, oboe, has played with the Bach in Baltimore Orchestra since 2006. She recalls her first concert with Bach in Baltimore performing Bach’s Cantata 1, along with her husband Michael on the English horn.
Additionally, she is the Principal Oboist of the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival (Harrisonburg, VA) since 1994, performs regularly with the Baltimore and Maryland Symphonies. Formerly Principal Oboist of the Hartford Symphony, Connecticut Opera, Berkshire Opera, New Sousa Band and Opera New England, Ms. Lisicky was also a member of the Richmond and Virginia (Norfolk) Symphonies, Virginia Opera and Williamsburg Symphonia.
She has collaborated with the New World, Franciscan and Cavani String Quartets on numerous occasions and was a founding member of Soni Fidelis Quintet, a resident ensemble of the Hartt School of Music. In 1998 she participated in a special chamber music concert in London for Prime Minister Tony Blair and members of his Cabinet.
As an oboist there is nothing more rewarding, uplifting, exciting and challenging than playing Bach! What a gift to perform his wonderful repertoire every month with my superlative and supportive Bach in Baltimore colleagues!
Sandra Lisicky, Oboe
Ms. Lisicky has held teaching appointments at more than twenty educational institutions, including James Madison and Virginia Commonwealth Universities, and the Universities of Richmond and Connecticut. She is currently a faculty member of the Baltimore School for the Arts and Peabody Institute and serves as the music coordinator for BSA’s TWIGS program.
Bozena Brown, harpsichord
Bozena Jedrzejczak Brown holds a master’s degree from The Peabody Institute and earned an individualized master’s degree at Northern Illinois University. She received a bachelor’s in music theory from The Frederic Chopin Music University in Poland. She teaches harpsichord and rudiments of figured bass at The Baltimore School for the Arts and is a faculty member at Garrison Forest School. Ms. Brown freelances as a continuo player on harpsichord and chamber organ and has performed with many groups in the Mid-Atlantic region including Richmond Symphony Orchestra and Washington’s Camerata among others.
T. Herbert Dimmock, Organ
T. Herbert Dimmock is considered one of the foremost Baroque experts in the country, and his conducting credits include nearly all the oratorios and anthems of Handel, all the major Bach works, and 160 Bach Cantatas. He has conducted the music of Bach in the U.S., Germany, Canada, and England, working with many of the world’s most accomplished singers and instrumentalists. Maestro Dimmock is also an accomplished organist, having played recitals at many of the world’s most prestigious sites. In addition to his work as founder and music director of Bach in Baltimore, Dimmock has served as music director of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Cathedral in Harrisburg, PA for five years, retiring in the fall of 2018, as well as the choir director at Chizuk Amuno Synagogue in Pikesville, MD. Other past church posts include The Cathedral of the Incarnation (Episcopal) and First English Lutheran Church—both in Baltimore—and The Handel Choir of Baltimore, where he was music director for 25 years and is now honored with the title of Music Director Emeritus. Maestro Dimmock has a BA from Davidson College, a MM from the Peabody Institute, and extensive continuing educational credits at universities in the U.S. and Germany. He has served as part-time faculty at Johns Hopkins University and the College of Notre Dame. Honors include commendations from the State of Maryland, a “Baltimore’s Best” award, and serving on task forces in the arts for the Governor of Maryland and the Pew Trust in Philadelphia
Make it a musical season: a guide to festive holiday concerts in Baltimore – Baltimore Sun
“Why should Christmas hog all the holiday music? Ring in the new year with an annual performance of Baroque favorites selected by Bach in Baltimore’s principal performers on flute, oboe, violin and harpsichord. And if you balk at the thought of venturing out so soon after New Year’s Eve, Bach in Baltimore has another performance the following day featuring the music of Bach and Handel.”