Mozart’s Messiah
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall
DCINY is thrilled to present a celebration of the holiday season with Christmas portions of Handel’s Messiah (Mozart’s edition) under the baton of DCINY Principal Conductor and Artistic Director Jonathan Griffith, with Special Guest Santa Claus!
Acts
Jonathan Griffith, DCINY Artistic Director and Principal Conductor
Mozart's Messiah
Also Featuring:
Penelope Shumate, Soprano
Holly Sorensen, Mezzo-Soprano
Chad Kranak, Tenor
Christopher Job, Bass-Baritone
Participating Groups
Arts for Manitoba Indigenous Youth Choir
Franklin Civic Operetta Association Festival Choir
Chorale 77
Nebo Holiday Chorus & Orchestra
Trinity Episcopal Church Choir, Everett, WA
Illiana Oratorio Society
Trinity Episcopal Church Choir, St. Mary's City
Madisonville Community Chorus
American International School of Vienna High School Choir
The Alabama Civic Chorale
St. Paul's Episcopal Church Choir
Baha'i Choir
Mendelssohn Choir of Connecticut
Special Guests
Artist's Name
Jonathan Griffith
Artist's Name
Penelope Shumate
Artist's Name
Holly Sorensen
Artist's Name
Chad Kranak
Artist's Name
Christopher JobPress & Marketing
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Participating Group Directors
Arts for Manitoba Indigenous Youth Choir
Rhonda Head
The Indigenous youth choir was formed a year and a half ago. They performed a concert organized by the Manitoba Opera Company and for the fundraising gala held at Hermanos restaurant in Winnipeg. They are beyond excited to be part of Handels Messiah.
Rhonda has been participating with choirs for many years including world the renowned Flin Flin Choir in northern Manitoba. Rhonda brought some Indigenous youth last year to watch a DCINY concert and Maestro Griffith invited us back to sing.
Franklin Civic Operetta Association Festival Choir
Zachary S. Covington
The Franklin Civic Operetta Association's Festival Choir is a vibrant community ensemble dedicated to celebrating choral music in Franklin, Pennsylvania. Comprised of passionate singers from diverse backgrounds, the choir performs a wide repertoire, ranging from classical masterpieces to contemporary works. With a commitment to artistic excellence and community engagement, the Festival Choir brings people together through the joy of music, offering inspiring performances that uplift and enrich the cultural life of the region. Their concerts are a cherished tradition, showcasing the power of collective voices in creating harmony and connection.
Zachary Covington holds degrees in Music Education and Choral Conducting. He has received additional training in vocal technique, music education, and choral conducting from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester. Zachary has taught grades Preschool through 12, as well as post-baccalaureate and continuing education classes in music education. He is a bass-baritone and is an active Guest Choral Conductor.
He owns Covington Performing Arts Studio and is the Artistic Director of the Clarion County Festival Choir, which has performed in the US, Italy, Paris, London, Austria, Germany, and Ireland. His voice students have included Miss America Scholarship Pageant winners, Broadway performers, and university music scholarship recipients.
Covington is the Director of the Clarion Community Choir and is the Executive Director of the Barrow-Civic Theatre in Franklin, PA.
Chorale 77
Lindsay Shaffer
Chorale 77 was born in fall 2018 out of a desire to grow in community within our Christian School family. Though it began through a collaboration of students, staff, and parents, it quickly grew to encompass nearly forty singers, including alumni, former board members and employees, and friends. We welcome all who live in the greater Pittsburgh area to join with us in our shared mission of spreading the Gospel through song and growing in relationships with one another.
Director Lindsay Shaffer obtained her undergraduate degree in Music Education (vocal concentration) from Geneva College, and holds an MM in Conducting from Messiah University. Lindsay has thirteen years of music teaching experience, including K-12 classroom instruction, directing choirs at the elementary, junior high, high school, college and adult levels, and has taught many private voice, piano and instrumental students of all ages. She started a community choir, Chorale 77, in the fall of 2018 out of a desire to foster community and musicianship in her local area.
Nebo Holiday Chorus & Orchestra
Marcel Bowman
Nebo Holiday Chorus & Orchestra was established by residents of Spanish Fork, UT with the mission to inspire and elevate audiences and participants through productions of large choral works and a resolute commitment to Handel’s "Messiah" performances at Christmas, promote and nurture the creative works of local musicians through integrated quality performances that represent and contribute to Utah’s cultural arts, build and strengthen the cultural base of communities through actively participating in and increasing local Fine Arts productions, and serve and benefit communities by strengthening family and community ties, enabling residents to join their voices during the holiday seasons, and donate to charitable organizations.
Dr. Marcel Bowman holds a Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance and Pedagogy from Brigham Young University, an M.M. in Violin Performance, and a Ph.D. in Music Composition from the University of Utah. He performed extensively with the Utah Symphony and Opera, the Utah Chamber Artists, and the Orchestra at Temple Square. He is presently a core member of the Ballet West Orchestra, the Concertmaster/Associate Conductor of the Utah Metropolitan Ballet Orchestra, and the UVAA Summer Opera Orchestra. He is a regular studio recording artist and sought after for his musical arrangements. He taught at Brigham Young University, the University of Utah, Snow College, and recently, the InterHarmony International School of Music. He is currently the Performing Arts Department Chair at Timpview High School in Provo, Utah.
Trinity Episcopal Church Choir, Everett, WA
David R Spring
The 30+ voice Trinity Parish choir, in Everett WA, has long been nicknamed "Cathedral of the North" in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia, for its emphasis on quality, meaningful liturgical worship. There has been a solid choral program, almost exclusively with volunteer singers, going back many decades, with presentations of choral masterworks, often with chamber orchestra, on a regular basis. We are proud, and profoundly grateful, after the COVID 19 delay, to finally realize our dream of partaking in this high level "MESSIAH" experience in one of the most beautiful, iconic locations in the world. "Soli Deo Gloria!"
David Spring holds degrees in organ and choral music, post-graduate conducting and vocal studies with Rodney Eichenberger, Abraham Kaplan, and Augusto Paglialung at the University of Washington.
He has taught high school music, and conducted large community choral and musical theatre groups in the greater Seattle area. He has been Organist/Music Director at Trinity Episcopal since 2001, where he has led adult and children's choirs and coordinated numerous concerts and guest artist recitals. It has been a lifelong dream to find the way to Carnegie Hall (we all know the answer: practice!)
Illiana Oratorio Society
Justin Rich
The Illiana Oratorio Society was organized in the fall of 1946 after the ending of World War II. This thriving community chorale is comprised of members from various churches from around the suburbs of Chicago and Northwest Indiana. The group presents Handel’s Messiah each year in December for the public to enjoy. The group has also occasionally performed some spring concerts, presenting the Elijah by Mendelssohn and The Seven Last Words by Dubois. All of the Illiana Oratorio Society’s performances are free to the public, providing an enriching experience in musical excellence. The group’s sole purpose is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ through song.
Justin Rich is Illiana Oratorio Society’s eighth director. He has been involved in music ministry for thirty-five years. Justin received formal music training from his mentor and long-time friend, Andrew Vogel, an accomplished organist and choral director in the Chicago area. Andrew Vogel double majored in organ and music education and served as the first organist for the Illiana Oratorio Society. Justin also serves as organist at several Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana churches, directs the Christian Male Chorus, Men of A-Chord, and provides private music lessons in his home. Justin’s full-time employment is as a Health & Safety Manager for Indiana American Water.
Trinity Episcopal Church Choir, St. Mary's City
Dr. Jennifer Linhart Wood
The Trinity Episcopal Church Choir, the Voices of Trinity, is an inclusive, joy-filled, and diverse branch of the Trinity family, and is comprised of parish members and students from Saint Mary’s College. We sing a wide range of music to celebrate our diversity; we have performed works by Haydn, Moses Hogan, Tallis, Stanford, Chilcott, Joseph Martin, Mary Macdonald, Pepper Choplin, and—of course—Handel. At Trinity, the music we sing serves as an enhancement to the worship experience, drawing people closer to Christ. We believe that music, especially music that is reflective of God’s love, is a transformative force.
Dr. Jennifer Linhart Wood (B.Mus., M.A., Ph.D.) is a lyric soprano who directs the Trinity Episcopal Church Choir, and enjoys singing music ranging from Renaissance motets to Classical arias to church choral music to Jethro Tull. She has directed choirs for over fifteen years and is an active composer, penning choral arrangements and original anthems. She has performed as a soloist throughout the District-Maryland-Virginia area; on studio albums; and with acclaimed choirs, including the Metropolitan Chorus at the Kennedy Center. Her prize-winning book, *Sounding Otherness in Early Modern Drama and Travel Writing* (Palgrave, 2019), explores the transformative power of music.
Madisonville Community Chorus
Dr. Sara Adams
The Madisonville Community Chorus has been a mainstay of the Madisonville, KY, community for 61 years, beginning the Christmas season with a performance of Handel's Messiah each year on the first Sunday of December.
Dr. Sara Adams is Professor of Music and First Year Experience Coordinator at Madisonville Community College in Madisonville, KY, where she teaches Academic Success, Music Appreciation, Jazz, Rock and Roll, and Music Education classes. Dr. Adams earned a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance from Murray State University, a Master of Music degree in Music Theory from Florida State University, and a Ph.D. in Historical Musicology from Florida State University. Dr. Adams has been the director of the Madisonville Community Chorus since 2018. This group will present their 61st annual performance of Handel's Messiah in December.
American International School of Vienna High School Choir
Kathy Heedles
AISV has students ranging in age from four to eighteen. These international students study their subjects in English. Choir is an elective class offering which satisfies diploma requirements as well as promoting beautiful music in our school. Students sing in many languages, styles, concert venues, and enjoy festivals all over the world. The classes are open to all students regardless of their experience as a musician. This promotes music and the basis for a lifetime of singing for each and every person. Everyone is a singer- they just don’t know it yet.
Kathy Heedles is currently the Middle and High school Choral Director in Vienna, Austria’s American International School. Singers study a multicultural range of music which represents the 80 nationalities at the school. Located in the Vienna Woods, our students enjoy the beautiful environment and rich culture Vienna has to offer. Once we return home to Vienna, we have one week to rehearse for our Vienna performance of this beautiful Messiah. Kathy Heedles will retire in June 2025, after 42 years of teaching music in four different schools. Many singers have benefited from singing large choral works with DCINY, as well as festivals all around the world organized by AMIS- the association for music in international schools.
The Alabama Civic Chorale
Bebe Clark Kok
The ACC was founded in 1948 by Earl and Frances Clark, their church and school choirs. They sang Messiah with Warren Angel from OBU, learned and presented Messiah then to their community. The group grew and added works as Mendelsohn's Elijah, Brahms' A German Requiem,& Bach's St Matthew's Passion. Lighter works performed were Gilbert & Sullivan Operettas, & South Pacific. Each year’s performance with 90 - 100 non-auditioned members is free. Our performance includes parts of I,II, & III sharing all of Messiah every 3 years. This year, the 77th year with orchestra, and Walt Rogers organist, performed Handel's Messiah.
Bebe Kok, Conductor The Alabama Civic Chorale has a degree in Music and organ from The University of Alabama, she taught choral music grades 1-12 and served as organist, choir director for adult and youth choirs. Youth choirs toured and sang for a National Music Conference. With a Master's Degree in Counseling, she served as College Counselor and member of the advisory board at Auburn University & University of Alabama. She participated in conferences with Robert Shaw and John Rutter and served on staff of a National Music Conference. Mrs. Kok is a member of ACDA, Chorus America, & College Board.
St. Paul's Episcopal Church Choir
K Todd Johnson
St. Paul's Episcopal Church was established in 1903 in Smithfield, the seat of government in Johnston County, NC. This small parish is a community of families and individuals from all walks of life and varied and diverse backgrounds, coming together in a shared love of Christ and of Community. Its people love to gather around the table, whether it be at the altar on Sunday mornings to share the sacrament of Holy Eucharist, or in the fellowship hall for weekly Coffee Hour, a Potluck Supper, or a Hot Dog Luncheon. Beautiful music is an important part of the worship experience at St. Paul's, and the parish is blessed with an accomplished group of choristers and instrumentalists who share their talents on a weekly basis.
K. Todd Johnson is a historian and church musician in Smithfield, North Carolina, having earned degrees from Campbell University and N.C. State University. At Campbell, he studied organ under Mrs. Susan Horton and Dr. Daniel Hester, and he studied voice under Dr. Robert Piper. He served as an organist and music director in Baptist and Methodist churches in central North Carolina for over 30 years before coming to St. Paul's Episcopal Church in 2023.
He was a founding board member of Neuse Charter School in 2006 and taught music there several years. He is Executive Director of the Johnston County Heritage Center and Museum and a former Executive Director of the Ava Gardner Museum. He and his wife, the former Donna Barfield of Garner, NC, are parents of three adult children, and they have one grandson.
Baha'i Choir
Van Gilmer
The Baha'i Choir is made up of a combination of persons who sing a cappella music regularly for weekly Devotional Services, or for The Annual Baha'i Choral Festivals held at the Baha'i House of Worship for the North American Continent located in Wilmette, Illinois. The local singers make up the weekly choir while the participants in the Choral Festivals come primarily from around the United States and Canada, though some are also international. The primary music of the choirs is a capella music based on any of the sacred scriptures of the world's major religions.
Van Gilmer, soloist, composer, directed the first Bahá’í Gospel Choir at the 2nd Bahá’í World Congress in New York City in 1992. Since then, he has directed several Bahá’í and InterFaith Choirs, including an International Bahá’í Choir that toured western Europe in 2004. Van’s first CD was from that tour entitled: The Bahá’í Gospel Choir LIVE in Luxembourg. After 37 years of federal civilian service as an Architectural Engineer, Van retired in 2004. Currently, he is Music Director at the Bahá’í House of Worship for the North American Continent, located in Wilmette, Illinois. He is the recipient of Independent Music Award’s “Best Gospel Song” for 2006. His private life has focused on Racial Justice since he first sat-in at the Woolworth’s Lunch Counter in Greensboro, NC, in1963.
Mendelssohn Choir of Connecticut
Christopher James Hisey
Celebrating its 40th season, The Mendelssohn Choir of Connecticut was founded in 1984 and is a community choir comprised of amateur and professional musicians. Through developing and performing repertoire from all musical periods and genres, the choir strives to develop and promote an appreciation of choral music. Further, it strives to educate its members and the general public in the musical arts, to nurture emerging artists, and to attract people of diverse backgrounds both as choral singers and audience members.
Music Director of the Mendelssohn Choir of Connecticut, Christopher James Hisey, has conducted concerts throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico and China with such notable musicians as Sir James Galway, Tim Janis, Jackie Evancho, James Dunham, Chris Finckel and Deborah Wong. In addition to his duties with with MCC, Maestro Hisey serves as Music Director of the Greater Connecticut Youth Orchestras, American Chamber Orchestra and is Co-founder and Music Director of the Connecticut Philharmonic. He has also served as Music Director of the Civic Orchestra of New Haven, Connecticut Valley Chamber Orchestra, Troupers Light Opera Company, and Perrysburg Symphony Chorale, and as Associate Conductor of the Perrysburg Symphony, Bowling Green Philharmonia and Opera Theater Orchestras. Mr. Hisey serves as the Chairman of the Performing Arts Department at Greens Farms Academy in Westport, CT. He has also served as Professor of Conducting, Orchestration and Music Director of the Orchestra at Manhattanville College and Professor of Conducting and Music Director of the Orchestra at Fairfield University.