Name: Mozart’s Requiem
Start: 2023-04-29T19:00:00+00:00
End: 2023-04-29T21:20:00+00:00
Location: Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall

Mozart’s Requiem

Saturday, April 29, 2023 @ 7:00 pm

Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall

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Acts

Russell L. Robinson, Composer/Conductor

The Music of Russell Robinson

Kenney Potter, Guest Conductor

Mozart: Requiem

Bradley Ellingboe, Composer/Conductor

Ellingboe: A Place Called Home

Participating Groups

Wakefield

Glen Eira City Choir, Victoria, Australia

Neuwieder Konzertchor (Neuwied/Germany)

Milo Adventist Academy’s One Voice

Charlotte Master Chorale

Washington Latin PCS Honors Choir

Ascension Memorial Church Choir

Catawba Valley Voices

The Star Chorale

Fisher Middle School Firebird Chorus

Progress Village Middle Magnet School of the Arts Concert Chorus

Mauldin Middle School Mustang Choir

Hillcrest Harmonies

Caliente Community Chorus

Gresham United Methodist Church Chancel Choir

Coro Lux

St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church Choir

Vox Aeterna

Wakefield Community Schools

Special Guests

Artist's Name

Kenney Potter

Artist's Name

Russell L. Robinson

Artist's Name

Bradley Ellingboe

Artist's Name

Diana McVey

Artist's Name

Teresa Buchholz

Artist's Name

Chad Kranak

Artist's Name

Damian Savarino

Artist's Name

Alexandra Martinez-Turano

Press & Marketing

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Participating Group Directors

Glen Eira City Choir, Victoria, Australia

Elena Varshavskaya

Elena Varshavskaya has been conductor of the Glen Eira City Choir since 2020. She graduated from Moscow State P. I. Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Honours in 2002 majoring in choral conducting. In 2010 ,Elena joined the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Choir as a chorister, and in 2011 became Musical Director of Bendigo Chorale. Her repertoire includes classical music, contemporary music, jazz, gospel and folk, including works by Rachmaninoff, Mozart, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gershwin and Rutter.

The Glen Eira City Choir (Victoria, Australia) is a SATB non-auditioned choir that was established in 1946. We are a voluntary not for profit organisation, and a member of the Australian National Choral Association (ANCA). We rehearse weekly and usually perform two to three concerts per year. The first is normally a choral work (in 2022 we joined with Bendigo Chorale to perform Gloria in D major (RV 589) –Vivaldi), the second comprising lighter music from operas and musicals, and a third (sometimes combined with second concert) is our Christmas concert.

Neuwieder Konzertchor (Neuwied/Germany)

KMD Thomas Schmidt

Thomas Schmidt studied church music and orchestra conducting in Cologne and Berlin. He worked as an organist and choral music director in Berlin and since 1993 in Neuwied. In 2010 he was appointed Director of Church Music (KMD). He is the leader of many different choirs and ensembles: Children's choir, youth choir, men's choir, chamber choir, oratorio choir, brass ensemble, orchestra.Thomas teaches conducting and hymnology at the Cologne University of Music and Dance. From 2015 to 2021 he also headed the study program “Protestant Church Music”.

The Neuwieder Konzertchor is a choir of 90 members who assemble every year for a project of choral symphonic music. Its home town is Neuwied, a city located between Cologne and Frankfurt at the Rhine river. The projects up to now were: Haydn: „The Creation“, „Requiem“ by Mozart, Brahms, Fauré and Suppé, Bach: „Christmas Oratory“ and „St. John Passion“, Orff: „Carmina Burana“ and many other pieces by Haendel, Rossini, Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Puccini, Rutter, Jenkins. The choir cooperates with many soloists and several orchestras, e.g. „Russian Chamber Philharmonic St. Petersburg“. Its choral music director and conductor is Thomas Schmidt.

Milo Adventist Academy’s One Voice

Alvin Laberinto

Born in the Philippines, Alvin Laberinto moved to America and grew up in Sacramento, California. Alvin graduated from Pacific Union College with a bachelor’s in music with an emphasis in vocal studies and a minor in Biblical studies. Before working as Music Director at Milo Academy teaching private music lessons, handbells, choir, band, strings, and their select choir, One Voice, he was an RDA in pediatric dentistry and orthodontics and spent time in ministry as a youth pastor. He continues his musical ministry at Milo, a private Christian boarding school in Oregon educating students in the joys of musical expression.

One Voice is Milo Adventist Academy’s select choir. It is considered an international choir as it is composed of high school students, ages 15-18 years old, from all around the world including countries from Ukraine, Mexico, Burma, Russia, and, of course, the United States of America. Despite the roadblocks that COVID brought about, One Voice continued to welcome voices, new and old into its ranks. Performing at Carnegie Hall is an amazing opportunity that we have been planning on for many years and are very blessed by the opportunity to perform in Carnegie Hall alongside other wonderfully talented choral groups.

Charlotte Master Chorale

Dr. Kenney Potter

For the past eight years, Kenney Potter has served as Conductor and Artistic Director of the Charlotte Master Chorale. His choirs have received wide-spread acclaim including winning the Grand Prix for best choir in the Pärnu International Choral Festival in Pärnu, Estonia. As a performer, he has been a featured soloist in Carnegie Hall, and was choir soloist for the Grammy-winning Oregon Bach Festival choir as well as the International Bach Academy, conducted by Helmuth Rilling. Under his leadership, the Master Chorale has received critical acclaim for artistic excellence and creative programming. Committed to music education, he serves as Professor of Music at Wingate University and is Editor of School and Concert music for ECS Publishing Group.

In addition to his work at Wingate and with the Chorale, Dr. Potter serves as Choral Conductor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. In demand as a clinician, he has conducted state-wide festival choirs for NAfME and ACDA in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia as well as in Nairobi, Kenya and Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a recipient of the Lara Hoggard Award for distinguished accomplishments in the field of choral music, given by the North Carolina ACDA, and is a published composer, recently completing a full-length musical based on the life of Robert Smalls. He holds degrees from Florida State University, Portland State University, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro resides in Charlotte with his wife, Heather, and their children, Syl and Calvin.

The Charlotte Master Chorale is an auditioned chorus that performs an annual season of masterworks and contemporary works primarily in the Charlotte region. Originally founded in 1951 as the Oratorio Singers of Charlotte, an organization devoted to performing great choral masterpieces, the ensemble eventually merged with the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra in order to produce larger-scale choral-orchestral works as the Charlotte Symphony Chorus. In 2018, we became an independent, non-profit performing arts organization dedicated to inspiring unity in our community through extraordinary performances of diverse music, continuing our role as the resident chorus of the Charlotte Symphony while changing our name to the Charlotte Master Chorale.

Washington Latin PCS Honors Choir

Melissa Nevola VerCammen

Melissa Nevola VerCammen has been at Washington Latin Public Charter School since 2007 and after teaching five years of math and science, founded the Music and Arts Department. She has been the chair of the department since its start in 2011 and boasts twelve productions per year across the department. Since 2011, the music department has grown from 27 students across two ensembles to the current 97 students across six ensembles. Ms. VerCammen has conducted at various venues in the D.C. area and beyond from The National Cathedral to St. John the Divine and has produced entertainment for the likes of D.C.'s mayor, Murial Bowser, to journalist Bob Woodword.

Founded in 2006, The Washington Latin Public Charter School’s mission is to educate students in the classical tradition. Under the direction of Ms. Melissa Nevola VerCammen, this is the 12th year the school has had a performing arts department. The Honors Choir, an audition only ensemble, is a small troupe of vocalists who sing repertoire ranging from Stevie Wonder to Thomas Tallis. Members of the ensembles have performed at various engagements such as St. John the Divine, Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, PA, The National Cathedral, Dr. Wilkins' Supreme Court induction ceremony, Mayor Bowser’s holiday party, the 2018 MLB All Start Game, and a Bob Woodward fundraising event.

Ascension Memorial Church Choir

Frank Corbin

Frank Corbin is Director of Music at Ascension Memorial Episcopal Church in Ipswich, MA. He was formerly Director of Music Ministry at Assumption University in Worcester, MA. He holds degrees in organ performance from Oberlin College, University of Cincinnati, Concordia University, Montreal, and the Eastman School of Music, where studied organ with William Porter, Bernard Lagacé, Roberta Gary, and Russell Saunders, piano with Sedmara Rutstein and Robert Shannon, and harpsichord with Arthur Haas. Corbin has been a prize winner in national and international contests. His recording of works of César Franck, including The Three Chorals, appears on the Centaur label.

The Parish of Ascension Memorial Church in Ipswich, Massachusetts was founded in 1873. The spirit of Ascension has long been been shaped by its fondness of music, with the Choir continuing a long tradition of musical excellence. The Choir sings weekly at the second of Ascension's two Sunday morning services, enjoying the intimate ambience and wonderful acoustics of the historic James Renwick building. Most of its members sing in other large ensembles in the North Shore area such as Cantemus, the Newburyport Choral Society, and Chorus North Shore, and are thus not strangers to the performance of the great large-scale works of choral literature.

Catawba Valley Voices

Caroline Simyon

Caroline Simyon holds a Master of Music Degree from Appalachian State University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. As a coloratura soprano, Mrs. Simyon won first place in the National Association of Teachers of Singing NC. She is an accomplished Soprano Soloist who performs frequently. She has performed the National Anthem for the Atlanta Braves and the Charlotte 49ers. She has sung with the Oratorio Singers and Renaissance Singers of Charlotte. Most recently Caroline was a guest performer for the Western Piedmont Symphony. Mrs. Simyon is the Director of the Music Department at Catawba Valley Community College.

The Catawba Valley Community College Choral Ensemble is an audition-only, select group of talented singers. Under the direction of Caroline Simyon, the singers perform fine choral literature from all periods. Our Ensemble aims to cultivate quality choral music, provide a medium of musical expression, and afford numerous performance opportunities within our community.

The Star Chorale

Joseph Hie

Having recently joined Star Chorale, Joseph Hie is a proven dynamic and versatile musician experienced in various ensembles, specialising in pedagogy, choristry and conducting. He is a passionate music educator focused on vocal education, aiming to inspire and nurture inherent vocal abilities. Whilst a relatively youthful Music Director, Joseph has recently conducted Bach St John Passion, Theodore Dubois Seven Last Words of Christ, and previously Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 5 with the Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra, and Bach O Jesu Christ Meins Lebens Licht with the Melbourne Bach Choir and Orchestra. He has also conducted major works such as Puccini La Boheme, St Matthew Passion, Brahms German Requiem, Szymanowski Stabat Mater, Faure Requiem an Drurufle Requiem.

The Star Chorale was founded in 1992 and is a Melbourne based community choir dedicated to continuing and enhancing a tradition of excellence in the performance of choral music. It was established by its exceptional founder and leader, Jane Elton Brown OAM, whose passion and ethos shaped the choir it is today. Her drive for excellence, profound musical knowledge and attention to detail created The Star Chorale's reputation as one of Melbourne's leading choirs.

Fisher Middle School Firebird Chorus

Erin Brearley

Erin Brearley has been the choral director at Dr. Phinnize J. Fisher Middle School since 2021. A native of Prairie Village, KS, Erin received her Bachelor of Music Education from Furman University. She has taught music for nine years at both the primary and secondary levels in Nashville, TN and Greenville, SC. Erin was named Teacher of the Year in 2020 at Pelham Road Elementary. Outside of the classroom, Erin enjoys singing with the Greenville Chorale in upstate South Carolina, where she resides with her husband and two daughters.

The Fisher Middle School Firebird Chorus, consisting of 7th- and 8th-grade singers, hails from Greenville, SC. This ensemble performs locally in upstate South Carolina and around the country. In 2022, the Firebird Chorus received Best in Show, the Gold Award, and a superior rating at Festival Disney in Orlando, FL, as well as superior ratings at the Carowinds Festival of Music in Charlotte, NC. This year will mark the second time that the Firebird Chorus has performed at Carnegie Hall with Dr. Russell Robinson, and all singers are grateful for this extraordinary opportunity.

Progress Village Middle Magnet School of the Arts Concert Chorus

Kristen Matheny Franzen

Kristen Matheny Franzen has taught at Progress Village Middle Magnet School of the Arts in Tampa, Florida for 18 years and was Teacher of the Year for 2016-2017. She was graduated from the University of Florida and has taught general music, musical theater, piano, and chorus for 25 years. Her students and choruses consistently receive superior ratings, and she has had many students chosen for county, state, and national honor choruses. The Progress Village Advanced Women’s Chorus was named a 2018 Florida Choir of Distinction under her direction. She thanks Garrett, Nora, Nolan, and her parents for their support.

Progress Village Middle Magnet School of the Arts Concert Chorus has excelled for 20 years. Students and choruses consistently earn superior ratings and qualify for county, state, and national honors. Special performances have included events for MacDill AFB, Busch Gardens, Tampa Aquarium, and Tampa Bay Rays. The chorus has twice been selected to perform in the National Concert for MIOSM and the Progress Village Advanced Women’s Chorus was named a Florida Choir of Distinction. Alumni are gracing stages from Broadway to Shanghai. This chorus is pleased to return to Carnegie Hall for the second time with Dr. Russell Robinson.

Mauldin Middle School Mustang Choir

Vanessa Tarter Rhodes

Vanessa Rhodes is in her 40th year teaching choral music & theatre in Greenville, SC. She is the Middle School Music Lead Teacher for Greenville County Schools. She is Director of Choral Activities at Mauldin Middle School, where she serves as Department Chair. She is the past SCAMLE Entertainment Conference Chair, former President of South Carolina Foothills Chapter-AOSA, and served as a local Committee Chair for AOSA National Conference. An active member of FBC-Simpsonville Proclaim Worship Arts Ministry, she holds a BA in Music Education-Newberry College, M.Ed.-Converse College, and National Board Certification in Music for the Adolescent and Young Adult.

Mauldin Middle Mustang Choir is an auditioned group of 55 singers from Greenville County, South Carolina. Singers are selected for their focus, dedication, and willingness to work towards excellence, performing up to ten times per year. MMS Mustang Choir scored consecutive superior ratings at Festival Disney National Choral Competition with each visit to Disney. Mauldin Middle School Mustangs have been invited to perform numerous times for the South Carolina Association of Middle Level Education annual conference in Myrtle Beach, SC. This is their second invitation to perform at Carnegie Hall with Maestro Dr. Russell Robinson and DCINY.

Hillcrest Harmonies

Laura Drake Brown

Laura Brown is from Greenville, SC and enjoys contributing to the same music programs that created her passion. Graduating from Columbia College with a degree in Music Education, she has taught in the public and private sector for over 19 years. She holds two masters degrees one in Technology of Education and another in Administration and Leadership. She has been at Hillcrest Middle School for 13 years as the choral instructor and related arts team leader. She performed at Carnegie Hall when she was in high school and is excited to give her students the same opportunity.

Hillcrest Harmonies was designed for advanced choral instruction for 7th and 8th graders at Hillcrest Middle School in Simpsonville, SC. Students receive year long training. They compete in festivals and programs around the state receiving superior rankings. They love to perform for their community as well trying to instill a love of music wherever they sing. It is an honor for us to be a part of todays performance.

Caliente Community Chorus

Virginia Nickels-Hircock

Virginia Nickels-Hircock has made her home in the Four Corners region of New Mexico where she taught choral music in the public schools. Ms. Nickels is active as a guest conductor, clinician and adjudicator throughout New Mexico and the region. She was recognized as Teacher of the Year, Music Educator of the Year and is an inductee into the NM Music Educator Hall of Fame. As Director of Caliente Community Chorus, Ms. Nickels has prepared choruses for collaborative performances with the Durango Choral Society, San Juan Symphony and Music in the Mountains. Prior to her retirement, Virginia served as Choral Director and Instructor of Music at San Juan College.

Caliente Community Chorus sings with excellence while celebrating the joy and power of music. From opera choruses to cathedral classics, world folk to jazz standards, traditional Broadway to cinema greats, our performances reflect a wide range of musical styles. Our membership is as diverse as our repertoire. Our volunteer members represent a wide variety of ages, musical backgrounds, and training. Since 2006, our commitment to artistic excellence and community enrichment remains the cornerstone of the organization as we provide concert-goers with the finest choral experiences, featuring challenging and exciting programs performed by a talented ensemble of singers.

Gresham United Methodist Church Chancel Choir

Solveig Nyberg

Solveig Nyberg is music director at Gresham United Methodist Church in Gresham, Oregon. Solveig attended St. Olaf College and received her undergraduate degree in music education from Yankton College and a Master of Music in vocal performance from the University of Nebraska. She has directed vocal and bell choirs in Minnesota, South Dakota, Colorado, Nebraska, and Idaho. She has performed with the Dale Warland Singers and the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus. Since moving to Oregon, she has sung with Portland Symphonic Choir, Oregon Repertory Singers, Resonance Ensemble and Portland Vocal Consort, as well as taught at Mt. Hood Community College.

Gresham United Methodist's Chancel Choir is a very dedicated SATB ensemble of about 22 singers that sings at weekly worship services. They perform larger works a couple of times annually usually during Advent and Lent.

Coro Lux

Bradley Ellingboe

Bradley Ellingboe has led a wide-ranging career in the world of singing, including accomplishments as a choral conductor, soloist, composer, scholar and teacher. As a choral conductor he has led festival choruses in 40 states and 14 foreign countries. As a bass-baritone soloist he has sung under such conductors as Robert Shaw, Helmuth Rilling, and Sir David Willcocks. Ellingboe has over 160 pieces of music in print, including the Requiem for chorus and orchestra, which has been performed more than 300 times in this country and Europe, and StarSong, which had its New York debut in May of 2014, and was recorded professionally for the first time in March of this year. For his scholarly work in making the songs of Edvard Grieg more accessible to the English-speaking public, he was knighted by the King of Norway in 1994. As a teacher, the University of New Mexico Alumni Association named him Faculty of the Year in 2008. He is the founder and Artistic Director of Albuquerque’s Coro Lux and is Director of Music at the United Church of Santa Fe.

Coro Lux is an auditioned ensemble based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, under the direction of Bradley Ellingboe. The group was founded in 2015 and performs throughout the region a regular basis. In addition, the group has participated in events far from Albuquerque, including a Carnegie Hall concert in 2016 and singing under the direction of John Rutter in Florence, Italy. The ensemble often partners with the New Mexico Philharmonic on such masterworks as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Handel’s Messiah. In its short history it has enjoyed workshops with Alice Parker, Morten Lauridsen, Libby Larsen and Charles Bruffy. Coro Lux also co-sponsors (with the United Church of Santa Fe) FebFest, an annual celebration of the musical and spiritual contributions of African Americans. As such, it has welcomed such luminaries as André Thomas, Rosephanye Powell and Rollo Dilworth to New Mexico.

St. Mary Magdalene Catholic Church Choir

Scott Dixon

A catholic church choir made up of volunteers that love to sing.

Vox Aeterna

Brian Holloway

Brian Holloway teaches at Catoosa Public Schools as the secondary vocal director. He started the community choir as a way for people ages 15 and older opportunities to sing as fewer opportunities are available. Vox Aeterna started in the summer of 2021 and performs many styles of music.

Vox Aeterna sings varied styles of music and serves ages 15 and older.

Wakefield Community Schools

Esly Ovando

Esly Ovando is Wakefield Community School’s 5-12 Instrumental, 7-12 Vocal and 9-12 ESL music director. Esly is also a music theater director for Red Hen Theater in Wakefield, Nebraska. For the past several years, Esly has sung at numerous events such as sporting events, orpheums, workshops and more. Esly has served as a guest vocal clinician and speaker for over a year. Esly’s enthusiasm and passion for music is evident with every music ensemble she works with.