Carmina Burana
Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage, Carnegie Hall
Acts
Jonathan Griffith, DCINY Artistic Director and Principal Conductor
Orff: Carmina Burana
Greg Gilpin, Composer/Conductor
Gilpin: Music for Middle School Voices
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Also Featuring:
Penelope Shumate, Soprano
William Ferguson, Tenor
Rob McGinness, Baritone
Tzu-Yi Chen, Piano
Jeremy Filsell, Piano
Participating Groups
Atlantic Harmonies Studio
Pennsbury Community Chorus
Westchester Children's Chorus
Hermiston Middle School Choir
SCAPA Middle School Mixed Choir
Ensemble Jean-Philippe Rameau
Creekland Middle School Chorus
Coro Promúsica México
Hong Kong International School Middle School Choir
Hong Kong International School High School Choir
Special Guests
Artist's Name
Jonathan Griffith
Artist's Name
Penelope Shumate
Artist's Name
Greg Gilpin
Artist's Name
William Ferguson
Artist's Name
Rob McGinness
Artist's Name
Tzu-Yi Chen
Artist's Name
Jeremy FilsellPress & Marketing
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Participating Group Directors
Atlantic Harmonies Studio
Bailey Smith
Bailey Smith is a private music studio owner from Wells, Maine where she teaches private lessons and directs three levels of community choir. Bailey studied Vocal Performance at Berklee College of Music and also holds a Behavioral Health Science degree. Along with teaching, Bailey is the music director for a local church, works annually with the Macy's Great American Marching Band for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and is a music judge for the Massachusetts Judges' Association. Bailey enjoys performing in her local community, taking part in regional theatre, and is a proud DCINY alumni!
Representing Atlantic Harmonies Studio from Wells, Maine are our highly accomplished middle school choir and private vocal lesson members. Atlantic Harmonies Studio strives to provide a comprehensive music education, tailored to meet individual students' goals, with ample opportunities for performance and enrichment.
Pennsbury Community Chorus
Lindsey Strauss
LINDSEY STRAUSS
has been the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Pennsbury Community Chorus since 2019.
Lindsey graduated from Pennsbury High School in 2001 and earned a B.S. in Music Education, a B.A. in Vocal Performance from Lebanon Valley College, and a master's degree in Choral Education from Virginia Commonwealth University. She also served as Choral Director and Music Theory Teacher at North Stafford High School in Stafford, Virginia from 2005-2014. She was honored to be named "Teacher of the Year" in 2010.
Lindsey is currently serving as a Choral Director at Pennsbury High School where she directs several choirs and is the Music Director for the Annual Spring Musical Production. She resides in Yardley, PA with her two sons Benjamin and Jackson.
The Pennsbury Community Chorus has entertained Bucks County audiences for over 20 years, while providing a joyful music-performance experience for its members. PCC was founded in September 2000 by James Moyer and John McDonnell to provide a forum for talented singers in the Lower Bucks County communities. Currently, Lindsey Strauss serves as Artistic Director of the ensemble with Joshua Suslak as accompanist.
The group typically comprises 75-100 area residents, including students of the Pennsbury School District, graduates, teachers, parents, staff and friends of the Pennsbury Community. Performances include a variety of choral repertoire and literature, often with guest soloists and orchestras. Recent works have included the Requiems of Mozart , Faure, and Jenkins, Orff's Carmina Burana and Handel’s Messiah.
Westchester Children's Chorus
Amanda Gundling and Jennifer Giustino
Amanda Gundling founded the Westchester Children’s Chorus in 2015 and serves as the Artistic Director. She has served as a music teacher, choral conductor and vocal coach for the past 15 years and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and a Master’s degree from New York University.
Jennifer Giustino has been working with children’s choir programs for the past decade in New York and Michigan. She currently serves as a music teacher in the Scarsdale School District and a conductor for Westchester Children's Chorus. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College and a Master’s from Michigan State University.
The Westchester Children’s Chorus engages and empowers our diverse community of children through choral education and performance opportunities. Their commitment to artistry and performance creates a collaborative space with hands-on musical learning experiences, while bringing cultural events to the residents of Westchester and its surrounding areas.
WCChorus performs regular seasonal concerts and collaborates with local youth orchestras, musicians and adult choirs. They have performed the National Anthem for the Harlem Globetrotters and at a West Point Basketball game, at outreach events at White Plains Hospital and the Westchester Children’s Association Gala, and performed carols at local holiday events around Westchester.
Hermiston Middle School Choir
Daniel Allen
Daniel Allen has been teaching band and choir at Sandstone Middle School since 2015. During his tenure, enrollment in musical ensembles at the school has tripled. Allen was the Sandstone Middle School Educator of the Year in 2019 and holds a Bachelor's of Music Education from the University of Idaho and a Master's of Music Education from the American Band College.
The Hermiston Middle School Choir is comprised of students from both of the middle schools in Hermiston, Oregon - Sandstone Middle School and Armand Larive Middle School. These students range from grade 6-9. Hermiston was first selected for a Distinguished Concerts International performance in January of 2020.
Ensemble Jean-Philippe Rameau
Malgorzata Baluzinska-Digaud
Malgorzata Digaud-Baluszynska - Doctor of Music, professor of choral and orchestral conducting. Graduated from the National Conservatory of Higher Krakow (Poland) in conducting choirs and instrumental ensembles, music pedagogy in 1988 and music theory in 1989. Awarded many times for her exceptional and innovative achievements in the field of choral singing, Since 1998 Malgorzata lives and works in Le Pays de Gex in France and in the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland. She continued her professional career and obtained the equivalence of diplomas at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Genève in 1999 and the Diplôme d'Enseignement de Musique from the Haute École Pédagogique de Lausanne in 2005. Currently she conducts the Ensemble Jean-Philippe Rameau in France. Since 2000 she has been a music teacher at the Collège de Genolier (VD) in Switzerland.
More info: www.jeanphilipperameau.fr
'Ensemble Jean-Philippe Rameau, Choir and Orchestra premiered in September
2011 by Malgorzata Baluszynska-Digaud and Eric Digaud, is open to all classical music and music French in particular. It addresses a very wide repertoire ranging from singing Gregorian to contemporary music: « Miserere d'Allegri, De Profundis de Delalande, excerpts from operas by Rameau and Lully, works by
Mielezewski, of Chapels, of Purcell, Gloria by Vivaldi, Little Mass Solemn of Rossini, Mondonville, Haydn, Dvorak, Karl Jenkins, the Messiah of Handel, Mendelssohn's Elias, gospels .... Three times already (Jan.2014, Nov. 2017 and Jan.2019) the Ensemble Jean-Philippe Rameau joined 200 other voices from around the world at New York Carnegie Hall to sing the music of Karl Jenkins and Handel's Messiah. In 2015, it was invited to China to sing Beethoven's 9th Symphony. The choir also has sung in St Petersburg in Russia, Sicily and Verona - Italy, Hungary at the Liszt Academy in Budapest and in Salzburg, Austria
The Ensemble Jean-Philippe Rameau produced regularly in France and in
Switzerland and its Choir Director, Malgorzata Baluszynska-Digaud, aim is to
to arouse and encourage the development and dissemination of a quality musical and artistic culture for the widest possible audience: « ... Our choir shines, inspires and makes discover the priceless legacy of the French and international music! »
In October 2019, the Ensemble will present Carl Orff's Carmina Burana in Montreux, at the Victoria Hall in Geneva and at the Esplanade du Lac in Divonne. The next work will be the Requiem of Mozart.
SCAPA Middle School Mixed Choir
Amanda Lynn Wells
Amanda L. Wells was born and raised in Pike County, KY where she stayed very active with her school band, chorus, speech and drama team, and school theatre productions. She attended Morehead State University and gained knowledge in both instrumental and vocal music and obtained a BM and MME. Before going into the teaching profession, Amanda performed professionally in musical theatre in California, North Carolina, and all around Kentucky. Amanda has music/vocal directed shows at Morehead State University, Rowan County HS, and at SCAPA Bluegrass. She has also choreographed shows for Rowan Co. HS, Montgomery Co. HS, Morehead Theatre Guild, and MSU Opera Works. Amanda has worked as an elementary music teacher and middle/high school choir director in New York City Public Schools, Morgan County Public Schools (KY), Rowan County Public Schools (KY), and taught in higher education at Morehead State University as an adjunct professor in the KCTM (KY Center for Traditional Music) in traditional voice and with the MSU Theater Department teaching musical theater voice. Amanda received the KMEA District 8 Elementary Music Teacher of the Year Award in 2012 and the KMEA District 8 Middle School Music Teacher of the Year Award in 2014. Currently, she is the Vocal Director at SCAPA at Bluegrass. Amanda is married to professional musician and archivist, Jesse Wells, and they have a beautiful daughter, Maddie Rae.
The School for the Creative and Performing Arts at Bluegrass (SCAPA) is a gifted and talented school in Lexington, Kentucky. SCAPA identifies giftedness in one of nine arts areas: ballet, band, contemporary dance, literary arts, drama, piano, strings, visual art, and vocal music. Students audition in one of these areas for admittance into the school, where demonstration of their artistic abilities is the sole determining entrance factor. SCAPA's voice students stay active throughout the school year performing in school based choral concerts, musicals, solo recitals, and honor ensembles at the district and state level. SCAPA singers have earned distinguished ratings at KMEA Choral Assessment as well as Solos and Ensembles for multiple years in a row. In 2019 the SCAPA MS Mixed Chorus sang in Carnegie Hall under the direction of Russell Robinson. We are excited to be back again this year!
Creekland Middle School Chorus
Marielle Matthews
Marielle is the Choral Director at Creekland Middle School in Canton, GA where her duties include teaching six curricular ensembles, directing the CMS Advanced Treble Morning Choir, and directing the school's musical. Marielle is the former Feature Twirler and Feature Twirler Coach for "The Marching Owls" at Kennesaw State University. She now serves the organization as President of "The Marching Owls" Alumni Society and was inducted as an honorary member of Kappa Kappa Psi. She is an alumna of Sigma Alpha Iota and is currently the Treasurer of the GA chapter of ACDA. Marielle has a Bachelor of Music in Music Education from Kennesaw State University and a Master of Music in Music Education from the University of Georgia.
The Creekland Middle School Chorus is open to any student in 6-8th grade enrolled at Creekland Middle School in Canton, GA. The program currently boasts an enrollment of 240 students. The CMS Chorus ensembles consistently receive Superior Ratings at GMEA's LGPE evaluation.
Coro Promúsica México
Dr Samuel Pascoe
Mexican conductor and composer. Dr. Pascoe is a full time professor at the National School of Music of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) where he conducts the Symphonic Orchestra, apart form teaching in the undergraduate and graduate departments, and conducts Promúsica Choir since 2006. He studied Piano at UNAM, Choral conducting at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, N.J. (Master of Music, Choral Conducting and Composition) and DMA, Doctor in Orchestral Conducting at Boston University.
As a composer, Pascoe wrote "Symphony of Peace" as his doctoral dissertation al Boston Univertist. In 2013 he composed Khromaticon, Symphony of Colors. This piece was premiered in Spain in May 2015 and in 2016, with the Promusica Choir he premiered "Cantos de Primavera", a piece for soprano, tenor, choir and orchestra with texts of King Nezahualcoyotl in "nahuatl" (the language of the aztecs). "Urtex" has recorded several of his works.
Promúsica Choir, in Mexico City, integrates polyphonic singing enthusiasts, following the European amateur choir tradition. It was founded in 1985 upon the initiative of Xavier Torresarpi, and is currently conducted by Samuel Pascoe. The Choir’s motto “We sing for the joy of singing” summarizes its philosophy.
Promúsica has performed with prominent Mexican orchestras such as the National Symphony Orchestra, Mexico City Philharmonic, the National Autonomous University Philharmonic Orchestra, State of Mexico Philharmonic Orchestra, Mexico City Chamber Orchestra, Minería Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Bellas Artes, Xalapa Symphony Orchestra, the National Polytechnic Institute Symphony Orchestra; as well as New Jersey Philharmonic Orchestra.
Their vast repertoire encompasses classical works such as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Mahler’s Eighth and Third Symphonies, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Requiem, and Solemn Vespers of the Confessor; Haendel’s Messiah, Gounod’s Saint Cecilia’s Solemn Mass, Verdi’s Requiem, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Haydn’s Die Schöpfung and Mass in Time of War, Shostakovich’s Second and Third Symphonies, Schöenberg’s Gurrelieder, Brahm’s Liebeslieder, Poulenc’s Gloria, among others.
Hong Kong International School Middle School Choir
Laura Izaguirre-Pihowich
Laura Izaguirre-Pihowich (b. Caracas, Venezuela) is the Middle School Choir Director at Hong Kong International School in Hong Kong. She has directed church choirs, and primary and secondary school choirs locally and internationally. Her ensembles have performed on three continents and were selected for their first Distinguished Concerts International event in 2019. Laura has organized International Schools festivals in Venezuela and served as guest conductor at choral festivals in Shenzhen, Caracas, and Sao Paulo. She is an active member of the Association for Music in International Schools and ACDA. Laura holds a Bachelor’s of Music degree from McGill University and a Master’s from Westminster Choir College. She adapted and published The Music Tree Series in Spanish for Warner Bros. publications, edited by Alfred Music.
Hong Kong International School Choirs embody the school’s ideals of resilience, collaboration, and creativity. A robust program of varied curricular and co-curricular ensembles with over 300 members, their mission statement is “to foster a fun and harmonious community of passionate collaborators who enjoy singing and sharing their love for music, while rising to challenges in the pursuit of musical excellence.” HKIS Honor Choirs participate regularly at festivals across Asia and Europe and are thrilled to be part of Distinguished Concerts International performances again, persevering through unusual circumstances due to the global pandemic.
Hong Kong International School High School Choir
Melodie Hausman
Melodie Hausman is the High School Choir Director at Hong Kong International School in Hong Kong. Grounded in her degrees from Westminster Choir College and Northern Arizona University, she has shared her love of choral artistry and has nurtured developing musicians in international school music programs in Korea, China, the Philippines, Zambia, and Hong Kong. She has also treasured the opportunities she has had to serve as adjudicator and collaborator for Arts festivals in each region she has lived. A lifetime member of ACDA and VoiceCare Network, notable highlights of her career include serving as guest conductor for the Association for Music in International Schools (AMIS) festivals in London, Moscow, Hong Kong, Tianjin, and Johannesburg, conducting the inaugural Southeast Asian MS Choir Festival in Guangzhou, and hosting the first AMIS MS Mixed Honor Choir in Africa.
Hong Kong International School Choirs embody the school’s ideals of resilience, collaboration, and creativity. A robust program of varied curricular and co-curricular ensembles with over 300 members, their mission statement is “to foster a fun and harmonious community of passionate collaborators who enjoy singing and sharing their love for music, while rising to challenges in the pursuit of musical excellence.” HKIS Honor Choirs participate regularly at festivals across Asia and Europe and are thrilled to be part of Distinguished Concerts International performances again, persevering through unusual circumstances due to the global pandemic.