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I Believe…..Remembering The Holocaust

Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center

Acts

Donald McCullough, Composer/Conductor
In the Shadow of the Holocaust (the fully orchestrated version of Holocaust Cantata: Songs from the Camps)
Featuring Distinguished Concerts Orchestra and Distinguished Concerts Singers International

Dr. Jonathan Griffith, DCINY Artistic Director and Principal Conductor
Zane Zalis: I Believe

Also Featuring:

Rachel Arky, Mezzo-Soprano

Sara Jean Ford, Tova

Peter Kendall Clark, Baritone

Drew Gehling, Aaron

Alexander Gemignani, Reinhardt

Participating Groups

Cheshire High School Select Choir

Murau International Music Festival Singers

Project Z

DC Festival Chorus

The Marion Civic Chorale

Solitude-Chor Stuttgart e.V.

Winnipeg Youth Chorus

Jacksonville Symphony Chorus

The Reston Chorale

Schola Cantorum

Special Guests

Participating Group Directors

Cheshire High School Select Choir
Beth Malvezzi Rosenblatt
Beth Malvezzi Rosenblatt is the Director of Choral Music at Cheshire High School in Cheshire, CT where she directs six award-winning choral ensembles. Ms. Rosenblatt received a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance from Ithaca College and a Master of Science Degree in Music Education from Central Connecticut State University. Upon graduation from Ithaca College, Ms. Rosenblatt was the recipient of the Dean’s Award for the School of Music in 1995, and was the valedictorian of her class. She is active as a vocalist, pianist and conductor in many venues throughout her state.

Murau International Music Festival Singers
Marko Zeiler

Project Z
Zane Zalis
Project Z Singers is an vocal ensemble of talented performers created by Zane Zalis.  It is comprised of singers from Winnipeg (Manitoba Canada), and the surrounding region, and encompasses a wide range of ages, vocal styles, and music backgrounds. It was founded in an effort to create a vocal ensemble that would embrace a contemporary sound yet honor choral traditions when appropriate to the occasion. Project Z Singers have performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in presenting: Jeans and Classics - The Music of Queen), North American premiere of the Lord of The Rings Symphony concert, and in the 2009 the world premiere of "I Believe". Additionally, Project Z performed at the gala opening night for the G20 World Religious Leaders conference and with Sarah Brightman in concert.

DC Festival Chorus

Solitude-Chor Stuttgart e.V.
Klaus Breuninger
The German Solitude Choir from Stuttgart was founded in the 1980s. For 30 years, approximately 80 very ambitious amateur musicians of all ages have been singing together. Conducted by professional musician Klaus Breuninger, the choir performs two to three large concert projects per year – sacred as well as secular works. The Solitude Choir has performed a cappella music as well as great oratory works, pop, swing, gospel and jazz. The focus of the repertory has always been on rare and exceptional works that are rather unknown or rarely performed on concert stages – by national and international, classical and contemporary composers alike.
Among the highlights of the Solitude Choir's performances have been Mozart's The Magic Flute, a soul and swing version of Mozart's Opera arranged for soloists, choir, band and orchestra, “Magnificat” by John Rutter, “Sacred Concert” by Duke Ellington, “Liverpool Oratorio” by Paul McCartney and “Pulso” by Pablo Trindade, but also “Midsummer Night's Dream” by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, “Messa di Gloria” by Giacchino Puccini as well as “Requiem in C Minor” by Luigi Cherubini.
This has been a very special year for the choir – they had the opportunity to perform the European premiere of Zane Zalis' Holocaust Oratorio “i believe,” for which the Canadian composer and Solitude Choir's conductor Klaus Breuninger worked together very closely. On November 9th and 10th, 2013, Solitude Choir, in attendance with Mr. Zalis, staged a lavishly featured performance to two sold-out churches to honor the 75th anniversary of “Kristallnacht.”
 

The Marion Civic Chorale
Matthew Bumbach

Jacksonville Symphony Chorus
Donald McCullough
Tom Zimmerman Endowed Chair
 
Hailed by the Washington Post for his “dazzling expertise” on the podium, Donald McCullough is considered one of America’s pre-eminent choral conductors. After leading the Master Chorale of Washington in the John F. Kennedy Center Concert Hall for more than a decade, he developed a reputation for creating choruses that sang “with an innate sense of lyricism and musical poise” and “sensitive, scrupulous and heartfelt” (Washington Post).
 
During his tenure with the Master Chorale, the 120-member symphonic chorus performed 16 world premieres, produced three nationally distributed CDs, and toured twice throughout Central Europe. The Chorale earned The Margaret Hillis Achievement Award for Choral Excellence in North America, performed in such renowned venues as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, and became the chorus of choice for the National Symphony Orchestra, performing with such renowned conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Kurt Masur and Ivan Fischer.  
 
Mr. McCullough is also a composer whose works have been critically acclaimed throughout North America and Europe.  Routinely sought after for commissions, his works have been described as “powerful and heart-wrenching,” “mystically beautiful” and “remarkably inspirational.” 
 
In response to an invitation from German and Polish consulates, Mr. McCullough led the Master Chorale in the European premiere of one of his most moving compositions, Holocaust Cantata: Songs from the Camps. The work was performed in Krakow, Dresden, Berlin and at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial during the European commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII. In November 2014, 70 singers from the Jacksonville Symphony Chorus will travel to New York to form the core of a 120-member chorus under Mr. McCullough’s direction in the Lincoln Center premiere of his Holocaust Cantata, presented by Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY).
 
A native of Jacksonville, Fla., he recently moved to Atlantic Beach, Fla., to focus on his expanding composing career and in 2012 became the director of the Jacksonville Symphony Chorus. His music can be found at donaldmccullough.com. 

Winnipeg Youth Chorus
Garth & Lisa Rempel
Garth and Lisa Rempel are a dynamic husband and wife director team. Between them, they bear a wealth of experience in music and the professional world. Garth is a musician, performer and educator who enjoys making music vocally and instrumentally, and loves to share music with the students in his high school music program. Lisa is a lifelong vocal performer as a chorister and a soloist, and she has musical theatre as well as instrumental experience to round out her skills. Together, Garth and Lisa bring a unique energy and perspective to every project they work on.

The Reston Chorale
David Brian Lang
Now in his sixth season as The Reston Chorale’s Artistic Director, David Brian Lang has gained prominence in the Washington area as a leading choral conductor, concert organist, professional accompanist and vocal coach. Lang has prepared choruses for many nationally known venues including The Kennedy Center and Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts. He has worked with such notable conductors as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Emil de Cou, Placido Domingo, Marvin Hamlisch, Kurt Masur and Leonard Slatkin. Lang served as organist for the famous Saint John Church - Lafayette Square (Church of the Presidents), and is organist for Washington Hebrew Congregation.

Schola Cantorum
Gregory Wait
Recipient of the 1998 Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching, Gregory Wait is a Senior Lecturer on the Stanford Music Department faculty, where he maintains a vigorous teaching schedule as Director of Vocal Studies.  An active tenor soloist, he is at home in opera, in recital and on the concert stage, having made his Carnegie Hall debut singing the Requiem of Alfred Schnittke.  Mr. Wait has been hailed as “one of the leading exponents of (Benjamin) Britten's vocal works,” and has premiered works by Lou Harrison and William Kraft.  He gained national recognition as soloist in the Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco) televised Sing-it-Yourself Messiah on PBS, and has sung at the prestigious Carmel Bach Festival for over fifteen seasons.
 
As Music Director of Schola Cantorum, he has received accolades from critics and the public alike for his vivid interpretations of choral masterworks, his imaginative programming, and for his commitment to the performance of new music.  Under Mr. Wait's leadership, Schola Cantorum has commissioned and performed numerous premieres, most notably the Missa Gaia (Mass for the Earth) by Libby Larson and the Winter Requiem by Alva Henderson and Dana Gioia, as well as works by Joseph Jennings, Dirk Damonte, Theodore Toews, and Jose Bowen.  Mr. Wait is a published arranger and composer, and is in constant demand as a lecturer and clinician for choral and vocal events.
 
As Schola Cantorum's Music Director, Gregory Wait is responsible for all artistic matters, including conducting rehearsals and performances, planning concert programs and selecting repertoire, commissioning new works for premiere performance by Schola Cantorum, and choosing soloists and other guest artists to perform with the ensemble.