Performances in the 2002-2003 concert season

• August 9 and 10, 2002. Mohawk Trail Concerts presents Archguitar Duo (Peter Blanchette & Jean Chaine) with guest Peter Shea, tenor. Vocal works include songs by John Dowland, Thomas Campion, Stephen Foster, Alfred Heller, and Peter Blanchette's newly composed Grand Coulee Powder Monkey. Fri, Aug. 9, 8 p.m., Hills Chapel, Northampton MA; Sat, Aug. 10, 8 p.m., Federated Church, Charlmont MA

 
• September 28 and 29, 2002. Soloist with Windham Chamber Orchestra in an all-English program, including the song cycle Let us garlands bring by Gerald Finzi, texts by Shakespeare, and excerpts from the oratorio Jephtha by Georg Frideric Handel. Sept. 28, 8 p.m., International Center, S.I.T./World Learning, Brattleboro, VT; Sept. 29, 4 p.m., Immanuel Episcopal Church, Bellows Falls, VT.

 
• October 4, 2002. Tenor soloist with Paramita Ensemble in world premieres of John Cooper's Requiem (in memory of the victims of 9/11), Peace Cantata, and Ah! Sunflower. Oct. 4, 7:30 p.m., South Congregational Church, on Fiddler's Green, 1066 South East St., Amherst, MA

 
• October 12, 2002. Cantabile, the classical vocal octet (in which I sing bass), will be joined by pianist Gregory Hayes and Doris Abramson, professor emeritus of theater at UMass Amherst, in a program of music based on the poems of Emily Dickinson interspersed with Abramson's readings of Dickinson's poems and letters, as part of the 8th biennial Emily Dickinson World Weekend sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst. Choral works by Elliott Carter, Samuel Barber, Emma Lou Diemer and Robert Muczynski, as well as solo songs and duets; my solo contributions will be three songs by Robert Baksa, and two duets by Betty Roe, with Kayla Werlin, mezzo-soprano. Oct. 12, 8 p.m., First Congregational Church, 165 Main St., Amherst MA

 
• December 1, 7, 8 and 15, 2002. The professional chorus Novi Cantori (in which I sing baritone) will present its annual programs of Christmas music.  Alan Taylor, director.
• Dec. 1, 4 p.m., St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Springfield, MA
• Dec 7, 4 p.m., Family Carol Festival, First Congregational Church, Westfield, MA
• Dec 8, 4 p.m., St. John's Episcopal Church, Worcester, MA
• Dec 15, 1 p.m., Old Meeting House, Granville, MA.

 
• December 20, 21 and 22, 2002. Tenor soloist (Evangelist) in J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Parts I, II and VI. Arcadia Players Baroque Orchestra and Chorus, Margaret Irwin-Brandon, director. Click here for details

 
• January 11 and 12, 2003.  Tenor soloist in a program of Magnificats by Charpentier, J. Pachelbel and C.T. Pachelbel, and cantatas by Buxtehude, with Brattleboro Community Chorus, Susan Klein Dedell, director.

 
• January 26, 2003. Tenor soloist in concert Remembering Dido (music by Purcell and Berlioz, among others) with Da Camera Singers, Gregory Hayes, conductor. St. John's Episcopal Church, Rt. 9, Northampton, MA. 4 p.m.

 
• February 7, 2003. The vocal octet Cantabile will sing Italian and Spanish Renaissance love songs at the Amherst Club's annual "Love Notes" concert, Buckley Recital Hall, Amherst College, Amherst MA. 8 p.m.

 
• February 14, 2003. For Valentine's Day -- The Love Story of the Beautiful Magelone and Count Peter of Provence, a medieval tale retold by Romantic poet Ludwig Tieck, set to music by Johannes Brahms (Romanzen aus L. Tiecks Magelone). Sudie Marcuse-Blatz, soprano ; Peter W. Shea, tenor; Janet St. Jean, piano; narration in English by Vivienne Carey. Feb. 14, 8 p.m., South Congregational Church, on Fiddler's Green, 1066 South East St., Amherst, MA. This concert may be repeated at other venues in the Hudson Valley and/or New York City with soprano Danielle Woerner.

Listen to excerpts from this concert

• March 9, 2003. Soloist in excerpts from Mozart's Le Nozze Di Figaro, and three a capella choral works in Hebrew by Salomon Rossi, at Commonwealth Opera Guild Concert, 3:00 p.m., Temple Beth El, 979 Dickinson St., Springfield MA.  Richard R. Rescia, Artistic Director and Chorus Master ; Adrian Sunshine, Assistant Artistic Director and Conductor. Guild members FREE Admission, non-members $15.00.

 
• March 23, 2003. Novi Cantori sings English cathedral music with organ at the dedication of the new pipe organ, Alan Taylor, director. 3:00 p.m. St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 335 Longmeadow St., Longmeadow, MA.

 
• April 6, 2003.  Songs to Remember, a concert tribute to Polish tenor Jan Kiepura, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the internationally acclaimed vocalist. With soprano Dianne Smith and pianist Nadine Shank. A program of light classics featuring songs and duets from operas and operettas, and songs by Polish composers.  3: 00 p.m., Pratt Auditorium, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley MA. Presented by The Kosciuszko Foundation, New England Chapter. Tickets $12 at door, $10 in advance, reservations: (413) 283-8032 or 532-1546.

 
• April 15, 2003.  Recital program The Librarian's Muse: Songs and Poems by Librarians and Lexicographers, with pianist Janet St. Jean, for Spring meeting of the Pioneer Valley Association of Academic Librarians. 7:30 p.m., Townhouses Conference Room, Springfield College, Alden St., Springfield MA. reception at 5:30, dinner and PVAAL business meeting  at 6:30. Dinner and reception $20.00.

 
• April 18, 2003.  Soloist and chorister in music for Good Friday presented by Singers' Project, Beth Hart, director. The Seven Last Words by Heinrich Schütz, selections from Buxtehude's Membra Jesu nostri, and Jesu, meines Lebens Leben. 5:30 p.m. Grace Episcopal Church, Boltwood Ave., on the Common, Amherst, MA

 
• April 19, 2003.  Soloist in Easter Vigil service, 8 p.m., St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Putney Rd., Brattleboro, VT.

 
• May 4, 9 and 11, 2003. Novi Cantori's 25th Anniversary concerts, Haydn's Grosse Orgelsolo Messe (Great organ solo mass), Ian Watson, organist, and greatest a capella hits from the last 25 years. Alan Taylor, director. May 4, 4:00, First Congregational Church, West Springfield, MA ; May 9, 7:30, First Church of Christ, Suffield, CT ; May 11, 4:00, Sts. Peter & Paul, Three Rivers, MA.

 
• May 18, 2003. Tenor soloist in Mozart's Requiem with Rockland Camerata, Sheila Schonbrunn, director, Nyack, NY.

 
• June 7, 2003. Tenor soloist and chorister in Bach's Cantata 214, Tönet, Ihr Pauken, and in selections from Cantabile's upcoming concert series, at Arcadia Players' last Brandon-burgers concert, Haydenville Congregational Church, Rt. 9, Haydenville, MA. June 7, 4:00 p.m.

 
• June 8, 2003.  Tenor soloist and chorister in Mendelssohn's Elijah with Hampshire Choral Society, 3:00 p.m., Northampton MA, Alan Taylor, director.

 
• June 14, 2003.  Novi Cantori sings Haydn's Grosse Orgelmesse at St. Paul's Cathedral, Worcester, MA, 7:30 p.m., with chamber orchestra.

 
• June 20, 21, 22 and 29, 2003. The vocal octet Cantabile presents a program entitled: Love, shipwrecks and the Virgin Mary: vocal music of the Spanish Renaissance. See Cantabile's webpage for details.

 
• July 11 and 12, 2003. Cantabile sings excerpts from Handel's L'Allegro, il Pensieroso ed il Moderato, with an instrumental ensemble under the direction of Gregory Hayes, in a program called The Magnificent Mr. Handel, presented by Mohawk Trail Concerts. July 11 and 12, 8 p.m., Federated Church, Rt. 2, Charlemont, MA