AMERICAN WOMAN
featuring Andrew Rosenblum and Maria Sumareva, piano
J. Michael Weiss-Holmes, alto saxophone
Marie Micol Bennett, flute
Fourth Coast honors the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment with the Chicago premiere of Lori Laitman's Are Women People?, a vocal quartet song cycle with four-hand piano composed on the text of Susan B. Anthony and Alice Duer Miller. The program opens with songs by groundbreaking early American women composers, followed by songs that commemorate great moments of American reconciliation, and concludes with Laitman’s celebration of the woman’s right to vote.
Save 15% and subscribe today!
Program
AMY BEACH - Three Browning Songs, Op 44 (T)
MARION BAUER - Song of the Wanderer (SMT)
RUTH CRAWFORD-SEEGER - White Moon (M)
MIRIAM GIDEON - She Weeps Over Rahoon (T)
CARRIE JACOBS-BOND - Nothin’ but Love (B)
FLORENCE PRICE - Travels’ End (B)
AMY BEACH - Dark is the Night (S)
JENNIFER HIGDON - Lincoln's Final, from Civil Words (B)
ANDREA CLEARFIELD - This Arc Towards Justice (S)
featuring J. Michael Weiss-Holmes, alto saxophone
JAKE HEGGIE - selections, The Deepest Desire (M)
featuring Marie Micol Bennett, flute
LORI LAITMAN - Are Women People? (SMTB)
MARION BAUER - Song of the Wanderer (SMT)
RUTH CRAWFORD-SEEGER - White Moon (M)
MIRIAM GIDEON - She Weeps Over Rahoon (T)
CARRIE JACOBS-BOND - Nothin’ but Love (B)
FLORENCE PRICE - Travels’ End (B)
AMY BEACH - Dark is the Night (S)
JENNIFER HIGDON - Lincoln's Final, from Civil Words (B)
ANDREA CLEARFIELD - This Arc Towards Justice (S)
featuring J. Michael Weiss-Holmes, alto saxophone
JAKE HEGGIE - selections, The Deepest Desire (M)
featuring Marie Micol Bennett, flute
LORI LAITMAN - Are Women People? (SMTB)
Artists
Andrew Rosenblum
|
ANDREW ROSENBLUM enjoys a multifaceted career as a pianist and harpsichordist. Rosenblum won Second Prize in the harpsichord category of the 2018 International Bach Competition in Leipzig. In 2017, he won Second Prize in the harpsichord category of the Prague Spring International Music Competition, where he also won the prize for the best performance of Harpsycho by Petr Wajsar, a work commissioned for the competition. As a harpsichordist, he has soloed with Leipziger Barockorchester, Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra, Collegium 1704, and Civic Orchestra of Chicago. He plays continuo for Music of the Baroque Orchestra, Haymarket Opera, and Three Notch’d Road.
Rosenblum is on the Piano Staff of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, as well as the Piano Faculty and Harpsichord Faculty of the Heifetz International Music Institute. He has been on the Piano Staff of Lyric Opera of Chicago, Northwestern University, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. He has performed as a pianist at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Kennedy Center, and The Phillips Collection. An avid performer of new music, Rosenblum performed at the Chicago Ustvolskaya Festival in 2017, and the Julius Eastman Portrait Concert at the Chicago Cultural Center in 2018. His work with living composers includes premiering Curiosities for solo harpsichord by Diana Rosenblum at the Eastman School of Music; co-leading a composition workshop and competition at Roosevelt University with flutist Shanna Guittierez; and recording songs by Lori Laitman for a two-CD set on Naxos. |
Maria Sumareva
|
Pianist MARIA SUMAREVA has been heard as a soloist and as a collaborative pianist in Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Romania, Germany, Hungary, and across the United States. Her repertory reflects her versatile musical interests spanning from Baroque to newly composed works. Sumareva has appeared in international festivals including the Budapest Spring Festival (Hungary), Les Nuits Pianistiques, International Festival “Days of New Music” (Moldova), Northern Lights Music Festival, Festival Miami, and Festival Baltimore (U.S.A.). She has performed as a soloist with orchestras including the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Moldova, National Chamber Orchestra of Moldova, and Rowan University Orchestra, with conductors Jean-Bernard Pommier, Christoff Escher, Didier Talpain, Salvatore Scarpa, Valentin Doni, Mihail Secikin, and Oleg Palymsky. Her live performances have been broadcast on Moldovan, Romanian, and Hungarian radio and television stations.
Sumareva has received numerous awards at national and international competitions in Europe and the United States. Winning the 2013 Graduate Presser Music Award at the University of Miami made possible her recording debut with “The 35 Keyboard Sonatinas by J.A. Benda” (the first recording of the complete set), released on Élan Recordings in 2015. She is the co-founder and current Chair of Board of Directors of Kaleidoscope MusArt, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting classical music as a comprehensive and dynamic art form by working with emerging artists and composers to present new, rarely-heard, and well-known works. Sumareva is a member of Beyond Artists and is supporting IRC.org and Friends of the Earth with this performance. |
J. Michael Weiss-Holmes
|
Dr. J. MICHAEL WEISS-HOLMES is a talented solo and chamber musician who “… is one of the rising young saxophone stars in the United States” (Saxophone Journal). Dr. Weiss-Holmes has received international acclaim as an orchestral saxophonist, and has performed as principal saxophonist with numerous orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Cleveland Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. Weiss-Holmes has worked with such renown conductors as Riccardo Muti, Jaap van Zweden, Leonard Slatkin, David Robertson, Michael Tilson Thomas, Stéphane Denève, and Marin Alsop. He has also shared the stage with artists such as Ben Folds, Jane Lynch, The Temptations, Sutton Foster, Manhattan Transfer, and Idina Menzel. Dr. Weiss-Holmes is the Head of Woodwinds and Artist-Teacher of Saxophone at Roosevelt University Chicago College of Performing Arts. He was previously on faculty at the University of Illinois, the College of Wooster, and the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Weiss-Holmes is the Marketing Director for the North American Saxophone Alliance and served as Director of Marketing for Saxophones at Conn-Selmer, Inc. and as Artistic Advisor and Product Specialist with Vandoren. Professor Weiss-Holmes’ diverse background as a performer, educator and former member of the music industry have provided him with unique insight in preparing the next generation of music students for successful careers in their chosen field. Weiss-Holmes is married to Brad Weiss-Holmes and resides in Chicago, IL. For more information, please visit www.michaelweissholmes.com.
|
Marie Micol Bennett
|
A native of Hyde Park in Chicago, MARIE MICOL BENNETT holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in flute performance from Northwestern and DePaul Universities. A versatile performer, Marie can be heard on recordings by GIA Publications, performs regularly with regional orchestras, and maintains an active chamber music career. Co-founder and Artistic Director of Naperville Chamber Players, she curates a yearly concert series with diverse guest artists spanning the arts spectrum, from harpsichordist, harpist, percussionist, and pianist, to a painter, flamenco dancer, and flamenco guitarist. The ensemble has championed works of contemporary composers, as well as the classical literature. Marie enjoys collaborations with vocal ensembles, including Chicago Children’s Choir, Young Naperville Singers, North Central College Women’s Chorale, the Downers Grove Choral Society, and Fourth Coast Ensemble. Marie is on faculty at North Central College in Naperville, IL and Aurora University in Aurora, IL, maintains a private studio, and frequently adjudicates festivals and competitions.
|
Sarah van der Ploeg
|
SARAH VAN DER PLOEG is an American lyric soprano who has been singing since before she could speak. Praised as a singing actor for her “thoughtful musicality”, “clarity of tone” and “versatility”, the New Jersey native has performed in London, New York, Chicago, Vienna, and elsewhere around the US and Europe. Equally at home on stage, in concert halls, and in recital, she particularly loves 20th Century & contemporary music and composer collaborations. Performance highlights: world premiere of staged Gary Fry work with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; “Une bête” in Ravel’s L’Enfant with Esa Pekka Salonen and CSO; Stella/Muse in Pittsburgh Festival Opera’s Tales of Hoffmann: Retold; solo turns at the Royal Albert Hall and Wigmore Hall; Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream with Civic Orchestra of Chicago; Barber’s Knoxville with Lake Forest Civic Orchestra; staged production of David Lang’s the little match girl passion; Mozart’s Requiem with Chicago Chamber Orchestra & Elmhurst Choral Union; Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus) at Northwestern; Encouragement Award, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions; First place, Chicago NATS. Sarah holds degrees from the Royal Academy of Music (Diane Forlano), Northwestern University (Theresa Brancaccio & Alan Darling), and Princeton University (Public Policy & Music Performance). A Marshall Scholar, she believes deeply in the communicative power of the arts for cultural diplomacy and reconciliation, and works through music outreach and education in addition to performance in pursuit of these aims. sarahvanderploeg.weebly.com
|
Bridget Skaggs
|
Mezzo-soprano BRIDGET SKAGGS has swiftly gained the attention of Chicago audiences for her "warm and plaintive" singing (Chicago Classical Review) across a broad range of genres, including classical, contemporary, avant-garde, jazz, and musical theater. Critics have noted the way she “lights up the scene” (Chicago Reader) in appearances with Chicago Fringe Opera, Chicago Folks Operetta, Haymarket Summer Opera, Lake Forest Civic Orchestra, Baroque on Beaver Festival, Opera Steamboat, and Pittsburgh Festival Opera. A passionate advocate for art song, Skaggs is a founding member and executive director of vocal quartet Fourth Coast Ensemble, and was recently named Vocal Arts Associate for Chicago Fringe Opera. She has twice been awarded the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago's vocal chamber fellowship, and performed for master clinicians Martin Katz, Michelle DeYoung, and Craig Terry. Skaggs loves collaborating with composers to promote and perform new repertoire. She co-hosted the Chicago premiere of the Sparks & Wiry Cries songSLAM competition for new art song in 2019, and sang for the 2016 NATS national convention in music of Gwyneth Walker. Skaggs debuted the role of Austin in the world-premiere production of Rossa Crean’s The Great God Pan in 2018, which received The American Prize in Opera Performance. She will record on the Naxos label this year in music by composer Lori Laitman, and has recorded the American premiere of Paul Abraham's jazz operetta Ball at the Savoy for future release. A native of Southlake, Texas, Bridget received her education at Oklahoma City University's Wanda L. Bass School of Music, and resides in Chicago.
|
Ace Gangoso
|
ACE GANGOSO, tenor, enjoys an eclectic musical career in Chicago as a singer, music director, pianist, and teacher. Ace is thrilled to be joining Fourth Coast Ensemble this season, adding to his existing singing engagements with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Grant Park Chorus, and Chicago a cappella. Within Chicago a cappella, Ace also serves as the Program Director for the High School Apprenticeship, an auditioned group of young singers seeking experience in high-level ensemble singing and arts nonprofit operations.
Ace is the Director of Music Ministry at St. Nicholas Parish in Evanston where he conducts several choirs and musical groups, and plays up to four Masses each weekend. Additionally, he is a pianist for the Chicago Black Catholics Choir and a supplementary staff musician at St. Michael in Old Town. Ace is also a private voice instructor at Highland Park High School. A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, Ace became a Chicagoan in 2010 and currently resides in the Lakeview neighborhood. Ace holds Bachelor’s Degrees in Music Education and Voice Performance from the University of Central Arkansas, and a Master’s Degree in Voice Performance from Northwestern University; he continues voice study with NU Professor W. Stephen Smith. He is a proud alumni member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the world’s oldest and largest fraternal society in music. |
David Govertsen
|
Chicago native DAVID GOVERTSEN has been active as a professional singer for fifteen years, portraying a wide variety of opera’s low-voiced heroes, villains, and buffoons. An alumnus of the Ryan Center at Lyric Opera of Chicago, he has performed ten roles with the company, most recently appearing as Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte and King Priam in Les Troyens. This past season he also appeared at Santa Fe Opera as Frank in Die Fledermaus, and he created the role of Stoever in Stewart Copeland’s The Invention of Morel for Chicago Opera Theater.
As a concert soloist Mr. Govertsen has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Grant Park Symphony, Santa Fe Symphony and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival among many others. He made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2011 as the Herald in Otello with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti. He is an alumnus of both the Santa Fe Opera and Central City Opera apprentice programs and holds degrees from Northwestern University, Northern Illinois University and the College of DuPage. Mr. Govertsen is currently on faculty at Valparaiso University, Lewis University, and the College of DuPage. |
VenueS
|
Thursday, November 7, 2019 @ 7:30pm
Woman's Club of Evanston 1702 Chicago Avenue Evanston, IL 60201 |
|
Saturday, November 9, 2019 @ 7:30pm
St. Paul & the Redeemer Church 4945 S. Dorchester Ave. Chicago, IL 60615 |
1631 S. Michigan Ave., #307
Chicago, IL 60616
Website photography by Elliot Mandel Photography
Chicago, IL 60616
Website photography by Elliot Mandel Photography