ANN ARBOR FESTIVAL OF SONG PRESENTS THE TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL WEEK AFTER ART FAIR SONG FEST WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY, JULY 26-28, 2017 KERRYTOWN CONCERT HOUSE, ANN ARBOR

WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 8:00PM L’AMOUR TOUJOURS: LA MUSIQUE MAGNIFIQUE DE FRANCE

THURSDAY, JULY 27, 8:00PM THAT TIME OF YEAR THOU MAYEST IN ME BEHOLD: SONGS OF TIME AND SEASON

FRIDAY, JULY 28, 8:00PM MAKE AMERICA SING AGAIN: OUR ANNUAL CABARET NIGHT

2017 ARTISTS Key to abbreviations: BGSU = Bowling Green State Univ; EMU = Eastern Michigan Univ; MOT= Michigan Theatre; UM = Univ of Michigan

Pianist KEVIN BYLSMA ‘s work has taken him in recent years to Venice, Paris, Romania, Eastern Europe, New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, and Thailand. Recent collaborations include several recitals with Irina Mishura, Michelle DeYoung, and Kathryn Lewek, and accompanying masterclasses of Samuel Ramey, Dianne Soviero, and Marilyn Horne. His music directing and coaching credits include Ann Baltz' OperaWorks in Los Angeles, Toledo Opera, MOT, OPERA!Lenawee, Papagena Opera Company, and the UM. Currently serving as Head of Music Preparation at Toledo Opera, and Lecturer of Opera at the College of Musical Arts at BGSU, Kevin has also served the Toledo, Adrian, and Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestras as keyboardist, and since 1993 has been associate organist at Mariners' Church of Detroit. EMILY BENNER, , has performed roles with MOT and Toledo Opera, and in concert with the Detroit and Toledo Symphonies. A former resident artist with the Toledo Opera, Ms. Benner has also performed extensively in Northwest Ohio. Most recently, Ms. Benner appeared as a soloist with the Toledo Symphony and Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra. She is the recipient of numerous awards, and was a regional finalist in the National Council Auditions. A graduate of the UM, she maintains connections with the Phoenix Ensemble, Brave New Works, The Ann Arbor Festival of Song, Michigan Opera Works and Vox Early Music Ensemble. She is currently on the faculties of EMU and Albion College, and is a longtime member of the professional choir at the historic Mariners’ Church of Detroit.

CLAIRE CHARDON, soprano, a Michigan native, has established herself as a versatile artist on the operatic, musical theater, and concert stage. Some recent highlights include appearances with Michigan Opera Theater, performing the role of Despina in Mozart’s Così fan tutte with the Bay View Music Festival, and singing as the soprano soloist in Fauré’s Requiem. In addition, Claire has sung the roles of Clara in Light in the Piazza, Adele in Die Fledermaus, and Valencienne in The Merry Widow. Claire earned her Bachelor of Music degree from Grand Valley State University and her Master’s degree from BGSU.

JENNIFER CRESSWELL, soprano, frequently performs with Toledo Opera, including as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and Liu in Turandot. Other roles are Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, Mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors, Anna Maurrant in Street Scene, and Pasatieri’s Lady Macbeth. Concert work has included Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, and Bach’s Mass in bminor. Ms. Cresswell is also an opera librettist, having rewritten/condensed six for young audiences, and one original work, Respectable Woman, with composer Kristi Fullerton. She has served as artistic administrator for Toledo Opera, hosted a classical music radio show for two years on 91.3 WGTE, and currently serves as director of music at St. Ursula Academy in Toledo, Ohio.

JARROD DAVIS, JR., tenor, is a recent masters graduate in Voice Performance from BGSU. During his time in the Toledo area he has performed with the Toledo Opera chorus in Porgy and Bess, Barber of Seville, and Marriage of Figaro. His most recent roles are Mr. Sankey in Street Scene, Giorgio in Gondoliers, and Pirate King in Pirates of Penzance. This fall he hopes to reach out and finally start his career as a young artist and perform in theatres and opera houses.

JENNIFER GOLTZ, soprano, specializes in new chamber music, opera, and cabaret. Her collaboration with composer/pianist Logan Skelton spans two decades, two continents, and numerous song cycles. She is the vocalist for Brave New Works as well as a founding member; in recent years she has also appeared with Milwaukee-based Present Music. She created the role of the god Pan in Kamran Ince’s new opera Judgment of Midas, recently released on Naxos; she can also be heard on Albany, Centaur, MSR Classics, AMP, and Blue Griffin Records. In the early 2000s, she fronted the popular Klezmer band Into the Freylakh, with whom she released an eponymous CD and The Shape of Klez to Come.

TERI HERRON, soprano, holds degrees from Simpson College, University of Houston, and Indiana University at Bloomington. She is a veteran of the opera stage and has appeared in the roles of Lady Billows in Albert Herring, The New Prioress in Les Dialogues des Carmélites, Ottavia in Coronation of Poppea, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel, and La Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi. She continues to present her research, perform, and offer master classes at various venues across the country. She currently lives and works in San Diego, California where she teaches voice and serves on the boards of the NATS CALWestern region and the San Diego NATS Chapter.

JOHN F. HOPKINS, tenor, has enjoyed lead roles and solo engagements in Anything Goes, Little Shop of Horrors, She Loves Me, and others, at Detroit’s Masonic Temple, Gem and Fisher Theaters, Croswell Opera House in Adrian, Toledo’s Franciscan Center, Valentine, and Stranahan Theaters. He has performed and/or directed at MOT, Detroit Symphony, Ann Arbor Performance Network, Kerrytown Concert House, Toledo Opera, Toledo Repertoire Theater, University of Toledo, Toledo Symphony, International Thespian Society, Toledo School for the Arts, Livonia Churchill and Stevenson High Schools, and he has been director of the Operetta Workshop at the Detroit Opera House. He is Drama Coordinator for the Berkley School District, and a member of the professional choir at historic Mariners’ Church of Detroit.

KO KAIDEN, : A native of Kamakura, Japan, Ko began his professional music career as an oboist, playing with symphony orchestras in Japan. Upon moving to New York in 1990 he expanded his excellent woodwind skills by becoming a woodwind doubler in Broadway productions. Inspired by a recording of acclaimed tenor José Carreras and pianist Martin Katz, an experience he describes as life-changing, he began his vocal training with a goal of professional singing. He soon became a sought-after performer and has been praised for his “musical sensitivity” and his “intelligence in the delivery of text” by Francisco Casanova, Metropolitan Opera.

JOHN MINK, baritone, is a recent graduate from BGSU, where he obtained a Master’s degree in vocal performance. John holds a bachelor’s degree in music business from Mansfield University. His opera credits include the roles of Alfio (Cavalleria Rusticana), Uncle Billy (The Outcasts of Poker Flats), Grandpa Moss (The Tender Land), the Sergeant of Police (The Pirates of Penzance), the title role in Pasatieri’s Signor Deluso, in addition to his involvement as the section leader of the Toledo Opera chorus. His musical theater credits include Joe Hardy (Damn Yankees), Adam (The Apple Tree), Rod (Avenue Q), Bobby (Company) and the title role in Sweeney Todd.

Toledo-born STEVEN MULLAN is excited to be back with the music community that fostered his lifelong passion. As a teen, his training with Joan Layne, Kevin Bylsma, Luke Rosen, and Christopher Scholl prepared him to earn a full scholarship to Miami University. Fast forward to a career as a songwriter, keyboardist, model, and producer in Nashville, with songs in commercials for Starbucks and Nestle; his work as a keyboard player has taken him on the road opening for Tim McGraw and Hunter Hayes; he’s in music videos for Kelly Clarkson and Steven Tyler; and his modeling career began with an editorial in Cosmopolitan. With his production partner, Owen Lewis, he has produced indie artists in Iceland and Ireland. They are currently recording his band, T0T, set to release this Fall. Follow along at stevenmullan.com.

ALISSA PLENZLER, soprano, hails from South Bend, Indiana. She holds a BM in Voice Performance (Cum Laude) from the University of Dayton, and is working on a MM in Voice Performance at BGSU. Recently roles include Casilda in The Gondoliers (BGSU), and Papagena in Die Zauberflöte and Naiade and Spring in The Fairy Queen (Hawaii Performing Arts Fesitival). She was an apprentice with Dayton Opera for their performances of Les pêcheurs de perles in 2015, and was an Emerging Artist in Oberlin Conservatory’s Oberlin in Italy (Arezzo) program. Alissa has sung in masterclasses for Jake Heggie, Dean Southern (Cleveland Institute of Music), Andrea Huber (AIMS, Graz, Austria), and Lucy Simon.

KATE POMRENKE, soprano, recently completed her Master of Music in Vocal Performance at BGSU, and is also a graduate of Aurora University. In the spring of 2016 she won 1st place in the Graduate Division of the annual Conrad Art Song Competition, and 3rd place in The Marni Nixon International Vocal Competition. She has appeared as Rose Maurrant in Street Scene, Célie in Signor Deluso, Lola in Gallantry, and as the soprano soloist in Mozart's Vesperae Solennes de Confessore.

LAURA REAPER, mezzo-soprano, performed Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde this past spring. Her opera credits include Alisa (Lucia di Lammermoor), Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice), Katisha (The Mikado), and 3rd Lady (Die Zauberflöte). Concert solo work has included Messiah, Rejoice in the Lamb, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. She is a staff singer at the historic Mariners’ Church of Detroit, and currently serves as adjunct professor of voice at the University of Toledo. Ms. Reaper holds an MM in vocal performance from BGSU, and a BM in vocal performance from Peabody Conservatory.

DEANNA RELYEA, mezzo-soprano, has performed the major oratorio repertoire with choral societies and symphony orchestras in the Great Lakes Region and Canada. She has appeared with the Ann Arbor Symphony in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (with her brother, Gary), Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, and the Verdi Requiem. Performances on concert series’ and festivals include Ann Arbor SpringFest chamber music festival, and Kerrytown Concert House’s WolfFest, where she partnered with pianist Martin Katz. She appears also as a cabaret artist on concert series, with symphony orchestras, and in theatre and musical theatre productions. Ms. Relyea is Founder/Director of Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown Concert House, and a member of the professional choir at the historic Mariners’ Church of Detroit.

JANE SCHOONMAKER RODGERS, nominally a soprano, teaches voice and graduate courses at BGSU. Her performing, recording, and directing credits include organizations on both sides of the Atlantic. In the past few years she has stage-directed BGSU’s productions of The Pirates of Penzance, Pasatieri’s Signor Deluso, her own adaptation of Offenbach’s The Lantern Wedding, and next spring, Mozart’s Così fan tutte. She frequently appears as a guest artist at the KCH, including performances with the Wine, Women, and Song ensemble, as well as the annual Parisian Soirée, and she continues to sing weekly in the professional choir at the historic Mariners’ Church of Detroit, as she has since 1994.

CHRISTOPHER SCHOLL, tenor, sang for almost 20 years in Europe, in opera, oratorio and recitals, in cities such as Munich, Mannheim, Kiel, Leipzig, Paris, Marseilles and Trieste. He joined the faculty of the College of Musical Arts at BGSU in 1997. Recent credits include recitals at BGSU, in Toledo, Ithaca, NY, DeKalb, IL, Saint Peter, MN, and Baltimore, MD; Messiah with Toledo Symphony; Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Detroit Civic Orchestra; Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin in Amarillo, TX; Greenbriar Chamber Music Series (Britten’s Serenade with Katharine Caliendo, horn, and members of the Houston Symphony); Elder Hayes in Carlyle Floyd’s Susannah at Toledo Opera, and a recent series of recitals in Bangkok, Thailand.

ELLEN STRBA SCHOLL, mezzo-soprano, holds degrees from Northern Illinois University and De Paul University. She sang professionally for 15 years in Europe, including Bavarian State Opera (Munich), and TV and radio appearances. Her opera roles include Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro, Dorabella in Cosi fan tutte, Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier and Conception in L’Heure Espagnol; oratorio roles include Attalia, Messiah, Samson, and Elijah. She as sung under conductors Klaus Peter Seibel, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Sir Colin Davis, Michael Tilson thomas, Zubin Metha, Josef Leitner, Michael Halasz, Martin Fischer-Dieskau, and Don Neuen of the Crystal Cathedral; formerly on faculty at the Christian Albrecht Universitaet in Kiel, Germany; two-time winner of the Metropolitan Opera district competition.

KYLE SCHREIBER, soprano, recently graduated from BGSU, where she earned her MM in Vocal Performance. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance with a minor in Theatre from Ball State University. Schreiber’s opera credits include Jennie Hildebrand (Street Scene), Lola (Cavalleria Rusticana), The Youngest Daughter of Jerusalem (The Songs of Solomon: A New Work), Micaëla (La Tragédie de Carmen), Kätchen (Werther), and work with the Michigan Opera Theatre chorus.

ELIZABETH VOGEL, soprano, is soon to graduate from BGSU with a Bachelor of Music Education degree. In her time at Bowling Green, she appeared in several of the opera program’s productions, including Amahl and the Night Visitors, Cavalleria Rusticana, The Gondoliers, and in the role of Mrs. Fiorentino in Street Scene. Her solo credits include Mozart’s Missa Brevis in D major and Handel’s Messiah. Elizabeth was also a featured oboist at BGSU, working with all major ensembles.

O U R C O - DIRECTORS Kevin Bylsma and Jane Schoonmaker Rodgers have been collaborators since 1990. In 1994 they founded the annual Art Fair Song Fest, which eventually gave birth to its own parent organization, The Ann Arbor Festival of Song, presenting offerings of art song and vocal chamber music. Among their credits as a performing duo are the American Composers’ Alliance Festival of American Music (NYC), Society for New Music, Pro Musica of Detroit, Camphill Village of Copake, NY, Civic Morning Musicals (Syracuse, NY), the Cleveland Art Song Festival, and the Song Collaborators’ Consortia Art Song Festival.

THE ANN ARBOR FESTIVAL OF SONG Co-Directors: Kevin Bylsma, Jane Schoonmaker Rodgers Email: [email protected] On the Web: www.a2fos.org US Mail: PO Box 3181; Ann Arbor, MI 48106 THE ANN ARBOR FESTIVAL OF SONG IS A MICHIGAN NON-PROFIT CORPORATION

M A N Y THANKS T O OUR GENEROUS SUPPO RTERS! The following list reflects total gifts to The Ann Arbor Festival of Song from 1994 to the present:

DIVINE BEINGS Tricia DeBoer/Deboer Gallery Dr. Donald Hartmann ($800 OR MORE) John Glenn HS Vocal Music Dept. Hollander's “A grateful parishioner at Jim King/King’s Keyboard House Carol E. Johnson Mariners’ Church” Vintage to Vogue Kav's Kafé William & Sally Benner David & Peggy Pennock Family of Kenneth J. Bylsma, Sr. CHERUBIM Drs. Daniel & Jennifer Schuetz Irene Fritz ($100 OR MORE): Eric & Dina Winter John and Janet Knapp Adrian Symphony/ Opera!Lenawee Deanna Relyea Peter & Liza Dale/Encore Recordings PATRONS David. C. Rodgers & family Kenneth & Norma Freeman ($25 OR MORE): Kenneth J. Sweetman Tim & Lily Kittle/Lily’s Garden Denise Boumaroun Dr. Christopher Layne/Layne Psychological Naomi Donaldson ARCHANGELS Services Dragon's Lair Futons ($300 OR MORE): Richard LeSueur Barbara & Jeffrey Duncan Eleni & Vassos Avgoustis/Cyprus Mike Potter/Hill O'Beans Marcia Hall Taverna Marlene Rodgers/Of Gothic Proportions Nano & J.R. Roberts Ellen & Bob Frick: “In Memory of Robert & Mary Ellen Schoonmaker Miriam Samson Margaret Steinfeldt and Alice Rodgers” Helen Stamos/Stamos Travel Kate Soper Thomas & Barbara Smith Hilbish Julie Young/Encore Studio That Coffee Place at Kerrytown Bishop Richard Ingalls Zingerman’s Bakehouse Jim Leonard/SKR Classical FRIENDS Anita Tanner/Animalia Gallery SPONSORS ($10 OR MORE): ($50 OR MORE): Julie & Patrick O’Donovan SERAPHIM Bank of Ann Arbor Stephen C. & Kay L. Oldstrom ($200 OR MORE): Dr. James M. Bumford, D.D.S. Allen Schrott "Anonymous" Ellwood Derr Lisa Van Houten Walhout Lawrence Berlin Aaron & Sherry Gara

BECOME A SUPPORTER: We need and welcome financial support! Our presentations are funded by generous individual donors and local merchants, as well as by ticket sales for our special events. Gifts over $10 will be acknowledged in every program we present from now until the end of time (see above), as well as on our Website (www.a2fos.org--currently being updated!). We are very happy to add links to our sponsors' professional web pages. The Ann Arbor Festival of Song; PO Box 3181; Ann Arbor, MI 48106