SPRING 2012 RECAP // COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES // CURRENT VAP NEWS VAP ALUMNI NEWS // FACULTY AND STAFF NEWS // SPOTLIGHT: TINSON LAM
LATE SPRING 2012 RECAP
PHOTO: BILL MCCORMACK
VAP Singers prepare to perform at the Fenn School choral festival in Concord
Members of the Youth Chorus perform a song at the VAP Spring Choral Ensembles Concert at Boston Latin School
On April 23, VAP Singers participated in a new youth choral festival organized by Olivia Achtmeyer at the Fenn School in Concord. Singers performed alongside the Fenn School Treble Chorus, Nashoba Notes, and Voices of Brookline. Many thanks to the Fenn School for a wonderful post-concert reception! On March 5, the Youth Chorus sang Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Heritage Chorale, conducted by H&H Associate Conductor John Finney, at St. Mark’s School in Southborough. Baritone soloist Philip Lima, a former singer in H&H’s education program, said it was “the best youth chorus performance of this challenging work” he’s heard. On May 14, the VAP Spring Choral Ensembles Concert was held at Boston Latin School. H&H violinist Christina Day Martinson joined Singers for two pieces, and the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Choruses combined forces for three chorales from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, which they performed with H&H at Symphony Hall in March and April. VAP bid farewell to 15 seniors, who will attend Boston University, Ithaca College, University of Illinois, Berklee, Hartt School of Music, and other colleges and conservatories.
CONGRATULATIONS! COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES
PHOTO: DAVID MURRAY
VAP Soloists gather for a group photo after their Spring Recital at New England Conservatory’s Williams Hall
Isaac Ardon Salem State College (theatre)
Annina Hsieh Ithaca College (vocal performance)
Michael Buckhout Hartt School of Music (musical theater)
Michelle Klevsky University of Illinois, Urbana (vocal performance)
Brian Caulfield Suffolk University (communications)
Kayla McDermott UMass Amherst (music)
Nic Damasio Emmanuel College (pre-med)
Tannishtha Pramanick University of Toronto
Joseph Fanning Salem State University (technical theater, stage management) Lynea German Berklee College of Music (vocal performance) Adam Harding Keene State College (biology, with a minor in music) Kathryn Hopkins Marymount Manhattan College (theatre)
Jan-Christian Reyes North Shore Community College (information technology) Nicole Soldano Towson University Rachel Steinberg Boston University (vocal performance) Asa Sutton Wheaton College
CURRENT VAP NEWS SINGERS/YOUTH CHORUS Jaimee Boag performed Jar of Hearts in the Joyce Middle School (Woburn) talent show on May 5. Gabriel Clark has been cast as Daniel in Next Generation Theatre Company’s production of Once on this Island Jr. in Needham. Performance dates are June 22–24. Francesca Hsieh will attend Creative Arts at Park camp this summer.
YOUNG MEN’S CHORUS/YOUNG WOMEN’S CHORUS/SOLOISTS Alison Cameron played Ms. Millennium in Lexington High School’s presentation of Urinetown: The Musical in early May. Katherine Corneilson is currently Vice President of Medford High School’s Drama Club (President-elect for 2013) and was honored with the Wellesley College Book Award on May 2. Adam Harding appeared in the Yeston/ Stone musical Titanic with Stagecoach Production Company, and Chicago with Actorsingers, both in Nashua, New Hampshire. This summer he will perform in Oregon County. Lynea German and Rachel Steinberg won the Voice Department Award from New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory School. Lynea will graduate with an associate’s degree in liberal arts and science studies and a high school diploma from her dual enrollment at Mount Wachusett Community College and Pathways Early College Innovation School. Tinson Lam, currently a rising sophomore at Lowell High School, has been selected to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine (NYLF/MED) in San Francisco in July. As an NYLF/MED scholar,
VAP ALUMNI NEWS
Tinson will be immersed in the medical community through visits to leading hospitals, clinics, and other medical facilities dedicated to the care and treatment of patients.
Angelica Carey (YWC ’08) graduated from UMass Amherst in May with a degree in anthropology and a minor in music. She is moving to Mississippi to accept a full-time position as a music teacher.
Bailey Lee, Stephenson Lee, and Lucas Mazzotti were honored with Medford High School’s Triple Crown Award for excellence in sports, performing arts, and academics on May 17. Lucas also earned a gold medal in the National Spanish Exam and was the recipient of the St. Michael’s College Book Award. Bailey Lee and Katherine Corneilson received student leadership awards as co-captains for coaching the Medford High Glee Club.
Angela (Chez) Lafontant (Soloists ’96) is a foreign language teacher at West Roxbury Academy. Her children, Michaella and Michaells, sing in VAP Singers and Young Men’s Chorus.
Michael Paladino received the First Alto (sax) standing musicianship award at the Reading Jazz Festival in March and earned the rank of Eagle Scout on April 2. He also received a Middlesex League Principal’s Association SILS Award on April 24 for Service, Integrity, Leadership, and Spirit. He performed the role of Max Detwieler in The Sound of Music at Woburn High School in April. Ruby Sands received a Performing Arts and Music Leadership award from Winchester High School on May 23. Abigail Schuliger has been selected as a 2012 John Hancock MLK Summer Scholar with H&H this summer. She will work in the education, artistic, marketing, and development departments. Sydney Smith is a member of Dance Company B at DanceWorks in Quincy and will participate in its annual recital in June. She has studied tap, ballet, and jazz for eight years. She will be a Junior Counselor at the Community Music Center of Boston’s SummerARTS program from June 25 to July 20. Zoe Weisskoff has been accepted to Walnut Hill School’s Summer Theater program from June 23 to July 29.
Triana Chez (Soloists ’98, Maze Award ’99) is a senior analyst in the audit department of BNY Mellon. Anna Lee Hirschi (’11 YWC) has completed her freshman year at Smith College. She is studying early music with Bob Eisenstein and voice with Jane Bryden. She will be teaching with Breakthrough Cambridge and continuing private voice lessons this summer. Diana Hughes (’11 YWC) is a summer intern at the law firm of Bowditch & Dewey and at the Elizabeth Warren Senate Campaign. She completed her freshman year at SUNY Binghamton and will transfer to Boston University next fall to major in political science and international relations. Meredith Lustig (Soloists ’04, YWC ’05) sang in New York City Opera’s production of Telemann’s Orpheus at El Museo del Barrio on May 12–15. The New York Times’ chief music critic, Anthony Tommasini, deemed Meredith “the radiant soprano” in her role as one of Eurydice’s bridesmaids. Meredith made her professional and company debut with New York City Opera as Giannetta in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love) in March 2011.
FACULTY AND STAFF NEWS Michael Maloney (Soloists ’09) played at District 7 in Malden as part of a cover band in April and at Green Medford at Medford City Hall on April 28. He’ll also appear at farmers markets in Medford Square (June 14, 3–5pm), Peabody (4–6pm, Central Street), and Winchester Town Common (July 14, 9.30–11.30am), and at the Yankee Homecoming in Newburyport (July 31, 1.30–3pm). Catherine Parrotta (Soloists ’03) joined WFXT FOX25 News as a general assignment reporter in March. She came to WFXT from WGME-TV in Portland, Maine, where she served as a weekend anchor and ace field reporter. During her five years at WGME, Catherine covered an incredible range of stories, from the ongoing investigation of missing toddler Ayla Reynolds to security threats along the northern border of the United States. Catherine graduated summa cum laude from Emerson College with a degree in broadcast journalism. Rebecca Priestly (Soloists/Achtmeyer Award ’10), a rising senior at the Eastman School of Music, will participate in the “Si parla, si canta” program at the Centro Studi Italiani School (Benton Hess, Artistic Director) in Urbana, Italy, from June 2 to July 14. She will study vocal technique, advanced diction, and Baroque performance practices while living with a host family. Victoria Shum (’09 YWC) is a rising senior at Syracuse University studying illustration and English. Wenqian (Wendy) Wang (Soloists/Achtmeyer Award ’07, Maze Award ’08) will enter the Vienna Conservatory this fall for a Master of Music in opera. She gave her senior recital in Williams Hall at New England Conservatory on May 13 and graduated this May from the Harvard/NEC five-year dual degree program.
VOCAL QUARTET NEWS Carrie Cheron travelled to New Orleans with a group from the Berklee College of Music from May 14–20 for a Habitat for Humanity building project. Christian Figueroa is a new member of the Boston Musical Theater, a vocal and instrumental ensemble based in Newton specializing in the performance of classic American popular music in the States and abroad. They will present three performances of Music of the Americas, South and North this June in Wellesley, Newton, and Watertown. The program features songs from Cuba, Brazil, Argentina, and Puerto Rico; American songs inspired by Latin rhythms; rumba, bolero, tango, and more. For information, see bostonmusicaltheater.org. RaShaun Campbell will travel to Vienna this summer for a series of recitals and will also appear in Cape Cod Opera’s production of Don Pasquale on August 3 and 5. Sonja Tengblad and former quartet member Emily Marvosh performed with the Lorelei Ensemble on May 18 and 19 and will perform at the Monadnock Music Festival in New Hampshire on August 10.
FORMER QUARTET MEMBERS Congratulations to Anne (Kissel) Harper and Joe Dan Harper, who welcomed their son Elias John Harper on April 12. Elias joins his big sister Amelia, age 8. Emily Marvosh was a soloist in Boston Camerata’s Patriots and Heroes: An American Pantheon in Music on April 16 and in Bach’s St. John Passion at the Kalamazoo Bach Festival on April 21. She will also sing in Chabrier’s Le roi malgré lui (The King in Spite of Himself) on the Bard SummerScape season on July 27, 29, and August 1 and 5.
Teresa Wakim was the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate and Coronation Mass with H&H on April 27 and 29. Boston Classical Review reported that Wakim “projected the text with admirable phrasing and diction” and “was simply ravishing in the solo of the concluding Agnus Dei, drawing listeners into her exquisite pianissimos and turns of phrase, her pure tone sparingly touched with expressive vibrato.”
EDUCATION FACULTY Alyson Greer (Young Women’s Chorus conductor) is one of two winners of the 2012 Allen C. Lannom Endowment Trust Award, which provides funding for the mentorship of young conductors. Ms. Greer will study conducting with Dr. Daniel Bara (University of Georgia) at the Massachusetts ACDA Summer Conference, held July 15–18 at Gordon College. Christopher Martin (music theory instructor) will teach a summer choral seminar, “Choral Rehearsal Vocal Techniques,” on July 10–11 for K–8 music educators at Worcester State University. Clara Sandler (voice instructor) will present recitals on June 3 at Longy School of Music and June 14 (with Sara Goldstein Gall) at NEC. On July 17, she will sing a program of Spanish music in Wellfleet with the Boston Arts Consort. Clara is finishing her first year of training in Alexander Technique at the AT Center of Cambridge. Michelle Shoemaker (music theory instructor) served as a woodwind adjudicator for the Milton Young Musicians Festival on May 12. Joseph Stillitano (Young Men’s Chorus conductor) was the middle school conductor for the Boston Public Schools Choral Festival on May 31.
SPOTLIGHT: TINSON LAM MEMBER, YOUNG MEN’S CHORUS
Rising sophomore at Lowell High School What would you tell your friends if they asked you what VAP is? I would tell my friends that VAP is a Vocal Apprenticeship Program which provides singers with the opportunity to study voice and music theory. The Young Men’s Chorus inspires young men who are singers to reach their full musical potential. It also helps them to gain more knowledge of the music field by performing and interacting with other musicians. By attending VAP, young men develop the motivation and compassion of singing and learning music that will last for a lifetime. What is your favorite thing about VAP? My favorite thing about VAP is how I get to meet other young singers and make lots of friends who are willing to learn about themselves and sing from their hearts. With the guidance of conductors and mentors, my musical skills and talent become more developed. What do you like about singing? Singing lets me express my inner feelings. Every song tells a story, so when I sing a song, the bond between me and the song allows my passion and spirituality to tell the message. Why do you want to sing? I want to sing because I want to be a music teacher and professional singer someday. What do you like about learning music on Saturday? I am very busy during weekdays between schoolwork and activities. Saturdays are perfect days to focus on learning music. What is your favorite VAP moment? Performing with professional musicians and building friendships during rehearsals. What do you like to do when you are not singing? I like playing piano and violin, reading, writing, watching movies, and chatting with friends online.
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Join the Handel and Haydn Society and Artistic Director Harry Christophers for an unforgettable season featuring H&H’s Period Instrument Orchestra and Chorus and a roster of acclaimed artists.
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BACH MAGNIFICAT Oct 12 & 14, 2012 at Symphony Hall
HAYDN IN PARIS Feb 22 & 24, 2013 at Symphony Hall
MOZART JUPITER Nov 9 & 11, 2012 at Symphony Hall
BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY NO. 7 Mar 15 & 17, 2013 at Symphony Hall
HANDEL MESSIAH Nov 30, Dec 1 & 2, 2012 at Symphony Hall
VIVALDI VIRTUOSI Apr 5 & 7, 2013 at NEC’s Jordan Hall
BACH CHRISTMAS ORATORIO Dec 13 & 16, 2012 at NEC’s Jordan Hall
HANDEL JEPHTHA May 3 & 5, 2013 at Symphony Hall
PURCELL THE INDIAN QUEEN Jan 25, 2013 at NEC’s Jordan Hall Jan 27, 2013 at Sanders Theatre
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