MOZART’S Requiem A TAPESTRY
A Masterpiece Reimagined
MOZART Requiem
and Exsultate, jubilate
Jeannette Sorrell | Apollo’s Fire | Apollo’s Singers “Thoroughly enjoyable… a glorious sound.”
Available for sale in the lobby at intermission and after the concert. Also available digitally on Amazon & Spotify or for purchase online at apollosfire.org
Board of Directors
Chair
Charles A. Bittenbender
Chair Emeritus
James B. Rosenthal
Vice Chairs
Michael J. Meehan
Noha Ryder
Treasurer
Ryan Siebel
Assistant Treasurer
Meng “Locky” Liu
Secretary
Andrew Gordon-Seifert
Jeffrey P. Barnett
Karl Bekeny
Amy K. Carlson
Kathleen Cerveny*
Thomas Clark*
Patricia Costante
Nicole Divall**
Michael Frank, M.D. J.D.
Ka-Pi Hoh, Ph.D.
Thomas Forrest Kelly, Ph.D.
Richard J. Lederman, M.D. Ph.D.
John Olejko
Linda M. Olejko
Kim S. Parry
William A. Powel
David J. Reimer
Phillip Rowland-Seymour
Elisa Ross, M.D.
Jeannette Sorrell*
Kathie Stewart**
Rebecca Storey
Herb Wainer
David Walker*
Ed Weber, D.O.
Apollo’s Fire Chicago
Elisa Ross M.D., President
Katrina Pipasts, President Emeritus
Doug Miller, Vice President
Patricia (“Patti”) Skigen, Secretary
Shay Olson, Treasurer
Michael Angell
Charles A. Bittenbender
Stephanie Champi
Patricia Costante
Blondean Davis, Ed.D.
Rosalind Jackson, Ph.D.
Marietta McPike
Michael J. Meehan
Florence Nelson
Phillip Rowland-Seymour
James C. Sheinin, M.D.
Jeannette Sorrell*
David Walker*
Community Advisors
Rodrigo Lara Alonso
Nathália Montezuma
Dianna White-Gould
Akron Advisory Board
Thomas Clark, chair
Theron Brown
Esther Cooper
Susan Delahanty
Continuo Society
Barbara Feld
Ashlee Foreman
William Foster
Walter Keith
Geraldine Kiefer
George Litman, M.D.
Kenneth E. Shafer, M.D.
Sandra R. Smith
Libby Upton
David Walker*
The Ambassadors Council
Mitchell G. Blair
Frances S. Buchholzer
Robert Conrad
William E. Conway
Samuel S. Hartwell
Vivian Henoch
Rabbi Roger C. Klein
Annette Lowe
Deb Nash
John Olejko
Linda M. Olejko
Robert Reynolds, M.D.
Allison Richards
Kasia G. Rothenberg, M.D., Ph.D.
Sandra R. Smith
Susan Troia
Ed Weber, D.O.
*ex officio
**Musicians’ Representative
Apollo’s Fire recognizes and sends continued thanks to all former members of the Board of Directors who have so generously contributed their time, talents and financial resources over the years. Just as the continuo is the foundation of baroque music, these visionary individuals, through their service on the board, have been the foundation of Apollo’s Fire.
Thomas S. Allen
Bonnie Baker
James Berlinski
William P. Blair III†
Christine Brez
Arthur V. N. Brooks†
Sally Brown†
Richard Buffett
Thomas Clark
Nancy Bell Coe
Ronald Crutcher
T. Clifford Deveny, M.D.
Clarence Drichta
Ross W. Duffin
James Ehrman
Ann Fairhurst
Suzanne Ferguson
William J. Flemm
Mark Floyd
John Gibbon
Robert C. Gilkeson, M.D.
Scott Gonia
Joyce Graham
Paula Grooms
Norman C. Harbert†
Russell Hardy
Samuel Harris
Jonathan Hatch
John D. Heavenrich
Marguerite B. Humphrey†
Conway Ivy
Denise Jackson
Robert H. Jackson†
Delia Jarantilla
Marjorie H. Kitchell†
Katherine Larson
Donald Laubacher
William H. Lennon
Fred J. Livingstone
David Love
Michael Lynn
Stephen A. Mahoney, M.D.†
Polly Morganstern
Donald W. Morrison†
Clyde L. Nash, M.D.†
Charlotte Newman
Leroy B. Parks, Jr.
Brendan Patterson
Thomas F. Peterson, Jr.
Jane Pickering
Ronald Potts, M.D.
Sanford Reichart
Robert Reynolds, M.D.
Shawn Riley
Richard Rodda
Alex Sales, D.D.S.
Sandra F. Selby
William Sheldon, M.D.
John Shelley
Daniel Shoskes
Carsten Sierck
Kempton Smith
Kathie Lynne Stewart
Eugenia Strauss
Susan Troia
Lee Warshawsky
Carol Wipper
Lynne Woodman
Roger Wright
Dave Young
Welcome to Mozart's REQUIEM - A Tapestry
We are excited for you to share in tonight’s performance, which we believe is an important extension of Apollo’s Fire’s Mosaic Project, and our Community Access Initiative.
The fundamental premise of the Community Access Initiative in general, and the Mosaic Project in particular, is that the arts are most compelling when they truly represent our diverse communities, particularly on stage and in our audiences.
Through the MOSAIC Project, we are proud to nurture the careers of outstanding artists of color, while helping to build a more diverse classical music scene in the future. Our musicians teach and mentor talented young musicians from diverse backgrounds in Northeast Ohio and Chicago, through our school workshops, fellowships, and more.
Please visit apollosfire.org to learn more about our Community Access Initiative and Mosaic Project.
Thank you for your important support of our beloved orchestra and chorus, Apollo's Fire. Enjoy the concert!
Charles A. Bittenbender, Chair of the Board
As Charles notes, tonight marks a strong connection to our Community Access Initiatives and an important culmination of our Mosaic Project’s fifth season.
This immersive performance interweaves Mozart’s REQUIEM, a work of plaintive, yet radiant beauty, with moving selections from related spiritual works of three leading Black composers of our time.
Mozart wrote his unfinished masterpiece in 1791, on his deathbed, and in his hands the ancient requiem mass becomes an expression of hope and transcendence. Likewise, our featured composers’ music evokes personal journeys through grief, to hope, and to joy.
Our commissioned, world-premiere performance of Eric Gould’s 1791: Requiem for the Ancestors, Damien Geter’s An African American Requiem, and Jessie Montgomery’s Five Freedom Songs also resonate with similar tones of the aspirations for democracy, during economic uncertainty, which were occurring in Mozart’s time.
Thank you for being a part of what we believe is a vital celebration of many voices. It is because of you, our Apollo’s Fire family, that we can accomplish transformative music making.
David Walker, Managing Director
The performance of Mozart's Requiem - A Tapestry is generously underwritten by
JENNIFER & TIM SMUCKER
The commission for Eric Gould’s 1791: Requiem for the Ancestors was generously underwritten by
SONJIA SMITH
Community Ticket Underwriting for the Severance Music Center performance generously provided by
HERB & JODY WAINER
and made possible with additional support from the
Performing on historical instruments, Apollo’s Fire brings to life music of the past for audiences of today — with Passion. Period.
MOZART’S
Requiem A TAPESTRY
A Masterpiece Reimagined
Jeannette Sorrell, conductor & program curation
*Sonya Headlam, soprano
Guadalupe Paz, mezzo-soprano
Jacob Perry, tenor
Kevin Deas, bass-baritone
with **Elora Kares, soprano
Charles Wesley Evans, baritone and APOLLO’S SINGERS
*Apollo’s Fire MOSAIC Artist
**Apollo’s Fire Young Artist Fellow
Friday, November 7, 7:30pm St. Bernard Catholic Church, Akron
Saturday, November 8, 7:30pm Severance Music Center, Cleveland
Sunday, November 9, 4:00pm Early Music Columbus
This Requiem concert is dedicated in memory
of all of the innocent victims –especially children –who have perished this year in conflicts around the world.
Et lux perpetua luceat eis.
May perpetual light shine on them.
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Requiem in D minor, KV 626
(1756-1791)
interwoven with selected movements from
An African American Requiem – Damien Geter (b. 1980)
1791: Requiem for the Ancestors (World Premiere) – Eric Gould (b. 1957)
Five Freedom Songs – Jessie Montgomery (b. 1981)
Voices of 1791 – Jeannette Sorrell (b. 1965)
Program
I. REMEMBER THEM
MOZART Introitus
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine
Grant them eternal rest, Lord!
SORRELL Voices of 1791
In 1791, a ship embarked from the west coast of Africa…
Kevin Deas, bass-baritone; Sonya Headlam, soprano
MOZART Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.
II. MOTHERLESS CHILD
GOULD A Mother’s Pain
Shrouded by a pale moon’s light, he finds me…
Sonya Headlam, soprano
MOZART Dies Irae, dies illa solvet saeclum in favilla.
Day of wrath, day of anger will dissolve the world in ashes.
TRADITIONAL Black Spiritual, arr. Sorrell
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child…
Kevin Deas, bass-baritone
III. THE KING OF GLORY
MOZART Tuba Mirum spargens sonum per sepulcra regionum
The trumpet will send its wondrous sound throughout earth's sepulchres… Kevin Deas, bass-baritone
MOZART Rex Tremendae majestatis, qui salvandos… King of tremendous majesty, who saves the worthy…
MOZART Recordare
Recordare, Jesu pie, quod sum causa tuae viae… Remember, kind Jesus, my salvation caused your suffering…
GOULD Phillis’ Song
Should you, my lord, while you peruse my song, Wonder from whence my love of Freedom sprung…
Elora Kares, soprano
GETER Sanctus Kum ba yah
Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba yah Come by here, my Lord…
Jacob Perry, tenor
Intermission
IV. ON THE PRECIPICE
GETER Lacrimosa dies ila…
That day of tears and mourning…
MOZART Confutatis maleditctis…
When the accused are confounded…
MOZART Lacrimosa dies ila…
That day of tears and mourning…
TRAD. Black Spiritual, arr. J. Montgomery
My father, how long will our people suffer here?
Sonya Headlam, soprano
V. DELIVER US FROM EVIL
MOZART Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae…
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory…
MOZART Hostias et preces tibi, Domine, laudis offerimus…
Sacrifices and prayers of praise, Lord…
TRADITIONAL Black Spiritual
Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen
Charles Wesley Evans, baritone
MOZART Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi…
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world…
MOZART Lux Aeterna luceat eis, Domine… cum Sanctis tuis…
Let eternal light shine on them, Lord… as with your Saints...
VI. WE’LL HEAR THE SAINTS A-SINGIN’
GETER Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi…
Lamb of God, who takes away the sing of the world…
TRADITIONAL Black Spiritual, arr. J. Montgomery
The Day of Judgment
And de moon will turn to blood in dat day…
Kevin Deas, Sonya Headlam, & Company
Texts & Translations
I. REMEMBER THEM
INTROITUS
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem. Exaudi orationem meam, ad te omnis caro veniet.
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
VOICES OF 1791
Text by Jeannette Sorrell
Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them. You are praised, God, in Zion, and homage will be paid to You in Jerusalem. Hear my prayer, to You all flesh will come. Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them.
In 1791, an over-crowded ship embarked from the West coast of Africa.
The voices of hundreds of enslaved people in the darkness of the ship’s lower hold rang up to heaven.
Ah, the darkness!
We’ll be strong, oh my love, God will help us rise above. Lord, have mercy.
Heav’n awaits, oh my Lord, When we reach that farther shore. Lord, have mercy.
May everlasting light shine upon them.
KYRIE
Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.
Mozart's REQUIEM - A Tapestry
II. MOTHERLESS
CHILD
GOULD: A MOTHER’S PAIN
Text by Eric Gould
Shrouded by a pale moon’s light he finds me. I lay shrinking in my bed with fright, cursed with beauty, and born to be the object of his cruel delight. By day he says that Black is ugly, but he seeks me out at night.
Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy.
Once he’s gone, I clean my skin, but can’t remove the feeling deep within of violation. My heart bleeds with indignation. But now I must rest, for the new day begins.
Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy.
A child is born and you know him not, born into a cursed lot he does not know. The time will come when he must go away from those who love him so, and then begins his Soul to rot.
Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy.
I raise your child and watch him grow, with little time to help my own, to learn what I must teach him to live on when he is grown. He too is cursed, with strength and wit, to travel on his path alone.
Kyrie eleison. Lord, have mercy.
DIES IRAE
Dies irae, dies illa Solvet saeclum in favilla, teste David cum Sibylla. Quantus tremor est futurus, quando judex est venturus, cuncta stricte discussurus!
Day of wrath, that dreadful day shall the world in ashes lay, as David and the Sibyl say. What horror must invade the mind, when the Judge shall come to examine all things closely!
Texts & Translations (continued)
MOTHERLESS CHILD
Traditional African American Spiritual
Sometimes I feel like a motherless child, A long way from home.
III. THE KING OF GLORY
TUBA MIRUM
Tuba mirum spargens sonum per sepulcra regionum, coget omnes ante thronum.
Mors stupebit et natura, cum resurget creatura, judicanti responsura.
Liber scriptus proferetur, in quo totum continetur, unde mundus judicetur.
Judex ergo cum sedebit, quidquid latet, apparebit, nil inultum remanebit.
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus? quem patronum rogaturus, cum vix justus sit securus?
REX TREMENDAE
Rex tremendae majestatis, qui salvandos salvas gratis, salve me, fons pietatis.
The trumpet’s wondrous tone shall rend each tomb’s sepulchral stone, and summon all before the throne.
Death and nature with surprise, behold the trembling sinners rise, to meet the Judge’s searching eyes.
Then with universal dread, the book of consciences be read, to judge the lives of all the dead.
For now before the Judge severe, all hidden things must plain appear, no crime can pass unpunished.
So what shall I so guilty plead? and who for me will intercede, when even saints shall comfort need?
King of tremendous majesty, who freely saves those worthy ones, save me, source of mercy.
Mozart's REQUIEM - A Tapestry
RECORDARE
Recordare, Jesu pie, quod sum causa tuae viae; ne me perdas illa die.
Quaerens me, sedisti lassus, redemisti crucem passus; tantus labor non sit cassus.
Juste judex ultionis, donum fac remissionis ante diem rationis.
Ingemisco, tamquam reus: culpa rubet vultus meus; supplicanti parce, Deus.
Qui Mariam absolvisti, et latronem exaudisti, mihi quoque spem dedisti.
Preces meae non sunt dignae, sed tu bonus fac benigne, ne perenni cremer igne.
Inter oves locum praesta, Et ab haedis me sequestra, Statuens in parte dextra.
GOULD: PHILLIS’ SONG
Remember, kind Jesus, my salvation caused your suffering; do not forsake me on that day.
Faint and weary you have sought me, redeemed me, suffering on the cross; may such great effort not be in vain.
Judge of justice for pity take my sins away before the dreadful reckoning day.
I moan as one who is guilty: owning my shame with a red face; suppliant before you, Lord.
You, who absolved Mary, and mercy for the robber find, give me hope also.
My prayers are unworthy, but, good Lord, have mercy, and rescue me from eternal fire.
Provide me a place among the sheep, and separate me from the goats, guiding me to Your right hand.
Text from “To The Right Honourable William Earl of Dartmouth” (1772) by Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784)
Whence flow these wishes for the common good, By feeling hearts alone best understood, I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate
Was snatch’d from Afric’s fancy’d happy seat: What pangs excruciating must molest, What sorrows labour in my parent’s breast? Steel’d was that soul and by no misery mov’d That from a father seiz’d his babe belov’d: Such, such my case. And can I then but pray
Others may never feel tyrannic sway?
Texts & Translations (continued)
GETER: SANCTUS - KUM BA YAH
Text: Traditional Gullah Spiritual
Kum ba yah, my Lord, Oh Lord, kum ba yah.
Somebody’s prayin’ Lord, Oh Lord, kum ba yah.
Somebody’s singin’ Lord...
IV. ON THE PRECIPICE
GETER: LACRIMOSA
Lacrimosa dies illa, qua resurget ex favilla judicandus homo reus.
Huic ergo parce, Deus, pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Amen.
CONFUTATIS
Confutatis maledictis, flammis acribus addictis, voca me cum benedictus.
Oro supplex et acclinis, cor contritum quasi cinis, gere curam mei finis.
LACRIMOSA
Lacrimosa dies illa, qua resurget ex favilla judicandus homo reus.
For the sun that rises in the sky. For the rhythm of the falling rain. For all the life great or small. For all that’s true for all you do.
Hear me singin’ Lord, Oh Lord, kum ba yah.
Someone needs you Lord...
That day of tears and mourning, when from the ashes shall arise, my heart like ashes, crushed and dry. gentle Lord Jesus, grant them eternal rest. Amen.
When the accused are confounded, and doomed to flames of woe, call me among the blessed.
Before you humbled, Lord, I lie, my heart like ashes crushed and dry, assist me when I die.
That day of tears and mourning, when from the ashes shall arise, my heart like ashes.
Mozart's REQUIEM - A Tapestry
MONTGOMERY: MY FATHER, HOW LONG?
Text: Traditional Spiritual from South Carolina
My father, how long, Will our people suffer here?
My mother, how long, Will our people suffer here?
We will soon be free, We will not suffer here.
We’ll walk de miry road, We'll walk de golden streets, We'll fight for liberty, We will not suffer here.
My brudders do sing, My sisters do sing, My people do sing, We will not suffer here.
’Cause it won’t be long, No it won’t be long, We will not suffer here.
And it won’t be long, No it won’t be long, We will not suffer...
V. DELIVER US FROM EVIL
DOMINE JESU
Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae, libera animas omnium fidelium defunctorum de poenis inferni et de profundo lacu.
Libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum.
Sed signifer sanctus Michael repraesentet eas in lucem sanctam. Quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini ejus.
HOSTIAS
Hostias et preces tibi, Domine, laudis offerimus.
Tu sucipe pro animabus illis, quaram hodie memoriam facimus. Fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam, Quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini ejus.
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, liberate the souls of the faithful, from the punishments of hell and from the deep abyss. Deliver them from the jaws of the lion, lest hell swallow them up, that they shall not fall into darkness. But may St. Michael, the standard bearer lead them to the holy light. Which was promised to Abraham and his descendants.
Sacrifices and prayers of praise, Lord, we offer to You. Receive them on behalf of those souls we commemorate today. And let them, Lord, pass from death to life, which was promised to Abraham and his descendants.
Texts & Translations (continued)
TRADITIONAL: NOBODY KNOWS DE TROUBLE I SEEN
Text: Traditional Spiritual
Nobody knows de trouble I seen, Lord, Nobody knows like Jesus.
Brothers, will you pray for me, An’ help me to drive ole Satan away. Nobody knows…
Mothers, will you pray for me, An’ help me to drive ole Satan away. Nobody knows…
AGNUS DEI
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem sempiternam.
LUX AETERNA
Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in aeternum, quia pius es.
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis, cum sanetis tuis in aeternum, quia pius es.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Grant them eternal rest. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them eternal rest forever.
May eternal light shine on them, Lord, with your saints for ever, for you are good. Grant them eternal rest, Lord, and may light perpetual shine upon them, for you are good.
Mozart's REQUIEM - A Tapestry
VI. WE’LL HEAR THE SAINTS A-SINGIN’
GETER: AGNUS DEI
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, dona eis requiem sempiternam.
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Grant them eternal rest. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, grant them eternal rest forever.
MONTGOMERY: THE DAY OF JUDGMENT
Text: Traditional Spiritual from Louisiana
And de moon will turn to blood In dat day — O-yoy, my soul! And de moon will turn to blood in dat day.
And you’ll see de stars a-fallin’ In dat day — O-yoy, my soul! And you’ll see de stars a-fallin’ in dat day.
And de world will be on fire In dat day — O-yoy, my soul! And de world will be on fire in dat day.
And you’ll hear de saints a-singin’ In dat day — O-yoy, my soul! And you’ll hear de saints a-singin’ in dat day.
Notes on the Program
A Requiem for our Time
by Jeannette Sorrell
One of the blessings of being involved in the arts is that masterpieces from the past have a way of becoming relevant – sometimes painfully – in our own time. In 1791, Mozart was composing his masterful Requiem against the backdrop of worldwide unrest and revolution – with struggles for democracy unfolding around him in France, Haiti, and the fledgling United States. The 35-year-old Mozart laid bare his soul in a work that remained unfinished. But that sense of incompleteness – the door left open, the words left hanging in the air – allows the work to be woven even more closely into the fabric of our own time.
I. Mozart’s Requiem: The Collision of Mysticism and Daily Life
And now I must go, just as it has become possible for me to live quietly. Now I must leave my art just as I had freed myself from the slavery of fashion, and won the privilege of following my own feelings and composing freely whatever my heart prompted! I must leave my poor children in the moment when I should have been able better to care for their welfare…. Did I not tell you that I was composing this “Requiem” for myself?
– Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, uttered on his deathbed (reported by Constanze Mozart)
To write a Requiem for oneself – an experience that perhaps none of us can
The Last Moments of Mozart Armand Mathey-Doret after Mihály Munkácsy (1844–1900)
Mozart's REQUIEM - A Tapestry
truly understand – is an idea that captures our imaginations and holds us rapt. No wonder Mozart’s Requiem haunts and moves us to a degree perhaps unsurpassed by any other classical work. Both the human terror and the mystical preparation for moving to the afterworld ring through, with an immediacy that stuns us in the Dies Irae and makes us weep in the Lacrimosa.
I am fascinated by how the ordinary, banal events of daily life sometimes run on a parallel course with the mystical journey evolving in the souls of individuals. And, as if guided from above, the two courses eventually intersect. At such moments, something extraordinary is created. Mozart’s Requiem seems to be one of these creations.
On the path of the ordinary and banal events of daily life, we have the Count Franz von Walsegg, an eccentric but harmless country landowner, who liked to host musicales in his home, performing pieces he had secretly commissioned from respected composers. The twist: he liked to pass these pieces off as his own compositions. In the summer of 1791, the Count sent his representative to Mozart. The anonymous messenger appeared on Mozart’s doorstep, presented a commission for a Mass for the Dead, delivered half the fee, and warned that it would be a waste of time to attempt to learn the name of his employer.
And on the path of mystical journey, we have Mozart, a devout Catholic, who had always held great reverence for the opportunity to compose sacred music. Mozart was known for reverent statements such as this:
I was initiated from earliest childhood in the mystical sanctuary of our religion… with all the vague but urgent feelings, one waits with a heart full of devotion for the divine service without really knowing what to expect; one rises lightened and uplifted without knowing what one has received; and one kneels under the touching strains of the Agnus Dei at the moment of the sacrament, with the music speaking in gentle joy from our hearts. True, this is lost in the hurly-burly of life. But in my case, when you take up the words you have heard a thousand times, for the purpose of setting them to music, everything comes back and you feel your soul moved again.
– Reported by Rochlitz in 1789
Posthumous portrait of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart by Barbara Krafft (1764-1825)
Notes on the Program (continued)
The two paths moved towards intersection in November 1791, when Mozart’s schedule lightened up after a highly successful run of The Magic Flute, which he conducted from the keyboard each night. Mozart sat down to begin the Requiem, and within a few weeks came thoughts of death – he believed he had been poisoned. Then came the illness that was to be his last. On 20 November he took to his bed and never left it again. The remaining sixteen days of his life were spent feverishly trying to finish the Requiem – his Requiem. Mozart completed the Introit and sketched the other movements up through Hostias. Under his supervision, his students Freistadtler and Sussmayr wrote out the string doublings and the trumpet and timpani parts for the Kyrie. A third student, Eybler, orchestrated the Dies Irae, Tuba Mirum, Rex Tremendae, Recordare, and Confutatis, possibly under Mozart’s supervision. He wrote his contributions directly into the autograph manuscript. On 5 December Mozart composed the first eight bars of the Lacrimosa. And then he breathed his last. He was 36.
And so, the two paths had intersected – or should we say collided? On one plane, Mozart wrote a Requiem for money, for a slightly demented anonymous patron; on the other plane, he wrote a mystical composition for his own death. What matters is that we have the miraculous creation of this collision.
We have part of it, that is. A Requiem would normally have three more movements: the Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei. After Mozart’s death, his impoverished widow Constanze desperately tried to get the trio of students to finish the piece so that she could collect the commission. She gave the assignment first to Eybler (it is tempting to suggest that he was abler than the others), who felt that he could not continue past measure eight of the Lacrimosa. He returned the score to her.
Constanza then turned to Sussmayr, who was known not to be Mozart’s best student by any means – but he seems to have had more chutzpah than Eybler. He composed a completion for the Lacrimosa, as well as a Sanctus and Benedictus. We do not perform these, since I find them to be a detraction from Mozart’s work. In addition to the banality of the Sanctus, Sussmayr’s work suffers from some basic harmonic errors such as Neapolitan chords incorrectly resolved, hidden fifths, and other disturbing flaws.
Lacrimosa
Mozart's REQUIEM - A Tapestry
Sussmayr cobbled together an Agnus Dei based on Mozart’s material. He claimed that Mozart instructed him to repeat the Kyrie fugue music at the end of the Agnus Dei. If this is true (which it might not be) it must have been a solution of desperation for Mozart - the only way to leave behind a performable Requiem. Having both finished and tarnished one of the greatest compositions in Western history, Sussmayr boldly forged Mozart’s signature on the manuscript, and off it went to the Count.
Since Mozart did leave us eight poignant bars of the Lacrimosa, several scholarcomposers have taken up the challenge of completing that movement, following in Sussmayr’s steps but with the benefit of more hindsight. In the past, and on our CD album of the Requiem, we performed a lovely completion by René Schiffer, our principal cellist, whose compositions in various historical styles have won much praise in Europe and North America. This week, however, I am choosing to perform the Lacrimosa just as Mozart left it for us – unfinished and hanging in the air after just eight exquisite bars.
Count Walsegg performed “his” Requiem on 12 December 1793. There was one rehearsal, and the Count conducted himself.
We in Apollo’s Fire are honored to be revisiting this piece for the third time, having performed it at our debut concert in 1992 (in a barn) and at our Tenth Anniversary Concert in 2002 (at Severance Hall). I am also overjoyed that seven of our longtime musicians who played in one or both of those concerts are still with us on stage this week – violinists Emi Tanabe and Marlisa del Cid Woody, violist Elizabeth Holzman Hagen, cellist René Schiffer, bassists Sue Yelanjian and Tracy Rowell, and flautist Kathie Stewart.
II. Weaving a Tapestry for our Time
How do you complete a concert program that consists mainly of a 38-minute incomplete masterpiece? As I pondered how to honor the legacy of Mozart’s unfinished Requiem, I thought about who Mozart was as a human being.
We know a lot from his letters. He was a humanist and an idealist; a member of the Masons, who in the 18th century represented the views of the Enlightenment. He was also a bold, controversial, and outspoken figure who cared very little for
Apollo's Fire at Severance Hall (2002)
Notes on the Program (continued)
titles and hierarchy. He wrote an opera on a play that had been banned because it was disrespectful to the aristocracy. He knew he would surely get in trouble for this, but he did it anyway. Society in his time demanded that artists (who were considered servants) be utterly meek and subservient to their aristocratic bosses. Mozart failed at that in a rather spectacular way – and it cost him his career and his ability to earn a living.
So I asked myself… if Mozart were here today, what would he say to us? What would he think about the moral decay that nearly always descends on a society when wealth and power become the all-consuming goal…? As a deeply religious person, what would he think about spending billions of dollars to deport hard-working immigrants, when the Bible tells us to be kind to the “stranger” (meaning foreigner) and to the poor? (Examples: Deuteronomy 10:19, Leviticus 19:34, Matthew 25:35, Hebrews 13:2, and more...) I think he would not be meek. He never was.
In the present moment, as the world teeters on a precipice in many ways, I am hoping to honor Mozart’s legacy by creating a more inclusive context for his unfinished masterpiece. So, I am interweaving this European music with movements from sacred-inspired works by three of America’s leading Black composers – along with two traditional pieces from the wonderful repertoire of African American spirituals (a genre which I consider to be among America’s finest cultural contributions).
As we strive to honor the humanity within us all, I am thrilled to perform selections from Eric Gould’s powerful new composition, 1791: Requiem for the Ancestors, commissioned by Apollo’s Fire; from Damien Geter’s brilliant and acclaimed work, An African American Requiem (2019); and to share with our audience some of the work by internationally acclaimed composer Jessie Montgomery, as we perform two of her Five Freedom Songs (2020).
A Requiem Tapestry is intended to bring together neighbors from different walks of life in a spiritual journey. When our great bass-baritone Kevin Deas so powerfully evokes the presence of a Black preacher as he comes forward to sing Mozart’s Tuba Mirum, I know that the meaning of Mozart’s text will touch us all: “The trumpet will send its wondrous sound throughout earth's sepulchres and gather all of us before the throne of God.” – All of us. We’re all in this journey together.
© Jeannette Sorrell, 2025 | Cleveland, Ohio
Mozart's gravestone in St. Marx's Cemetery, Vienna
Apollo’s Fire believes that the arts are most compelling when they truly represent our diverse communities, including people of color. Whether on stage or in the audience, the deep emotions of music resonate with all of us.
MEET A FEW MEMBERS OF OUR 2025-2026 MOSAIC TEAM
REGINALD MOBLEY, Visiting Artist for Diversity Outreach
Reginald is an internationally-respected countertenor with roots in the Deep South and the struggles of the Black community, He is dedicated to helping the classical music industry overcome its inequality issues regarding race, gender, and sexuality.
SONYA HEADLAM, MOSAIC Guest Artist
– Mozart's Requiem: A Tapestry
Born of Jamaican parentage, soprano Sonya Headlam brings passion to the stage in music from baroque to contemporary. She has performed in South America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia, as well as across the U.S.
GUADALUPE PAZ, MOSAIC Guest Artist
– Mozart's Requiem: A Tapestry
Tijuana-born mezzo-soprano Guadalupe Paz was a introduced to the revival of sacred repertoire at the early age of 6 years old. Since her professional debut in 2008, Paz has been an active performer for the National Opera Company of Bellas Artes in Mexico City.
ANDRÉA WALKER, MOSAIC Artist Fellow
– Dido & Aeneas, Praetorius Christmas Vespers & Family Concerts
Mexican-American soprano Andréa Walker is thrilled to help bring baroque and Hispanic folk music to new audiences in the Latinx community and beyond. She is pursuing her Doctorate in historical performance practice at Case Western Reserve University.
RODRIGO LARA ALONSO, MOSAIC Teaching Artist
– Family Concerts & School Workshops
Originally from Mexico City, guitarist Rodrigo Lara Alonso is an active teacher and performer. He serves as the Musical Pathway Fellowship Advisor at CIM; Educator & Latino Community Liason for the Cleveland Classical Guitar Society; and on AF's DEI Committee.
THE APOLLO'S FIRE
Whether you are in Northeast Ohio or Greater Chicago Indulge your addiction to AF’s “joyous
OCTOBER: OHIO 3 & 9-12 | CHICAGO 4-5
PURCELL’S Dido & Aeneas
A Dramatic Concert Presentation
The season opens in Ancient Egypt with a poignant legend of love and betrayal. Purcell's 17th century opera Dido & Aeneas is a gem of the baroque repertoire. The program also includes sparkling instrumental dances from Purcell’s King Arthur and The Fairy-Queen.
NOVEMBER: OHIO 7 & 8 (SEVERANCE MUSIC CENTER)
MOZART'S Requiem A TAPESTRY
Apollo’s Fire premieres a bold new program reflecting the vibrant tapestry of today’s society. In this journey through grief to hope and joy, Sorrell interweaves the movements of Mozart’s unfinished Requiem with selections from related spiritual works by three leading Black composers.
DECEMBER: OHIO 12 & 18-21 | CHICAGO 14-15
PRAETORIUS Christmas Vespers
Praised as “a sheer delight” (NY Times), AF's acclaimed Christmas program returns! The cathedral resounds in a splendor with antiphonal choirs trumpets, sackbuts, cornettos, lutes, harp, strings and recorders. Children’s voices shine in this haunting and joyous celebration of the Christ child.
JANUARY/FEBRUARY: OHIO 29-1 | CHICAGO 3-4
WINTER Sparks from Bach & Vivaldi
In this cozy winter program, eight AF musicians set sparks flying in virtuoso works of J.S. Bach, Telemann, Vivaldi, and more. Debra Nagy takes the spotlight in a lively Vivaldi oboe concerto, while Kathie Stewart and Alan Choo lead a fiery chamber performance of Bach’s Orchestral Suite no. 2
TICKETS & SUBSCRIPTIONS ARE ON SALE NOW! CALL
Chicago become a subscriber and save up to 20%! “joyous spontaneity” (THE NEW YORKER).
MARCH: OHIO 5-8
Palace of VERSAILLES
Apollo’s Fire visits the palace of Louis XIV – the Sun King, who was known to dress as our muse Apollo. The gorgeous music of Lully, Marais, and Rameau shows the orchestra at its finest. Flutes and theorbos join the strings in the sumptuous program full of the majesty of 17th-century France.
APRIL: OHIO 9-11 | CHICAGO 17-18
O Jerusalem!
Crossroads of Three Faiths
This evocative program is a loving tribute to the peoples whose music and faith brought such vibrancy to the Middle East. The rhythms of daily life – love, singing, dancing and prayer – culminate in a joyous celebration of shared humanity.
APRIL 16: OHIO – SPECIAL TOUR SEND-OFF
Fencing Match
Round Two
Inspired by the 18th-century tradition of instrumentalists facing off in friendly yet breathtaking displays of skill, AF principal players step into the spotlight with double-concertos by Bach, Vivaldi, and more. This program heads to London following the local performance!
Apollo’s Fire London Residency – Join Us!
APRIL 24-25: ST. MARTIN-IN-THE-FIELDS
Pubs & Palaces of 1610; Fencing Match - AF vs. The Brits! with the English Baroque Soloists; Baklava Bash - A Middle Eastern Celebration; and O Jerusalem!
APRIL 26: SNAPE MALTINGS, ALDEBURGH
Fencing Match –more details on pg. XX–
COMMUNITY ACCESS INITIATIVE
Share the Music. Share the Love.
Since 2017, Apollo's Fire's Community Access Initiative (CAI) has worked to break down economic barriers to classical music attendance, making world-class music accessible to everyone in our community. To date, CAI has served over 55,000 youth and adults with free and discounted programming, including:
• Free Family Concerts in partnership with venues including the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and Akron Art Museum
• Free Music Workshops in Public Schools, reaching nearly 2,000 students annually
• $12 Presto Seats*
• Family Nights at AF (free tickets for families from selected public schools)
• Free & Low-Cost Student Tickets
• Discounted Tickets for Seniors & Young Adults
Thank you to the Kulas, Murphy, Peg's, and Gund Foundations, as well as to the Akron Community Foundation and the Bath Community Fund for supporting our Community Access Initiative, and for helping Apollo's Fire lead the way in innovative arts outreach.
Apollo’s Fire London Residency – Join Us!
What better way to visit the England than in the company of the charming Apollo’s Fire musicians! Join us for all of the tour or any part of it. More details at apollosfire.org/join-us-in-london.
CONCERT SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, APRIL 24 – St. Martin-in-the-Fields
1:00pm CHAMBER CONCERT
PALACES & PUBS OF 1630
7:00pm MAINSTAGE CONCERT
FENCING MATCH: Dueling Double Concertos
Apollo's Fire vs. The English Baroque Solosists
9:15pm LATE-NIGHT BISTRO CONCERT in The Crypt (pub)
BAKLAVA BASH: A Middle Eastern Celebration
SATURDAY, APRIL 25 – St. Martin-in-the-Fields
7:00pm MAINSTAGE CONCERT
O JERUSALEM! – Crossroads of Three Faiths
SUNDAY, APRIL 26 – Snape Maltings, Aldeburgh
7:00pm FENCING MATCH: Dueling Double Concertos
Please let us know if you are interested in coming, so that we can keep you informed of hotel recommendations and optional activities for Apollo's Fire patrons. Contact the Apollo's Fire Box Office at 216.320.0012 x 1 or email boxoffice@apollosfire.org.
"The audience's response was rapturous." Dido & Aeneas captivated audiences last month!
In Cleveland, Akron, and Chicago, Dido & Aeneas wowed the critics! This new production with musical and theatrical direction by Jeannette Sorrell brought Purcell's 17th-century masterpiece back to its roots in the lively tradition of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
Here are the three rave reviews...
A rollicking and intense Dido from Apollo’s Fire claims the stage in Ohio and beyond | Seen & Heard International – Mark Sebastian Jordan
"So fast-moving and full of life, it is hard to imagine a fully-staged version of the work better capturing its spirit.... The audience’s response was rapturous. Throughout the opera, Sorrell worked as closely with the instrumental players as the singers, drawing everyone present into the energetic whirlwind of Purcell’s masterpiece, to triumphant effect."
Apollo’s Fire opens fifth Chicago season with a lively and infectious “Dido and Aeneas” | Chicago Classical Review – John von Rhein
"High style... In a refreshing change from the rather stodgy seriousness with which Purcell’s only opera is typically represented, Jeannette Sorrell took the miniature tragic opera back to its roots in Shakespearean theater, evoking the energy, casual (even sometimes rowdy) tone and frequent audience interaction that prevailed at the Globe.... Abundant charm... The shifts of dramatic tone, from high tragedy to low comedy, meshed beautifully with Sorrell’s urgent musical direction and the crisp responses of an excellent cast and skilled period-instrumentalists.
Above all, there was an exhilarating sense of ensemble — of conductor, singers, dancers and instrumentalists pulling together to illuminate the varied delights of the music and mini-drama from within."
READ MORE - visit chicagoclassicalreview.com and search "Apollo's Fire Dido"
"Elegant and radiant... Jeannette Sorrell’s direction added a Shakespearean pulse — brisk, lively, and human. Her approach emulated the fastmoving style of 17th-century English theater, when tragedy mingled with laughter. Apollo’s Singers sang with sparkling polish. Conducting from the harpsichord, Sorrell drew elegant playing from the strings, shaping a drama both taut and compassionate, proving that Purcell’s genius lies... in his uncanny gift for making an ancient heartbreak feel freshly human."
Composer Profiles
DAMIEN GETER is an acclaimed American composer whose rapidly growing body of work includes chamber, vocal, orchestral, and full operatic works. He is also a celebrated bass-baritone – “amazing to listen to. Possessed of a rolling, resonant voice even at the lowest register” (Northwest Reverb) – whose varied credits include performances from the operatic stage to the television screen. Geter is Richmond Symphony’s Composer-inResidence through 2026, and Composer-in-Residence for Fall 2025 at both Indiana State University’s Contemporary Music Festival and Ear Taxi Festival. He serves as Music Director for Portland Opera. Praised by The New Yorker for writing “beautifully for voices and elegantly for orchestra,” his “emotionally driven” (Opera) compositions are widely hailed for their “skillful vocal writing” (Wall Street Journal). In the 2025-2026 season, Geter’s brand new opera, Delta King’s Blues, with a libretto by Jarrod Lee, will be premiered by IN Series in Washington, DC, and Baltimore. The first full opera commissioned by IN Series, it celebrates the legacy of legendary guitarist Robert Johnson with a “blues opera” that tells the Faustian story of the bargain he struck with the devil: selling his immortal soul to learn the language of the blues. Geter’s song Amanirenas, commissioned by soprano Karen Slack for her African Queens art song program, continues to tour nationally at the Portland and Piedmont Operas, as well as the Naples Philharmonic in its orchestral premiere. His song cycle COTTON will be performed by Justin Austin, J’Nai Bridges, and Laura Ward at La Jolla Music Society. Additionally, Richmond Symphony premieres his Loving v. Virginia Suite, the Chicago Philharmonic and Richmond Symphony present An African American Requiem, Ear Taxi Festival presents I Said What I Said, VocalEssence presents The Justice Symphony, and Fresno Philharmonic performs Sinfonia Americana.
ERIC GOULD enjoys a multi-dimensional career as a pianist, composer, and arranger. As a bandleader, musician, producer, and educator, he has distinguished himself through his work and compiled a resume that allows him to move between various genres of music and areas of focus. “Diaspora of the Drum,” his 30-minute work for chamber orchestra, jazz ensemble, and tap dancer was premiered in April, 2008 by Savion Glover with the GRAMMY®-Award winning Cleveland Chamber Symphony at Playhouse Square. “Bohemia After Dark,” his concert of arrangements of the music of Oscar Pettiford featuring legendary Ron Carter along with an all-star octet premiered at Tribeca Performing Arts Center in Manhattan in 2006. An orchestral arrangement of the concert was premiered at the Berklee College of Music in 2010. The Canton Symphony
Mozart's REQUIEM - A Tapestry
Commissioned his work for orchestra entitled “An American City” through the National Endowment for the Arts on the occasion of the bicentennial of Canton, Ohio in 2005. The Cleveland Chamber Symphony premiered his piece “Midnight Excursion” in 2003. In 1996 his piece for string quartet entitled “He Speaks in Shadows” was performed by the critically acclaimed Cavani String Quartet at Merkin Concert Hall in New York, at the Chamber Music America Festival in New York, and at the Britt Music Festival. His arrangement of the same piece for jazz quintet and orchestra was commissioned by the Canton Symphony Orchestra for a performance that took place in March, 2001. His piano quintet “The Fire Within” was premiered in 2014 at UNC Wilmington by the Cavani String Quartet. He was awarded a Meet the Composer Grant from Arts Midwest in 1994, and was selected as a member of their touring roster in 1985. He has also been a recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Artists Fellowship for Composition.
JESSIE MONTGOMERY is a GRAMMY® Awardwinning composer, violinist, and educator whose work interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, poetry, and social consciousness, making her an acute interpreter of 21st-century American sound and experience. Her profound works have been described as “turbulent, wildly colorful, and exploding with life,” (The Washington Post) and are performed regularly by leading orchestras, ensembles, and soloists around the world. In June 2024, Montgomery concluded a threeyear appointment as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Mead Composerin-Residence. She was named Performance Today’s 2025 Classical Woman of the Year. Montgomery’s music contains a breadth of musical depictions of the human experience—from statements on social justice themes, to the Black diasporic experience and its foundation in American music, to wistful adorations and playful spontaneity—reflective of her deeply rooted experience as a classical violinist and child of the radical New York City cultural scene of the 1980s and 90s. From choral-symphonic works such as I Have Something To Say (2019), to her more intimate solo instrumental works, she presents a fresh perspective on the contemporary concert music experience. In response to Montgomery’s GRAMMY®-winning work, Rounds (2021), San Francisco’s NPR station KQED stated: “this is what classical music needs in 2024.” Montgomery has been recognized with many prestigious awards and fellowships, including the Civitella Ranieri Fellowship, the Sphinx Medal of Excellence, the Leonard Bernstein Award from the ASCAP Foundation, and Musical America’s 2023 Composer of the Year. Since 1999, she has been affiliated with the Sphinx Organization in a variety of roles, including Composer-in-Residence for the Sphinx Virtuosi, its professional touring ensemble.
Soloist Profiles
Soprano SONYA HEADLAM shares her artistry in concert halls, sacred spaces, and on stages across the country. Praised for her expressive, communicative performances, she brings warmth and depth to repertoire spanning the Baroque to the twenty-first century. She has appeared as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and North Carolina Symphony, among others, and collaborates closely with Apollo’s Fire and The Choir of Trinity Wall Street. Rooted in both performance and scholarship, her work encompasses standard repertoire alongside a deep commitment to illuminating underperformed music. She earned her DMA at Rutgers University and is featured on the Raritan Players album In the Salon of Madame Brillon. Her latest recording celebrates the music of Ignatius Sancho, with the world-premiere recording of Trevor Weston’s Reflections forthcoming.
Tijuana-born mezzo-soprano GUADALUPE PAZ graduated from the Conservatorio Arrigo Pedrollo in Vicenza, Italy. This season’s engagements include performances as Maddalena in Rigoletto with Òpera de Bellas Artes, and the title role in Carmen with San Diego Opera, in addition to her solo debut at the Carmel Bach Festival. Highlights of recent seasons include her company debuts with Opera San Jose and Opera Philadelphia, as well as her solo debut in Handel’s Messiah with Apollo’s Fire, for which Chicago Classical Review praised her “throaty, amber-hued tone” and her “deliberate pacing and elegant phrasing…” In addition to her operatic credits, Ms. Paz has performed in concert at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City, with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Oviedo at the Auditorio Príncipe Felipe de Asturias, with the Bellas Artes Orchestra at Bellas Artes Theater in Mexico City, and at the Aspen Music Festival.
JACOB PERRY, tenor, is lauded for his stylish interpretations of early music. As a soloist, he lends his graceful sense of phrasing and luminous tone to engagements with Apollo's Fire, Bach Collegium San Diego, Philharmonia Baroque, Portland Baroque, Tafelmusik, Tempesta di Mare, and Washington Bach Consort. Deeply immersed in vocal chamber music, Jacob enjoys engagements with Art of Early Keyboard (ARTEK), TENET Vocal Artists, and more. As Co-Artistic Director of Bridge, a genre-defying vocal collective based in Washington, he draws on his instincts for theatricality and story-telling, as the group explores
Mozart's REQUIEM - A Tapestry
the connections between early masterpieces and ground-breaking new works. Career highlights include his recent solo debut with the New York Philharmonic singing Handel’s Israel in Egypt, headlining the inaugural festival of Western Early Music at the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music with Les Canards Chantants, and English Orpheus—a tour-de-force exploration of love songs and poems from the Elizabethan, Restoration, and early 18th-century periods with Tempesta di Mare.
KEVIN DEAS has gained international renown as one of America’s leading bass-baritones. He is perhaps most acclaimed for his signature portrayal of the title role in Porgy and Bess, having performed it with the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, National Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, as well as the most illustrious orchestras on the North American continent, and at the Ravinia, Vail and Saratoga festivals. Additional recent highlights include appearances with the Houston Symphony, NAC Orchestra of Ottawa, Boston Baroque, and Opera Atlanta. He has also performed contemporary masterworks at the Spoleto Festival (Italy), and with the Pittsburgh and Detroit Symphonies, and enjoyed a twenty-year collaboration with the late jazz legend Dave Brubeck. Mr. Deas has recorded Wagner’s Die Meistersinger (Decca/London) with the Chicago Symphony under Sir Georg Solti and Varèse’s Ecuatorial with the ASKO Ensemble under Riccardo Chailly. Other releases include Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Handel’s Acis and Galatea (Vox Classics); Dave Brubeck’s To Hope! (Telarc); Haydn’s Die Schöpfung (Linn Records); and Dvorák in America (Naxos).
Soprano ELORA KARES is a sophomore at CIM, studying cello with Si-Yan Darren Li and voice with Dina Kuznetsova-Toliver. Elora is in her fourth year as a Young Artist Fellow with Apollo’s Fire , and has sung solo roles on the AF stage in productions of Wassail and Dido & Aeneas. As a Josephine Valencic Scholar in the Academy at CIM, she studied cello, voice, and composition, earning a 2024 CIM Outstanding Academy Student Award. As a cellist, Elora won first place in the 2023 Lakeland Orchestra Competition. Other prizes include the 2024 Suburban Symphony Competition (in both cello and voice), and the 2023 and 2024 Ohio NATS Voice Competitions, in addition to a 2024 Young Composers Award. Elora has appeared on NPR’s From the Top and their DailyJoy series. She has participated in Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra program, the New World Symphony’s VIA Initiative, and InterHarmony Italy. Operatic roles include Amahl in Cleveland Opera Theatre’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Lieschen in Bach’s Coffee Cantata for AF’s Bistro Series.
Soloist Profiles (continued)
“An elegant, mellifluous and expressive baritone” (The New York Times), CHARLES WESLEY EVANS has been lauded by The Miami Herald as “the peak of the night’s solo work” and by The Washington Post as “a warm, strong baritone.” Charles began singing professionally as a chorister at The American Boychoir School in Princeton, New Jersey, where he toured nationally and internationally, performing with notable conductors and orchestras around the globe. He enjoys a varied career performing works from the Baroque to gospel and musical theatre. Recent concert work includes performances with The Cleveland Orchestra, Austin Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Sinfonia de Camera, and Sonare Baroque Ensemble of Düsseldorf, among others. He has served on the faculties of the University of South Florida, University of Tampa, and Lawrence University, and holds a Bachelor’s in music from Brewton-Parker College in Mt. Vernon, Georgia, with further study at Boston Conservatory and Westminster Choir College.
Jeannette Sorrell, Artistic Director
“Sorrell is an absolute dynamo onstage and a pleasure to see conduct… a force to be reckoned with.”
–SAN FRANCISCO CLASSICAL VOICE
GRAMMY®-winning conductor Jeannette Sorrell is recognized internationally as one of today’s most compelling interpreters of Baroque and Classical repertoire. She is the subject of Oscar-winning director Allan Miller’s documentary, PLAYING WITH FIRE: Jeannette Sorrell and the Mysteries of Conducting, commercially released in 2023.
Bridging the period-instrument and symphonic worlds from a young age, she studied conducting under Leonard Bernstein, Roger Norrington and Robert Spano at the Tanglewood and Aspen music festivals; and studied harpsichord with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam. She won First Prize in the Spivey International Harpsichord Competition, competing against over 70 harpsichordists from four continents.
As a guest conductor, Sorrell has led the New York Philharmonic three times since her acclaimed debut there in 2021. She has repeatedly conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque in San Francisco, and New World Symphony, among others; and has also led the Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center (NYC), Baltimore Symphony, the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Royal Northern Sinfonia (UK), and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall, among others. Engagements in 202526 include return engagements with the New York Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and Detroit Symphony, and debuts with the Manchester Hallé Orchestra (UK) and the Oregon Symphony,
As founder and conductor of APOLLO’S FIRE, she has led the renowned ensemble at London’s BBC Proms, Carnegie Hall, and many international venues. Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire have released 34 commercial CDs, including 13 bestsellers on the Billboard classical chart and a 2019 GRAMMY® winner. Her CD recordings of the Bach St. John Passion and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons have been chosen as best in the field by the Sunday Times of London (2020 and 2021). Her Monteverdi Vespers recording was chosen by BBC Music Magazine as one of “30 Must-Have Recordings for Our Lifetime” (2022).
With over 22 million views of her YouTube videos, Sorrell has attracted national attention and awards for creative programming. She received an honorary doctorate from Case Western Reserve University and an award from the American Musicological Society.
Apollo's Fire Baroque Orchestra
“Sorrell and her dazzling period band… are incandescent”
– THE SUNDAY TIMES, London
GRAMMY®-winning ensemble
Apollo’s Fire is praised as “the USA’s hottest baroque band” (Classical Music Magazine, UK). Led by award-winning harpsichordist and conductor Jeannette Sorrell, the period-instrument orchestra is dedicated to the baroque concept of moving the passions of the listeners.
Apollo’s Fire has performed six European tours, with sold-out concerts at the BBC Proms in London, Madrid’s Royal Theatre, Bordeaux’s Grand Théàtre de l’Opéra, St Martin-in-the-Fields, the Heidelberg Spring Festival, the National Concert Hall of Ireland, and venues in Germany, France, Italy, Austria, and Portugal. Chosen by the DAILY TELEGRAPH as one of London’s “Best 5 Classical Concerts of the Year,” Apollo’s Fire’s 2014 London performance was praised for “superlative music-making... combining European stylishness with American entrepreneurialism.”
North American tour engagements include Carnegie Hall (twice), the Tanglewood and Ravinia festivals (several times), the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City (several times), the Boston Early Music Festival series, the Aspen Music Festival, Library of Congress, the National Gallery of Art, and major venues in Toronto, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Apollo’s Singers have twice performed with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Jeannette Sorrell, winning rave reviews.
At home in Cleveland and Chicago, Apollo’s Fire enjoys sold-out performances at its series, which has drawn national attention for creative programming.
With over 22 million views of its YouTube videos, Apollo’s Fire has released 34 commercial CDs and won a GRAMMY® award in 2019 for the album Songs of Orpheus with tenor Karim Sulayman. Thirteen of the ensemble's CD releases have become best-sellers on the classical Billboard chart, including Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Monteverdi Vespers, Bach's Brandenburg Concertos, and Sorrell’s crossover programs including Sacrum Mysterium – A Celtic Christmas Vespers; Sugarloaf Mountain – An Appalachian Gathering; Sephardic Journey – Wanderings of the Spanish Jews; and Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain.
VIOLIN I
Alan Choo, concertmaster
Emi Tanabe, assistant. concertmaster
Miho Hashizume (11/8 only)
Carrie Krause
Andrew Fouts
Freya Creesh
Carmen Johnson-Pajaro
Hanna Bingham
Aniela Eddy
VIOLIN II
Susanna Perry Gilmore, principal
Marlisa del Cid Woods
Kiyoe Matsuura
Guillermo Salas-Suarez (11/8 only)
Eliana Estrada
Ann Yu*
Gail Hernandez Rosa
VIOLA
Elizabeth Hagen, principal
Yaël Senamaud-Cohen
Jason Fisher
Kyle Miller
Chris Nunn
CELLO
René Schiffer, principal
Anna Steinhoff
Sarah Stone
Caroline Nicolas
CONTRABASS
Sue Yelanjian, principal
Tracy Rowell
FLUTE
Kathie Stewart, principal
Ellen Sauer
BASSET HORN
Diane Heffner, principal
Ed Matthew
Apollo's Fire & Apollo's Singers
BASSOON
Marc Vallon, principal
Stephanie Corwin
TRUMPET
Steven Marquardt, principal
Perry Sutton
TROMBONE
Greg Ingles, principal
Erik Schmalz
Mack Ramsey
TIMPANI
Luke Rinderknecht
PERCUSSION
Luke Rinderknecht
Katy La Favre
HARP
Anna O’Connell
SOPRANO
Sonya Headlam, soloist*
Elora Kares, soloist**
Jennifer Bates
Katherine Buzard
Sophia Duray
Kia Marie Frank
Abigail Hakel-García
Jacqueline Josten
Michele Kennedy
Adrienne Lotto
Madelaine Matej MacQueen
Anna O’Connell
Margot Rood
Maura Tuffy
Andréa Walkerº
ALTO
Guadalupe Paz, soloist
Courtney Becker-Howell
Rayna Brooks
Patrick Dailey
Leslie Frye
Alyse Jamieson
Heather Jones
Jeannette Lee
Kira McGirr
Molly McGuire
Victoria Peacock
Joseph Schlesinger
Nadia Tarnawsky
TENOR
Jacob Perry, soloist
Aaron Cates
Cameron Falby
Manuel Gomez
John-Joseph Haney
Matthew Jones
Joel Kincannon
Bryan Munch
Mark Murphy Vogel
Brian Wentzel
BASS
Kevin Deas, soloist
Dominic Aragon
Fredy Bonilla
Charles Wesley Evans
Sam Kreidenweis
David McHenry
Ian Morris
Constantine Novotny
Francisco Prado
Marques Jerrell Ruff
Anne Wilson
rehearsal accompanist
*MOSAIC Artist
ºMOSAIC Fellow
**Young Artist Fellow
INVEST ENGAGE INNOVATE LEAD
Investing state and federal dollars, the Ohio Arts Council funds and supports quality arts experiences for all Ohioans to strengthen communities culturally, educationally, and economically.
Learn more about our grant programs andresources, find your next arts experience, or connect: OAC.OHIO.GOV.
Grantee Spotlight: OHIO DESIGNER CRAFTSMEN
Guest artist Michael Kline presents a demonstration at the 2023 Functional Ceramics Workshop. Held at the Wayne Center for the Arts, this annual event is presented by Ohio Designer Craftsmen. Image credit: Matt Neff
Innkeepers & Charioteers
Apollo’s Fire thanks the following patrons who generously provide accommodations and transportation for our musicians.
Ohio Innkeepers
Laura & Erol Beytas • Kathleen & Mark Binnig
Chuck & Christy Bittenbender • Terry Boyarsky • Laura DeLaney
Christine Elliott • Michael & Diane Ellis • Carol Engler
Debra & Gary Franke • Bob Galivan & Myriam Ribenboim
Walter Ginn • Stuart Hamilton • Lari & Peter Jacobson
Priscilla & Edward Kaczuk • Kandice Marchant • Bridget & Robert Marok
Marilyn & Tom McLaughlin • Jane Meyer • Linda Miller & Steve Forgerson
Donald Nash • Charlotte & John Newman • Linda & John Olejko
Donna & Joseph Pacchioni • Jane Richmond • Kasia & Douglas Rothenberg
Astri Seidenfeld • Anne Unverzagt • Herb & Jody Wainer
Ed & Ellen Weber • Anthony Wesley & Al Cowgers
Cooper & Debbie White • Judy & David Young
Chicago Innkeepers
Joyce Chelberg • George Constantinides & Michele Davies
Derek Cottier & Laura Tilly • Lilly & Howard Eng
Doug Miller & Ellen Burke • David Reithoffer • Elisa & Jonathan Ross
Michael & Barbara Schwartz • Patricia & Gary Skigen
Charioteers
Gail Arnoff • Edith Hirsch • Ed Rosenberg • Bob Young
For information about becoming an Innkeeper or Charioteer, please contact Carsyn Avegno (Cleveland) at cavegno@apollosfire.org or David Sands (Chicago) at dsands@apollosfire.org.
Did you know that Apollo's Fire has over 22 million views of its YouTube videos? Check out our YouTube channel — apollosfirebaroque
Thank you to our Supporters
THE RITORNELLO CIRCLE
A ritornello is the recurring theme in a baroque concerto. Likewise, members of the Ritornello Society annually support and sustain the artistic programs of Apollo’s Fire. Their generosity enables us to pursue our vision of attaining international recognition through touring, recordings and broadcasts.
Thank you to our donors who gave at levels not listed in this program book. Your contributions enable our success! This list recognizes donations made between September 19, 2024 and October 27, 2025. Every effort has been made to ensure its accuracy. Please email RRoberts@ apollosfire.org with any updates.
APOLLO’S CIRCLE
($100,000 & above)
Anonymous
Cuyahoga Arts and Culture
Janice L. Greene† Walder Foundation
HELIOS CIRCLE
($50,000 - $99,999)
Paul M. Angell
Family Foundation
The George Gund Foundation
Ohio Arts Council
Herb & Jody Wainer
CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE
($25,000 - $49,999)
Anonymous
Jeff & Jamie Barnett
Fred & Mary Behm
The William Bingham Foundation
Chuck & Christy Bittenbender
Cleveland Foundation
Michael Frank & Pat Snyder* (*dec’d)
Kulas Foundation
William Lawlor
John P. Murphy Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
Marie Rowley
Astri Seidenfeld
Tim & Jennifer Smucker
Robert A. & Judith M. Weiss
MOUNT OLYMPUS CIRCLE
($10,000 – $24,999)
Anonymous
Akron Community Foundation
Bonnie M. Baker
Douglas Bletcher
The Costante-Champi
Family Giving Fund
Joyce Chelberg
Michael & Susan Delahanty
Ann Fairhurst & Mark Cipra
Malcolm & Vivian Henoch
Hyster-Yale Materials
Handling, Inc.
Illinois Arts Council
Martha Holden
Jennings Foundation
Cynthia Knight
Dr. & Mrs. Richard J. Lederman
Gina Leonetti
George I. Litman, M.D.
Daniel McCroskey
In memory of Jane McCroskey
Marilyn & Tom McLaughlin
Ellen & Mike Meehan
Alexander & Jennifer Ogan
Peg’s Foundation
Dale Perram
Bruce Raymer
Drs. Jonathan & Elisa Ross
Dr. Michael J. Seider
Dr. & Mrs. James & Rita Sheinin
The Kelvin & Eleanor
Smith Foundation
Sonjia Smith
Karen & Richard Spector
Elizabeth Walder
Ed & Ellen Weber
VERSAILLES CIRCLE
($5,000 – $9,999)
Steve & Judy Bundra
Catharina Caldwell
Amy & Eric Carlson
Homer Chisholm & Gertrude Kalnow Chisholm
Tom & Karen Clark
The Mary S. & David C. Corbin Foundation
Mrs. Mary & Dr. George L.
Demetros Charitable Trust
Ralph Deskin
Barbara & Denis Feld
The Hankins Foundation
Jane Hubben
Stephen & Maria Lans
Dr. Miloslava Mervart
Northern Trust
Lori & Dan Nelson
John & Linda Olejko
Gertrude F. Orr Trust
Advised Fund of the Akron Community Foundation
Bill & Sandra Powel
Mrs. Alfred M. Rankin†
Noha & Phil Ryder
Kenneth E. Shafer, M.D.
Ryan Siebel
The Sisler McFawn Foundation
Sandra Smith
Dr. Jeanne Sorrell
Michael Taylor
ESTERHAZY CIRCLE
($2,500 – $4,999)
Anonymous
Peter & Jane Anagnostos
Ric & Kate Asbeck
Baker Hostetler
Donna Batson
Karl & Amanda Bekeny
Frances S. Buchholzer
Cerity Partners LLC
Chengelis Scientific Services LLC
Michael & Susan Clark
Bill Conway
Douglas Cooper
Patricia Costante & Stephanie Champi
Frances G. & Lewis Allen Davies
Ralph Deskin
DLR Group
Sarah & Robert Dresing
Diane & Michael Ellis
Feth Family Foundation
Harry K. & Emma R. Fox
Charitable Foundation
Theodore & Teresa Good
Jane Haylor & Mel Berger
In memory of Sheldon & Marilyn MacLeod
Thank you to our Supporters (continued)
Byron G. Hays
Drs. Ka-Pi Hoh & Brian Perry
Erin Horan
Robert† & Donna Jackson
KPMG
The Lehner Family Foundation
Meng “Locky” Liu
Fred & Pearl Livingstone
Annette Lowe & Doug Dolch
Lubrizol
Patti & Hadley
Morgenstern-Clarren
Gary & Shay Olson
Brendan & Elizabeth Patterson
Peggy M. Porter
David Reimer & Raffaele DiLallo
Phil & Noha Ryder
Richard & Deborah Schroeder
Alice S. Sherman
Patricia Skigen
Lucy & Dan Sondles
R. Thomas & Meg Stanton
Sarah N. Steiner
Rebecca K. Storey & Neal Simpson
Synthomer Foundation
Elizabeth & Michael Taipale
Tucker Ellis
Bradley Upham
Libby & Ed Upton
Carol Vandenberg
Gregory Videtic, M.D.
The Welty Family Foundation
David & Judy Young
MEDICI CIRCLE
($1,000 – $2,499)
Anonymous
Michael Angell
Bonnie & Chuck Abbey
Joan Allgood
Dave Mulligan & Kim Arnowitt
Richard & Eleanor Aron
Patricia Ashton
Michael Bakes
Stephen Ban
Peter & Mindy Bartholomae
James H. Bates
Bath Community Fund
Mark & Kathleen Binnig
John & Susan Blackwell
Mitch & Liz Blair
Zeda Blau
Arthur V. N. Brooks†
Stephen & Jeanne Bucchieri
Mr. & Mrs. William D. Buss II
James Calhoun
Claudia Cash
Judy & Bob Ciulla
Herb & Ursula Cohrs
Harry Core
Thomas M. & Janet S. Daniel
The Deveny Family
Henry C. Doll
Dorris Donnelly
John J. Dyer, Jr.
Keith Eggeman
David & Marilyn Elk
Lilly Eng
John & Lee Ann Eyre
Marilynne Felderman
Susan P. Flowers
Casey Forbes & Signe Wrolstad-Forbes
Bonnie Forkosh
William Gaskill & Kathleen Burke
Margerita Gerborg
Barbara Hawley & David Goodman
Andrew Gordon-Seifert
Samuel & Kimberly Hartwell
Sandra V. Hazra, M.D.
Peter & Sunnie Hellman
Paul Herman
Martin & Maria Hoke
Mr. Richard R. Hollington, Jr.
Herbert J. Hoppe, Jr.
Michael & Jane Horvitz
Mrs. M. B. Humphrey*
Melanie Ingalls
Anne Juster
Lori Kalberer
In honor of Clara Rankin
Walter Keith
John & Linda Kelly
Thomas Forrest Kelly, Ph.D.
David & Janet Kinkaid
Ilona Kisis
Rabbi Roger C. Klein & Jacqueline Loewy
Rick & Ellen Knapp
In honor of Ed & Ellen Weber
Raymond & Katharine Kolcaba
Ursula Korneitchouk
Rodger Kowall
Marlene Krause
Manning & John Kundtz
Scott & Betsy Lassar
Joan C. Long
Karl & Anna Losely
Rev. Richard Lutz
Mary Ann Mahoney†
Robert Toma & Christine Marsick
Kevin Martin
Susan McClary
Douglas Miller & Ellen Burke
Dave Nash
Deborah L. Neale
Nordson Corporation Foundation
Edward J. Olszewski
Marilyn Orr
Elizabeth Osborne
Don & Anne Palmer
Tom & Deborah Park
Jim & Kathy Pender
Melodie Phillips
In honor of Cynthia Knight and Rees Taylor Roberts
James & Leslie Pickard
Katrina Pipasts
Thomas & Kate Pitrone
William Plesec & Susan Stechschulte
Sally & Derek Rance
Fred Rasio
Chuck & Ilana Horowitz Ratner
Frank & Yolita Rausche
The RDM Foundation
Roger & Sally Read
Roger F. Ream, D.D.S.
Dr. Diana C. Reep
Dr. Robert W. Reynolds
Jane N. Richmond
William Watterson & Melissa Richmond
Charles E. & Mabel M. Ritchie Memorial Foundation
Christine & Bill Robertson
Margaret Robinson
Rick & Alita Rogers
Alan Rocke & Cristine Rom
James Rosenthal & Annie Fullard
Kasia G. & Douglas Rothenberg
Nan & Peter Ryerson
Richard & Tamara Rynearson
Anthony Salem
Lynne F. & Ralph Schatz
Frank Shoemaker
Lloyd L. & Louise K. Smith Foundation
Tom & Judy Spaulding
Drs. Frederick & Elizabeth Specht
Jane Peterson & Phil Star
George Stark
Allyson Stewart
Terry & Jamie Stoller
Jeffrey Strauss
Susan Troia
Anne Unverzagt
John P. & Verna Vanderkooi
Sam Wainer
Anne & Ed Wardwell
Mary Warren
Lucy & Chuck Weller
Robert C. & Emily C. Williams
David & Kathleen Yonto
Richard & Mary Zigmond
BRANDENBURG CIRCLE
($500 – $999)
Anonymous (3)
Susan Armstrong
Cynthia Ball
Bruce Baumberger & Ann Weatherhead
Andrew & Patricia Bazar
Dolores Bielecki & Stephen Lorton
Henry Billingsley & Karen Kidwell
Robin Dunn Blossom
Richard & Mary Bole
Robert & Susan Boltz
Paul Bontrager
Michael Breen
Leslie S. Brown
Michael & Kareen Caputo
Patricia Carlson
Kathleen Cerveny
Jim & Berni Cockey
James Collins & Patricia Brownell
Derek Cottier & Laura Tilly
Susan V. Curtis
William D’Agostino
W. Dean Dabson
Gary Davis & Jane Cooper
Michael & Jan Devereaux
Patricia Dorner
Martha Anne Driscoll
Brian & Carol Duffy
Elinore Evans & John N. Rampe
Betsy Fallon
Linzey Forshey
Debra & Gary Franke
Robert Galivan & Myriam Ribenboim
Daniel & Kathleen Gisser
Peter & Francine Gray
Richard & Ann Gridley
Thomas Hoyt and Katharine
Brooks Jones Family Fund
Kurt Haas & Dierdre Pim
Curt Hancock & Michael Horwath
Jan Harding
Holly J. Harris & James W. Bane
Iris & Tom Harvie
Beth Hauser
Richard & Laurette Hershey
Edith F. Hirsch
Derf Hopsecger
Sabrina Inkley
Joan C. Ishibashi
Gale & Jim Jacobsohn
Sharon Jenkins
Joan Kavanaugh
Jim, Sherry, & Ricky Kitchell
Peggy Koblenzer
David Kotte
Adrian & Margaret Krudy
Ed Larson & Janice Radak
Jody Lefort & Ken Gober
Pam LeRose & Tim Nichols
David & Carolyn Lincoln
Kathryn Machado
Elizabeth K. Mann
Theresa Manzell
Roey & Jeff Margulies
Elizabeth Mease, M.D.
James & Virginia Meil
David Michel
The Laura Runyon Moffit & Lucian Q. Moffitt Foundation
Marjorie Moskovitz
Deb Nash
Ronald Neill
Charlene & Marv Nevans
Carole & Steve Ochs
Patrick & Judith O’Hara
Kim Parry
Mr. Franklyn Perry
Sophia Perry
Barbara Peskin
Roland Philip & Linda Sandhaus
Len & JoAnne Podis
Richard & Joanne Prober
Mark Purdy
Michael & Zoya Reyzis
Michael & Dawn Rickman
Kenneth Robinson
Todd & Diane Rosenberg
Patricia Rubin
Joan Safford
Paula Salerno
Paul Secunde
Rev. Sandra Selby
David Simmons
Michael Star & Debra Golden
Cynthia Struk
Tayba Tahir
Esther R. Talbert
Dave & Reanetta Taylor
United Way of Greater Cleveland
Felix & Inna Vilinsky
John & Jeanette Walton
Michael Warner
Audrey Weaver
Jeffrey Wisnieski
André Witt
Lucas Witters
BUCKINGHAM CIRCLE
($250 – $499)
Anonymous (4)
Atty. LuWayne Annos
Cheryl & Robert Barsan
Charles Behrens
Andrew & Ilze Bekeny
Vicki & Jim Bell
Margie & Jeff Biggar
Dennis & Madeline Block
Terry & Christine Bowman
John & Mary Boyle
Michael & Jacklyn Brennan
Tom & Mary Brooks
Gisela Brodin-Brosnan
Christopher Brown
Nancy E. Brown
John & Mimi Brulia
Bill & Carol Bruml
James & Judy Burghart
Ruth Cantleberry & Bud Stern
Cindy & Tim Carr
Roderick & Catherine Case
Claudia Cash
Michael Coleman
Roger Creps
Cassandra Crowley
Barbara Ann Davis
Patricia Deems
James Denton
Amy & Michael Diamant
William & Suzanne Doggett
Margaret Dorner
Sue Dreitzler
Duesenberg Family
Charitable Fund
Barbara Eaton
Eaton Corporation
The Echle-Walters Family Fund
Brian Edelstein
In honor of Dr. and Mrs. Edward C. Weber
Robert Fabien
George Faddoul
Robert F. Fay, CPA
Robert & Marcia Fein
Patty Flauto
Dave & Binney Fouts
Richard & Judy Fox
Thank you to our Supporters (continued)
Timothy Fox
David & Claudia Fulton
Alexander & Carol Garklavs
John & Pam Gibbon
Bob & Ann Gillespie
Michelle Graf
Jeffrey L. Green
Charlie Grode and Heidi Lukas
Marcie Groesbeck
Susan & Jeffrey Gumbiner
Louise E. Hamel
Mohamed & Fadia Hamid
John Hancock
Ron & Chris Hawes
Betty Hess
James & Ina Heup
Fred Heupler, M.D.
John Hibshman
Dr. Christine A. Hudak
& Mr. Marc F. Cymes
Hope Hungerford
Sabrina Inkley
Byron H. & Diane F. Jackson
Mark Jones & Linda Johnson
Gail Juanoquez
Jodi Kanter & Steve Szilagyi
Mr. & Mrs.
Joseph & Nancy Keithley
Charles Keller
Michael & Melissa Kelly
Geraldine Kiefer
Ryan Kin
Maryanne King
Karen Knobloch
Nancy & Rik Kohn
Larry Korland
Melodee Kornacker
Jim & Rhonda Kroeger
Stacey Lawler
Karen Lefton
Madeline Lepidi-Carino
Alan Lettofsky
Richard Lilley & Carmen Letelier
Louella Levey
Richard Lynde
Dr. Kandice Marchant
Sheila Markowitz
In memory of
Frederic Markowitz
Charles & Susan Marston
Susan McGill
Robert McInnes
Kevin McLaughlin
B. J. Miller & Marty Katz
Timothy & Marjorie Minnis
John & Janet Mitchell
Carole & George Morris
John Mroczka
Hugh Muller & Paul Seeley
Don Nash
Florence Nelson
David & Sarah Nix
David O’Callaghan
Nicholas & Anne Ogan
Ann Otto
Janice Patterson
Marianne S. Paul
Karen & Dave Paulin
John S. Perko
Elisabeth C. Plax*
Virginia Poirier
Stacy Ratner
Bill & Jan Resseger
Dr. Thomas Riis
John & Jackie Roberts
Rees Taylor Roberts
Donald Rosenberg
Anthony & Denise Ross
Phillip Rowland-Seymour
Michael & Lynn Saddleton
Bryan & Sarah Salisbury
Martin I. Saltzman, M.D.
Dr. Adrian M. Schnall
Richard Shirey
William Silver
Leslie Smith
Christine & Bill Snyder
Mr. & Mrs. William Spatz
Linda Sperry & Linda Chopra
Mickey Stefanik
Eileen & John Stenerson
Larry E. Stewart
Susan Subak
Donald Treap
Karen Trinkle
Pathfinder Wealth Advisors
Cynthia & Harvey Tucker
Richard Uza
Hon. & Mrs.
William F. B. Vodrey
Sarah Vradenburg
Leslie & Mark Walker
Jim & Chris Wamsley
Mary Wehrle
Ms. Jacqueline Weiner
Barbara Weiss
Dorothy Whittenberger
Mr. & Mrs. David Wildermuth
Lois S. Wolf
John & Jane Zuzek
†In memoriam
FOUNDATIONS, GOVERNMENT & OTHER ORGANIZATIONS
Apollo's Fire is grateful to the following funders who have made this season possible:
$100,000 & above
$50,000-$99,999
$20,000-$49,999
$10,000-$19,999
Akron Community Foundation
Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.
Illinois Arts Council
$5,000-$9,999
The Mary S. & David C. Corbin Foundation
Mrs. Mary & Dr. George L. Demetros Charitable Trust
$2,000-$4,999
BakerHostetler
Bath Community Fund
BNY Mellon Community Impact Program
Feth Family Foundation
Harry K. & Emma R. Fox Charitable Foundation
KPMG International
The Lehner Family Foundation
Media Partners
Ideastream Public Media
Martha Holden Jennings Foundation
Peg's Foundation
The Hankins Foundation The Sisler McFawn Foundation
Lubrizol McMaster-Carr Supply Company
Charles E. & Mabel M. Ritchie Memorial Foundation
Synthomer Foundation
Tucker Ellis
Welty Family Foundation
WFMT Radio Network
This project was supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Administration
David Walker, Managing Director
Noha Ryder, Director of Strategic Initiatives
David Sands, Senior Advancement Manager, Chicago
Barbara Feld, Director of Development, Summit County
Wendy Parkulo, Director of Marketing & Community Engagement
Adina Antonucci, Interim Senior Marketing Consultant
Rees Taylor Roberts, Development Manager
Carsyn Avegno, Community Engagement & Operations Coordinator
Tikal Rivera, Marketing & Community Relations, Chicago
Kelly Cosgrove, Patron Services Manager
Shannon Cooch, Box Office & Hospitality Associate
Edward Vogel, Artistic Administrator
Amy Tarantino-Trafton, Manager of Operations & Grants
Tom Frattare, Production Stage Manager
Erica Brenner, Director of Media Production
Martins Daukss, Stage Manager & Staff Accountant
Melanie Emig, Bookkeeping Associate
Hanna Bingham, Social Media Consultant
Apollo’s Fire INNKEEPERSCalling NEW Volunteers!
If you live in an east-side suburb of Cleveland, we would be grateful to add you to our list of “Innkeepers.”
Many of our host families have formed long and close friendships with their AF “adopted family members.” This is a unique, enjoyable, and exciting way to get to know our Artists outside of the concert hall!
For more information, please contact Carsyn Avegno at cavegno@apollosfire.org.
3091 Mayfield Road, Suite 217 | Cleveland Heights, OH 44118 216.320.0012 | 800.314.2535 | apollosfire.org
The performances at Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland are generously sponsored by JAMIE & JEFF BARNETT
The December 19th performance at Trinity Cathedral is generously co-sponsored by ELLEN & MIKE MEEHAN
Rebecca Myers, Andréa Walker, Molly Netter, sopranos Michael Jones, Matthew Newhouse, tenors with APOLLO'S SINGERS & Apollo's Musettes (Treble Youth Ensemble)
Praised as “a sheer delight” (NEW YORK TIMES), Apollo’s Fire’s acclaimed Christmas program returns! Artistic Director Jeannette Sorrell weaves the extraordinary works of 17th-century composer Michael Praetorius into a Vespers service. The cathedral resounds in a splendor often reminiscent of Monteverdi – with antiphonal choirs, trumpets, sackbuts, cornettos, lutes, harp, strings and recorders. Familiar highlights include “Lo, How a Rose E’re Blooming” and “In Dulci Jubilo.” Children’s voices shine in this haunting and joyous celebration of the Christ child.
Friday, December 12, 7:00pm St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, AKRON, OH
Sunday, December 14, 3:00pm Church of the Holy Family, CHICAGO, IL
Monday, December 15, 7:00pm Saints Faith, Hope, & Charity, WINNETKA, IL
Tuesday, December 16, 7:30pm University of NOTRE DAME, IN
Thursday, December 18, 7:00pm Trinity Cathedral, CLEVELAND, OH
Friday, December 19, 7:00pm Trinity Cathedral, CLEVELAND, OH
Saturday, December 20, 7:00pm First Baptist Church, SHAKER HEIGHTS, OH
Sunday, December 21, 4:00pm St. Raphael Catholic Church, BAY VILLAGE, OH
Passions Life’s
Pauline has always been passionate about educating and giving people the tools needed to succeed. As a professor, analyst, Certified Financial Planner and recent Crain’s Eight Over 80 honoree, she has impacted many and continues to inspire and inform as a volunteer and philanthropist.
Bringing Independent Living to Life.
At Judson, independent living is all about enjoying the comforts of home in a vibrant, maintenance-free retirement community. Residents take advantage of diverse, enriching programs that cultivate new friendships, maintain wellness, fuel creativity and ignite new interests. Seniors define an inspirational way of living with peace of mind that comes with access to staff members 24 hours a day should help be needed. Visit us to see how we bring independent living to life.