Young Artist Apprentice Program

“Occasions when the Young Artists have appeared with the ensemble…have been highly transformative, the rarest of rare opportunities to not only sit amongst professional musicians but also to employ early-music performance and tuning techniques.”
–THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER

AF believes passionately in nurturing the next generation of music appreciators and professional early music performers. Since 2002, Jeannette Sorrell and her principal players have helped to train future Apollo’s Fire musicians by working with advanced music students, sharing AF’s particular style and approach to baroque music. With a track-record of over 20 years, AF’s Young Artist alumni have now become the leading up-and-coming young professionals of the national and international early music scenes.

Each year, a handful of pre-professional students from Oberlin Conservatory, CIM, Case Western Reserve University, and other institutions are hand-picked by Ms. Sorrell for a 1- to 4-year apprenticeship. These students gain the invaluable experience of playing with AF in rehearsals, concerts, and occasionally on tour and in recording sessions. Under the guidance of Sorrell and AF principal players, these emerging talents immerse themselves in not only the musical, but also the promotional and presentational elements necessary to build a career in early music.

“Refreshingly casual and unusually tight thematically, the program is the antidote to the musical doldrums… Titled “Family Frolic,” the concert fully lives up to its name… vividness and theatricality rare on any stage. To such sparkling performances by AF director Jeannette Sorrell and a handful of AF principals and apprentices, one could have listened happily for ages.
-THE CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER

Multi-generational performance of Bach’s Coffee Cantata,
featuring AF principal players, Young Artist Apprentices and Musettes.

The program developed out of Jeannette Sorrell’s desire to bridge the gap for talented students on the verge of professional careers. Having worked extensively with students in Oberlin Conservatory’s Baroque Orchestra, Sorrell observed that the most advanced baroque students reach a kind of plateau in their development.

“When I started leading the Oberlin Baroque Orchestra several years ago,” Sorrell said, “I realized that these students needed an experience that no conservatory can provide – the experience of being the only student in a string section where the other players all share a unified approach to style and intonation. Without this even the most talented students have to make an enormous leap to win a spot in a professional baroque orchestra.”

To date, more than 20 Apprentices have passed through the program. Former Apprentices who are now professional period specialists include violinists Alan Choo, Johanna Novom, Adriane Post, Augusta McKay Lodge, Evan Few, Carrie Krause, cellist Rachel Henderson, violist Karina Schmitz, and soprano Madeline Healey. Emerging AF Apprentice alumni, at the start of their professional careers, include violinists Guillermo Salas Suárez and Maya Johnson, violist and fiddler Caitlin Hedge, viola da gambist Luka Stefanović, soprano and cellist Elora Kares, and baritone Seth Hobi.

Recent Highlights

2023-2024
Apollo’s Singers welcomed new Apprentices who are pursuing careers as professional choral singers. Some of these Apprentices were invited to travel to New York to perform under Jeannette Sorrell’s baton at Lincoln Center with Apollo’s Singers and the New York Philharmonic, in Handel’s monumental Israel in Egypt. Instrumental and Vocal Apprentices also toured with AF’s program Wassail! An Irish-Appalachian Christmas, to Chicago and Detroit, and had featured roles in AF’s Worldwide Watch-at-Home series.

2022-2023
Following a hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, Apollo’s Fire reignited the Young Artist Apprentice program in the spring of 2022 by welcoming five new Apprentices, two of whom performed side-by-side with AF core musicians in the 30th-anniversary concert Mozart and the Chevalier at Cleveland’s Severance Hall. Ahead of the 2022-2023 season, former Apprentice Alan Choo was named AF’s Concertmaster and Assistant Artistic Director. The 2022-2023 season also saw a number of Apprentices embark on tour with AF, which included notable performances at the Appalachian Summer Festival in North Carolina and the renowned Ravinia Festival in Chicago.

Past Apprentices

In 2016-2017, six new Apprentices joined Apollo’s Fire. Five of them performed side-by-side with AF core musicians in performances of Beethoven the Revolutionary in April. Four of the Apprentices also performed a program of Italian chamber music in the spring, presented in Cleveland Heights and Hudson. In addition, Apprentice violinist Alan Choo made his solo debut with AF, performing Vivaldi’s Spring Concerto at the Tanglewood and Ravinia Festivals as well as local concerts. Congratulations to Alan for these wildly successful solo debut concerts!

Congratulations to AF’s former Musette and former Young Artist Apprentice, violinist Augusta McKay Lodge! Augusta has won a job with the prestigious French baroque orchestra, Les Arts Florissants, directed by William Christie. She is moving to Paris!

In 2015, the apprentices were featured as soloists on AF’s subscription series in a theatrical program about Bach’s family, titled “Bach Family Frolic: A Multi-Generational Music Party.” Designed by Jeannette Sorrell, the program featured a staged performance of J.S. Bach’s Coffee Cantata in Sorrell’s zany English translation. The project featured the Young Artist Apprentices as soloists but also placed them side-by-side with AF’s veteran principal musicians and a seasoned AF guest artist who played the role of the Papa. Performed at 3 venues including the Cleveland Institute of Music, the program won rave reviews in the Plain Dealer and ClevelandClassical.com.

A 3-part video of the performance at CIM can be found at this link:

  • Part 1 features primarily the Apprentices.
  • Part 2 features Madeline Healey as the rebellious daughter and guest artist Jeffrey Strauss as the frustrated Papa.
  • Part 3 is the Finale including all Apprentices and 3 Musettes.

“The concert… featured the talented members of the ensemble’s Young Artist Apprentice Program performing alongside AF regulars, with a special appearance by three even younger members of Apollo’s Musettes. The evening culminated in a cleverly staged performance of Johann Sebastian’s amusing ‘Coffee Cantata.’ Jeffrey Strauss perfectly captured the personality of Schlendrian — bumbling and at his wits’ end — singing with excellent diction and a fine sense of comedy.

Madeline Healey’s strong, clear voice and supple delivery beautifully suited the frequently ornate music Bach wrote for [teenage coffee-addict] Lieschen, and her acting fit the character of a dizzy daughter like a glove. Sorrell’s imaginative staging brought the instrumental ensemble into the action and sometimes coyly made good fun of itself.”
-CLEVELANDCLASSICAL.COM

In 2014, AF showcased the Apprentices for the first time in concerts of their own, presented in Chagrin Falls and Cleveland Heights. Their concert was the subject of an enthusiastic preview article by Zach Lewis of the Plain Dealer.


For further information on the Young Artist Apprentice Program, contact Edward Vogel at 216.320.0012 or evogel@apollosfire.org.

“The U.S.A.’s hottest baroque band.” –CLASSICAL MUSIC MAGAZINE (UK)

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