Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain
An Irish-Appalachian Celebration
December 2 – December 10, 2017

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Watch Videos

1. Nowell Tidings Trew (from Sacrum Mysterium – A Celtic Christmas)
featuring Amanda Powell & Jeffrey Strauss

 
2. Glory in the Meeting House (from Sugarloaf Mountain)
featuring Susanna Perry Gilmore, Tina Bergmann, and Kathie Stewart

In this new program created by Jeannette Sorrell, the beloved troupe from the Sugarloaf Mountain summer program joins a wider cast with chorus, children’s voices, dancers, and additional instruments to celebrate the Celtic roots of an Appalachian Christmas. From the mystical Gregorian chant of old Scotland to folk carols and shape-note hymns at a toe-tapping Christmas gathering in Appalachia… the people of the mountains welcome Christmas with LOVE, SINGING, DANCING and PRAYER.

PRE-CONCERT TALK by guitarist/singer Brian Kay, one hour before each performance. Brian will discuss and demonstrate the diverse and beautiful instruments that he will be playing during the concert.

Please Note: Student Rush tickets are NOT available for these concerts.

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*SATURDAY (12/9) & SUNDAY (12/3 and 12/10) NIGHTS: Join in a carol or two with the cast while enjoying hot cider and old fashioned ginger cake. FREE!
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Hear the Music

1. Duan Nollaig – Gaelic Carol
from Sacrum Mysterium – A Celtic Christmas

 
2. What ye what I got
from Sacrum Mysterium – A Celtic Christmas

 
3. Farewell to Ireland/Highlander’s Farewell
from Sugarloaf Mountain

 


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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 12:30pm
Music Box Supper Club, CLEVELAND
Christmas Hoedown! Weaving a Tapestry of Art, Story & Tradition
(click here for details)
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These concerts are generously sponsored by
BRIAN & GRETCHEN COLLERAN
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  • AMANDA POWELL
    AMANDA POWELL
    soprano vocals
  • ROSS HAUCK
    ROSS HAUCK
    tenor vocals
  • SUSANNA GILMORE
    SUSANNA GILMORE
    fiddle
  • TINA BERGMANN
    TINA BERGMANN
    hammered dulcimer
  • BRIAN KAY
    BRIAN KAY
    lute, guitar, banjo & long-neck dulcimer
  • KATHIE STEWART
    KATHIE STEWART
    wooden flutes & penny whistle
  • JULIE ANDRIJESKI
    JULIE ANDRIJESKI
    fiddle
  • RENÉ SCHIFFER
    RENÉ SCHIFFER
    cello
  • JEANNETTE SORRELL
    JEANNETTE SORRELL
    artistic director & harpsichord

Saturday, December 2, 2017, 7:30PM
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, AKRON
Sunday, December 3, 2017, 4:00PM
St. Noel Catholic Church, WILLOUGHBY HILLS
FREE Afterglow!
Friday, December 8, 2017, 8:00PM
CLEVELAND Museum of Art (Gartner Auditorium)
Saturday, December 9, 2017, 8:00PM
First Baptist Church, SHAKER HEIGHTS
FREE Afterglow!
Sunday, December 10, 2017, 4:00PM
St. Raphael Catholic Church, BAY VILLAGE
FREE Afterglow!
Amanda Powell,soprano vocals
Ross Hauck,tenor vocals
Apollo’s Singers
with Apollo’s Musettes (Children’s Chorus)
Going to Church Winter Time 18th C. Artist Unknown / Bridgeman Images

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

AMANDA POWELL
soprano vocals

has been praised as “the star of the evening” (Seen and Heard International, UK) and “charismatic and theatrically arresting” (San Francisco Chronicle). A highly versatile musician, she is at home in repertoire from Monteverdi to Mozart to Ravel, and has toured internationally as soloist in baroque opera, oratorio, and crossover folk programs. Her tour performances with GRAMMY®-winning baroque orchestra Apollo’s Fire (Jeannette Sorrell) include such venues as the National Concert Hall of Ireland in Dublin, the Irish National Opera House, the Aldeburgh Festival (UK), the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the National Gallery in Washington, and Zellerbach Hall in San Francisco, among others. Her 2019 debut as Messiah soloist with the Calgary Symphony won kudos as “the soloist of the night… singing to perfection.”

As a recording artist, Ms Powell has been featured on several Apollo’s Fire albums including Sugarloaf Mountain, Sephardic Journey, and Christmas on Sugarloaf Mountain, all of which received rave reviews on both sides of the Atlantic and debuted in the top ten on the BILLBOARD Classical Chart. Her 2015 solo debut album, Beyond Boundaries, is an intimate program of folk, jazz, and global music. She is a fluent improvisor and has collaborated with such artists as Bobby McFerrin and Sheila Jordan.

WEBSITE

ROSS HAUCK
tenor vocals

grew up in Ohio, but currently lives in Seattle with his wife and four children. He specializes in early music, sacred oratorio, and premieres of new works. A regular with Apollo’s Fire, Mr. Hauck has been heard as a soloist in Messiah, as Tamino in The Magic Flute, and as Johnny in the Come to the River tour, as well as being featured in the 2012 and 2013 Irish Countryside Concerts and  Sugarloaf Mountain. He has sung with the symphonies of Seattle, Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago, Baltimore, Portland, Grand Rapids, Kansas City, and the National Symphony. An alumnus of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, he undertook further training at the Tanglewood, Ravinia, and Aspen Festivals and at the Wolf Trap Opera Company. He can be heard on the AVIE label on the Apollo’s Fire recording of Messiah and on the Naxos label in the world premiere of the song cycle Vedem by Lori Laitman. He is also a cellist and serves as a professor of voice on the faculty of Seattle University. He frequently programs sacred concerts for churches and Christian universities, and leads an arts ministry at his church in the Northwest.

SUSANNA GILMORE
fiddle

enjoys a multifaceted career as solo artist, chamber and orchestral musician. She is concertmaster of the Omaha Symphony, a position she previously held with the Memphis Symphony for fifteen years. Her chamber music performances have been featured on National Public Radio’s Performance Today, A Prairie Home Companion and America’s Music Festivals. Her recent classical solo performances include Jennifer Higdon’s The Singing Rooms (for violin, choir and orchestra) in Paris at the invitation of Ms. Higdon, as well as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Prokofiev and Korngold violin concertos with the Omaha Symphony. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in music from Oxford University (UK) and a Master’s degree in violin performance from the New England Conservatory (Boston). She learned to play Celtic fiddle in her youth through sitting in on Irish sessions during her years in Nashville and England, and for several years performed regularly with the Memphis-based Irish band Planet Reel.

TINA BERGMANN
hammered dulcimer

is one of the world’s leading exponents of the instrument and was described by folk musician Pete Seeger as “the best hammered dulcimer player I’ve heard anywhere.” Playing in the aural tradition as a child, she made her solo debut at age 12 and led her first string band at age 16. Since then, she has been in demand at folk festivals and has performed as soloist with several symphony orchestras. Her contradance bands, Strings & Things and Hu$hmoney, have explored traditional American and Celtic music. She can be heard on the Apollo’s Fire CDs Come to the River, Scarborough Fayre, and Sacrum Mysterium: A Celtic Christmas Vespers.

BRIAN KAY
lute, guitar, banjo & long-neck dulcimer

is a modern-day troubadour. He holds a Master’s degree in music from Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where he studied lute and theorbo. He specializes in historical plucked instruments and ancient songs of various world traditions. He is a songwriter and poet, and also paints and plays a variety of percussion and wind instruments. Cleveland Classical.com called him “far-ranging,” “brilliant,” and “exciting,” and Early Music America called his work “phenomenal.” His newest album, Three Ravens, was released in January 2015.

KATHIE STEWART
wooden flutes & penny whistle

is a founding member and principal flutist of Apollo’s Fire. A faculty member of the Cleveland Institute of Music, she is also a Kulas Visiting Artist at Case Western Reserve University, as well as Curator of Harpsichords at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where she taught baroque flute for nearly 20 years. She is an avid proponent of Celtic music, playing Irish flute on several AF recordings. She has also performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Tafelmusik, Oberlin Baroque Ensemble, ARTEK, and the Bach Sinfonia in Washington, D.C.

JULIE ANDRIJESKI
fiddle

Lauded for her “invigorating verve and imagination” (Washington Post), Julie Andrijeski is nationally admired as one of the few leading baroque violinists to have mastered the art of baroque dance. Her unique musical performance style is greatly influenced by her knowledge and skilled performance of baroque dance. Ms. Andrijeski is a full-time Lecturer in the Music Department at Case Western Reserve University where she teaches early music performance practices, baroque dance, and directs the Case/CIM Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Ensembles. She has led workshops for the Oberlin Conservatory (as Visiting Assistant Professor), Indiana University (as Visiting Faculty – Violin Instructor), Juilliard, the University of Southern California, and the University of Colorado – Boulder. During the summers, Ms. Andrijeski teaches baroque violin and dance at several festivals including Oberlin (BPI), Madison (MEMF), and Vancouver, BC (BIP).

She is the Artistic Director of the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra and holds principal positions with New York State Baroque (Concertmaster), Quicksilver (Co-Director with baroque violinists Robert Mealy), Apollo’s Fire (principal player), Les Délices, the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, and The King’s Noyse. She holds a D.M.A. in Early Music from Case Western Reserve University, an M.M. from Northwestern University and a B.M. from the University of Denver. Her recordings can be found on the Dorian, AVIE, Koch, Acis Productions, Centaur, and Musica Omnia labels.

RENÉ SCHIFFER
cello

is a composer in historical styles as well as a leading baroque cellist in the international early music scene. A protégé of the great baroque cellist Anner Bijlsma, he toured internationally for 16 years as a member of La Petite Bande under Sigiwald Kuijken. He has also performed with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra (Ton Koopman), Les Musiciens du Louvre (Marc Minkowski), and in over 50 projects with Tafelmusik (Toronto). His compositions and reconstructions in historical styles have been performed by orchestras in North America, Europe and Australia, and appear on several Apollo’s Fire CD recordings. He can be heard on the Harmonia Mundi, Philips, Virgin Classics, Erato, Sony and AVIE labels.

JEANNETTE SORRELL
artistic director & harpsichord

Award-winning harpsichordist and conductor Jeannette Sorrell has been credited by the U.K.’s BBC Music Magazine for forging “a vibrant, life-affirming approach to the re-making of early music… a seductive vision of musical authenticity.” Sorrell made her debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony in 2013 as conductor and soloist in the complete Brandenburg Concertos. With standing ovations every night, the event was hailed as “an especially joyous occasion” (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). Other guest conducting engagements include the Seattle Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the New World Symphony (Miami), Utah Symphony, Handel & Haydn Society (Boston), the Opera Theatre of St. Louis with the St. Louis Symphony, Omaha Symphony, and the Houston Early Music Festival where she filled in for British conductor Richard Egarr on five days’ notice, leading the complete Brandenburg Concertos and playing the harpsichord solo in Brandenburg No. 5.

Sorrell and Apollo’s Fire record for the British label AVIE RECORDS, and have released 24 commercial CDs, of which seven have been Top 10 bestsellers on the Billboard Classical chart. Her recordings include the complete Brandenburg Concerti and harpsichord concerti (with Sorrell as harpsichord soloist and director), which was praised by the London Times as “a swaggering version… brilliantly played by Sorrell.” She has also released four discs of Mozart, and was hailed as “a near-perfect Mozartian” by Fanfare Magazine. Billboard bestsellers include the Brandenburgs, the Monteverdi Vespers, and Sorrell’s 4 crossover/folk programs: Come to the River – An Early American Gathering; Sacrum Mysterium – A Celtic Christmas Vespers; Sugarloaf Mountain – An Appalachian Gathering; and Sephardic Journey – Wanderings of the Spanish Jews.

Sorrell has attracted national attention and awards for creative programming. She is a two-time recipient of the prestigious “American Masterpieces” grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for the research and production of early American music. Her awards include an honorary doctorate from Case Western Reserve University, the Bodky Award from the Cambridge Society of Early Music and the Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society, given for her work in reconstructing early American repertoire. As a teenager, Ms. Sorrell lived in the rural Shenandoah Valley, where she grew to love Appalachian music and Southern harmony.

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