Three Duels and a Wedding
Bach’s Double-Concertos & Wedding Cantata
with featured soloists
Amanda Forsythe,soprano
Debra Nagy,oboe
Kathie Stewart,traverso
Karina Schmitz & Kristen Linfante,viola
Olivier Brault & Johanna Novom,violin
Thursday, February 8, 2018, 7:30PM
First United Methodist Church, AKRON
Friday, February 9, 2018, 8:00PM
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, CLEVELAND HEIGHTS
Saturday, February 10, 2018, 8:00PM
The Temple-Tifereth Israel, BEACHWOOD
FREE Afterglow!
Sunday, February 11, 2018, 4:00PM
ROCKY RIVER Presbyterian Church

Renowned soprano Amanda Forsythe, now a Billboard Classical best-selling artist, joins the Apollo’s Fire orchestra and featured instrumental soloists.

TELEMANN
Concerto in E minor for Flute & Violin, TWV 52:e3
Olivier Brault, violin | Kathie Stewart, traverso
J.S. BACH
Wedding Cantata, BWV 202
Amanda Forsythe, soprano
BACH
Brandenburg Concerto no. 6
Karina Schmitz & Kristen Linfante, viola
BACH
Concerto for Violin & Oboe
Johanna Novom, violin | Debra Nagy, oboe
Viola Duo Tackles
Brandenburg Concerto No. 6
 
Read the Interview
 

PRE-CONCERT TALK by Professor Thomas Forrest Kelly of Harvard University, one hour before each performance.

afterglow_300
*SATURDAY NIGHT: Sample delicious German wedding cake and sparkling cider… and who will catch the bride’s bouquet? FREE!

These concerts are generously sponsored by Mrs. David Seidenfeld


SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 12:30pm – Nighttown Restaurant, CLEVELAND HEIGHTS
J.S. Bach the Rebel (click here for details)


  • AMANDA FORSYTHE
    AMANDA FORSYTHE
    soprano
  • DEBRA NAGY
    DEBRA NAGY
    oboe
  • KARINA SCHMITZ
    KARINA SCHMITZ
    viola
  • KRISTEN LINFANTE
    KRISTEN LINFANTE
    viola

  • OLIVIER BRAULT
    OLIVIER BRAULT
    violin
  • JOHANNA NOVOM
    JOHANNA NOVOM
    violin
  • KATHIE STEWART
    KATHIE STEWART
    flutes

Wedding at castle, 1789, print by Louis-Philibert Debucourt (1755-1832), France, 18th century / Musee Maurice Ravel, Montfort-L’Amaury, France / De Agostini Picture Library / G. Dagli Orti / Bridgeman Images

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

AMANDA FORSYTHE
soprano

The American soprano Amanda Forsythe, highly praised for her performances on both sides of the Atlantic, sang Euridice on the recording of Charpentier’s La descente d’Orphée aux enfers with the Boston Early Music Festival which won the 2015 GRAMMY® AWARD for Best Opera Recording. Her highly acclaimed CDs have included her début solo album of Handel arias “The Power of Love” with Apollo’s Fire on the AVIE label. She recently toured with the outstanding French countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, performing works based on the Orfeo myth, and subsequently recorded the role of Euridice in a new edition of Gluck’s Orfeo for the ERATO label.

Equally at home on the concert platform and on the opera stage, in recent seasons Amanda Forsythe’s major engagements have included Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Boston Symphony under Andris Nelsons and the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Susanna Mälkki, Handel’s Sileti venti and Laudate pueri with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Nicholas Kraemer, Messiah with Seattle Symphony, Bach’s Magnificat and concert performances as Marzelline Fidelio with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Sir Antonio Pappano. Following performances as Amour in Gluck’s Orphée at London’s Royal Opera House, she participated in tours of this work, and of Mozart’s C Minor Mass and Requiem with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra under Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

She is a regular soloist with the highly acclaimed baroque ensembles Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (PBO), Apollo’s Fire, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, Pacific Musicworks, the Boston Early Music Festival, and the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra. She sang the title role of Teseo with PBO at the Tanglewood and Mostly Mozart Festivals under Nicholas McGegan, and made her début at the Oregon Bach Festival in Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Magnificat under Matthew Halls.

Amanda Forsythe made her USA stage début with the Boston Early Music Festival, where her many roles have included Poppea and Drusilla L’incoronazione di Poppea, Niobe and Manto (recording) in Steffani’s Niobe, regina di Tebe, Aglaure in Psyché (Lully), Venus in Venus and Adonis (John Blow), Pallas in The Judgment of Paris (Eccles), Isabelle in Le Carnaval de Venise (Campra), Serpina in La serva padrona and Edilia in Almira, Königin von Castilien, for which she received rave reviews. Having made her début at Seattle Opera as Iris in Semele, Amanda Forsythe recently returned there to sing Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. Her operatic repertoire also includes Poppea in Agrippina, the title role in Partenope, Dorinda in Orlando, Amenaide in Tancredi, Bastienne in Bastien und Bastienne, Ninfa/Proserpina in Orfeo, Amore in Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, Oberto in Alcina, Dafne in Apollo e Dafne, Atalanta in Xerxes, Vagaus in Juditha Triumphans and roles in Les Indes Galantes and The Fairy Queen.

She made her European operatic début in the role of Corinna in Il viaggio a Reims at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, subsequently returning to perform Rosalia in L’equivoco stravagante, and Jemmy in Guillaume Tell, described by one critic as “…the best singing of this crucial part I’ve ever encountered…”. At her invitation, Amanda Forsythe joined the distinguished American mezzo-soprano Joyce di Donato in a performance of Bellini duets in the festival’s ‘Malibran’ recital.

Major European opera house engagements have included Dalinda in Ariodante in Geneva and Munich and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro, Manto in Steffani’s Niobe, regina di Tebe, Amour in Gluck’s Orphée and Nannetta in Falstaff at London’s Royal Opera House. Her performance as Nannetta was described by Gramophone Magazine as “meltingly beautiful”.

Amanda Forsythe’s recordings include Venus in Venus and Adonis, Aglaure in Lully’s Psyché, and La Grande Pretresse in Lully’s Thésée with the Boston Early Music Festival (all for CPO), Manto in Steffani’s Niobe with BEMF (Erato), the title role in Handel’s Teseo with Philharmonia Baroque (PBO’s own label), Bach’s St. John Passion and Messiah with Apollo’s Fire (AVIE), Dorinda Handel’s Orlando with Early Music Vancouver (ATMA) and Haydn’s Creation with Boston Baroque (Linn). She also sings on the DVD recordings of the Pesaro productions of L’equivoco stravagante and Guillaume Tell as well as Manto in the Royal Opera production of Steffani’s Niobe (Opus Arte). Her latest CD of Steffani duets with the Boston Early Music Festival was awarded the Diapason d’Or in January 2018.

WEBSITE

DEBRA NAGY
oboe

Praised for her “dazzling technique and soulful expressiveness,” (Rocky Mountain News), and a musical approach that’s “distinctly sensual…pliant, warm, and sweet,” (New York Times), Debra Nagy is one of North America’s leading performers on the baroque oboe. She plays principal oboe with the American Bach Soloists, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, and Apollo’s Fire, and is a regular guest with the Handel & Haydn Society, Boston Early Music Festival, and Portland Baroque Orchestra, among other ensembles. A dedicated chamber musician, Debra is the founder of Les Délices (whose debut recording was named “One of the Top Ten Early Music Discoveries of 2009”) and performs late-medieval music as a regular guest with Boston’s acclaimed Blue Heron and the Newberry Consort. Following studies at the Oberlin Conservatory, Conservatory of Amsterdam, and Case Western Reserve University, Debra has received many awards for her creative and scholarly pursuits including first-prize in the American Bach Soloists Young Artists Competition, a 2009 Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and a 2010 Creative Workforce Fellowship from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. She has recorded over 30 CDs with repertoire ranging from 1300-1800 on the Chandos, Avie, CPO, Capstone, Bright Angel, Naxos, and ATMA labels, and has had live performances featured on CBC Radio Canada, Klara (Belgium), NPR’s Performance Today, WQXR (New York City) and WGBH Boston.

A dedicated and inspiring teacher, Debra serves on the artist faculties of the American Bach Soloists’ Summer Academy and has given masterclasses at Juilliard, the Cleveland Institute of Music, San Francisco Conservatory, Cincinnati Conservatory, and University of Washington. She is also committed to service and to fostering the next generation of leaders through her work as a board member of Early Music America and liason to its Youth Advisory Board.

In her spare time, Debra cooks prodigiously (including much canning and pickling), and she loves commuting by bicycle from her home in Cleveland’s historic Ohio City neighborhood.

WEBSITE

KARINA SCHMITZ
viola

holds degrees from the New England Conservatory and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her early music studies began at Oberlin Conservatory with Marilyn McDonald, Miho Hashizume, and David Breitman. She continued her training in the Apollo’s Fire Apprentice Program while serving as Concertmaster of the Case Baroque Orchestra. She is currently Principal Second Violin with Tempesta di Mare in Philadelphia, Assistant Principal Violist of the Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra, and violist with the Coriolan String Quartet, a period ensemble based in Boston.

KRISTEN LINFANTE
viola

holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the Juilliard School, and specializes in both modern and baroque viola. She has served as Principal Viola of the Orchestra de Catania in Sicily and has performed with the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Opera, and Ballet, Houston Symphony, and the Minnesota Orchestra. She is currently the Executive Director of Chamber Music Pittsburgh, and also performs frequently with Chatham Baroque.

OLIVIER BRAULT
violin

hails from Terrebonne in Québec and brings communicative enthusiasm and scholarship to concerts throughout North America and Europe. In addition to directing the chamber ensemble Sonate 1704, he performs as Music Director with Les Goûts Réunis in Luxembourg, as a member of Four Nations Ensemble in New York, and as soloist with many Montréal-based ensembles including the Ensemble Caprice, Les Boréades de Montréal, Quatuor Franz Joseph, and Les Idées heureuses. He holds a Doctorate from the Université de Montréal, where he specialized in 18th-century violin repertoire. He has led workshops and masterclasses at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, CWRU, Oberlin Conservatory, Penn State University, University of Michigan, the Conservatoire Royal de Musique de Bruxelles and The Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris. He has participated in over 65 recordings, many award-winning. In 2011 he received the medal of the Assemblée Nationale de Québec for cultural contributions to his nation. Mr. Brault joined the early music faculty of McGill University in Montréal teaching baroque violin in 2017.

JOHANNA NOVOM
violin

appears as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician with period ensembles across the US and internationally. First-prize winner of the American Bach Soloists’ International Young Artists Competition in 2008, she holds a Master’s degree in baroque violin from Oberlin Conservatory and was a Yale Baroque Ensemble fellow in 2010-2011 under the directly of Robert Mealy. Based in Brooklyn, NY, she currently performs with Trinity Wall Street Baroque Orchestra, Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Carmel Bach Festival, Clarion Music Society, Washington Cathedral Baroque Orchestra, TENET, the Sebastian Chamber Players, New York Baroque Incorporated, and ACRONYM, among others. She is a founding member of the Diderot String Quartet, a new ensemble dedicated to the performance of 18th and early 19th century repertoire. 

KATHIE STEWART
flutes

Hailed as a virtuoso by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Kathie Stewart is a founding member and principal flute of Apollo’s Fire: The Cleveland Baroque Orchestra. An advocate of the baroque flute as a mainstream instrument, Stewart serves as Teacher of Baroque Flute at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Kulas Visiting Artist at Case Western Reserve University, and is Assistant Director for the Seattle Baroque Flute Workshop. Stewart has performed as soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra, Cleveland Opera, Oberlin Baroque Ensemble, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Washington Bach Sinfonia, ARTEK, and Turn the Corner Irish Band. Stewart has performed at the BBC Proms, Snape Proms, Tanglewood Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Ojai Music Festival, Boston Early Music Festival, New World Symphony’s Baroque Festival, Oberlin College Artist Series, National Academy of Sciences, Library of Congress, and Dumbarton Oaks Series. Stewart is a faculty member of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music where she serves as Curator of Harpsichords in the Historical Performance Department and additionally taught baroque flute for nearly twenty years. A proponent of historical temperaments, she tunes and maintains the Conservatory’s world-class collection of historical harpsichord reproductions.

Stewart appears on fourteen recordings with Apollo’s Fire including solo performances in Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. IV (AVIE) and Telemann’s Concerto in E Minor for Flute and Recorder (AVIE). An accomplished Irish flute player, she can be heard on Scarborough Fayre: Traditional Tunes from the British Isles and the New World, Come To The River: an Early American Gathering, and Sugarloaf Mountain: an Appalachian Gathering. Radio appearances include holiday specials on National Public Radio, NPR’s World of Opera, SymphonyCast, and Performance Today. Her concerts have been broadcasted on Britain’s BBC Radio, Canada’s CBC, European Community Radio, and on WCLV’s “Seaway” syndication network carried by member stations of the European Broadcasting Union.

Stewart holds a Bachelor of Music degree from West Virginia University as a student of Joyce Catalfano and a Master of Music degree from Manhattan School of Music as a student of Thomas Nyfenger. She completed doctoral coursework at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as a student of George Hambrecht and participated in Eiji Hashimoto’s Baroque Ensemble. Fascination with the traverso led her to the Baroque Performance Institute at Oberlin Conservatory where she studied baroque flute and recorder with Christopher Krueger.

WEBSITE