Carmina Burana
November 13, 2010

Giovanni Ferrauto has created a distinguished career as a composer and conductor in both his native Italy and abroad. As a conductor, he has won critical acclaim for his performances of works for chorus and instruments ranging from the ancient (medieval, baroque, and classical) to modern eras. He is the Artistic Director of the ensemble Camerata Polifonica Siciliana and the Notomusica International Festival Orchestra, which are devoted to the study and performance of ancient and contemporary music.

Maestro Ferrauto is a music consultant for the Opera and International Summer Festival of Noto (Italy) and for the International Baroque Festival Magie Baroche in Catania. He has taught composition at the music conservatories of Messina and Reggio Calabria, and is professor of composition at the Vincenzo Bellini Institute of Music in Catania.  He serves as a jury member for composition competitions and has lectured on ancient and contemporary music.
 
Born in Catania, Italy, Maestro Ferrauto earned diplomas in piano and composition from the Vincenzo Bellini Conservatory of Music in Palermo and a diploma in choral conducting from the Santa Cecilia Conservatory of Music in Rome.

In 1990-1992 he studied composition with Giacomo Manzoni in the Republic of San Marino, leading to the selection of one of his works for performance by the orchestra and a state commission for a Schubert transcription.  In summer of 1992 his composition, Marica’s Trio won the International Competition of Fiumara d’Arte in Messina, leading to a CD recording. In 1994 he participated in the CIMS (Centre for the Musical Initiatives in Sicily) and as a guest composer at the Goethe Institute’s International Composers Meeting, at which one of his works was premiered by the EAOSS (Sicilian Symphony Orchestra). In 1996 he participated in the production of a CD recording for the Archivio magazine.

His chamber music has been performed by many organizations, including the Teatro Massimo Bellini of Catania, Teatro Massimo of Palermo, the Sicilian Symphonic Orchestra, Associazione Musicale Etnea, and contemporary music festivals in Milan, Rome, Florence, Prague, Paris and elsewhere. His Christmas suite, A’ Nuvena, has been performed more than 300 times, and excerpts were broadcast on Eurovision in 1997 by the Telemontecarlo television network.

In 1998 the Regional Province of Siracusa commissioned Ferrauto to write Voci (Voices), with text drawn from the writings of Gorgias, a Greek philosopher who lived in Leontini, Sicily in the fourth and fifth centuries BCE. Its televised premiere at an archaeological site in Leontini received enthusiastic approval of both audience and critics. The same year he was commissioned by the Notomusic International Festival to write Giardino di pietra (Stone Garden) for instruments and voice, based on the novel by Cesare Brandi. Ferrauto’s music is recorded for Edizioni Carrara (Bergamo), City Music (Milan) and for the recording house SAM (Parma).

Soprano Greta Ball made her professional debut last year to great acclaim as Miss Jessel in The Turn of the Screw under Maestro Lorin Maazel at the Castleton Festival in Virginia, prompting Anne Midgette of The Washington Post to proclaim that Ms. Ball “offered some of the biggest and most climactic sounds of the night." Wrote Philip Kennicott of her debut, "the most gratifying singing came from soprano Greta Ball, as Miss Jessel. Ball has a large voice... it is a real instrument, professionally and confidently used and in service of a sound dramatic conception of the role.”

Since her debut, Ms. Ball has also covered the role of Princess Lan in Tea: A Mirror of the Soul (Tan Dun conducting) at Opera Philadelphia. As a result of her performance at Castleton last summer, Ms. Ball was invited by the Castleton Festival to return this coming summer to reprise the role of Miss Jessel. She was also re-engaged by Opera Philadelphia to perform Frasquita in their upcoming production of Carmen. Ms. Ball has been featured as a Young Artist with the Santa Fe Opera, Chicago Opera Theater and Opera Santa Barbara. As a Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Singer, she appeared as Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel and Iphigénie in Iphigénie en Tauride in the Apprentice Scenes. Cover roles at Santa Fe included Tigrane in Handel's Radamisto and Princess Lan in Tan Dun's Tea: A Mirror of Soul in its American premiere. Additional highlights include covering Servilia in La Clemenza di Tito and Mrs. Coyle in Britten’s Owen Wingrave at Chicago Opera Theater, as well as performing the role of Margot in The Merry Widow and covering Frasquita in Carmen at Opera Santa Barbara.

An active recitalist, Ms. Ball has performed at numerous venues, including the Chicago Cultural Center’s historic Preston Bradley Hall as a part of the Award Winners in Concert Series and Chicago Opera Theater’s artist recital series. Featured solo concert appearances include Berio’s Magnificat for Two Sopranos and Orchestra, and
Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with the North Shore Choral Society. Ms. Ball is the winner of the Joseph DiVenere Memorial Award from the Bel Canto Competition and the Annemarie Gerts Award from Musicians Club of Women, and has also been honored by the Meistersinger Competition in Graz, Austria, the Society of American Musicians and the McDowell Foundation of Oak Park, Illinois.

In Chicago, Ms. Ball performed in the Midwest premiere of John Adams’ A Flowering Tree at Chicago Opera Theater, and several roles with Chicago’s American Opera Group, including Adele in Die Fledermaus, Musetta in La Bohème, Gilda in Rigoletto and Lucy Brown in Weill's The Threepenny Opera. Of her Adele performance, Catherine Wilkinson writes: “this role requires a crystal-clear voice in the stratosphere, a snappy delivery of one-liners, and a believable heap of melodramatic baggage, all of which Ms. Ball delivered with suave naturalness. Her rendition of the famous "Laughing Song"... is rife with sarcasm and rings valiantly throughout the theatre. Ms. Ball's Adele not only has the endurance to sing a demanding score with energy and mastery up to
the very last high note, but her pacing on stage is exceptional, both elegant and tongue-in-cheek.” She made her Chicago Cultural Center debut as the Queen in Monteverdi's chamber opera Il Ballo delle Ingrate and performed Celia in the U.S. premiere of Cimarosa's L'Infedeltà Fedele with Millennium Chamber Players.

Internationally, Ms. Ball appeared as the title role of Naughty Marietta with the AIMS Festival Orchestra under the baton of Roland Seiffarth in Graz, Austria.
Ms. Ball completed a Masters Degree in Vocal Performance at Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where her roles included Silberklang in The Impresario, Yum-Yum in The Mikado and the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro. A native of Oak Park, Illinois, she completed a Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude from Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, majoring in French and Humanities/Cultural Studies. During her coursework she spent a semester abroad studying at Université Paul Valèry in Montpellier, France.

DENNIS WILLHOIT has received numerous awards for singing and served as tenor soloist with various ensembles in New England and the Midwest.  Concert appearances include performances of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s The Messiah and Stephen Paulus’ new work To Be Certain of the Dawn for the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra, University of Iowa Symphony Orchestra, Truman State Symphony Orchestra, Iowa City Chamber Singers and the Janesville-Beloit Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in Wisconsin.

Equally at home on the operatic stage, Dr. Willhoit’s opera credits include Die Fledermaus, Cosi fan tutte, Carmen, Cenerentola, Falstaff and most recently with the Fox Valley Symphony Orchestra in Carmen.  He has performed in master classes with Frederica von Stade, Adele Addison, Dawn Upshaw, Leslie Guinn and Martin Katz and sung at summer music festivals in Aspen, Colorado and Brattleboro, Vermont. 

Upcoming performances include Handel’s Messiah with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra and returns to Iowa for a Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra.

Dr. Willhoit is the founding Artistic Director of the Greater Ottumwa Vocal Arts Project in Ottumwa, Iowa where he served as the conductor to the children’s choruses and musical director for the summer musical theatre productions for eleven seasons.  He served as the musical director for the 2008 Illinois All-State Theatre Festival’s production of Jason Robert Brown’s Parade. 

Dr. Willhoit graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Music degree from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa; holds a Master of Music with honors in vocal performance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he studied with Jon Humphrey; and recently graduated from the University of Iowa with a Doctorate of Musical Arts in vocal performance and pedagogy, where he studied with Stephen Swanson.  His scholarly research has focused on the operatic works of Vivaldi. He recently travelled to Torino, Italy on a Stanley Fellowship from the University of Iowa to complete his work for the publication of a critical edition of selected tenor arias from that composer’s opus.  Dr. Willhoit returned to Torino in the summer of 2009 to continue examination of the Vivaldi manuscripts choosing one opera to publish in critical edition and produce in the near future at UWSP.

Prior to his appointment at UWSP, he has taught at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa and Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Dr. Willhoit’s former students have been winners of numerous competitions including the National Association of Teachers of Singing; have continued training at Berklee College of Music, Roosevelt University and other major institutions; and are performing with both regional musical theatre companies and national Broadway tours.  

ROBERT ORTH has been named “Artist of the Year” by both New York City Opera and Seattle Opera. He has sung for almost every major opera company in the United States, including those in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Portland, Miami, Denver, San Diego, Philadelphia and Boston. His 100-plus roles with these companies include Figaro in Il Barbiere Di Siviglia, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze Di Figaro, Germont in La Traviata, Guglielmo and Don Alfonso in Cosi Fan Tutte, Dandini in La Cenerentola, Beckmesser in Die Miestersinger, Ford in Falstaff, KoKo in The Mikado, Danilo in The Merry Widow, Pangloss/Voltaire in Candide,  and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly. 

Mr. Orth has become known particularly for his roles in new American Operas: the title role in the world premiere of Wallace’s Harvey Milk, Frank Lloyd Wright in Hagen’s Shining Brow, Richard Nixon in Adams’ Nixon in China, John Buchanan Jr. in the televised broadcast of Hoiby’s Summer and Smoke, Owen Hart in world premiere of Heggie’s Dead Man Walking, Mr. Parkis in the world premiere of Heggie’s The End of the Affair, The Father in Weisgall’s Six Characters in Search of an Author, The Lodger in Argento’s The Aspern Papers, The Lecturer in Argento’s A Waterbird Talk, Count Almaviva in the world premiere of Titus’s Rosina, Babbit Cross in the world premiere of LaChiusa’s Lovers and Friends,  Horace Tabor in Moore’s The Ballad of Baby Doe, Uncle John in world premiere of Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath, Albert Godby in the world premiere of Andre Previn’s Brief Encounter, Lyndon Johnson in the world premiere of  Stucky’s August 4, 1964, and Mr. Stubb in the world premiere of Heggie’s Moby Dick.

His concert repertoire ranges from pops to Brahms' Requieum, Faure's Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and Orff’s Carmina burana. Among the symphony orchestras with which he has performed are those of Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Washington, D.C., Seattle, Denver, Indianapolis and Phoenix.

 Robert Orth can be heard on these recording: Six Characters in Search of an Author, Harvey Milk, Dead Man Walking, The Telephone by Menotti, The Grapes of Wrath, Hansel and Gretel by Humperdink, Shining Brow, and Nixon in China. 

Future engagements include Moby Dick in San Diego, Bernstein’s Candide in Portland, Nixon in China in Toronto, and the world premiere of Musto’s The Inspector in Wolf Trap, VA.

Martha Bein, conductor, is a multi-faceted musician with extensive experience in conducting, vocal performance, musical theater, education, and church music. For over a decade she has directed the Mendelssohn Chorale and the Chorale has been featured as the symphony chorus for the Rockford Symphony since 1999.  As a choral conductor, Ms. Bein has prepared choruses for Chicago Opera Theater, Lyric Opera Cleveland, and the Bel Canto Foundation, and for eight years conducted the annual performances of Handel’s Messiah for the Rockford Lutheran Chorale Union. She has served as Music Director of the Shaker Symphony in Shaker Heights, Ohio, where she also taught music at the Laurel School.

 Besides her tenure at the Laurel School, Ms. Bein served on the faculties of Lake Forest Academy (IL) and Keith Country Day School. A commissioned Associate in Ministry for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Ms. Bein directs the Music and Worship program at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Rockford, where she has developed a high-quality music program that engages all ages in worship and outreach. Ms. Bein holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory and a Master of Music degree from Cleveland State University and has been a recipient of a Klingenstein Fellowship from Teachers College, Columbia University, New York City, and a fellowship from the Northwestern University School of Music.  In 2004, Ms. Bein received Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center’s “Starr of Excellence” award.

The Mendelssohn Chorale

Founded in 1975, The Mendelssohn Chorale, under the direction of Martha Bein, is composed of lovers of choral music from the greater Rockford area. The 110-voice choir has grown steadily over the years, performing major choral works. The Chorale participated in the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center’s 125th Anniversary Holiday Gala in 2009. The Chorale has appeared in concert with the Rockford Lutheran Choral Union and the Diocesan Chorale among others, and has been part of the Rockford Symphony Orchestra's concert season since 1999.

Leah Baskin has been active in the Rockford community for many years as a teacher, volunteer and philanthropist.  For over thirty-five years, she has been dedicated to serving the music education needs of children in school, in church, and in the community. Ms. Baskin has worked as a music teacher at several Rockford Public Schools and is currently the music and movement director of Montessori Private Academy. 
Ms. Baskin is the founder and director of the Rock Valley Children’s Choirs, which began in 2002 as one small choir and has grown to four separate choirs encompassing grades one through twelve.  She served for ten years on the Illinois Music Educators Association State Board and founded the IMEA Children’s Music Festival for northern Illinois.  As a clinician, she has conducted workshops for music educators in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Virginia and presented clinics for the IMEA at both district and state conferences.

Ms. Baskin is a member of the Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternity, the Organization of American Kodaly Educators, the American Choral Directors Association, Chorus America, Choristers Guild, National Association for Music Education, Illinois Music Educators Association, American Orff-Schulwerk Association for music and movement education, and the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers.

She is also an active member of First Presbyterian Church and has acted as director of the church choir, bell choir, and children’s music. Ms. Baskin has received degrees in music education at Augustana College and elementary education at Western Illinois University.

The Rock Valley Children’s Choir, a performing and education choral organization, was established in 2002 and is part of the music program offerings for children within the Community Education Division of the college.  Beginning as one small choir, the program has grown to become four separate choruses which encompass grades one through twelve. 

The choir has sung in concert with the Rock Valley Chorale and Kantorei, the Singing Boys of Rockford; performed at the Coronado Performing Arts Center; toured at regional libraries and museums; sung for the opening of a Smithsonian Institute exhibition; participated in youth choral festivals; and performed for public and private education and civic groups in Illinois and Wisconsin.  Weekly rehearsals and optional monthly Saturday workshops provide many occasions for children to grow both as singers and as responsible citizens.

In 2006, the Rock Valley Children’s Choir formed a partnership with the Mendelssohn Performing Arts Center in downtown Rockford.  Being part of the downtown fine arts corridor gives us new opportunities to grow and mature as musicians.  Our February performance in 2009 with Kantorei and RSYO at the Coronado PAC, and our inclusion in Mendelssohn’s 125th Anniversary Holiday Gala Concert in December, are examples of our collaborative efforts.

Over 250 children have participated in the Rock Valley Children’s Choir, and they come from all types of schools and education programs, including public, private, parochial and home school settings.  The singers currently represent fourteen different communities in the Rock Valley College area.  Each week, Leah Baskin, the choir’s director, brings a variety of learning experiences and styles, including Kodaly, Orff, and High/Scope Movement approaches to the children’s rehearsals.