ITHACA COLLEGE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND CHOIRS
Mark Russell Smith, conductor
Rachel Schutz, soprano
Jennifer Kay, mezzo-soprano
Dann Coakwell, tenor
Marc Webster, bass
Richard Wagner, who died in 1883, remained an influential presence for the young Richard Strauss, at no time more so than in 1888, when he began the present work. So profoundly in thrall to Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde was Strauss that the then-24-year-old, well on his way to becoming a celebrated composer, sought and obtained the humble job of coaching singers as a répétiteur for a production of Tristan at Wagner’s Bayreuth Festival that summer. Strauss’ Tristan fixation extended even to the title of his new work, since Wagner had originally titled the concert excerpt from the opera as Liebestod und Verklärung (Love-Death and Transfiguration). It’s surprising, then, that Strauss does not include even a suggestion of a Tristan theme in his own work.
What Strauss had in mind when writing the work isn’t clear. For the premiere of Death and Transfiguration at Eisenach, Germany, in 1890, however, the composer asked a friend, the poet Alexander von Ritter, to write a brief poem based on the theme of earthly travail leading to heavenly bliss. At Strauss’ behest, the poem was expanded by Ritter into a full-scale musico-dramatic road map for the published edition of the score, a program in four parts corresponding to the composition’s four sections, played without pause. A translation of the version that was provided to audience members at the premiere follows:
I. (Largo) In a dark, shabby room, a man lies dying. The silence is disturbed only by the ticking of a clock—or is it the beating of the man’s heart? A melancholy smile appears on the invalid’s face. Is he dreaming of his happy childhood?
II. (Allegro molto agitato) A furious struggle between life and death, at whose climax we hear, briefly, the theme of Transfiguration that will dominate the final portion of the work. The struggle is unresolved, and silence returns.
III. (Meno mosso ma sempre alla breve) He sees his life again, the happy times, the ideals striven for as a young man. But the hammer-blow of death rings out. His eyes are covered with eternal night.
IV. (Moderato) The heavens open to show him what the world denied him, Redemption, Transfiguration—the Transfiguration theme first played pianissimo by the full orchestra, its flowering enriched by the celestial arpeggios of two harps. The theme climbs ever higher, dazzlingly, into the empyrean.
- Program Note written by Herbert Glass
The mysterious circumstances surrounding Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem have lent the work an enduring aura of romance and intrigue. In 1984, the Academy Award-winning film Amadeus presented the Requiem’s creation as a dramatic – albeit fictional – collaboration between the dying Mozart and his rival Antonio Salieri. The true story of the Requiem is no less compelling, but ultimately it is the music itself that endures. The dramatic power of Mozart’s final composition highlights the austere, redemptive language of the Catholic requiem mass.
In the summer of 1791, Count Franz Walsegg von Stuppach sent a messenger to Mozart with an anonymous commission for a requiem to honor Walsegg’s late wife. Walsegg, an amateur musician, had a habit of commissioning works from well-known composers and passing them off as his own; hence his desire for anonymity. Mozart, whose financial situation was always precarious, accepted the commission and completed several sketches before putting the Requiem aside to finish the operas The Magic Flute and La clemenza di Tito. By October 1791, in failing health, Mozart returned to the Requiem; he completed the Introit, Kyrie, most of the Sequence, and the Offertory before his death on December 5. Mozart’s widow Constanze, facing a mountain of debt, asked one of Mozart’s students, Franz Xaver Süssmayr, to complete the remaining sections. Süssmayr agreed, using unfinished sketches and possibly ideas discussed with Mozart prior to the composer’s death to compose the Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei sections. In the Communion, Süssmayr repeats music Mozart previously used in the Introit and Kyrie.
Mozart’s meticulous attention to the meaning of the Requiem’s texts pervades the music. The chorus’ heartfelt pleading in the opening lines, “Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine” (Grant them eternal rest, O God), are set in a dark minor key. The next sentence promises eternity: “Et lux perpetua luceat eis” (and may perpetual light shine upon them), as the music transitions to a major key. The strong Kyrie (Lord, have mercy/Christ, have mercy) emerges as a somber fugue. In choosing to write a Baroque fugue, Mozart pays homage to a composer he greatly admired, Johann Sebastian Bach.
The Sequence begins with the Dies irae (Day of Wrath), whose fiery, agitated setting and orchestral accompaniment bring the fury of the text frighteningly alive. In the Tuba mirum, the bass soloist and solo trombone proclaim the Day of Judgment. The chorus begs for salvation in the powerful Rex tremendae, followed by the more intimate pleading of the Recordare; here, each of the soloists makes a personal petition to God. A thundering Confutatis follows, juxtaposing images of the damned consigned to the flames of hell with that of a supplicant kneeling in prayer. In the Lacrymosa, the chorus gives voice to grief and weeping, while the sighing violin appoggiaturas echo the text’s laments. The chorus ends its plea for mercy in the Offertory with a reminder, in fugal form, of God’s promise to Abraham.
The Sanctus opens joyfully: both chorus and orchestra sing God’s praises accompanied by shining exclamations from the brasses and a fugue on the words “Hosanna in the highest.” The aria-like melody of the soloists’ Benedictus conveys the blessedness of those “who come in the name of the Lord;” a recurrence of the fugue from the Sanctus follows. With the Agnus Dei, the chorus and orchestra return to the dark shifting mood of the opening movement; this culminates in the Communio, which uses the music of the opening Requiem aeternam and concludes with the same fugue used in the Kyrie, this time setting the words “cum sanctis tuis in aeternam” (with Thy saints forever).
- Program Note written by Elizabeth Schwartz
Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine:
et lux perpetua luceat ets.
Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion,
et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem.
Exaudi orationem meam:
ad te omnis caro veniet.
Grant them eternal rest, O Lord:
and let everlasting light shine on them.
To Thee, O God, praise is met in Zion,
and unto Thee shall the vow
be performed in Jerusalem.
Hearken unto my prayer:
unto Thee shall all flesh come.
Kyrie eleison.
Christe eleison.
Kyrie eleison.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Dies irae, dies illa
Solvet saeclum in favilla
Teste David cum Sibylla.
Quantus tremor est futurus
Quando judex est venturus
Cuncta stricte discussurus.
The day of wrath, that day shall
dissolve the earth in ashes
as witnesseth David and the Sibyl.
What trembling shall there be
when the Judge shall come
who shall thresh out all thoroughly.
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?
The trumpet, scattering a wondrous sound
through the tombs of all lands,
shall drive all unto the Throne.
Death and Nature shall be astonished
when all creation rises again
to answer to the Judge.
A written book shall be brought forth
in which shall be contained all
by which the world shall be judged.
And therefore when the Judge shall sit,
whatsoever is hidden shall be manifest;
and nothing shall remain unavenged.
What then shall I say in misery?
Whom shall I ask to be my advocate,
when scarcely the just may be without fear?
Rex tremendae majestatis,
Qui salvandos salvas gratis,
Salve me, fons pietatis.
King of awful majesty,
who freely savest the redeemed,
save me, O fount of goodness.
Recordare, Jesu pie,
Quod sum causa tuae viae,
Ne me perdas ilia die.
Quaerens me sedisti lassus:
Redemisti crucem passus,
Tantus labor non sit cassus.
Juste Judex ultionis
Donum fac remissionis
Ante diem rationis.
lngemisco 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 cremet igne.
Inter oves locurn praesta,
Et ab haedis me sequestra,
Statuens in parle dextra.
Remember, blessed Jesus,
that I am the cause of your journey,
lest thou lose me in that day.
Seeking me didst Thou sit weary:
Thou didst redeem me, suffering the cross.
Let not such toil be frustrated.
O just Judge of vengeance,
give the gift of remission
before the day of reckoning.
I groan as one guilty;
my face blushes at my sin.
Spare me, Thy supplicant, O God.
Thou who didst absolve Mary,
and didst hear the thief’s prayer,
hast given hope to me also.
My prayers are not worthy,
but do Thou, good Lord, show mercy,
lest I burn in everlasting fire.
Give me place among Thy sheep
and put me apart from the goats,
setting me on Thy right hand.
Confutatis maledictis
Flammis acribus addictis,
Voca me cum benedictis.
Oro supplex et acclinis,
Cor contritum quasi cinis,
Gere curam mei finis.
When the accursed are confounded
and condemned to the sharp flames,
call me with the blessed.
I pray, kneeling in supplication,
my heart contrite as ashes,
take Thou mine end into Thy care.
Lacrimosa dies ilia
Qua resurget ex favilla
Judicandus homo reus.
Huic ergo parce, Deus,
Pie Jesu Domine:
Dona els requiem. Amen.
Lamentable is that day
on which the guilty man shall arise
from the ashes to be judged.
Spare then this one, O God,
merciful Lord Jesus,
give them peace. Amen.
Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae,
libera animas omniurn fidelium
defunctorum de poenis inferni et de prof undo lacu;
libera cas 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.
O Lord, Jesus Christ, King of glory,
deliver the souls of all the departed faithful
from the torments of hell and from the bottomless pit;
Deliver them from the mouth of the lion,
lest Tartarus swallow them;
lest they fall into darkness.
But let Saint Michael the standard-bearer
bring them forth into the holy light:
which Thou didst once promise to Abraham and his seed.
Hostias et preces tibi, Domine,
laudis offerimus.
Tu suscipe pro animabus illis
quarum hodie memoriam facimus;
quam olim Abrahae promisisti et semini ejus.
To thee, O Lord, we render our
offerings and prayers with praises.
Do Thou receive them for those souls
which we commemorate today;
which Thou didst once promise to Abraham and his seed.
Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Domine
Deus Sabaoth! Pleni sunt caeli
et terra gloria tua.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Holy, holy, holy, Lord
God of Sabaoth! Heaven and earth
are full of Thy glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi:
dona eis requiem.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi:
dona eis requiem sempiternam.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world:
grant them rest.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world:
grant them eternal rest.
Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine,
cum sanctis mis in aeternum,
quia pius es.
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis,
cum Sanctis tuis in aeternum,
quia pius es.
Let everlasting light shine upon them, O Lord,
with Thy saints forever,
for Thou art merciful.
Grant to the departed eternal rest, O Lord,
and let everlasting light shine upon them,
with Thy saints forever,
for Thou art merciful.
Flute
Mad Andrus
Laura Alvaro¹
Emily DuPuis
Oboe
Ashton Meade
Brady Santin¹
Engligh Horn
Reid Canham¹
Clarinet/Basset Horn
Grace Gonoud²
Amanda Haussmann¹
Bass Clarinet
Christian Laughlin¹
Bassoon
Kaitlyn Beasley-Zeitler¹²
Griffin Harrell
Contrabassoon
Abbie Harrison¹
Horn
Eliza Ferrara¹
Sarah Griffin
Nathaniel Kisslinger
Michael Mezzo
Simon Stainbrook
Trumpet
Yvonne Tucker¹²
Katie May Gang
Lizzy Carvell
Trombone
Gavin Anderson¹
Miguel Lopez²
Bass Trombone
David Miller¹²
Tuba
David Castro¹
Timpani
Will Green¹
Gage Redinger²
Percussion
Ash Black¹
Organ
Erik Kibelsbeck²
Harp
Elizabeth Mayo¹
Viviana Alfaro
Violin 1
Noor Rouhana, concertmaster
Val Connor, assistant
concertmaster
Kian Broderick
Maya Connolly
Mackenzie VanVoorhis
Andrew Neal
Dustin Rood
Lily Milkis
Marvin Juarez Espinoza
Katalena Hume
Isabelle Apostolakos
Max Detzer
Violin 2
Marie Nemeth, principal
Kaitlyn Murray, assistant principal
Cristian Rodriguez
Marisol McDowell
Rachel Berger
Naveen Tomlinson
Lily Lemery-Allen
Maxwell Lines
Paige Wilkins
Rayna Button
Kathleen Robinson
Viola
Zoe Galgoczy, principal
Lydia Dustin, assistant principal
Breanna Annonio
Elijah Shenk
Sasha Narea
Zoe Link
Kendra Seidel
Agena Malziu
Cello
Natalie Bryan, principal
Eli Jort, assistant principal
Ariel Alejandro
Elijah Shin
Gerdrose Jean Louis
Tom Bowstead
Heather Cruz
Molly Davey
Jonah Harley
Lilly D'Ancicco
Bass
Sophia Gates, principal
Alexa Markowitz, assistant
principal
Jacob Eisentraut
Jack Bradway
Garrett Jorgensen
Soprano
Anushka Sharma, S1
Lydia Smith, S1
Molly Dubner, S1
Taylor Hagquist, S1
Alexandra Ives, S1
Allison Lewis, S1
Ellie Babbitt, S1
Leah Monteleone, S1
McKayla Mitchell, S2
Paige Socol, S2
Danielle Yamashiro, S2
Faith Tomasula, S2
Rachel Somers, S2
Amelia Ostamendy S2
Kirsten Ferguson, S2
Sarah Smith, S2
Tenor
Christopher Bavaro +
Ty’vone Benners +
Chuck Burch +
Seamus Buxton +
Jack Lewis T1
Sam Wurdemann T1
Joe Kaffen T2
Trevor Griffiths T2
Ben Stevens +
+ additional community or alumni singers
Alto
Caroline Buell, A1
Grace Commisso, A1
Sofia Santoro, A1
Jordyn Halper, A1
Katie Hayes, A1
Roli Zibuck, A1
Nikki Sutera, A1
Jaya Badhe, A2
Anastasia Inglima, A2
Bria Petrella, A2
Jayna Simeon, A2
Andrew Kadar, A2
Hayley Rayfield, A2
Emma Thomas, A2
Bass
Matthew Amori, B1
Henry Denton B1
Owen Umiker, B1
Paul Narkewich, B1
Jack Patterson, B2
Matthew Scott, B2
Aidan Zajkowski, B2
Soprano
Ashley Brokaw
Kaitlyn Campbell
Bean Cesari
Kerry Cullen
Heidi Engelhert
Raegan Fritts
Abinaya Ganesh
Isabell Grimaldi
Scarlet Hickman
Julia Huff
Bella Mastagni
Alanna Ramos
Tenor
Brendan Blazier
Jack Cecere
Cody Chelune
Cian Connolly
Lorelei Cramer
Jack Delman
Emmanuel Jeffreys
Grant King
Morgan Linn
Joe Mukamal
Jayar Rhoades
Charlie Shanton
Caden Sitts
Toby Wells
Alto
Hope Carey
Sarah Griffin
Janelle Jusino
Ana Kirsch
Lauren Ravas
Victoria Schecter
Grace Tomasula
Mireida Villaronga
Genesis Williams
Maia Wong
Bass
Julian Bingham
Caleb Cackowski
Jaewon Chae
Darren De Leon
Hunter De Young
Jack Foley
Eli Foodman
Daquan Jarrett
Jonathan Kuster
William Rock
Vincent Velazquez
Will Vetter
Ryan Yu
Soprano
Sofia Beaulieu
Emma Cardamone
Chloe Cramer
Amara Evans
Kirsty Ferguson
Jasmine Foster
Taylor Hagquist
Lusi Halaifonua
Ella Padilla
Mo de Poortere
Regina Ramirez-Sastre
Elena Rodenborn
Margot Saganich
Rachel Somers
Mackenzie Sturm
Lily Suchomel
Alto
Kaeleigh Banda
Sybella Chaine
Isabella Cruz
Chloe Farkouh
Cordelia Gilbert
Jordyn Halper
Lucy Montgomery
Sabeena Mori
Grace Rankel
Kelly Rogers
Sammie Tesoriero
Whether conducting contemporary masterpieces or bringing fresh insights to the symphonies of Mozart, Beethoven or Brahms, Mark Russell Smith demonstrates consummate musicianship and enthusiastic commitment to the art of music-making – qualities that have endeared him to audiences and musicians alike. In June of 2007, Smith was appointed Director of New Music Projects of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Artistic Director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Minnesota, a combined post that enabled him to bring his commitment for excellence and passion for education to new audiences. In September of 2008, he became Music Director and Conductor of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, and has since presided while the orchestra has enjoyed five successive seasons of subscription ticket sales growth, and has brought a newly focused artistic vision to the organization. He was named Artistic Director of the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies in the fall of 2012. In the winter and spring of 2012, Smith was the instigating artistic force behind the University of Minnesota School of Music’s Britten Peace Project, which combined musical and historical study and community engagement, culminating in critically acclaimed performances of Britten’s War Requiem in Europe and America, collaborating with German and American music students, professional musicians and the Nobel Peace Prize Forum.
Recent projects include appearances with the Joffrey Ballet, conducting Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, as part of a larger exploration of that work, commemorating its 100th anniversary. Formerly Music Director of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, a position he held from 1999 to 2009, Smith was praised for his innovative and approachable programming and is widely credited with fostering the orchestra’s unprecedented artistic growth.
As a guest conductor, Smith enjoys a burgeoning international reputation that has already brought him engagements and re-engagements with prestigious American orchestras, including the St. Louis Symphony, the Houston Symphony and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. With the Minnesota Orchestra, he made his critically acclaimed Sommerfest debut in 2006 and made his subscription series debut in March of 2009. In the fall of 2013, he debuted with the Virginia Opera, leading Mozart’s The Magic Flute. Other recent appearances include debut performances with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Costa Rica in 2013, and a return to Verizon Hall with the Curtis Orchestra in an all-Wagner program. He regularly returns to his alma mater to lead the Symphony Orchestra of The Curtis Institute of Music, and led the orchestra on tour in China and Korea in the fall of 2011. Smith’s debut at the Nomus Music Festival in Novi Sad, Serbia was met with critical and audience acclaim and led to immediate reengagement. Other recent and upcoming appearances include the Santa Barbara Symphony, Brazil’s Orquestra Sinfôniea da USP, the Hartford Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica de Xalapa, the Phoenix Symphony, the Colorado Symphony, the Eugene Symphony, the Curtis Opera Theatre, the Jacksonville Symphony, the Berkshire Choral Festival, the Eastern Music Festival, the Tulsa Philharmonic, Orchestra London (Ontario), and the European Center for Opera and Vocal Art in Ghent, Belgium.
A champion of the music of our time, Smith led the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Engine 408 series, working closely with living composers and added his unique perspective to enhance that orchestra’s great tradition of fostering new works.
He has collaborated with YoYo Ma and members of the Chamber Music Society of Minnesota in Hún Qiáo (Bridge of Souls), a concert of remembrance and reconciliation featuring world premieres by Korean, Japanese, Chinese and American composers. A firm believer in the use of technical innovation to reach world-wide audiences, he debuted in 2002 with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, conducting the final round of the first Minnesota International Piano-e-Competition, where he led six concerto performances that were streamed live over the Internet. He has led the Minnesota Orchestra in the Competition’s final round since 2004 and returns each summer.
Smith grew up in a musical family in Phoenix, Arizona where he began the serious study of conducting while still in his teens. He is a graduate in cello performance of the Juilliard School, where he studied with Claus Adam, and of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied conducting with Max Rudolf and Otto-Werner Mueller. While at Curtis, Smith was first prize winner in the National Repertory Orchestra Conductors Competition, and upon graduation, was named Assistant Conductor of the Opera Company of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Singers. From 1989 to 1994, Smith served as Associate Conductor of the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra and from 1992 through 1999 served as Music Director of the Cheyenne Symphony Orchestra.
His dynamic personality, creative programming, and focus on outreach helped revitalize the Springfield (MA) Symphony, where he served as Music Director from 1995 through 2000.
Smith resides in Minneapolis, where his wife, Ellen Dinwiddie Smith, is a horn player with the Minnesota Orchestra. They have two sons, Alexander and Noah.
Gregory Smith, a freshman composer at Ithaca College from Hopatcong, New Jersey has written for many different types of ensembles, from a ceremonial piece for the Roanoke College Wind Ensemble to an elaborate concert piece for the Hanover Wind Symphony. Smith’s orchestral and piano works take inspiration from many sources, notably Romantic and Classical Period Composers such as Debussy, Tchaikovsky, and Richard Wagner as well as a variety of film composers such as Joe Hisaishi, John Williams, and Nicholas Britell.
Aside from his orchestral works, Smith also writes jazz music, having released a modal jazz album “Red Corduroy Pants” in January of 2025 following his first semester of college. The titular track, “Red Corduroy Pants” was performed by the Ithaca College Repertory Band (led by Bill Tiberio) in the Fall Semester of 2024.
Welsh-American soprano Rachel Schutz joined the faculty of Ithaca College in 2018 after serving as a lecturer at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. She has taught masterclasses around Asia and the United States, and has also taught high-school voice students at the Punahou School of Music and privately. As a voice teacher, Dr. Schutz is committed to fostering both healthy technique and artistic maturity, whether that be in a masterclass setting or over longer stretches of time in the private studio. She is also a deep believer in the need to prepare students appropriately for a 21st century career in music, and consequently, has presented workshops, masterclasses, and presentations on such topics as practice techniques, programming and production, music psychology and philosophy, entrepreneurship, and arts and social justice. Dr. Schutz's students have won leading roles in IC's opera and musical productions, been finalists in IC's concerto competition, and have consistently moved on to exciting new opportunities, including K-12 teaching positions, field-specific jobs, signing with agencies and companies, national tours, and acceptance into top graduate programs including Boston Conservatory, New England Conservatory, Mannes School of Music, Manhattan School of Music,
Colorado State University, Stony Brook University, and London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Dr. Schutz is also an active and passionate performer having sung extensively around the United States, Asia and Europe.
She has performed a range of roles from Mozart's Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), to Philip Glass's Lise (Les enfants terribles) and Sondheim's Johanna (Sweeney Todd) with companies such as Opera Ithaca, Opera Paralèlle, Hawai'i Opera Theatre, and Stockton Opera. Dr. Schutz has also been heard at Carnegie Hall's Stern, Weill, and Zankel Halls, the Ravinia Festival, the Ojai Festival, the Tanglewood Festival, the Yellow Barn Festival, with the Hawai'i and Riverside Symphony Orchestras, with DCINY, with the Boston Pops Orchestra, and at venues around China, Taiwan, Korea, and Thailand. As an avid supporter of new music, she can be heard on "Elements," an Albany Records album of contemporary American music, and has worked with many composers including Phillip Glass, George Crumb, Milton Babbitt, Jonathan Dove, William Bolcom, Libby Larsen, John Musto, Brett Dean, and Augusta Read-Thomas.
Dr. Schutz holds a BA in Music from Stony Brook University, received her MM degree from Bard College, completed an MA in Linguistics at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and in 2016 received her DMA from Stony Brook University.
A member of the Ithaca College faculty since 2005, mezzo-soprano Dr. Jennifer Kay originally hails from Manalapan, New Jersey. She holds Masters and Doctoral degrees in voice performance from Boston University and a Bachelors degree from Ithaca College in music education and performance. Dr. Kay's current teaching responsibilities include studio voice, diction and French song literature. She is a former faculty member of Syracuse University and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. She has had the honor of participating as a NATS intern, where she worked closely with Cynthia Munzer and Scott McCoy.
An article by Dr. Kay on the songs of Howard Boatwright will be published in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Singing and she has just completed recording Boatwright's songs, along with those of composer David Sisco, for a soon-to-be-released CD. Dr. Kay sings regularly with the Rochester-based early music ensemble, Publick Musick, including a feature performance in Boston, the Bloomington Early Music Festival and a recording of Bach Lutheran Masses. She has worked with several notable conductors and coaches, including David Hoose, Jonathan McPhee, Allison Voth, Sheila Kibbe, Thomas Stumpf and has studied with Scott McCoy, Mark Aliapolious, Claudia Cantania, and David Parks. Dr. Kay has been a featured soloist at the Rochester Bach Festival, Oneida Civic Chorale, Colgate University, Cayuga Vocal Ensemble and Hamilton College. Two of her recent chamber recital performances have aired on WCNY radio.
Dann Coakwell, tenor, has been praised as a “clear-voiced and eloquent … vivid storyteller” (The New York Times), with “a gorgeous lyric tenor that could threaten or caress on the turn of a dime" (The Dallas Morning News). He can be heard as a soloist on the Grammy-winning The Sacred Spirit of Russia (2014), Grammy-nominated Considering Matthew Shephard by composer/director Craig Hella Johnson (2016), which peaked at number three on the Billboard Classical chart, among other Grammy-nominated albums on the Harmonia Mundi and Delos record labels. He also appeared on the critically acclaimed Naxos 2016 release of composer Mohammed Fairouz’s Zabur (as Jibreel), with the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir and Orchestra, and most recently, with Masaaki Suzuki on Nicolas Bruhns: Cantatas and Organ Works, Vol. 1 (2022, BIS records). He has performed as a soloist internationally under such acclaimed conductors as Helmuth Rilling, Masaaki Suzuki, William Christie, María Guinand, Nicholas McGegan, Matthew Halls, and the late John Scott. Coakwell has performed many times at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center's Alice Tully and David Geffen halls, as well as Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue and Trinity Church Wall Street in New York. He has appeared as a soloist with organizations such as Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart in Germany, Bach Collegium Japan (across Europe, Mexico, and Japan), Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco, Oregon Bach Festival, and Conspirare.
Specializing in the Evangelist and tenor roles of J.S. Bach, Coakwell frequently performs the composer’s major oratorios—St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, Christmas Oratorio, and Mass in B-Minor—as well as many of Bach’s cantatas. An enthusiast of Benjamin Britten, Coakwell has appeared in several productions of Britten’s Canticles, Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, and St. Nicolas.
Other prominent solo and titular roles performed also include: Rameau’s Pigmalion; Handel’s Samson, Judas Maccabaeus, Israel in Egypt, Alexander’s Feast, and Messiah; Haydn’s Creation and Missa in Angustiis; Mozart Requiem and Mass in c (Levin, Beyer, and Süssmayr completions); Medelssohn’s Elijah; and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.
Coakwell also serves on the voice faculty at Ithaca College, and has enjoyed guest teaching artist residencies at institutions such as El Teatro Teresa Carreño in Venezuela, Yale University, University of Missouri Kansas City, Dartmouth College, Texas State University, and University of Idaho.
He holds an Artist Diploma from the Yale School of Music/Institute of Sacred Music, a Doctor of Musical Arts and Master of Music degree from Texas Tech University, and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
Marc Webster combines artistry and a passion for teaching as a singer and educator. He has been a member of the voice faculty in the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance at Ithaca College for over 15 years. He cultivates a dynamic learning environment where students develop their artistry, technical foundation, and professional skills, shaping the field as performers, educators, and arts professionals in professional performance, graduate programs, and young artist residencies internationally, and as music educators nationwide.
Upcoming performing highlights for Marc include summer performances as Father Truelove (The Rake’s Progress ) and Jules (Sunday in the Park with George ) at Glimmerglass Opera, a recital appearance with Sparks & Wiry Cries/Oxford Lieder, and oratorio performances with the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, Mohawk Valley Oratorio Society, and the Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Mark Russell Smith. He will also present recital and pedagogy residencies at Cedarville University and Colorado State University.
Recent engagements include developmental workshops with Glimmerglass Opera and Ithaca College faculty and students, singing the roles of Milo Carter in The Rip Van Winkles (Ben Morris and Laura Fuentes) and the title role in Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children (Jens Ibsen). Other recent appearances include performances with NYS Baroque, Defiance Requiem Project, Albany Pro-Musica and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Syracuse Opera, Tri-Cities Opera, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphoria, and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.
An active recitalist, Marc has appeared with the Cincinnati Song Initiative, New York Festival of Song, The Song Continues series at Weill Recital Hall, and the Fall Island Vocal Arts Seminar in the Repertoire Development for Teaching Professionals Program. He has been a guest artist at Si Parla, Si Canta in Arona, Italy, and has served as interim co-director and faculty member of the vocal studio at the Songe d’été en Musique Festival in Quebec, Canada.
As a clinician and adjudicator, he has given recent masterclasses at Boston University, DePaul University, Baldwin Wallace Conservatory, Wake Forest University, Pacific Lutheran University, the University of Texas at Brownsville, the University of S. Mississippi, E. Kentucky University, Binghamton University, Cornell University, Sam Houston State University. Additionally, he has served as a masterclass clinician and adjudicator for the CS Music Competitions in Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., as well as an adjudicator for the 20th anniversary McCammon International Voice Competition at Fort Worth Opera (preliminary round).
Marc's professional training includes residencies in the Filene Studio at Wolf Trap Opera, Seattle Opera Studio, Florida Grand Opera Studio, San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program, and the Juilliard Opera Center.
He holds an Artist Diploma in Opera Performance from The Juilliard Opera Center at The Juilliard School ('08) and a master’s degree in performance and literature from the Eastman School of Music ('06), where he is nearing completion of a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. A proud graduate of Ithaca College’s B.M. in Vocal Performance and Music Education ('02), he is honored to mentor the next generation of singers at his alma mater, fostering a learning environment where students develop their unique artistic voices and prepare for fulfilling careers in music.