Join us in our
2023-2024 SEASON
Saturday, October 21, 2023
First Evangelical Lutheran Church
Ellicott City, MD
Sunday, Dec. 3, 2023
Jim Rouse Theatre, Columbia, MD
with the CPC Chamber Singers
Sunday, Dec. 10, 2023
Christ Episcopal Church
Columbia, MD
Chorus & Brass"
Sunday, March 17, 2024
First Evangelical Lutheran Church
Ellicott City, MD
Saturday, May 4, 2024
Jim Rouse Theatre, Columbia, MD
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Studio 17
8510 High Ridge Rd
Ellicott City, MD 21043
410.696.2888
Fax: 410.696.2591
David K. Mann, Baritone
David K. Mann is an active singer, conductor, and educator in the Washington D.C. area. He performs regularly with professional choral ensembles including the Oregon Bach Festival, Westminster Summer Choral Festival, the National Cathedral, and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. In 2018, David was recognized nationally as the winner of the American Prize in Choral Conducting - Collegiate/University Division. As a clinician and presenter, he has led honor choirs around Virginia and presented at regional conferences on choral pedagogy and repertoire. He earned his Masters in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University and his Bachelors in Music Education from James Madison University. He currently serves as artistic director for Voce Chamber Singers in Vienna, VA and teaches choral music at Unity Reed High School in Manassas, VA.
Lior Willinger, Piano
Award-winning pianist Lior Willinger performs as a solo and chamber artist in the US and abroad. At the age of 19, he made his New York concerto debut at Carnegie Hall performing Piano Concerto No. 1 by Dmitri Shostakovich. He won grand prize and audience prize in the Camerata Artists International Piano Competition following his performance of Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergei Prokofiev at Merkin Hall.
An avid chamber musician, Mr. Willinger has collaborated in recitals with musicians of the Boston Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, and Minnesota Orchestra. He currently serves as Director of the Homewood Chamber Music Seminar, coaching student chamber groups at Johns Hopkins University. Passionate about the music of our time, Mr. Willinger has premiered countless works and has released a 10-part commissioning/performance/video/article series on I CARE IF YOU LISTEN called Active Listening. Each work in the project hopes to bring awareness and action to a social justice issue chosen by the composer.
Mr. Willinger earned the Bachelor of Music degree and the Master of Music degree from the Peabody Conservatory, where he is currently pursuing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree with renowned artist-teacher, Yong Hi Moon. During his graduate studies, Peabody Conservatory honored Mr. Willinger with the Sidney Friedberg Prize in Chamber Music and the Presser Music Award "given to a student demonstrating excellence and outstanding promise for a distinguished career in the field of music.”
Active in the Baltimore community, Mr. Willinger performs weekly for infusion patients at Sinai Hospital’s Lapidus Cancer Institute. He is the Founder/Artistic Director of the If Music Be the Food concert series in Baltimore which acts to increase support and awareness for those struggling with food insecurity. The series, which partners with Maryland Food Bank, has raised thousands of meals for those in need. He also serves as resident pianist for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's Orchkids program which provides a free music education to students in underserved areas. Mr. Willinger recently joined the keyboard studies and music theory faculty at Peabody Conservatory.
Ronald Mutchnik, Violin
Violinist Ronald Mutchnik graduated from the University of Maryland Baltimore County summa cum laude, where he studied with Robert Gerle. While there, he won the Baltimore Music Club’s and Baltimore Musicians’competitions. He earned his master’s degree from the New England Conservatory, where he studied with Joseph Gingold and Masuko Ushioda. He continued post-graduate studies in Israel with Yair Kless.
A resident of Howard County since 1983, Muchnik is active as an orchestral violinist, chamber musician, recitalist, and soloist. He has served as concertmaster and assistant concertmaster with the Maryland Symphony, and National Chamber Orchestra and Baltimore Chamber Orchestra, and serves as concertmaster of the Handel Choir of Baltimore, the Columbia Pro Cantare and Bach in Baltimore. He has appeared as a soloist with numerous orchestras in Maryland, as well as orchestras in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Minnesota. He appeared in the film Washington Square, performing his own composition, and was a featured soloist for the Maryland Ballet Theater, and performed in Maryland and Alabama in a special recital, Music of the Jewish Soul His recent performance of the Bach Chaconne at the Baltimore Bach Concert Series was described by Michael Lawrence, creator and director of the critically acclaimed movie Bach & Friends, as a "nuanced and expressive" interpretation that "holds up with the best performances I have heard."
Mutchnik has taught in several universities and colleges and currently has a private studio of forty students. He was President of the American String Teacher’s Association’s Maryland/DC Chapter and twice received the chapter’s Teacher of the Year award. He has also toured Korea, coaching and performing chamber music.
He is a founding member of the Sundays At Three chamber music series in Columbia, and is its artistic director. In 2008, he formed the Orchestra of St. John’s, later called the Howard County Concert Orchestra, the county’s first all professional chamber orchestra. In 2009, Mutchnik received the Howard County Arts Council’s “Howie” as outstanding artist of the year. In 2019, he became interested in the discipline of Body Mapping which helps musicians avoid pain, injury, and limitation in their playing and in January of 2022, became the first stringed instrument teacher in the state of Maryland to become a Licensed Body Mapping educator.
Kayla Currie, Soprano
Kayla Currie is a 2017 graduate of Radford University, and received her Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy. Since graduating, she has stayed active in the music community and joined the Columbia Pro Cantare in the fall of 2017. Ms. Currie is also a member of the Saint Andrew’s Methodist Church in Edgewater, where she has been their Soprano Scholar. When not performing with the choirs, Ms. Currie is teaching private piano and voice lessons. In 2018, she appeared at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York City and become the first ever opera singer to appear at the Apollo. While completing a six-month Music Therapy internship in Indianapolis, Indiana, Ms. Currie performed in "Indiana’s Got Talent" at the Greenwood theater.
Today, Kayla Currie is an assistant teacher and music therapist at High Road Academy, which dedicates services to students with multiple cognitive, emotional, and physical disabilities. As she continues on in her professional career path, her goal is to become a founder of a music therapy clinic and music school that would provide services to those with and without disabilities, to nurture their love for music.
Ms. Currie has performed as a soprano soloist in Columbia Pro Cantare’s "Over There: Music of World War I" concert (2018), "Salute to Gershwin & Kern" (2019), and "Celebrating Women Composers" (2020).
Cassidy Dixon, Soprano
Cassidy Dixon, soprano, recently graduated from the Peabody Conservatory with a Master of Music in voice performance and pedagogy. Recent performances include Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro with MIOpera, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte with Peabody Opera Theatre, and Elizabeth Bennet in the stage premier of Kirke Mechem’s Pride and Prejudice with Peabody Opera Theatre.
Ms. Dixon recently won second place at the Friday Morning Music Club Sue Goetz Ross Vocal Competition, third place in the Sylvia Green Vocal Competition, and an Encouragement Award at the Philadelphia District Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
Amy Van Roekel, Soprano
Amy Van Roekel has been described by the Washington Post as "a lovely singer and an accomplished actress," and she has received accolades for her performances on both the operatic and concert stage. In 2019 she performed the role of Claudia in Alessandro Scarlatti’s opera La caduta de’ Dicemviri with the acclaimed early-music ensemble, ACRONYM, at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. She also performed recitals in Philadelphia and New York City with Philadelphia-based LyricFest in their "CAROL OF WORDS - Walt Whitman in Song" recitals in celebration of his 200th birthday.
In the past few seasons Ms. van Roekel has had an interesting and eclectic mix of performance opportunities. She performed a Cardoso Requiem Mass at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston with VOX Vocal Ensemble under the direction of George Steel. She also she sang the role of Clémence in a chamber performance of Kaija Saariaho’s L’amour de loin with Opera Mission in New York City. Her singing has been featured in popular and commercial venues as well, recording the theme song for Sony’s award-winning video game, Until Dawn, and adding her soprano to a recent ad campaign for Venus Razor. Other notable performances include being featured in Pulizter-Prize-winner David Del Tredici’s epic Haddocks’ Eyes - a 25 minute solo piece with chamber orchestra for soprano and narrator that was performed as part of his 75th birthday city-wide celebration in NYC, and several recitals of Wolf and Schumann with the critically acclaimed Brooklyn Art Song Society.
Highlights of her operatic appearances include roles with Florida Grand Opera, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Central City Opera and hautauqua Opera. She also has a passion for contemporary opera and has worked extensively with American Opera Projects and other new-music organizations, where she is called on frequently by composers to premiere their works. As a soloist she has performed over 30 works with groups including the Virginia Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Santa Fe Symphony, the Kalamazoo Symphony, and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia. Some of her most cherished opportunities include her collaborations with Maestro JoAnn Falletta in performances of Carmina Burana with the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Albany Symphony, and Haydn’s The Creation with the Virginia Symphony, which was broadcast on PBS television. She has also performed Handel’s Messiah, Brahms’ Requiem, and Vivaldi’s Gloria at Carnegie Hall with composer-conductor, John Rutter.
In addition to her performing credits, she enjoys teaching and presently maintains a vibrant roster of voice and piano students. Before starting her private studio, she was previously on the faculties of Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, Westminster Choir College, and worked with the Virginia-based organization, "Traveling Notes." With this organization she completed two residencies in the Dominican Republic, performing and teaching master classes at the Conservatorio Naçional in Santo Domingo.
Ms. van Roekel resides in Brooklyn, where she maintains an active schedule performing, teaching, and raising her 10-year-old twins. She is thrilled to be back in Columbia performing as this is her first return to the stage since the pandemic began in March 2020. She dedicates her performance tonight in honor of her high school choir director, Mr. Thomas Kasdorf of Kalamazoo, Michigan, who continued to be a source of inspiration and support until he passed away from coronavirus last year.
MaryAnn McCormick, Mezzo
Internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano MaryAnn McCormick has been hailed in the press as "charismatic", "spell-binding", and "elegant". Her international operatic credits include Isabella in L’italiana in Algeri at La Scala in Milan, Azucena in Il Trovatore at the Teatro Regio di Torino, Maddalena in Rigoletto under Daniele Gatti at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Gluck’s Alceste under Bruno Bartoletti at the Teatro Regio di Parma, and First Maid in Elektra with Christoph von Dohnanyi at the Opéra National de Paris. A frequent interpreter of the role of Carmen, her performances include the title role of Carmen at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Regio di Torino and the Staatsoper Stuttgart, and Theater St. Gallen, Switzerland of which the critics wrote "She acts and sings a wonderful Carmen."
With the Metropolitan Opera of New York, MaryAnn McCormick has performed roles in many operas over more than twenty five seasons and 140 performances on stage including Le Nozze di Figaro, Madama Butterfly, Il Trittico, Die Walküre, La Fanciulla Del West, Don Carlo, Ernani, Francesca Da Rimini, Dialogues of the Carmelites, Carmen, La Traviata, Rigoletto, Die Zauberflöte, L’Enfant et Les Sortileges and the world premiere in 1991 of John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles (debut).
Recent notable performances include the North American premiere of Huang Ruo’s opera Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, sung in Mandarin, in the role of Ni Gui-Zhen for Santa Fe Opera, and Ricky Ian Gordon’s newly revised opera The Grapes of Wrath at Opera Theatre of St. Louis in the role of Grandma Joad. Other performances of note include the role of Nefertiti in Phillip Glass’ Akhnaten with the Atlanta Opera, and Das Lied Von der Erde with the Orchestra Verdi in Milan; a piece she has also performed with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia to standing ovations. She also created the roles of Grandma Josephine and Mrs. Teavee for the world premiere of Peter Ash’s The Golden Ticket based on the book "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with Opera Theatre of St. Louis.
MaryAnn McCormick has toured Japan with Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philadelphia Orchestra in performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, a work she has also performed with Leonard Slatkin and the Cleveland Orchestra, Sir Neville Mariner and the Academy of St-Martin-in-the-Fields, and Edo De Waart and the Dutch Radio Philharmonic. Other concert highlights include Ariadne auf Naxos with Sawallisch and the Philadelphia Orchestra; John Corigliano’s Of Rage and Remembrance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Bruch’s Odysseus with the American Symphony Orchestra, Verdi’s Messa di Requiem with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra and the Oratorio Society of New York, El Amor Brujo with the Brooklyn Philharmonic and Robert Spano, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle at the Tanglewood Festival with Emanuel Ax and Robert Spano accompanying, conducted by Grant Llewellyn, and Act III of Die Walküre also at the Tanglewood festival with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
As a recitalist and chamber musician, Ms. McCormick’s notable performances include recitals in New York’s Morgan Library for the George London Foundation, Boston’s Jordan Hall with Robert Spano, The Châtelet in Paris, and Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and Philadelphia’s Academy of Music accompanied by Wolfgang Sawallisch. She has recorded with the Emerson String Quartet in the Grammy-nominated recording of Anton Webern’s Three Pieces for String Quartet, Op. 3, No. 3, on Deutsche-Grammophon; Orchestre National de France in the role of Tigrane in Puccini’s Edgar; The New York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur in Debussy’s Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien; and is featured singing in the Miramax film The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Ms. McCormick is a recipient of the Grammy award for Best Opera Recording (2012) for her participation in Wagner’s Ring Cycle with the Metropolitan Opera under the direction of James Levine in Die Walküre in the role of Grimgerde for the premiere of the Robert LaPage production. Other prestigious awards include the Richard Tucker Career Grant, George London Foundation Award, International Tchaikovsky Competition; Special award for best Tchaikovsky singing, Richard Gaddes Artist for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Pope Foundation Award, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions; New England Region 1st Place Winner, William Matthews Sullivan Grant, Boston Opera Association Young Artist Career Grant, Opera Index Grant, and 1st Place Winner of the Jesse Kneisel Lieder Competition held at the Eastman School of Music. In 2015 Ms. McCormick was honored to join the voice faculty of New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.
Charles Reid, Tenor
Charles Reid, tenor, is an active international performer of operatic and concert repertoire. He has performed on many famous stages, including nine seasons with New York’s Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Theater an der Wien, Frankfort Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Opéra National de Paris (Bastille), and the festivals of Bayreuth, Salzburg, Spoleto USA, Glimmerglass and Central City. Among others, his concert appearances include performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center, Toledo’s Peristyle, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Wiener Konzerthaus, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Auditorium de Lyon, Beethonvenhalle Bonn, Barcelona’s Palau de la Música Catalana, and Madrid’s National Auditorium.
His international collaborations with conductors include Alain Trudel, Bertrand de Billy, Jaap van Zweden, Josep Pons, Philippe Jordan, Sabastian Weigle, Leon Botstein, Jane Glover, JoAnn Falletta, Tomás Netopil, Florian Ludwig, James Levine, Marco Armiliato, John DeMain, Ádám Fischer, Valery Gergiev, Frances Motyca Dawson, Dan Ettinger, Dennis Russel Davies, J. Reilly Lewis, Frédéric Chaslin, Diane Wittry, and Andrew Constantine.
Charles Reid’s discography includes CD recordings and DVD’s for Deutsche Grammaphon, Naxos, Opus Arte, OEHMS Classics, and Capriccio. Mr. Reid is the recipient of prestigious awards from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation, Loren L. Zachary Foundation, Marjorie Lawrence International Vocal Competition, and more. He serves as Associate Professor of Voice at Andrews University. In addition to an active teaching and performance schedule, Charles Reid is Producer and Host of This Opera Life Podcast and a dedicated family man.
Lester Lynch, Baritone
Lester Lynch, baritone, has become recognized for his charismatic portrayals and commanding voice as he tackles some of Verdi’s most important baritone roles, amidst rave reviews, from Scarpia to Rigoletto to Count di Luna.
Mr. Lynch made his debut at the renowned Teatro alla Scala singing the role of Crown in Porgy and Bess, and the Royal Opera House as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Most recently, he performed with the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa in an innovative Verdi vs. Wagner program, and made his film debut as Merrivale in Gordon Getty’s new opera, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, based on the popular 1934 book by James Hilton.
Upcoming 2022 highlights include performances as the Forester in The Cunning Little Vixen by Janáček with the English National Opera, Scarpia in Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra’s production of Puccini’s Tosca, and Wotan in Wagner’s Das Rheingold with Nashville Opera.
Lester Lynch’s discography is featured on Pentatone label, including Iago in Verdi’s Otello, Michele in Puccini’s Il Tabarro, Germont in La Traviata and his 2017 debut solo CD, "On My Journey Now: Spirituals & Hymns."
Mr. Lynch is the recipient of many distinguished awards, including Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the George London Vocal Competition, and Sullivan Awards. As a frequent recitalist, Mr. Lynch has toured the United States under the auspices of the Marilyn Horne Foundation.