Guest Artists
Over the course of the semester, individuals from all corners of the art world joined us to share their insights, their experiences, and their unique perspectives.
Luis Fraire and Birgit Straehle, February 3rd
Luis Fraire, Managing Director, and Birgit Straehle, Creative Consultant, manage the Sprinkler Factory, an art space operated by AGSF, Inc. (Artists’ Group of the Sprinkler Factory), a nonprofit 501(c)3 arts organization founded in 2010. Their mission is to provide a welcoming multifaceted venue to nurture and promote the visual and performing arts communities of Central Massachusetts. By providing 7500 square feet of exhibition space and virtually no size limits for sculpture, installations and 2D, the gallery at the Sprinkler Factory is one of the most active and massive exhibition spaces for contemporary art in Central Massachusetts. In addition to the gallery, the space features a performance stage for theater, music, talks, spoken word, and film with an 85 seat capacity.
Please explore our current exhibition and special event schedule and connect with art and community: AGSF, Inc. | 38 Harlow Street, Worcester, MA 01605
Lisa Leach, February 9th
Lisa Leach, Performing Arts Liaison, Worcester Public Schools
Bio: Newcomb College of Tulane University, B.F.A.
Syracuse University, M.S.
Adjunct Faculty at Worcester State University and Anna Maria College
Facilitator 2019 Massachusetts Arts Curriculum Frameworks Music revision team
Member, Berklee College of Music Music Education Advisory
About the music programs in the Worcester Public Schools: Over 81% of our 24,000 students are taking arts courses this year. The WPS offers art, music, dance, theater and media arts programs. We have an award winning fine arts magnet program at 3 schools, Worcester Arts Magnet, Burncoat Middle School, and Burncoat High School. Our students and staff speak over 74 languages and have helped us create an inclusive, diverse and responsive music curriculum aligned to our state standards.
Internship and volunteer opportunities include: master classes, arts administration, student teaching, tutoring and mentoring
Contact Information: Leachl@worcesterschools.net
Elizabeth Deliberto, Blaise DeSouza, and Kim Driscoll of Nativity School,
February 10th
Nativity School of Worcester is an accredited, independent, Jesuit middle school that provides a quality, all-scholarship education to underserved boys of all faiths. Drawing upon four pillars – strength, scholarship, character, and service – a Nativity education inspires self-discovery, responsibility, spiritual growth, and a lifelong dedication to learning. At Nativity Worcester, we approach education from a holistic perspective, by providing support through mental, emotional and behavioral support to our students. Our Renaissance program provides a curriculum of visual and performing arts for all grades.
Elizabeth Deliberto, Interim President - edeliberto@nativityworcester.org
Blaise DeSouza, STEM Teacher - bdesouza@nativityworcester.org
Kim Driscoll, Associate Director of Advancement - kdriscoll@nativityworcester.org
https://nativityworcester.org/
Michelle Sterk Barrett, Ph.D. - Director
Dr. Sterk Barrett is the Director of the Donelan Office of Community-Based Learning at the College of the Holy Cross. She completed her Ph.D. in higher education administration at UMASS Boston. Her research has focused on spiritual development through service-learning, developmental education, and the service-learning experiences of racially minoritized students. Dr. Sterk Barrett previously worked with Boston College’s PULSE Program for Service Learning, the Scott/Ross Center for Community Service at Simmons College, and City Year.
msbarret@holycross.edu
&
Isabelle Jenkins, MDiv, Ph.D. (candidate) - Associate Director
Isabelle Jenkins '10 is the Associate Director of the Donelan Office of Community-Based Learning at the College of the Holy Cross. There she serves as the liaison between Worcester agencies and Holy Cross faculty, students, and staff to support the CBL program. Among other responsibilities, Isabelle advises the CBL Intern program, creates and facilitates CBL reflection activities, serves on the Civitas planning committee, coordinates the Non-Profit Careers Conference, and manages C.O.R.E. (Worcester College Corps' Online Repository of Asynchronous Content). Currently, Isabelle is a higher education PhD candidate at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Her dissertation research centers around culturally responsive teaching and learning. Isabelle earned her Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School in May of 2014. Isabelle graduated from Holy Cross in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in religious studies.
ijenkins@holycross.edu
Adrien Finlay currently serves as Executive Director of Music Worcester, a performing arts presenting organization based in Central Massachusetts, and focuses on enhancing revenue streams and maximizing new CRM systems. Originally from RI, he pursued studies in music and arts management at Harvard University and American University. With a career that was born out of summer positions at music festivals throughout the Northeast, he previously held posts at the Alexandria Symphony (VA) and Glimmerglass Opera (NY).
Email: adrien@musicworcester.org
Michelle Sterk Barrett and Isabelle Jenkins, February 17th
Website link to Donelan Office of CBL
The mission of the Donelan Office of Community-Based Learning is to engage faculty, staff, students, and community partners in a process of integrating theory and practice. In the Jesuit tradition and through service and research, we promote experiential learning opportunities that foster the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources, as we strive to make a substantial contribution to our local community.
Adrien Finlay, February 17th
Dashon Burton, February 24th
Bass-baritone Dashon Burton has established a vibrant career in opera, recital, and with orchestra. In key elements of his repertoire — Bach’s Passions and the B minor Mass, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Beethoven 9, the Brahms Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, and Mozart’s Requiem – Dashon is a frequent guest with the major orchestras of the United States, Europe, and Japan.
He is also an original member of the groundbreaking vocal ensemble, Roomful of Teeth, with whom he won a Grammy for their recording of Caroline Shaw’s Pulitzer-Prizewinning Partita for 8 Voices.
Email: dashonburton@gmail.com
Andrew Armstrong, March 10th
Praised by critics for his passionate expression and dazzling technique, pianist Andrew Armstrong has delighted audiences across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Canada, and the United States. The 2019-2020 Season takes Andrew across the globe with concerts in London, Glasgow, Amsterdam, Bergen, Dresden, Copenhagen, Prague, and across the US, Canada, and Australia. Also this season, Andrew and violinist James Ehnes team up to release the complete cycle of 10 Beethoven Violin Sonatas to celebrate the master’s 250th birthday in 2020. The duo performs the cycle in cities around the world this year.
In addition to directing Chamber Music on Main at the Columbia Museum of Art (SC) and the Chamber Music Camp at Green Lake Festival of Music (WI), Andrew is devoted to outreach programs and playing for children. In addition to his many concerts, his performances are heard regularly on National Public Radio and WQXR, New York City's premier classical music station.
Mr. Armstrong lives in Massachusetts, with his wife Esty, their three children Jack (14), Elise (9), and Gabriel (2), and their two dogs Comet & Dooker.
Osvaldo Golijov, March 17th
Osvaldo Golijov grew up in an Eastern European Jewish household in La Plata, Argentina. Born to a piano teacher mother and physician father, Golijov was raised surrounded by classical chamber music, Jewish liturgical and klezmer music, and the new tango of Astor Piazzolla.
Defined by The New York Times as "a musical alchemist (who) conjures up new worlds," Golijov takes gestures and sound imagery from his own background as the points of departure for his compositions. Music from the Judeo-Christian liturgy, the western repertory of many periods, folk traditions from around the world, and the inevitable tango and other Latin American genres, appear in his work in different stages of transformation, often metamorphosing into something else entirely or even disappearing altogether from the surface. His music is regularly performed by major ensembles in America and Europe. He is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, among several other awards.
He is the Loyola Professor of Music at Holy Cross, where he has taught since 1991.
Lito Messini, March 24th
Born in Athens.
Studied in the Athens Conservatoire (prof. Julia Trousa)
Continued studies in the Opera Studio of the Greek National Opera (prof. Angelo Simo, Mata Katsouli, Aris Christofelis).
Studied also with Marlis Petersen and Michael Chance.
Worked for the GNO children opera and for GNO major productions.
Collaborations with Athens Camerata-Musica Atenea, Symphony Orchestra of Athens Municipality, Athens Epidaurus Festival, Linbury Theatre of the ROH, Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra, The Athens Concert Hall, Centre of Advanced Studies in Music (MIAM) of ITU in Istanbul, Brooklyn Academy of Music NY (ODC ensemble & Elli Papakonstantinou).
She has worked with varius theatrical directors, composers and choreographers.
A founding member of the opera company RAFí , active since 2012 and collaborating with all the important music and theatre institutions in Greece (Greece National Opera, Athens concert Hall, Athens Epidaurus Festival).
Guest singer for Opera Chaotique shows.
Dominique Eade, March 31th
Dominique Eade has been a featured vocalist and composer in the Boston Globe Jazz Festival, the Jazz in Toulon Festival in France, the Molde International Jazz Festival in Norway, the What Is Jazz? Festival in New York, and the Iowa City Jazz Festival, and an artist-in-residence, clinician, and performer at the Wichita and Litchfield jazz festivals. Eade performs regularly in the U.S. and Europe.
A frequent nominee for outstanding jazz vocalist in the Boston Music Awards since 1988, and the 1997 and 1999 winner in this category, Eade was also designated “best jazz singer” in Entertainment Weekly’s Regional Raves in 1997 and nominated for best new artist by the First Annual Jazz Awards (New York) in 1998. She was recognized in the 1998 Down Beat critics poll as “talent deserving wider recognition.”
Her debut CD on RCA Victor, When the Wind Was Cool, appeared in 1998 Top Ten lists in The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The Boston Phoenix, and in Jazz Times and Jazziz magazines.
Her second RCA Victor CD, The Long Way Home, was released in 1999, with contributions by Dave Holland, Victor Lewis, Mick Goodrick, and Bruce Barth. Her earlier CD, My Resistance Is Low, was voted one of the top ten jazz CDs of 1995 by Billboard.
Eade has recorded with Bruce Barth, Stanley Cowell, Alan Dawson, Benny Golson, Fred Hersch, Dave Holland, George Mraz, Lewis Nash, and Steve Nelson, and has performed with Anthony Braxton, Bill Frisell, Mark Helias, Gene Bertoncini, Peter Leitch, Donald Brown, Butch Morris, Mick Goodrick, Ran Blake, and a number of contemporary ensembles.
In 2006, Eade's recording with pianist Jed Wilson, Open, was named one of the top ten recordings of the year by critics in the Jazz Journalists Association. In 2007, Eade was the recipient of NEC's Outstanding Alumni Award.
http://www.dominiqueeade.com/
https://necmusic.edu/faculty/dominique-eade
Fran Rogers, April 7th
Fran Rogers, CEO of Sparrow Live, has over a decade of experience in performing arts administration at the highest levels, most recently at the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, and Tanglewood. A critically acclaimed and internationally known tenor, having performed live for audiences of up to 70,000 and televised audiences of 14 million.
Founded by artists, Sparrow Live’s mission is to democratize access to the arts by connecting artists directly with their audiences through high quality experiences. Sparrow Live’s vision is a barrier-free relationship of equals between artists and audiences.
Established during the early days of the COVID-19 crisis in response to the need for artists and audiences to connect virtually, Sparrow Live is built for artists and companies to deliver high quality performances through livestream technology and virtual ticketing. Sparrow Live is for music lovers to explore, discover, and experience live performances as never before. Sparrow Live experiences reflect the high level of artistry worthy of our artists and audiences. We remove the barriers of geography, physical distancing measures, and personal circumstance to bring performances to all.
Zlatomir Fung, April 14
Zlatomir Fung, the former winner of Music Worcester’s Young Artist Competition, is the first American in four decades and youngest musician ever to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition Cello Division.
Astounding audiences with his boundless virtuosity and exquisite sensitivity, the 21-year-old has already proven himself to be a star among the next generation of world-class musicians. Fung’s impeccable technique demonstrates a mastery of the canon and exceptional insight into the depths of contemporary repertoire.
Of Bulgarian-Chinese heritage, Zlatomir Fung began playing cello at age three and earned fellowships at Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute, Heifetz International Music Institute, MusicAlp, and the Aspen Music Festival and School. A proud recipient of the Kovner Fellowship, Fung currently studies at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Richard Aaron and Timothy Eddy. Fung has been featured on NPR’s Performance Today and has appeared on From the Top six times. Fung plays a W. E. Hill and Sons cello from 1905. In addition to music, he enjoys cinema, reading, and blitz chess.
