Meet the Artists

Here you will find information about the guest artists that will appear with the LaPorte County Symphony Orchestra this season.

Children's Concert - October 10, 2007

• LaPorte Civic Auditorium
• Teacher's Guide
• Biography

Approximately 7,000 elementary school children from 35 area schools will be taken on a fascinating symphonic journey exploring percussive influences from around the world. By exploring different cultures, styles and traditions, the world of dance will be illustrated through authentic performances and costumes. From medieval to modern expect the toes to be tapping throughout this lively, educational experience.

Pops Classique - November 17, 2007

• LaPorte Civic Auditorium
• Program Notes

The press has lauded lyric spinto soprano, Summer Grest, as “spectacular in her energy, pacing and dramatic portrayal” with an “impressive range of dynamics and colors” and a “beautifully controlled, house-filling soprano.” Her Cio-Cio for Capital Opera of Raleigh, North Carolina, was described as “more outwardly bold and determined than usual, all the more heart-rending when she finally came to terms with her fate.” 

Capital Opera of Raleigh has also enjoyed Ms. Grest as the Countess in La nozze di Fiagro with glowing reviews stating that “As the countess, Summer Grest used her beautifully controlled, house-filling soprano to express finely shaded tone and attention to the text. . .”  Following her portrayal of Marguerite in Faust with Capital Opera, Ms. Grest reprised her Countess for the Millennium Chamber Players of Chicago and sang Puccini’s Mimi with that company.  She also protrayed the mother in Amahl and the Night Visitors with Chicago’s Community Renewal Chorus. 

For the Knoxville Opera Company, Ms. Grest sang “a lovely and moving Beth in Little Women” and was “an amazing cover for Cio-Cio San” for their production of  Madama Butterfly.  Additionally, Ms. Grest has performed with Columbia Players, Greensboro Opera, Piedmont Opera, and Opera Carolina. Ms. Grest received her MM from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and is currently a student of Metropolitan Opera Soprano, Judith Haddon.

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Deborah Guscott, mezzo soprano, has been praised by critics as “a superb soloist” with a “powerful, unforced voice,” comfortable in a diverse range of repertoire.  Moving among concert, oratorio, opera, and commercial recordings, Ms. Guscott’s firmly placed; engaging sound and superb musicianship are always in great demand.  Her solo credits include performances under conductors Pierre Boulez, Christoph Eschenbach, Margaret Hillis and Erich Kunzel and her solo venues include Chicago’s Symphony Center, Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion, the Harris Theater and the Ravinia Festival’s main stage. 

Summer 2007 Deborah will be performing with the Grant Park Music Festival in Copland’s In The Beginning.   Performance highlights include alto soloist in Bartok’s Cantata Profana with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus recorded by Deutsche Grammophon under the baton of Pierre Boulez.  Recent performances include Bach’s Passion according to St. John, Handel’s Messiah, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Mozart’s Requiem, and Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky.

Ms. Guscott’s Carmen, Dalilah and Octavian have been heard in concert performances with various symphonies.  As an art song recitalist she was selected to participate in the steans Institute for Young Artists at the Ravinia Festival and presented a recital there with pianist Roger Vignoles.

Often found in the recording studio, Ms. Guscott is a recording artist for various music publishing companies and can be heard in the background vocals for many nationally-aired radio and television commercials.  Her solo performances have been broadcast over Chicago’s WBEZ, WFMT and WNIB radio and aired on WTTW, WGN, and WCIU.

In addition to Cantata Profana  Ms. Guscott’s discography includes Forestier: Masses, Chicago a capella (Centaur Label); and Songs of Love and Old Age, with the Oriana Singers.

Awards include grants from the Hillis Fellowship Fund and the American Choral Foundation.

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The conductor of the Valparaiso University Chorale is Christopher M. Cock, Director of Choral and Vocal Activities at Valparaiso University, where he holds the Duesenberg Chair in Lutheran Music. Through his activities as a choral music educator and as a distinguished solo artist, Dr. Cock has forged a unique career path combining the roles of conductor and performer. He frequently brings his focus on outstanding repertoire, vocal technique and polished musicality to high school ensembles throughout the country. For five years he served as director of choirs for Lutheran Summer Music, the national Lutheran high school music camp. In 2000 he conducted the Minnesota All-State Men's Chorus.

During the academic year 2002-03 Dr. Cock spent a sabbatical leave studying at major Bach centers in Germany, including work at the International Bach Academy (Stuttgart), Thomaskirche and the Bach Archiv (Leipzig) and Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtnis (Berlin). The culmination of these efforts is the formation of The Bach Institute at Valparaiso University, which will be inaugurated on January 10, 2004 with a performance of J.S. Bach’s Mass in B minor. The Bach Institute will continue to devote itself to faithful performances of the works of J.S. Bach, producing symposia and seminars, and bringing to the VU campus major performers and scholars.

As a solo artist Dr. Cock's extensive range and communicative performances have established him as a premier lyric tenor. Appearances as a Bach Evangelist are taking him to concert venues throughout the United States. In April of 2001, he appeared as Evangelist in the St. Matthew Passion with The Los Angeles Philharmonic. The LA Times praised his performance for its "illuminating freshness." He has for numerous seasons appeared as a guest artist with the Oregon Bach Festival, led by German conductor, Helmuth Rilling. In recent seasons he has sung with the Florida Orchestra, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Miami Bach Society, the American Sinfonietta, the Grand Rapids Symphony, and the Seattle Chamber Singers (with Orchestra Seattle). He frequently appeared as a soloist with Maestro Robert Shaw and the Robert Shaw Festival Singers. His performances with the Festival Singers can be heard on recordings released by Telarc International, including Francis Poulenc: Mass and Motets, Amazing Grace: American Hymns and Spirituals, Songs of Angels, and O Magnum Mysterium. He has sung the role of the Evangelist in both Bach Passions with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and is tenor soloist on their new recording of hymns (2001). 2002 saw his solo debut at Carnegie Hall and appearances with the Bach Choir of Berlin. Dr. Cock studied at the University of Southern California and completed his undergraduate study at Pacific Lutheran University. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Arizona (Tucson), where he was a student of Maurice Skones.

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Patrick Blackwell continues to expand his impressive repertoire in opera, oratorio and musical theater following successes with some of America’s foremost young artist programs. This season he will portray his first Porgy in Porgy and Bess with Union Avenue Opera of St. Louis where he will also sing Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte.   He returns to Chamber Opera Chicago as well as Ars Viva of Chicago for his second season as Baltazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors, a role he has also preformed with Des Moines Metro Opera and Opera Illinois.

Mr. Blackwell made his Lyric Opera debut in 1997 as Burnah in the highly acclaimed world premiere of Anthony Davis’ Amistad. He has since returned to Lyric as Henry Davis in Street Scene, as Cal in Regina and the Duke of Verona in Roméo et Juliette.  His New York City Opera debut included the roles of Dr. Grenvil in La Traviata and Colline in La Bohème. Among his other notable portrayals are Leporello in Don Giovanni, Zuniga and Morales in Carmen and Baron Duphol in La Traviata. He has performed with companies including the New Jersey State Opera, Florentine Opera, Augusta Opera, Western Opera Theatre and Fort Worth Opera. 

Mr. Blackwell made his Carnegie Hall debut as the bass soloist in the world premiere of Earnestine Rogers Robinson’s Crucifixion. In addition to performing works by Mozart at the Arts Festival in North Korea, he has sung Faure’s Requiem with the Fresno Philharmonic and Osride in Rossini’s Mosé in Egitto with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra at the Lincoln Center. He also has credits in musical theater, cast as Joe in Showboat with Rockwell Productions and with LiveEnt in Vancouver, Canada, where he was an ensemble member and covered that role. 

A classically trained musician with a wealth of sound, Mr. Blackwell studied with Enrico DiGuiseppe at the Juilliard School on full scholarship. He began his career as a young artist with the Santa Fe Opera, Houston Opera Studio, the Merola Opera Program, Opera Music Theatre International with Jerome Hines and the Aspen Opera Theatre Center.

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Isabel Ong is 11 years old. She has studied the violin for 4 years and is currently under the tutelage of Ms. Carla Trynchuk. Her accomplishments have been winning 1st place in the Berrien County Youth Talent Competition in the year of 2001, 2003, and 2005. In 2002/2003, she won second place in the Southwest Michigan Talent Contest, was asked to play in Muhammed Ali's Charity Concert, won 1st place in Ft. Wayne's Philharmonic Concerto Competition, and also had a solo performance in Channel 34 WNIT. During 2004, Isabel Ong received Honorable Mention in the South Bend Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Concerto Compettion. Also in 2005, she was the winner in the LaPorte County Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition. Isabel also frequently plays in a gospel television channel called 3ABN. Asides from violin, she enjoys reading and playing basketball.

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Carl Linden began studying violin with his mother (Florence Gindl) and grandfather (George Gindl) at age 5. At age 12, he temporarily stopped his music lessons in pursuit of a child actor/singer career. He spent nearly two years on the road with the national company of the show "The Sound of Music," starring Florence Henderson.  The company performed at the Chicago Schubert Theatre for a year and later toured most of the East Coast of the United States.

At age 18, Linden studied violin under scholarship with Daniel Guilet at Indiana University, then in his junior year continued under scholarship with Mischa Mischakoff at Wayne State University. Guilet was the founder of the Beaux Arts Trio. Mischakoff was the famed concertmaster of Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra. Stylistically, Linden plays a number of styles of violin including jazz, commercial and classical.

During the historic Chicago visit by Pope John Paul II, Linden was the leader of the string ensemble that accompanied legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti at a special ceremony televised worldwide. As an orchestra member, Linden has performed with such stars as Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, Joel Gray, Sammy Davis Jr., Donna Summer, Tom Jones and Bob Hope. He played 11 years with Franz Benteler at the top of the Continental Plaza Hotel in downtown Chicago.  Later he became a leader thru the Benteler agency. With that group he played for presidents, and such dignitaries as Emperor Hirohito of Japan when he was in Chicago in the late '70s, and also Golda Meir and Anwar Sadat. Linden then formed the Eclectic Orchestra, which has backed up, The Lettermen, Roger Williams, Patti Page, Robert Goulet, Carol Lawrence, Julius LaRosa, Francie Laine and The Fifth Dimension.
 
Other credits as a classical violinist include the Rockefeller Chapel Orchestra, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Chicago City Symphony, and concertmaster and soloist with the Holy Name Cathedral Orchestra on WGN television. Linden contracts musical groups through his home-based office providing ensembles for events both private and public.

Upon request, Linden will play the same 18th century Italian violin that belonged to his great-grandfather Mathias Gindl when he performed for the Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria.

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Albert Jackson,
Director

Albert M. Jackson resides in Chesterton, Indiana, after having lived and worked for a number of years in the Los Angeles area.  He is a graduate of Chapman University and the California State University, having earned graduate degrees in German literature and music.  As a Fulbright Scholar, he spent two years in Germany writing on the relationship of theology and music in the chorales of J.S. Bach.  He has taken advanced conducting studies at the Aspen Choral Institute with Fiora Contino and Margaret Hillis, and at Valparaiso University with Eldon Balko and Robert Bergt.

Mr. Jackson has sung professionally with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, Ravinia Festival Chorus and Grant Park Festival Chorus, as well as with the American Kantorei in St. Louis and the Laudate ensemble in Northwest Indiana.  He has served as conductor for the Twopenny Opera Company in Los Angeles, and the Madrigal Singers and Musical Theatre at Valparaiso University.  He has also served as guest conductor of the Park Forest Singers in Illinois.

Currently Mr. Jackson serves as Director of Choral Activities and Music Department Chair at South Suburban College in South Holland, IL, where he also coordinates the international studies program.

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LCSO Symphony Chorus, Matthew Nelson - Director.

Matthew Nelson, Choir Master of the LaPorte County Symphony Chorus is a lifelong resident of La Porte and from a young age has had a great passion for music. He nurtured that passion while studying Music Education at Ball State University and Church Music at St. Joseph’s College. He was Assistant Musical Director for The Muncie Civic Theatre’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. He also played the part of Rueben in Joseph. He has musically directed the musical comedy Once Upon a Mattress at the La Porte Little Theatre.

Matt has served as Director of Music Ministries for The First Christian Church of La Porte and for St. John’s Lutheran Church and School of La Porte. In these positions he led praise teams, directed children’s choirs, adult choirs, and handbell choirs. He also has directed many concerts and children’s musicals. Matt has also held the position of Choir Master for the New Buffalo Fine Arts Counsel’s annual Messiah Sing-a-Long concert. He is very excited to be a part of the outstanding La Porte County Symphony Orchestra. Matt has directed the choral groups and performed with the LCSO in their British Invasion, Music Man, Annual Children’s Concert, The Lord Nelson Mass, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, The 2006 & The 2007 Holiday Pop’s Concerts, and has sung the solo for Amazing Grace/My Chains Are Gone. Matt would like to thank Susan Rosselli for her assistance during the choir rehearsals.

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Community Festival - January 27, 2008

• Elston Theatre
• Program Notes

Bring your voice to this joyous concert featuring the many diverse traditions celebrating the joy of life. Be a part of a unique event which brings area soloists, musicians, choirs and symphony orchestra together in powerful afternoon of vocal music. Audience participation and soloist showcasing will be intertwined with spectacular and moving arrangements of standard works, familiar to the diverse cultures, religions and experiences of the Community..

Chamber - February 10, 2008

• Presbyterian Church, Michigan City
• Program Notes

Christopher Chroniak studied voice at the Ohio State University as a baritone.  While there he performed Leporello  in Don Giovanni, Begger in Old Maid and the Thief, and Guglielmo in Cosi fan Tutti.  With the Newton Opera Company in Massachusetts he sang Don Magnifico in La Cenerentola, Belcore in L’Elisir d’Amore, and Leader/Preacher in Down in the Valley.
After earning a doctorate in psychology and establishing a private practice as a clinical psychologist, Chroniak resumed his vocal studies in earnest.  His teacher introduced him to the repertoire of a countertenor and he realized that he had found his “true voice."  After intensive study he felt ready to audition and began offering himself as a countertenor.  He has had success in Chicago with the limited amount of auditioning he has done.  Ovation! Management is pleased to present Christopher Chroniak in that rarefied fach of a countertenor.

In 2003, Chroniak performed as a guest artist with Musica Sacrum and the Lisle Chamber Choir. In February 2007, he performed Lisa in La Comica del Cielo by Abbatini with the McKenna Ensemble. Future engagements include a concert with the Chicago Humanities Festival.

Classical - March 1, 2008

• Civic Auditorium
• Program Notes

The clear, beautiful voice of Elizabeth Norman has charmed Chicago audiences in her regular appearances with the Grant Park Symphony, the Chicago Sinfonietta and Bach Week in Evanston.   Nationally she has appeared at the White House, the Kennedy Center, and with the Symphonies of Richmond, Eugene, Duluth, and Chicago. Internationally Ms. Norman has performed at the Musikverein in Vienna, Austria, and under the auspices of the United States Information Agency has presented recitals in Italy, Israel, and the African Countries of Madagascar, Mauritus, Kenya, Tanazania and Rwanda.

 Recent performances have included a Carmina Burana with the Chicago College of the performing Arts, a recital of Handel arias for Bach Week in Evanston, a Poulenc Gloria in Memphis, and Handel's Messiah with the Eugene Symphony Orchestra.  Ms. Norman also presented the recital, Tribute to African American Composers, for the Great Black Music Project and appeared on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's "Friday Night at the Movies" series singing arias from Faust as background for the historic Lon Chaney "The Phantom of the Opera."

Engagements this season have included Mahler’s Second Symphony with the Oak Park/River Forest Symphony, Carmina Burana with the Eugene Symphony, a return to the Evanston Bach Week, and an appearance with Wynton Marsalis and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus presenting the Chicago premiere of his new composition All Rise.

Ms. Norman holds degrees from Morgan State University in Baltimore and from De Paul University in Chicago where she was a student of Norman Gulbrandsen.  A winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions, she is currently on the voice faculty of Roosevelt University, Chicago, Illinois.

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Ryan de Ryke,
Baritone

Ryan de Ryke is a young artist whose versatility and unique musical presence are making him increasingly in demand on both sides of the Atlantic.  He has performed at leading international music festivals including the Aldeburgh Festival in the UK and the festival at Aix-en-Provence in France.  Apart from his extensive recital career, Ryan appears regularly in concert work including Handel’s Messiah, the Passionsof Bach and Schütz, Bach’s Weinachts-Oratorio, B-minor Mass, Magnificat and the solo cantata “Ich habe genug”.  Upcoming engagements include Carmina Burana with La Porte (IN) Symphony, Bach’s Magnificat with the Cheyenne Wyoming Symphony Orchestra and a Brahms’ Requiem with the South Bend (IN) Chamber Singers.

His early music collaborations include the Orchestra of the 17th Century, the Baltimore Handel Choir, the Bach Sinfonia, the Ciciliana Quartet, the Apollo Chorus of Chicago and Ignoti Dei Opera.

The baritone’s operatic roles include the title roles in Monteverdi’s l’Orfeo, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Blow’s Venus and Adonis, and Giove in Cavalli’s La Calisto.  He has also performed the role of Nardo in Mozart's La Finta Giardiniera with the Bay Area Summer Opera in San Francisco, and the role of Oberon in Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Future opera engagements include Offenbach’s Orfee with Baltimore’s
Opera Vivente and a reprise of Cavalli’s La Calisto with the American Opera Theater in Washington, DC.

Ryan is equally at home in Romantic and Contemporary repertoire, having performed  Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death, Vaughan William’s Five Mystical Songs, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, and Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light.  He has also given performances of Dallapicola’s Rencesvals with Neil Sissons, director of the Dallapiccola Ensemble in London.  Ryan made his Weill Recital Hall debut as a finalist with the New York Oratorio Society, and later returned to the Zankel Hall as a finalist in the Marilyn Horne master class competition.  Ryan is an alumnus of the Britten-Pears Institute where he developed a partnership with Roger Vignoles.  He has also studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Ian Partridge, the Peabody Conservatory with John Shirley-Quirk, King’s College London with Lawrence Dreyfus, and the National Conservatory of Luxembourg with Geoges Backes.  He has participated in master classes with Martin Issep, Wolfgang Holzmair, Leon Fleischer, Ellen Hargis, and works extensively with the Schubert scholar Susan Youens.  His recital partners include Nicholas Rimmer, Michael Sheppard, Eva Mengelkoch, and Daniel Schlosberg.  He is a featured artist on the Peabody Conservatory’s CD Music for the World and Songs to Remember, published by Yorktown Press, Inc. He has also performed live on Chicago Public Radio in the Fazioli Salon Series.

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Mark Eldred, Tenor

Chicago tenor Mark Eldred is quickly becoming in demand for his work as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew and St. John Passions. Excelling in the concert and oratorio repertoire, Mr. Eldred was heard most recently in Handel’s Messiah in Winnetka, IL, as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion’s at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest, IL, tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with both Chorus Angelorum in Whiting, IN and the Chicago Chorale at the University of Chicago, and as the tenor soloist in Britten’s cantata St. Nicolas with the North Shore Choral Society.

Mr. Eldred made his Carnegie Hall and Orchestra Hall debuts in October of 2001 singing the role of the Shepherd in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Daniel Barenboim.

In the future, Mr. Eldred can be heard singing the tenor arias in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Chicago Chorale in March, 2008, as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Lake Forest, IL in March 2008, and in the role of “Little Bat” in Carlisle Floyd’s opera Susannah, April, 2008, at Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL, where he is currently completing the teaching certification program in Music Education.

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South Suburban Chorale, Al Jackson - Director

LCSO Symphony Chorus - Matthew Nelson

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Southlake Children's Chorus, Aaron Reigle - Director
Aaron Riegle,
Director

Aaron Riegle is the Artistic Director of the Southlake Children's Choir, where he serves as director of the Concert Choir comprised of students in fifth through ninth grade. In addition to his responsibilities with SCC, Aaron also serves as the Director of Choral Activities at Portage High School where he directs the Intermediate Choir, Advanced Mixed Choir, Advanced Women's Choir, and Choraliers. Prior to his appointment at PHS, Aaron was Choral Director at Barker Middle School in Michigan City, IN. A 2002 graduate of Butler University, Aaron holds a Bachelor of Music degree (cum laude) in Music Education and also completed studies abroad at the Kodály Pedagogical Institute of Music in Kecskemét, Hungary. He is currently completing graduate studies for the M.M. degree in Music Education at Ball State University, and is an active member in MENC/IMEA (Indiana Music Educators Association) and ACDA/ICDA (Indiana Choral Directors Association). Aaron currently serves on the Board of the Indiana Choral Directors Association as Area I Representative and is also active in the musical life of his church. Aaron resides in Crown Point with his wife, Ann, and daughter, Caroline.

Pops - April 19, 2008

Jennifer Hartson, Vocalist• LaPorte Civic Auditorium

Jenny Hartson, 17, is a junior at La Porte High School. Her family first discovered she had a talent for singing when she performed “Part of Your World” from the Little Mermaid at the Kingsbury School Talent show at age 10. Since then, she has fallen in love with performing. Jenny was a soloist at the La Porte Hospital Foundation’s Holiday at the Pops concert in December of 2006 and was thrilled to sing on the stage of the Civic Auditorium for the first time. She was inducted into the Tri-M Music Honor Society in February and has participated in the Indiana State School Music Association contests, receiving gold rankings the past three years. In 2005, she had the opportunity to sing at Carnegie Hall with the LPHS Treble Chorale. Jenny has been in the cast of several musicals at La Porte Little Theater and has dabbled in modeling. She is actively involved in the ministry at Bethany Lutheran Church, and currently enjoys singing in the church choir under the direction of Charles Steck. She is also a member of the mixed chorale at La Porte High School, directed by Thomas Coe. Jenny extends a huge thank you to both of her directors, as well as to her voice coach Diane Rosco. Jenny hopes that her future includes singing so she is able to let her passion for Christ shine through her music. She is excited about the possibilities that lay ahead and truly believes in “Defying Gravity”.

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Rick Barnes, Vocalist

Rick Barnes was born on October 28, 1958 in St. Joseph, Michigan. He graduated from New Prairie High School in 1976 where he was active in sports and band. He honorably served in the United States Air Force from 1976 to 1980. He’s worked at FedEx for 20 years. Rick enjoys golf, bowling, watching football, playing fantasy football and baseball, spending time at home with his wife, Kathy, and of course, singing. His experience stems from singing Christmas carols around his mother's piano. His father had a tremendous singing voice. Friends and family would gather around the holidays and all would laugh and sing. Better than any present, it remains Rick’s favorite holiday memory. His mom, who recently retired, was a piano teacher her entire adult life. She remains Rick’s hero and inspiration, his faith in what is good and right.