Here in This Garden - Laudato, Lacrimosa

Here in This Garden - Laudato, Lacrimosa
April 22nd, 2023

Christ United Methodist Church

Featuring

Robert S. P. Gardner, conductor/director
Sheryl Chaloner, soprano
Megan Dotzler, mezzo
Erin Haefner, alto
Melissa Scaccio, alto
Paul Hart Cochran, tenor
Brian Pfaltzgraff, baritone
Jordan Brown, bass/baritone
Jon Coker, bass

Elinor Niemisto, harp
Amy Unseth, flute
Briana O’Connell, bassoon
Jeff Strom, marimba
Alec Tackmann , drums
Scott Ollhoff, percussion

Program

A Chamber Opera in One Act

A meditation on the relationship between human beings and their natural environment as reflected through ancient and indigenous perspectives, as well as notions of modern life and progress. To whom does all of this belong? Where lies our sense of responsibility?

Robert S.P. Gardener

Robert S.P. Gardner has studied music theory, composition, and bass playing at Augsburg College, jazz arranging at Indiana University, and band arranging and bass pedagogy at Northwestern University. Further studies include composition and arranging with Frederic Douglas Norman, staff arranger for Mercury Records and the NBC Orchestra, and Danny Holgate of the Manhattan School of Music. He holds an M.A. in Fine Arts/Integrated Arts Education from University of Montana’s Creative Pulse program, and an M.A. in Religious Studies, Philosophy and Literature from Indiana University. In 2010 Mr. Gardner was chosen as an inaugural member of the Composer Teaching Artist Training Program with the American Composers Forum. Since arriving in Rochester in 1991, he has been active as a full-time educator as well as a freelance bassist, composer, and arranger. His works have been performed locally by Rochester Chamber Music Society, Choral Arts Ensemble, Children’s Dance Theatre, SEMYO, Sonata Singers, and St. Paul City Ballet. Mr. Gardner currently serves as Chair of Fine Arts at Rochester Lourdes High School.

Sheryl Chaloner

Sheryl Chaloner, soprano, is a graduate of Iowa State University where she sang in the top women’s choir, Cantamus. Sheryl has sung with the Rochester Symphony Chorale for nine seasons and has performed in various theater groups in the area alongside her children, who are also active musicians in the Honors Choirs and school music programs. Sheryl is an Iowa native, and after graduating from Iowa State, she moved to the Rochester area to attend school, and then to work at Mayo Clinic, where she is a radiologic technologist specializing in pain medicine. She
currently resides in Stewartville with her husband and three children.

Brian Pfaltzgraff

Dr. Brian Pfaltzgraff, baritone, is an associate professor of voice at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. While completing the Doctorate of Musical Arts at the University of Michigan, Dr. Pfaltzgraff was on the faculties of Ohio Northern University, and Concordia University, Ann Arbor. He received his Master of Arts in German Literature and his Master of Music from Bowling Green State University, and his Bachelor of Music Education and German from Simpson College.

Pfaltzgraff has performed over 30 leading operatic roles and an even wider range of concert works. He appears regularly with Union Avenue Opera in St. Louis, and has also appeared in productions with Opera Theatre of St. Louis, the St. Louis Masterworks Chorale, Toledo Opera, the Lima Symphony, Toledo Symphony, the Detroit Symphony (Civic), Canton Civic Opera, Mansfield Symphony, the Ann Arbor Festival of Song, the Rochester (NY) Chamber Orchestra, the Oak Ridge (TN) Civic Music Association, and the Des Moines Metro Opera. While at the University of Michigan, Dr. Pfaltzgraff held the Joy Whitman Weinberger and Ara Berberian fellowships, and was the inaugural recipient of the Jessye Norman Fellowship, a University of Michigan award recognizing vocal excellence. He was also the inaugural recipient of the James Paul Kennedy Alumni Recognition award from Bowling Green State University.

Alec Tackmann

Having started playing music in kindergarten, Alec Tackmann, drums, began learning to read music almost before he could read words. Originally a pianist, he switched to drums as an early teen and played in every in or out-of-school group possible including jazz band, marching band, and countless garage bands. Afterward Alec attended Berklee College of Music where he graduated with an honors degree in drum set performance in 2008, studying with such greats as Rick Considine, Terri Lyne Carrington, and Mike Mangini.
As a performer Alec has toured nationally and internationally to a dozen countries playing major festivals including New Orleans Jazz Festival and Monterey Jazz Festival for artists such as Annie Mack, The Galactic Cowboy Orchestra, Jenn Bostic, and Davina and the Vagabonds. As an educator he has held a roster of 50 weekly private students at his home studio and is the author of the GoAndPractice® series of drum instructional books available worldwide.

Scott Ollhoff

Scott Ollhoff, percussion, holds a bachelor’s and two master’s degrees in music. He has performed with the Alaska-Anchorage Symphony, Rochester Orchestra and Chorale, and is currently Principal Percussion/Tympanist for the Rochester Pops Orchestra. He has also been the percussion/drumline coach at Century High School since its opening in 1997. Before that he taught drumline and percussion at Madison East High School and worked with the Madison Scouts in Madison, Wisconsin. He teaches social studies during the day, and private lessons during the evening.

Erin Haefner

Erin Haefner, mezzo-soprano, hails from Byron. She received her bachelor’s degree in Flute Performance from Luther College, and her master’s degree in Vocal Performance from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Erin’s 2022 opera credits include Margaret “Meg” March (Little Women), Daughter (Daughter), Ada Blake (A Certain Madness), and Rachel (If I Were You). She recently received the Frank and Sally Hansen Singer/Actor Award of Excellence and additionally placed second in her Arizona NATs category in the Fall of 2021. Erin has performed around the world, including London, Paris, and in the famous Vienna Musikverein. She currently resides in Byron, singing with the Rochester Symphony Chorale and working with the Southeast Minnesota Youth Orchestra (SEMYO) as Operations Coordinator and for the Rochester Symphony Orchestra as Music Librarian.

Birana O'Connell

Briana O’Connell is a bassoonist based in Rochester, who regularly performs with the Bloomington and Austin Symphony Orchestras. She is a recent graduate of DePaul University, where she studied with Keith Buncke and Bill Buchman, both of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. She also graduated from Luther College with a degree in bassoon performance and music education. Briana maintains a studio of bassoon, piano and clarinet students in Rochester and is also an elementary music teacher at Longfellow Elementary School. Her teaching career has allowed her the opportunity to work with various high school and middle school bands, as a chamber music coach, private lesson teacher and judge at solo and ensemble festivals.

Amy Unseth

Amy Unseth, flute, lives in Rochester with her husband, Reuben, and teaches flute and piccolo in her home to students of all ages and abilities. She has prepared students to win multiple competitions. Amy earned a degree in flute performance from The University of Northwestern in St Paul and has furthered her flute studies in recent years under Greg Milliren of the Minnesota Orchestra and Dr. Margaret Rowland. She performs with the Rochester Pops Orchestra, substitutes regularly with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, and is an active freelance performer in the area.

Megan Dotzler

Megan Dotzler, mezzo soprano, was most recently seen singing Sièbel in Faust with Opera Reading Project in 2021. She performed La Suora Infermiera and La Suora Zelatrice in Suor Angelica with Music On Site, Inc. in 2019. She also attended Chicago Summer Opera in 2019 where she performed Nireno in Giulio Cesare and performed scenes as Carmen (Carmen), The Witch (Hänsel und Gretel), and Noémie (Cendrillon). Past roles include Mercédès in La tragedie de Carmen/Carmen, Octavian in scenes from Der Rosenkavalier and Nancy in Albert Herring with University Opera Theater at the University of Minnesota. She received her master of music degree from the University of Minnesota where she studied with Adriana Zabala and her bachelor of music degree from Concordia College. An avid choral performer, she has also been a member and soloist with the Choral Arts Ensemble since 2016. She was selected to be the alto soloist in Bach’s Johannes Passion with University Singers at the University of Minnesota in 2020, but this was cancelled due to Covid-19,

Jordan Brown

Originally from Des Moines, Jordan Brown, bass/baritone, is a local Rochester singer and educator. He studied vocal performance at The University of Northwestern-St. Paul, where he gained extensive experience in opera and musical theater performance. During his time in university Jordan performed dozens of roles and sang consistently with the Northwestern Choir. In 2018 he made his debut with Minnesota Opera in the production of Silent Night by Kevin Puts. During his time in the Twin Cities, Jordan sang with different choirs including the Cathedral of St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir and the Two Rivers Chorale. He currently teaches privately and sings with the Choral Arts Ensemble of Rochester.

Elinor Niemisto

Elinor Niemisto, harp, holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Michigan and has registered teacher training in Suzuki Harp. She has recently retired as Principal Harpist from the La Crosse Symphony and the Rochester Symphony Orchestra. She served as harp instructor at St. Olaf College from 1981-2018 and is currently Senior Lecturer in Harp at Carleton College. Elinor is a frequent guest artist for orchestra, choir and chamber music ensembles in the southeastern Minnesota area.

Elinor maintains a small studio of harp students and serves as treasurer of the Minnesota chapter of the American Harp Society.

Jon Coker

Jon Coker, bass, has been an active participant in the Rochester music scene for several decades. He directed a touring 70-voice youth choir at Rochester Covenant Church for 17 years. He has been a member of the Choral Arts Ensemble and the Rochester Men's Capella, serving at various points as its manager, rehearsal director, and bass section leader. He has also been a rehearsal director for Bella Voce. The present work is not his first collaboration with Robert S. P. Gardner; Jon's small jazz-ish vocal ensemble, Sonata, has premiered several of Mr. Gardner's a cappella jazz compositions. Jon has also performed as a trumpet player in several venues around the area.

Dr. Coker holds a B.A. in the liberal arts from Wheaton College, in addition to B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics from the University of Minnesota. He holds about 80 patents and many publications in diverse areas of engineering. Jon served as an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer in 2014, giving a series of 40 lectures on research topics in signal processing and magnetics on five continents.

Paul Hart Cochran

Rev. Paul Hart Cochran, currently serving as a chaplain in Northfield, is honored to return to the performance stage after more than ten years. His history with music reaches far, from singing with the Minnesota Boychoir for seven years, interning with the Minnesota Opera in high school, and attending Illinois Wesleyan University to study opera performance, culminating in performing as Rodolfo in La Bohème. While working through two master degrees in seminary, he performed with barbershop chorus Sound of the Rockies and quartet Surround Sound, competing with both on the international stage. Paul now joyfully shares his voice through hymns and other beloved songs with his eldercare and hospice patients.

Jeff Strom

Jeff Strom, marimba, has been an active percussionist in southeastern Minnesota and western Wisconsin for over 30 years. He has been a percussion and jazz educator teaching at the junior high through college level and directing percussion ensembles, drumlines and jazz ensembles. As a performer Jeff has performed a wide variety of music and in groups ranging from chamber groups to orchestras covering jazz to classical styles. Currently he can be seen performing with the Rochester Symphony Orchestra percussion section and playing steel pan/Latin percussion with Winona Jazz Collective and Tropical Sounds Project.