St. Paul’s Music Series brings Broadway to the opening of its 2015-16 season Thursday with dynamic tenor John Christopher Adams.

    Presented by Hardy and Dottye Graham, the Music Series promises a year of jazz, Christmas brass and more. The series includes two concerts – the first and last – that start at 5:15 p.m. for after-work enjoyment, complete with hors d’oeuvres and libations. The other concerts are at 12:05 p.m. — perfect for a lunch getaway and listeners are encouraged to bring their favorite eats. All concerts are held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in downtown Meridian.

    The first concert, “A Night of Broadway with Adams,” features the Fannin native, who, according to Opera News, is quickly establishing himself on stages around the world with his “major, stunning voice.” Listeners have applauded Adams for his “ability to pour his heart and soul into every phrase.”  

    John Christopher studied drama and music with Karen Streit and H.G. Morgan. Under their tutelage, he received several honors, including induction into the Mississippi Thespian Hall of Fame and being named the Nation’s Top Performer by the International Thespian Society in 2001.

    He is a 2006 graduate of the Mississippi College Department of Music, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance. He recently completed both a master’s degree in vocal performance and an artist diploma in opera at the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music. 

    Adams has won numerous scholarships, awards, and honors, including winning the North Mississippi/West Tennessee Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition, the Mosby Award at the Mid-South Regional Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, the Da Capo Award at the Orpheus Vocal Arts Competition, the 2006 Governor’s Award for Most Outstanding Performance at the Southern Division National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Voice Competition, Finalist in the NATS State and Regional voice competition for seven consecutive years, the Zimmerman Scholarship, the John L. Magro Foundation Scholarship, and an invitation to perform with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra in an Honors Recital.  

    Recent international engagements have placed him on the stages of the Festpielhaus Baden-Baden and the Opernhaus Zurich. Recent U.S. engagements include Nelson in Seattle Opera’s production of “Porgy and Bess,” Erste geharnischte Mann in Seattle Opera’s production of “Die Zauberflöte,” Kunz Vogelgesang in Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg” and Rodolfo (cover) in “La Bohéme” with Cincinnati Opera, and Lennie in Carlisle Floyd’s “Of Mice and Men” with the University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music.

    The role of Lennie, which was described as “the role of his life,” brought much attention to this young tenor who was praised for “having it all, not just size and stature, but a steely bright tenor that soared over everything and, topping it off, the genuine demeanor of a child” (Music in Cincinnati). Maestro Floyd even referred to Adams as “simply brilliant” and “the type of Lennie he envisioned.”

    Other U.S. engagements include Crabman in Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Bacchus in CCM’s production of “Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos,” Rodolfo in CCM’s production of Puccini’s “La Bohéme,” Mr. McDowell in the world premiere of Adolphus Hailstork’s “Rise for Freedom: The John P. Parker Story” with Cincinnati Opera, Alfred in the Rising Stars Audition Works’ production of “Die Fledermaus,” Eisenstein in Mississippi College Opera Theatre’s production of “Die Fledermaus,” and Father Angelo in James Sclater’s “The Christmas Gift.”  

    The rest of the season includes:

Ian Hominick, Pianist

Oct. 22, 5:15 p.m.

    Ian Hominick began studying piano in his native Nova Scotia at the age of 7. He attended Mount Allison University in the province of New Brunswick where he was a student of Jamie Syer and Patricia Elliott. Continuing his studies in the United States under the tutelage of internationally acclaimed pianists, Jerome Rose and Earl Wild, he earned the doctor of musical arts degree from Ohio State University in 1991 where he served as assistant to pianists Earl Wild and Tchaikovsky Competition silver-medalist Andre’ Laplante.

    Hominick has gone on to establish a solid reputation as a first-rate pianist and one of today’s most popular artists. His performances help to bridge the gap between performer and audience causing one newspaper critic to write … “Despite his many successes, Ian Hominick remains a very down-to-earth, approachable individual, an attribute which makes him an excellent teacher and an informative performer.”

    An active soloist, accompanist, adjudicator and teacher, Hominick maintains a busy schedule of concerts and piano masterclasses across the United States and Canada including solo recitals in Chicago, Cincinnati, Ottawa, Montréal, Milwaukee and New York City. He recently made his European debut with concerts in Rome, Italy. Recently, newspaper critics have praised Mr. Hominick for his “flair and virtuosity” and “his mastery of dynamics and execution of a beautiful flowing line.”

    Hominick has appeared as soloist on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, Chicago-Chautauqua Series, American Landmark Festivals, and has been a featured guest for Saskatchewan’s Rites of Spring Festival, the Hornby Festival Society in British Columbia and the American Liszt Society Festival. His performances have been broadcast both regionally and nationally on CBC Radio, Radio-Canada and National Public Radio in the United States. He is a frequent guest for Chicago’s syndicated radio program “Live From WFMT.”

    Hominick’s premiere solo recording of the works of the legendary romantic pianist, Sigismund Thalberg, was released in 1995 to glowing reviews from the critics and a nomination for “Best Classical Recording” in the East Coast Music Awards. The Chicago Tribune writes that “… Thalberg’s blending of drama and minor-key lyricism is wholly compelling in Hominick’s hands …” His new recording “Off the Beaten Path” featuring rarely heard repertoire was released on MSR-Classics in November 2009. A dedicated teacher, Hominick has been visiting artist at the University of Newfoundland and has taught on the faculties of Otterbein College, the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, De Paul University and Lake Forest College. He has also served on the national piano jury for Canadian Music Competitions.

    Hominick joined the piano faculty at the University of Mississippi in 1999 and is founder and artistic director of the Piano Discoveries Summer Camp. He resides in Oxford with his wife, Jeanne, and their three young children.

Rachel Van Voorhees, Harpist

Nov. 19, 12:05 p.m.

    Rachel Van Voorhees, principal harpist of the Louisiana Philharmonic, enjoys a unique career as soloist, recitalist, chamber and orchestral musician. An artist of great versatility, she is as comfortable performing with orchestra as she is playing Celtic music or taking a solo with the jazz group, Diversity, which she co-founded with Charles Neville. She studied at the Juilliard School; Purchase College; the Conservatoire in Fontainebleau, France; and has a Masters degree from Yale University, where she was awarded the Harriet Gibbs Fox Award for highest scholastic average. Ms. Van Voorhees studied the harp with Marcel Grandjany and theory with Nadia Boulanger.

    Recently, Van Voorhees has given solo recitals for the International Harp Recital Series in Salt Lake City and for the American Harp Society Chicago Chapter at Lyon and Healy Recital Hall. She has performed orchestral concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the Detroit Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Tulsa Symphony, the Utah Symphony and the St. Louis Symphony. She has also performed the Martin Symphonie Concertante for Harp, Harpsichord, Piano and Orchestra with the St. Louis Symphony as well as several recitals with violinist Gregory Fulkerson.

    Van Voorhees has been on the faculties of Tulane and Dillard Universities and is currently on the faculty of Loyola University. Additionally, she is the solo harpist at the Windsor Court Hotel, and during the summer months, harpist of the Grand Teton Music Festival and coordinator of the Blue Lake Harp Program.

    She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including fellowships at Tanglewood; Chautauqua; Spoleto, Italy; the Walter Damrosch Fellowship; the Louisiana Artist Fellowship; the Contemporary Arts Center’s Sweet Arts Award; and ten grants from the Louisiana Decentralized Arts Funding Program. In the last few years, she has performed more than 80 concerts for the Orleans Parish School Board Elementary Cultural Resources Assembly Series, as well as hundreds of concerts for Orleans Parish school children. She and Lou Anne Neill, the Principal Harpist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, co-founded the Harp in Our Public Schools Program in Los Angeles in partnership with the Young Musicians Foundation. Sixty third and fourth graders now study the harp.

    Van Voorhees has recorded 10 CDs. Her recordings are frequently played on NPR affiliates around the country. As a soloist, she has appeared on NPR Television and National Public Radio and is a frequent guest on the WWL Morning News.

Capital Brass Christmas Concert

Dec. 19, 12:05 p.m.

    An active member of the Mississippi Arts Commission’s Touring Artists Roster, Capital Brass has delighted audiences in Mississippi and neighboring states with programs of various styles, including Renaissance, Baroque, contemporary and jazz.

    The ensemble is comprised of six professional musicians from across the country. All have high school or college teaching experience and perform with numerous professional ensembles, including the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra.

    • Robert Cheesman, trumpet, has a bachelor of Music Education degree and a Master’s degree in Trumpet performance from the University of Southern Mississippi. Presently a member of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Bob has not only played with symphonies throughout the South but has done  recording work in Dallas, Atlanta and Memphis, and has free-lanced extensively with many well-known entertainers. Bob has done clinics and  teaching throughout Western and Central Canada and the U.S. and is presently Jazz Band Director and Instructor of Brass at Hinds Community College.

    • Wayne Linehan, trumpet, has a bachelor of music degree in education from the State University College at Fredonia, New York, a master of music degree in trumpet performance from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and is currently working on his doctor of musical arts degree at the University of Southern Mississippi.

    Linehan has been an extra with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, a member of the Missouri Symphony Society Chamber and Festival Orchestras, Principal Trumpet in the Buffalo Pops Orchestra, and played lead with Johnny Mathis and the New York production of “Camelot” with Richard Harris. He is currently Second Trumpet in the Mississippi Symphony and Mississippi Opera Orchestras, and a member of the MSO Brass Quintet. He is Conductor/Music Director of the Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra, has taught at Hinds Community College, Millsaps College, and is currently an adjunct professor at Mississippi College.

    • Mimi Draut Linehan, horn, has been Principal Horn with the Mississippi  Symphony Orchestra, and Horn in the MSO Wind Quintet, since coming to Jackson in 1983. She also currently performs with the Alabama Symphony, the Mississippi Opera and the Meridian Symphony, and teaches at Mississippi College.

    As a student at the University of Southern Mississippi, Mimi majored in music performance, studying horn with Dennis Behm. She has performed as soloist with the New Orleans Philharmonic and the Mississippi Symphony, Principal Horn with the Missouri Symphony Society Chamber Orchestra, and extra with the Charleston (SC) Symphony.

    • Ken Lyon, trombone, earned a bachelor of music education degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, where he was a featured Euphonium soloist with the USM bands. During that time he also performed in concert at the T.U.B.A. International Symposium at North Texas State University.

    Ken currently plays bass trombone with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, is active in the Jackson area as a free-lance trombonist, and teaches at Velma Jackson Magnet School.

    • Tex Chapman, tuba, is the newest member of Capital Brass. He earned a bachelor of music performance degree from Louisiana State University, and both a bachelor of music in music education and a master of music performance from the University of Southern Mississippi.

    Tex has performed with the Gulf Coast Symphony, the Port City Symphony and the Meridian Symphony, and has worked and performed with “His Way Homes” Summer Jazz program in Jackson for the past two years. Tex is currently the band director at Northwest Rankin Junior High School.

    • Sherwood Berthold, percussion, is principal timpanist with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and Mississippi Opera Orchestra. He holds bachelor and master of music degrees from the Manhattan School of Music. “Bud” has previously played with the American Symphonic Wind Symphony, the  Atlantic Wind Symphony and the Manhattan Symphony Orchestra. He also plays drums with “The Bluz Boys” and the jazz/Latin fusion band “Nite People.”

    Bud teaches private lessons and is the applied percussion instructor at Mississippi College and Hinds Community College.

Mississippi Brass & Percussion, David Benson – Music for Organ & Brass

Jan. 28, 2016, 12:05 p.m.

    Bios unavailable.

Impromptu Piano Quartet

Feb. 4, 2016, 12:05 p.m.

    • Violinist Stephen Redfield, D.M.A., has been on the Southern Miss music faculty since 1996, where he performs with the Mississippi Chamber Circle and the Impromptu Piano Quartet. Throughout the year Stephen acts as concertmaster of the Santa Fe Pro Musica, and each summer is soloist and leader with the Victoria Bach Festival. He is also often concertmaster of the Oregon Bach Festival, where he has participated in numerous recordings.

    Early in 2013, Stephen performed Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante, and the Sebastian Ensemble, his period group, presented concerts in Marfa and El Paso Texas. Following that, as part of the Arizona Bach Festival in Phoenix, he played the “Double Concerto for Oboe and Violin.”

    • Hsiaopei Lee, violist, has appeared as recitalist, chamber musician and orchestra player spanning three continents. She has presented solo recitals throughout the United States and Asia and collaborated in chamber music in such cities as New York, Paris, and Taipei. As a member of the Dayton Philharmonic, Taipei Philharmonic, and Aspen Chamber Orchestras, Lee has performed under David Zinman, James Conlon, Robert Spano, David Robertson, and Michael Stern, to name a few. Her successful teaching experience in Taiwan inspired her to continue her education at Columbia University Teachers College in New York, where she received a master’s degree. She earned her doctor of musical arts degree at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Masao Kawasaki and Catharine Carroll.

    Lee joined the string faculty at The University of Southern Mississippi in 2005, where she plays with the Mississippi Chamber Circle and Impromptu Piano Quartet. She serves as the principle violist of the Meridian Symphony Orchestra. In 2012, she received a fellowship from the Mississippi Arts Commission. Her first CD, “Viola Music Written by American Female Composers,” will be released by Centaur Records this year.

    • A graduate of the Yale University and the University of Santa Barbara, Alexander Russakovsky has appeared in numerous solo and chamber music performances in Russia, Israel, Europe and the United States. A founding member of the Jerusalem Academy String Quartet, he also performed in the Chamber Music Series of the Spoleto Festival in Italy, the Barge Music in New York City and with the Western Slope Music Festival in Colorado.

    In the fall of 2001, Russakovsky joined the music faculty of the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. He also has served on the faculties of the Adriatic Chamber Music Festival in Bonefro, the IV Violoncello Biennal in Peruand the CICA Chamber Music Festival. Most recently, Dr. Russakovsky has given master classes and recitals in Taiwan, Israel, and Latin America. A recipient of many awards, he won the Angela and Maurice M. Clairmont Competition in Tel Aviv, the Performing Arts Foundation Competition in Santa Barbara and the 1999 Career Grant of the Esperia Foundation.

     • Pianist Theresa Sanchez pursues a varied performing career as a soloist and collaborative musician. She has performed as soloist with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, the University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra (including the Southern Nights CD) and The Wind Ensemble. With the Meridian Symphony Orchestra, she premiered and recorded Carey Smith’s “Piano Concerto No. 1.”

     Sanchez was the founding Artistic Administrator for the Vicksburg International Chamber Music Festival and performed in each series with various outstanding artists. She has been a faculty member at Jones Junior College since 1995, and is a past president of the Mississippi Music Teachers Association. She was formerly on the faculty of William Carey College and has taught at the Mississippi Keyboard Camp and the Okanagon Summer School of the Arts in British Columbia. From 2003 to 2006 she performed in the International Music Institute in Pontlevoy, France, and joined the Touring Artist Roster of the Mississippi Arts Commission in 2003. She was recently featured on WQXR (New York) Radio’s Reflections from the Keyboard and WMSV Radio’s High Notes. She currently serves as Chamber Music Coordinator for the Hattiesburg Concert Association and FestivalSouth.

John Paul, Piano, & Taylis Fernandez, Violoncello

A Dual Beethoven Recital

April 7, 2016, 12:05 p.m.

    A native of Cuba, Taylis began her studies in Havana. By the age of 15, she was already a member of the prestigious chamber ensemble Ars Longa, which toured in Mexico and Colombia.

    In 1998, Fernandez recorded the CD “Eco de las Indias,” which won an important award in Europe. In the US, she has been a member of the Tulsa Symphony in Oklahoma, and the Fort Smith Symphony in Arkansas, and she was principal cellist of the University of Southern Mississippi Symphony Orchestra for three years. She is an active member of the Mobile Symphony Orchestra and the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra.

    John Paul grew up in the coastal town of Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire, England.

    In 1961, he won entrance to the Royal Academy of Music in London, where his principle teachers were Alan Richardson, C.H. Trevor, Eric H. Thiman, and Thurston Dart. Paul holds the Academy’s diplomas in piano and organ, an honours degree from the University of London, and a doctorate from the University of Colorado.

    In 1965, he immigrated to Jackson, to become organist and choirmaster at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral and has served as organist at Temple Beth Israel since 1973. At St. Andrew’s, he has been responsible for all service music and the Wednesday at St. Andrew’s noontime concert series begun in 1971, which quickly became a model for series throughout the country.

    Paul has a special interest in the plucked keyboard instruments and has toured as a harpsichordist since 1980, presenting concerts, workshops, and informances in the United States, South America and Europe. Since 1997, he has been in partnership with harpsichordist Shawn Leopard in many performances from Boston to Miami. This duo has recorded the Bach Trio Sonatas with Lyrichord Discs and the Soler Conciertos for Two Keyboards on the Centaur label.

    In 2002, Centaur released Paul’s solo recording of the complete clavichord pieces of Herbert Howells. In 2005, Lyrichord Discs released a three-disc set of the complete harpsichord works of the Baroque French master Jacques Du Phly.

    In 2002 Paul was awarded the prestigious Governor’s Award for Excellent in the Arts by the Mississippi Arts Commission.

Carey Smith & Friends

April 21, 2016, 5:15 p.m.

    The 2015 version of Carey Smith and Friends features Smith on piano and as composer. He is finishing his 35th year at Meridian Community College as director of bands and music instructor. Smith has worked and performed with countless name performers and clinicians in the jazz idiom during his career. As well as his duties at the college he has been orchestra conductor for the Meridian Little Theater since 1985.

    A CD of his original music was released with the Meridian Symphony Orchestra in 2004. His trio is currently working on a jazz CD of all original material for release this year. His “2nd Suite for Jazz Quartet and Orchestra” had its world premiere in Albany, Ga. In 2010, Smith was invited by the International Conductors Guild to have the “2nd Suite” recognized as a new composition of merit in Copenhagen, Denmark. While there, he was honored to be part of the conductor and composers group given an audience with Queen Margrethe II.

    The 2009-10 season of the MSO was based around the four movements of his “Elements” symphony, with the movements being the basis for each concert; Air, Water, Fire and Earth. The entire work was premiered in February of 2011 for the symphonies 50th anniversary with Itzak Perlman as featured soloist on that concert. The Sesquicentennial Celebration of Meridian gave him a commission that was premiered on the first concert in September 2010, “Meridian-150”. Smith just completed a two year project his “Third Suite for Jazz Sextet and Orchestra” in five movements with a vocalist performing three of the movements. He is also looking for an ensemble to perform it soon, and hopes to write new music every day with retirement coming the end of May.

    Scott Kratzer has played drums for the group since the mid-1980s. Originally from Dempolis, Ala., Kratzer is band director at the highly successful Southeast Lauderdale High School Band Program.

    Recognized as one of the busiest jazz drummers in Southeastern Mississippi, Kratzer’s solid swing groove and uncanny ear makes him the first-call drummer for most area jazz outings. An accomplished percussionist in both jazz and symphonic genres, Scott has worked with world-class players at marquee venues all over the U.S., including Carnegie Hall, where he shared the bill with the Count Basie Orchestra.

    In his 30-plus years of playing, Kratzer has performed with such jazz greats as Gary Foster,  Steve Rudolph, Bobby Shew, Marvin Stamm, Chris Vadala, Carl Fontana, Fred Hirsch, Butch Miles, Hal Galper, Birch Johnson, J.B. Scott and Lisa Kelly, Bill Prince, Kathy Kosins and Bill Evans (saxophone). He has also studied drum set with Joe Morello, Butch Miles, Alan Dawson, Michael Derosier and Danny Gottlieb. Kratzer has been featured soloist with both the Albany Symphony and the Meridian Symphony Orchestra, playing both Suites for Jazz group and Orchestra compositions by Smith.