April 2023
Handel’s Messiah
In Spring 2021, the Crystal Coast Choral Society embarked on one of the most exciting and challenging programs in our long history! We planned to present Messiah of G.F. Handel in its glorious entirety. Although we had done large portions of Messiah in past years to much acclaim, this was to be our first presentation of the entire masterwork. As far as we know, it was also to be the only presentation of the entire Messiah in Eastern North Carolina in recent years.
Unfortunately, the COVID 19 virus disrupted our plans, however, once the crisis was over, plans restarted to present this concert and it was ultimately presented in April 2023 at the Earl Taylor Performing Arts Center at White Oak High School in Jacksonville, NC.
We were joined by an orchestra of the finest professional musicians. Our vocal soloists were all world-class professionals. We were especially excited to have Dr. Jonathan Griffith join us a guest conductor. Dr. Griffith is the principal conductor and co-founder of Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY). He is an award winning conductor and acknowledged authority on Handel’s Messiah.
Guest Conductor, Jonathan Griffith
An acclaimed conductor, educator and lecturer, Jonathan Griffith has led performances across North America, Europe and Asia. Griffith is co-founder and Artistic Director of Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY), which has brought together, under Griffith’s artistic leadership, thousands of musicians and choral singers in concert at prestigious venues across the United States, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Disney Hall. The founder and Music Director of the Distinguished Concerts Orchestra, Griffith also oversees DCINY”s mentoring program for conductors.
Maestro Griffith made his Carnegie Hall conducting debut in 1989 and has since conducted well over 65 performances at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center combined. In addition to the major works of the classical repertoire, conducting highlights include the U.S. premieres of Karl Jenkins’ Stabat Mater and Te Deum; Sergei Taneyev’s At the Reading of a Psalm; Miloš Bok’s Missa Solemnis; Luigi Boccherini’s Villancicos; and Eugène Goossens’ reorchestration of Handel’s Messiah, along with world premieres by Eric Funk, Seymour Bernstein, and Robert Convery.
Maestro Griffith’s additional conducting credits include the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in Salt Lake City; Manhattan Philharmonic and New England Symphonic Ensemble, both at Carnegie Hall; The European Symphony Orchestra in Spain; Bohuslava Martinů Philharmonia and Philharmonia Chorus, Virtuosi Pragensis Chamber Orchestra, Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, and Dvořák Chamber Orchestra, in the Czech Republic; and the Bialystok State Philharmonic in Poland, as well as numerous regional orchestras and choruses across the United States.
The Jonathan Griffith Singers, an ensemble drawn from singers across North America and founded in 1987, has made its mark internationally. In recent years, Griffith has led the Singers on highly acclaimed tours to Uruguay and Argentina; to the People’s Republic of China, premiering Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace in Beijing and Shanghai; and to Pisa, Italy. Dr. Griffith and the Jonathan Griffith Singers toured Turkey in June of 2013 performing the acclaimed Turkish oratorio Yunus Emre by A. Adnan Saygun in Istanbul with the Cemal Reșit Rey Orchestra and in Ankara and Eskinșehir with the Presidential Orchestra at the invitation of the TURKSOY governmental agency. Maestro Griffith is the 2014 winner of The American Prize in Conducting, professional orchestra division.
Dr. Griffith received his DMA in conducting from the Conservatory of Music/University of Missouri-Kansas City, a Masters in Music Education from Wichita State University, and Bachelor of Music Education from the University of Kansas.
Messiah Soloists
Nancy King, Soprano
UNC Wilmington
Canadian soprano, Nancy King, is an active performer, teacher, guest lecturer, and Coordinator for Vocal Performance at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Ms. King has most recently appeared as Adele in Strauss' Die Fledermaus, and as soloist in Handel's Messiah with Toronto Classical Singers and Mount Olive College. She has also appeared with the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus in Eugene, Oregon in the Vaughn Williams Serenade to Music. Other performances with the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra include the role of Cunegonde in a concert version of Bernstein's Candide, Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Canteloube's Chants D'Auvergne, the Poulenc Gloria and Handel's Messiah. While in residency for her doctoral studies at the University of Minnesota, Ms. King performed the roles of Cunegonde in Candide, Amor in Orfeo ed Euridice with the Opera Theatre, and the Serenade to Music with the University of Minnesota Orchestra. Ms. King also won the Voices of Vienna Scholarship, for study at the Mozarteum Sommerakademie in Salzburg, Austria, and received a UNCW Center for Teaching Excellence Summer Teaching Initiative Stipend for her project "Italian Language and Opera Study" in Florence, Italy. She has attended the Wesley Balk Opera/Music Theater Institute, the Phyllis Curtin Seminar at Tanglewood, and was a member of the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus, under the direction of Helmuth Rilling.
Ms. King holds a Master's Degree in Voice Performance from Boston University, an Opera Diploma from the Longy School of Music, and completed her doctoral residency (ABD) in Vocal Performance at the University of Minnesota, where she studied with Jean del Santo. Well-known to area audiences, Ms. King is a popular guest lecturer, presenting a series of Opera Lectures and various outreach programs as a part of UNC-WOOP! (UNCW's Opera Outreach Project!). She also presents The Singer's Workshop: Freeing the Mind, Body and Voice for Optimal Performing, along with pianist Patricia Ainspac and frequently tours with her Duo Sureño partner, Robert Nathanson, guitar. Ms. King recently received a grant to complete level one training in Aesthetic Education at the Lincoln Center Institute. She is active as a consultant and Teaching Artist, creating and leading professional development workshops for the North Carolina Arts Council cARTwheels tours, including Piedmont Opera, the Keowee Chamber Ensemble and the John Brown Jazz Orchestra, and UNCW's ARTworks. Ms. King was most recently in residence at Codington Elementary and Burgaw Elementary schools in North Carolina, presenting Storytelling through Opera: Hansel and Gretel.
James Mauk III, Tenor
East Carolina University
*Minister of Music at Lakeside Baptist Church, Rocky Mount, NC
July 1, 2022 – Present
*Teaching artist at Wausau Conservatory of Music, Inc.
February 2020 – Present
*Studied Vocal Pedagogy at East Carolina University Under Dr. Daniel Shirley
*Former Graduate Assistant at East Carolina University
August 1, 2018 - 2019·Greenville, North Carolina
*Former Associate Choir Director at Lee's Summit High School
August 2016 - May 2018·Lees Summit, Missouri
*Studied Music education at East Carolina University Class of 2014
Mr. Mauk was highly recommended by his former professor, Dr. Daniel Shirley, at East Carolina University School of Music.
Lewis Moore, Bass
Director of Music Ministries, St. Phillips Episcopal Church, Durham, NC
The American bass-baritone, Lewis Moore, has appeared as soloist from the Triangle to the coast. His solo appearances include performances of Messiah, Creation, Amahl and the Night Visitors and the Requiems by Maurice Duruflé, Gabriel Fauréand Mozart. Lewis has made several tours of England with Schola Cantorum of the Episcopal Diocese of East Carolina and the West Texas Chamber Choir. Recently, he traveled to the Boston Early Music Festival with the Duke Vespers Ensemble for solo work in Dietrich Buxtehude’s Membra Nostri. Locally, Lewis has sung with Riverdeep, Hillyer Community Chorus, Concert Singers of Cary, North Carolina Symphony Chorus and Vocal Art Ensemble of Durham. He is a long-time member of the North Carolina Master Chorale and its board of directors. He now serves as president of Schola Cantorum and is beginning his fifth year as director of the Raleigh Convocation Choir.
Isabella Stollenmaier, Alto
Operatic Roles (*performance canceled due to Covid-19)
Marcellina* Le Nozze di Figaro DePaul University 2020
Didone L’Egisto DePaul University 2019
Grimgerde Die Walküre Manhattan Opera Studio 2019
Polly The Beggar’s Opera DePaul University 2019
Donna Elvira Don Giovanni Wilmington Symphony 2018
Mercédès Carmen Opera Wiilmiignton 2017
Witch Hansel and Gretel Manhattan Opera Studio 2016
Maddalena Rigoletto Opera Wilmington 2015
Second Lady The Magic Flute Wilmington Symphony 2015
Role Study
Marcellina Le Nozze di Figaro DePaul University 2020
Carmen Carmen Opera Wilmington 2017
Dorabella Così fan Tutte Opera Wilmington 2016
Concert Works
Alto Soloist St. Matthew Passion/Bach NC Baroque Orchestra 2018
Alto Soloist Messiah/Händel NC Baroque Orchestra 2017
Alto Soloist Requiem/Mozart UNC Wilmington 2017
Choral Engagements
Alto/Mezzo St. Paul’s Episocopal Church Wilmington, NC ‘16-21
Alto/Mezzo Laudate Dominum Vienna, Austria ‘15-18
Competitions
2nd Place-Chicago CS Vocal Competition Young Artist/Emerging Pro 2020
Education and Masterclasses*
M.M. DePaul University Chicago, IL 2020
Craig Terry* CAIC Chicago, IL 2020
Karim Sulayman* DePaul University Chicago, IL 2019
B.M. UNC Wilmington Wilmington, NC 2018
Teachers Conductors Coaches Directors
Amanda Majeski Roberto Kalb Dr. Kit Bridges Harry Silverstein
Dr. Sam Handley Benoit Renard Nicholas Hutchinson Lisa Nava
Nancy King Dr. Joe Hickman Linda Hirt Sasha Gerritson
Keith Chambers Elizabeth Loparits AJ Wester