Extending Christ’s Welcome
Embodying God’s Love
Telling Our Stories
Sharing the Journey
Old North Church, UCC
The First Church of Christ in Marblehead
Old North Festival Chorus Lenten Concert at Old North Church
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Maria van Kalken, Director of the Old North Festival Chorus and Minister of Music at Old North Church, has announced registration and rehearsal details for the Annual Lenten Choral Concert, and extends a warm and enthusiastic welcome to all singers to join.
Celebrating her 36th season as Director of the Festival Chorus, Maria has planned a beautiful choral concert to take place on Sunday, April 13, at 7:30pm, Palm Sunday. Members of the Old North Senior Choir, soloists, singers from the Old North Festival Chorus, and the Old North Festival Orchestra, will present this 60-minute concert in the sanctuary at Old North Church in Marblehead. This event marks the beginning of Holy Week and was established to offer members of the Marblehead community a program of musical reflection by candlelight. Over the years, the ensemble has more than doubled from the original forty singers to over eighty, and presents challenging and extraordinary musical programs.
All interested singers, from high school aged and beyond, are encouraged to join – those who have performed in past Festival Chorus Christmas and Lenten concerts, as well as newcomers. There are no auditions for the Chorus, and it is not necessary to be a member of Old North Church or the Festival Chorus to join, but previous choral experience is required. Registration and the first rehearsal will take place on Wednesday, February 26, at 7:30pm in the Parish Hall of Old North Church; subsequent rehearsals will take place every Wednesday evening until the performance on Sunday, April 13, 2025.
The choral centerpiece of the Lenten Concert will feature Dan Forrest’s stunningly beautiful Requiem For the Living, which was originally programmed in 2020, but abruptly halted – due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the composer’s own words, this is to be performed “just as much for the living and their own struggle with pain and sorrow, as for the dead.”
Singers are expected to purchase a score, or bring their own previously purchased score of Dan Forrest’s Requiem to rehearsals; for those wishing to purchase a score, scores will be available at Registration. Scores for other choral selections – to be announced – will be available for purchase at Registration. The cost of new scores (Requiem and others, will not exceed $25). In addition, there will be a nominal registration fee of $20 to help defray production costs.
Rehearsals will take place every Wednesday evening, from February 26 through April 9, from 7:30pm to 9:15pm; in addition, there is a mandatory Dress Rehearsal with the Orchestra on Saturday, April 12, from 10am to 1pm. The performance will take place in the evening of Palm Sunday, April 13, at 7:30pm.
All interested and experienced singers are welcome. Please forward any questions to Maria van Kalken, Director, Old North Church Festival Chorus & Minister of Music, Old North Church, at: vankalken@gmail.com
For more information about the Old North Festival Chorus, please visit https://www.oldnorthfestivalchorus.org/
Maria van Kalken, Director of Music
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Maria van Kalken, Minister of Music at Old North Church and Director of the Festival Chorus, celebrates her thirty-fifth (36th) season in charge of Old North’s flourishing music program. Maria earned the degree of Bachelor of Music in Organ Performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music (Oberlin, Ohio) and Master of Music from the New England Conservatory of Music (Boston, MA). Her studies abroad have included pipe organ performance at the Sweelinck Conservatorium in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, under the patronage of the Rotary International Scholarship Fund, and the completion of an historical organ performance program in Pistoia, Italy.
In addition to her work as Minister of Music – playing organ and directing the Senior Choir – Maria is Artistic Director of Concerts at Old North, presenting between two and six chamber music concerts annually, in the acoustically-glorious Old North Church in Marblehead.
Maria is a senior staff member of the Boston Early Music Festival (www.bemf.org); as Assistant to the Executive Director, Maria is liaison to musicians from all over the world for the Festival’s biennial Baroque opera project, as well as the annual Chamber Opera Series, the Boston and New York Concert Series (at the Morgan Library & Museum), and opera touring and recording projects.
Liz Smith, Bell Choir Director
Liz Smith of Swampscott, MA has been joyfully ringing handbells since 2008, when she joined her church’s bell choir. She soon began ringing with New England Ringers, one of New England’s finest audition handbell choirs. Liz has loved making music since childhood, when she studied piano and played clarinet, saxophone, and oboe in many school and community music ensembles. She is thrilled to be with the Old North Church Hand Bell Choir. Liz is also a math tutor at Hadley Elementary School in Swampscott. When she is not taking pictures of the sunset or collecting sea glass, Liz spends her free time with her husband, their daughter, and their three grown sons.
Holly Cameron
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Holly Cameron, soprano, is thrilled to sing with the Festival Chorus and Orchestra for her fourteenth season! She has been hailed a “marvelous femme fatale” (Boston Musical Intelligencer) with “rip-roaring high notes” (The Boston Globe). Some of her favorite operatic roles include Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Musetta (La bohème), and Abigail (The Crucible), among others. On the concert stage, Ms. Cameron has appeared as a soloist in works such as Carmina Burana, Brahms’ Requiem, Poulenc’s Gloria, Mozart’s Requiem, Fauré’s Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass, and Bach’s St. John’s Passion and St. Matthew’s Passion. A recipient of numerous honors, Ms. Cameron was a New England Regional Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and has won awards in the Shreveport Opera Competition, Sarasota Artist Series competition and the National Orpheus Vocal Competition, among others.
She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Voice Performance from New England Conservatory and a Master’s Degree in Voice Performance from Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Holly also has a growing reputation for her interpretation of the blues and soul genres and can be regularly heard with the Chris Fitz “Bigger Soul” Band. For more information and other upcoming performances, please visit: www.hollycameronsoprano.com
Stephanie Scarella
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Stephanie Scarcella, hailed by The Boston Globe as a “radiant mezzo,” originates from Wyoming, and has gladly made New England her home since 2006. This season's concert is Stephanie’s 10th performance with the Old North Festival Chorus. She is so grateful to return to Marblehead to be part of this festive weekend! Stephanie has sung with organizations across the country including Boston Lyric Opera, Odyssey Opera, Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, Wyoming Symphony Orchestra, Middlebury Opera, St. Petersburg Opera, and others. Her next major concert is in the
spring of 2025; she will be the mezzo-soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in Hartford, CT. She loves singing classical music and at times has also hosted jazz shows! Her other interests outside of music include gardening, hiking, travel, and photography. For more information about Stephanie, please visit: www.stephaniescarcella.com
Kevin Hayden
Kevin Hayden, tenor, performed with The Old North Church Festival Chorus for thirteen seasons. Mr. Hayden is familiar to audiences in New England and beyond having performed with Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Boston, Pine Mountain Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, Boston Opera Collaborative, Charleston Chamber Opera Company, Cape Cod Opera, Masterworks Chorale, Opera del West, Boston University Opera Institute, Opera by the Bay, The Lynn Concert Singers and Trinity Church among others. Kevin graduated from Boston University with his Master of Music Degree and The University of Oklahoma with his Bachelor of Music Degree. Past operatic roles include Tamino (Die Zauberflote), Alfredo (La traviata), Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), and The Doctor (A Month in the Country). Kevin lives in Marblehead with his wife, Jennifer and two children Sully and Lizzy.
Andrew Scoglio
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Andrew Scoglio, baritone, is the Lead Teacher for the Performing & Applied Arts at Marblehead High School. He directs the High School and Middle School choral music programs consisting of three choirs and three contemporary a cappella groups. He also teaches AP Music Theory, Piano Class, and Theatre Arts. Mr. Scoglio holds a Master’s degree in Music Education from Gordon College and a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
An active choral singer and soloist, Mr. Scoglio has performed with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall, Tanglewood, Fenway Park, and Carnegie Hall. In 2023, Mr. Scoglio conducted the MMEA Eastern Jr. District Honor Choir and was a conducting fellow and singer at the Sarteano Choral Conducting Workshop in Tuscany. Mr. Scoglio also sings in Lyricora, a Boston-based ensemble that is presenting 3 concerts this December. He has studied voice with Andrew Garland, William Hite, and Jennifer Sgroe. He is pleased to serve as the Baritone section leader and soloist at Old North Church.