A Mass for Christmas Eve

Robert Eisenstein has led over 200 productions and performances with Folger Consort over the past 40 years include Measure + Dido at the Kennedy Center and Napa Valley Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice at Strathmore, The Fairy Queen, and Hildegard Von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum at the Washington National Cathedral. Director of the Five College Early Music Program; Music Director for the Five College Opera Project production of Francesca Caccini’s La Liberazione di Ruggiero; former faculty member of Mount Holyoke College, where he taught music history and performed the viola de gamba, violin, and medieval fiddle. He is an active participant in the Five College Medieval Studies. Recipient of Early Music America’s Thomas Binkley Award for outstanding achievement in performance and scholarship by the director of a college early music ensemble.

Christopher Kendall is founder of the Folger Consort. He is dean emeritus of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance after serving two terms as the school’s dean, where he was responsible for establishing the University of Michigan Gershwin Initiative, for re-instituting international touring, for the funding and design of a $30M expansion/renovation of the music building, and for launching the interdisciplinary enterprise ArtEngine and its national initiative a2ru (Alliance for the Arts at Research Universities). In Washington, in addition to his work with Folger Consort, since 1975 he has been Artistic Director and conductor of the 21st Century Consort, the new music ensemble-in-residence at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Mr. Kendall served as Director of the University of Maryland School of Music from 1996 to 2005 during a period of rapid development and its move to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony from 1987 to 1992 and Director of the Music Division and Tanglewood Institute of the Boston University School for the Arts from 1993 to 1996, Mr. Kendall has guest conducted many orchestras and ensembles in repertoire from the 18th to the 21st centuries. His recordings can be heard on the Bard, Delos, Nonesuch, Centaur, ASV, Arabesque, Innova, Bridge, and Smithsonian Collection labels.

Her work in the DC area includes performances with The Thirteen, the Washington Bach Consort, 21st Century Consort, Washington National Cathedral, and the schola at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Recent solo work includes BWV 54 Widerstehe doch der Sünde with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Henry Purcell’s Now does the glorious day appear with Harry Bicket and The English Concert, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Dieterich Buxtehude’s Membra Jesu Nostri, and Michael Tippett’s A Child of our Time. Internationally, Hannah has toured with the Clarion Choir, The English Concert, Washington National Cathedral in Spain, and the American Soloists Ensemble in South Korea. Selected recordings include: the Clarion Choir’s Grammy-nominated Rachmaninoff: All Night Vigil; The Thirteen’s Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 and Monteverdi: The Lost Vespers; Washington Bach Consort’s Myth’s Contested; and the Clarion Choir’s upcoming album Rachmaninoff Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

Rhianna Cockrell (Mezzo-Soprano) has captivated audiences with her interpretations of Renaissance and Baroque works as well as her passion for contemporary works. Her singing has been hailed as “luscious” (Washington Classical Review) and “beautifully controlled…breath-taking…otherworldly” (Early Music America). As a frequent and award-winning interpreter of J.S. Bach’s music, Cockrell’s performances have been described as “unforced” and “resolute” (Oregon ArtsWatch). Her 2024–25 season includes her solo debut with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Frederich Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Magnificat, and with Washington Bach Consort in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Recent solo features include an album release of Bach’s B Minor Mass with Cantata Collective, an artist residency with the Cornell Department of Music featuring a commission premiere of Amelia Brey’s All the Flowers Were Mine, Bach’s St. John Passion with True Concord Voices & Orchestra, Bach’s B Minor Mass with The Thirteen, and Bach’s Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir BWV 29 with Oregon Bach Festival. Cockrell holds degrees from Yale University, University of Minnesota, and George Mason University.

Tatiana Chulochnikova (Violin) Praised for her “thrilling technique” and “dark plush romantic violin sound”, Tatiana Chuochnikova has been enjoying a diverse international performing career as a soloist, recitalist, guest concertmaster, chamber musician and recording artist. Born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tatiana began playing violin at the age of seven and made her debut aas concerto solists at fourteen with the Kharkiv Philharmonic. Tatiana received her professional training at the Juilliard School, Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and the Oberlin Conservatory.

Wade Davis is in high demand as a solo performer and chamber music collaborator. He regularly performs with Folger Consort, the Washington Bach Consort, as a guest with the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, and his own baroque ensemble, S’amusant, co-founded with Patrick Merrill, harpsichordist in 2013. Other appearances include Piccolo Spoleto Festival’s Early Music Series, Indianapolis Early Music, MOJA Arts Festival, The Spire Series, and Bach Ascending. Known for wide variety of styles, he’s also featured on popular indie music concert series such as Sofar Sounds Baltimore and has guested with New York-based band Reserved for Rondee and Baltimore-based band Outcalls in addition to the “Swans for Relief” project video curated by Misty Copeland to raise funds for dancers whose companies had been affected by the 2020 pandemic shutdowns. Wade maintains a private studio of cello students in both Baltimore and Washington, DC. He holds both a master’s degree in Baroque Cello Performance and a Graduate Performance Degree in Historical Cello from Peabody Conservatory as a student of John Moran.

Hailed by The New York Times as a “particularly agile singer,” baritone Mark Duer’s poignant lyric singing has been heard in numerous solo engagements with the Washington Bach Consort, and with varied ensembles including the American Virtuosi, New York Chamber Ensemble, the Cleveland Opera, Ash Lawn Opera, Greensboro Opera, Ensemble for Early Music, Cleveland Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony, Berkshire Choral Festival, Woodstock Fringe Festival, Apollo’s Fire, Musica Sacra, and at Weill Hall, Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, and the Mark has also sung and recorded with the Bach Sinfonia, Handel and Haydn Society, Voices of Ascension, Chantry, Opera Lafayette, and sang seventeen seasons as a member of the renowned ensemble, Pomerium. His discography includes the Gothic, Delos, DG/Archiv, Dorian, and Glissando labels. Media appearances include CBS Sunday Morning, NBC’s Today Show, and radio broadcasts as soloist with Pipedreams (NPR), and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Robert Eisenstein has led over 200 productions and performances with Folger Consort over the past 40 years include Measure + Dido at the Kennedy Center and Napa Valley Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice at Strathmore, The Fairy Queen, and Hildegard Von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum at the Washington National Cathedral. Director of the Five College Early Music Program; Music Director for the Five College Opera Project production of Francesca Caccini’s La Liberazione di Ruggiero; former faculty member of Mount Holyoke College, where he taught music history and performed the viola de gamba, violin, and medieval fiddle. He is an active participant in the Five College Medieval Studies. Recipient of Early Music America’s Thomas Binkley Award for outstanding achievement in performance and scholarship by the director of a college early music ensemble.

Nina Falk is a Fulbright scholar in London and Rome. She has played for years with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Boston Orchestra’s Handel and Haydn Society, Opera Lafayette, the Carmel Bach Festival, Apollo’s Fire, and her ensemble, Arcovoce. She is the founder and director of A Musical Heart, which brings live music to the bedsides of hospice patients.

Crossley Hawn (Soprano) has served as a soloist with ensembles including Folger Consort, Cathedra, the Washington Bach Consort, The Thirteen, the City Choir of Washington, Chatham Baroque, Choralis, the Reston Chorale, Maryland Choral Society, and University of Maryland Summer Chorus. Hawn was the winner of the 2018 Choralis Young Artists Competition. In addition to her solo work, Hawn is an active ensemble singer. She is a member of Eya Medieval Music and has also appeared chorally with the US Air Force Band’s Singing Sergeants, Kinnara, True Concord, EXO Choir, Chorosynthesis, Chantry, and The District Eight. She has performed worldwide in Italy, Canada, Switzerland, France, England, Germany, Austria, and Hungary. She is an Artistic Director of Bridge, a professional vocal chamber ensemble specializing in new works for voices. Hawn served as project manager and ensemble singer for Experiential Orchestra’s Grammy-winning premiere recording of Dame Ethel Smyth’s The Prison.

Susan Lewis Kavinski (Soprano) is a vocalist and active-duty service member with the United States Navy Band, Washington, DC. For two decades, Susan has been privileged to perform as a chorus member of the Navy Band Sea Chanters. As a featured soloist and ensemble member, she has sung for presidents, vice presidents, high-ranking military leaders, Cabinet members, popes, and an array of foreign and domestic leaders and dignitaries. Her military career highlights run the gamut from soloing at the White House to performing with renowned operatic soprano Renée Fleming at Super Bowl XLVIII. As a service member, Susan has toured throughout the contiguous United States, performing for large public audiences at prestigious venues. She is frequently featured as a soloist with the United States Navy Concert Band, and her recording of Antonin Dvořák’s Song to the Moon remains one of the most-viewed classical solo performances on the US Navy Band YouTube channel.

Praised for his “beautiful,” “sweet-voiced” tone, and “superbly acted” portrayals, Patrick Kilbride, tenor, is enjoying an international career. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and the University of Maryland Opera Studio, with fellowships from the Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, and L’Académie du Festival Aix-en-Provence. He was the winner of the 24th Concours international de chant de Clermont-Ferrand, France, making his European debut in opera houses throughout France in Handel’s Acis and Galatea with Damien Guillon and Le Banquet Céleste (Rennes, Clermont-Ferrand, Chaise-Dieu, Avignon). He has sung roles with Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in Francesco Cavalli’s Erismena with Leonardo García Alarcón and Cappella Mediterranea in the opera houses of Paris, Saint-Denis, Luxembourg, and Versailles, and with the Britten-Pears Arts Aldeburgh Festival at Snape Maltings Concert Hall in Frederich Handel’s Theodora with Christian Curnyn and Sarah Connolly.

Annie Loud, violinist and violist, is on the faculty at the National Cathedral School. She is also an active performer on both period and modern instruments, appearing regularly with Opera Lafayette, Tempesta di Mare, North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, and Washington Concert Opera.

Paula Maust (Organ) is a performer, scholar, and educator dedicated to fusing research and creative practice to amplify underrepresented voices and advocate for social change. She is the creator of Expanding the Music Theory Canon, an open-source collection of music theory examples by women and composers of color. A print anthology based on the project was released with SUNY Press in December 2023. Paula also researches the pejorative language used to describe early modern women on stage and harmony books by 19th-century women. She has published articles in Women and Music and the Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music, and she is an early modern area editor for Grove Music Online Women, Gender, and Sexuality project.

Described as “excellent” and “sterling,” by The New York Times, tenor Oliver Mercer performs regularly throughout North America and Europe as a concert soloist, recitalist, and opera singer. A specialist of the Baroque era, he has performed with Glyndebourne Opera Festival; English National Opera; Spoletto Festival USA; Boston Early Music Festival; Opera Theater Company, Dublin, Ireland; Back Society of Charleston; Savannah Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony, INseries Opera, and Mid Wales Opera. He has appeared as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Trinity Church Wall Street, the Barbican Centre London, Washington National Cathedral, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Royal Albert Hall. Recent and upcoming engagements include an international tour of Handel’s Solome with The English Concert, his debut with Opera Lafayette, and concerts with Folger Consort, the Washington Bach Consort, The Thirteen, and Clarion Music Society.

A versatile multi-instrumentalist, Dan Meyers is a flexible and engaging performer of both classical and folk music; his credits range from premieres of contemporary chamber music, to headlining a concert series in honor of Pete Seeger at the Newport Folk Festival, to playing Renaissance instruments on Broadway for Shakespeare’s Globe. He is a founding member of the early music/folk crossover group Seven Times Salt, and in recent seasons he has performed with the Newberry Consort, Hesperus, the Henry Purcell Society of Boston, Early Music New York, Amherst Early Music, 21st Century Consort, In Stile Moderno, and the Cambridge Revels, making concert and theatrical appearances in New York City, Washington, DC, Chicago, Minneapolis, Memphis, Santa Fe, at the Yellow Barn Summer Festival in Vermont, and at the “La Luna e i Calanchi” festival in Basilicata (Italy).

Patricia Ann Neely has appeared with many early music ensembles including the Folger Consort, Tempesta di Mare, Opera Lafayette, TENET Vocal Artists, North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the New York Collegium, the Washington Bach Consort, Amor Artis, ARTEK, Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera, the Boston Camerata, Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, the Newberry Consort, the New York Consort of Viols, and Early Music New York, among others, and was a founding member of Parthenia Viol Consort. For many years she was the principal violone player for Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity. She spent three years touring with the acclaimed European-based medieval ensemble Sequentia as the medieval fiddle player, performing throughout Europe and North America, at festivals including, Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Bach Tage in Berlin, Tage Alter Musik in Herne, Wratislavia Cantans in Poland, Music Before 1800, and Early Music Vancouver. Ms. Neely began playing the viol at Vassar College and continued her studies, earning an MFA in Historical Performance at Sarah Lawrence College, with additional studies in Belgium with Wieland Kuijken.

A native of Washington, DC, Leslie Nero was professionally active for 15 years in Ontario and Quebec, Canada, playing in several orchestras. Upon returning to the Washington metropolitan area, she began playing as a freelance violinist and violist with both modern and baroque ensembles. She often performs with Folger Consort, Opera Lafayette, Modern Musick, and the Washington Bach Consort. She also enjoys teaching violin to many eager fourth and fifth grade students in the Alexandria City Public Schools.

Labeled a “standout baritone” by SFGATE, Corbin Phillips is a classical singer with a passion for early music. His most recent solo appearances have included the role of Aeneas in Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with newly-founded Baroque opera company based in Baltimore, Opera Henriette, bass soloist in Frederich Handel’s Dublin Messiah with Tempesta di Mare, and Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 with Baltimore Choral Arts. Other appearances have included performances with the Boston Early Music Festival, Mountainside Baroque, Opera Lafayette, Concerto Romano, Big Mouth Society, and Quicksilver Baroque.