A musical investigation of desire. You may hear an operetta duet, a familiar or unknown musical theater selection, an Italian popular song, or even a country and western trio.
Friday, June 29, 7:30 pm
Parish Hall, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church
1020 N. Brand Blvd, Glendale, CA
General admission, no tickets needed. Donations requested, $20 suggested
(Cash or check payable to St. Mark’s preferred)
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RON BARNETT is Director of Music and Sacred Arts at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Glendale. In addition to his work as an organist, choir director, and keyboard artist, Ron is active as a composer. His full-length musicals as composer include: Manson’s Girls with book by Scott Guy, lyrics by Mitch Glaser, which won a “Pick of the Fringe” award and the ALNM Award for Outstanding Songwriting during the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2018; A Christmas Carol with book by Barry Kornhauser, published in 2013 by Dramatic Publishing Company, and; When Butter Churns to Gold, which premiered in 2015 at Northern Sky Theatre in Door County, WI. His choral music is published by MorningStar, GIA, and Lorenz. Ron is currently a member of New Musicals Inc. in North Hollywood. Along with lyricist Greg Edwards, he was a finalist for the 2010 and 2012 Fred Ebb Prize.
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Venezuelan-American singer BERNARDO BERMUDEZ has recently begun to essay roles and repertoire for the tenor voice. He is a long-time crossover performer with a wide repertoire of songs in English and Spanish. As a lyric baritone, his roles have included Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, Diego Rivera in Frida, Silvio in Pagliacci, Escamillo in Carmen, Valentin in Faust, Belcore in L’elisir d’amore, the title role in Don Giovanni, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Vidal Hernando in Luisa Fernanda, and Schaunard in La Boheme. He participated as a voice fellow in summer festivals at The Music Academy of the West, Opera North, and Opera NEO. Bernardo was a finalist in the Burbank Philharmonic Hennings-Fischer Opera Competition, an Opera Buffs Grant recipient, a semifinalist in the Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition, a recipient of the Doug Acker Memorial Vocal Scholarship, and a winner in the Virginia Hawk Vocal Competition. (www.bernardobermudez.com)
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The Los Angeles Times hailed soprano ARIEL PISTURINO as “an impressive young discovery” following her debut performance as Nancy T’ang in Long Beach Opera’s production of Nixon in China. An advocate of contemporary works and collaborations with composers, Ariel performed the role of the Lover in The Industry’s nationally acclaimed production of HOPSCOTCH, and created the role of Laurie in Mark Abel’s opera Home is a Harbor, released on Delos Records. She also collaborated with Abel on his song cycle Five Rilke Songs for the album Terrain of the Heart, also on Delos. Recently, Ariel created the role of Rosina Brandram in a newly written Gilbert and Sullivan review Hail Poetry with Opera a la Carte. She also premiered a new song cycle, Dewdrops, by Alex Miller.
Ariel co-founded the performance troupe Chamber Opera Players of Los Angeles (COPLA) and the summer concert series unSUNg, focusing on new and unknown vocal music. Highlights of her work with COPLA include the commission and premiere of The Last Silent Voice by George N. Gianopoulos, and performances of Ned Rorem’s Three Sisters who are not Sisters. Other credits include her performances with Long Beach Opera in Ernest Bloch’s Macbeth, the premiere of the electronic opera The Master and Margarita by Russian composer Gamma Skupinsky, and the premiere of the oratorio Circular 14: The Apotheosis of Aristides by Neely Bruce.
Ariel also performs more traditional operatic roles such as Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte), Micaëla (Carmen), and Second Lady (The Magic Flute). She has also been heard as the soprano soloist in the Brahms Requiem, Fauré Requiem, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Requiem, and Rutter Gloria. (www.arielpisturino.com)
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The American tenor GERALD SEMINATORE’s first public appearances were in musical theater roles, and as a cover band singer. He began his professional musical career with ensembles including the Handel and Haydn Society, the Boston Early Music Festival, and Emmanuel Music. After completing his formal training, he went on to operatic engagements with the Chautauqua, Dayton, Glimmerglass, Oakland, Santa Fe, and West Bay opera companies. Gerald made his European debut at England’s Aldeburgh Festival, and then went on to become a member of the solo ensemble at the Dortmund Opera in Germany. He was also a frequent guest artist at the Frankfurt am Main Opera, the Rheinland Pfalz Theater in Kaiserslautern, and the Bremen Opera. His operatic repertoire has embraced a wide range of roles in works by Handel, Mozart, Donizetti, Chausson, Janáček, Britten, Stravinsky, Strauss, and others. His concert performances have included appearances with many orchestras and choral ensembles. Gerald’s singing has been recognized with numerous awards, and praised in publications such as the London Times, Opera News, and San Francisco Classical Voice. Recent collaborations include recital appearances with pianist Brian Moll in Boston, and with guitarist Taro Wayama in Los Angeles. Gerald is a teacher of vocal and performance techniques for college age and pre-professional singers and is currently a member of the Vocal Arts faculty at Georgia Southern University.
Soprano ARIEL PISTURINO completed her graduate studies at the University of Southern California, where she performed with the Thornton Opera. She has appeared with the Long Beach Opera and other Southern California companies in roles from Carmen, Don Giovanni, Nixon in China, and The Magic Flute. Most recently, Ariel appeared in the nationally acclaimed operatic event Hopscotch with the Los Angeles-based company The Industry, and as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni with the Redlands Opera Theater. She 
RON BARNETT is the Director of Music and Sacred Arts at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Glendale, CA. In addition to his work as an organist, choir director, and keyboard artist, Ron is active as a composer and music educator. His choral works have been published by GIA Publications and Morning Star Music Publishers. His score for A Christmas Carol (book by Barry Kornhauser) premiered at the Fulton Theatre (Lancaster, PA) in 2001. Since its recent commercial publication, the show has enjoyed several productions across the United States. A second show, Around the World in 80 Days (book and lyrics by Julianne Homokay) premiered at the Fulton Theatre in 2007. Ron’s new show When Butter Churns to Gold (book by Peter Welkin, lyrics by Randi Wolfe) had its 2015 premiere at the Northern Sky Theatre (Fish Creek, WI). Ron’s orchestrations include the productions of Bojangles (music by Charles Strouse, lyrics by Sammy Cahn), Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus (music and lyrics by David Kirshenbaum) and Treasure Island (music and lyrics by Marc Robin and Curt Dale Clark). Sound Design credits include the Off-Broadway production of All Under Heaven starring Valerie Harper as Pearl S. Buck, and Zelda and The Last Flapper, which played in Romania and Hungary as part of the ACTIV-5 International Theatre Festival.
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Pianist IZUMI KASHIWAGI started playing the piano at the age of five. She attended California State University in Long Beach, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Piano Performance. She continued her studies with Kevin Fitz-Gerald at the USC Thornton School of Music, where she earned both the Masters and Doctoral degrees in Keyboard Collaborative Arts. Izumi has been both a student and performer at festivals such as the Aspen and the Quartet Festival in Boulder, CO. She has worked as a collaborative pianist with many singers, including at SongFest in Los Angeles in 2014. As a chamber musician, Izumi has played with several professional instrumentalists, including violinist Charles Castleman and Los Angeles Philharmonic cellist Peter Stumpf. Izumi is on the staff of the Centenary United Methodist Church, and also teaches at Vanguard University.
TARO WAYAMA is a Japanese born guitarist and composer. He was the First Prize winner in the 2003 Aron Green/American String Teachers Association Guitar Competition, and the Second Prize winner in the Thailand International Guitar Competition. As a composer, Taro received the award for “Best Original Score” at the Los Angeles Movie Awards for the independent film Anne Jennings. He is an active soloist and a chamber musician, and has performed in Japan, Thailand, Canada, and the USA. Taro frequently collaborates with instrumentalists and singers in presenting Classical music from the Renaissance through 20th Century, as well as venturing into Folk and World music. Taro earned both his Masters and Bachelor of Music degrees at the University of Southern California, where he studied guitar and composition with Pepe Romero, William Kannengiser, James Smith, Brian Head, and Scott Tennant.
On this last day of 2015, here is an audio excerpt from our 2014 program Carols Rare and Bright. “A New Year Carol” is from Benjamin Britten’s Friday Afternoons (op.7), a collection of songs written for the students of Clive House School in Prestatyn, Wales, where the composer’s brother was Headmaster.
Bass-Baritone E. SCOTT LEVIN completed graduate studies at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music. He began his singing career in St. Louis, where he sang in over twenty productions with Union Avenue Opera. Since moving to Los Angeles, Scott has performed regularly with the Pacific Opera Project, and also appeared with Long Beach Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Celestial Opera, Center Stage Opera, and the Redlands Opera Theater. This season he made his debut as the Sacristan in Tosca with the Townsend/Fresno Opera, and his Los Angeles Opera “Off-Grand” debut as Babayan (Bartolo) in Figaro 90210! Most recently, Scott had his Los Angeles Opera main stage debut as Dr. Spinelloccio in Gianni Schicchi, starring Placido Domingo and directed by Woody Allen. Scott is also the co-founder of Chamber Opera Players of LA (COPOLA).
Spacious Vision 