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MOCS Pages: MOCS_Home; New Recording; Next Concert; |
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The Michael O'Neal Chamber Singers Quick Links: Bartholic, Caylor, Dontje, Frazier, Herring, Jones, LaForge, Link, Lupton, Myers, Pruett, Rostad, Sewell, Sikorski, Young
Jonathan Caylor, baritone, is in his first season with The Michael O'Neal Chamber Singers. A native of Dalton, Georgia, he received his Bachelor of Music degree in Voice from Berry College and his Master of Music degree from Boston Conservatory. Jonathan has studied with Ruth Baker, Sara Goldstein, and Elizabeth Ritchie from the Royal Academy of Music in London, England. He is a frequent soloist at weddings, civic organizations and churches around the Atlanta area and in Boston. Jonathan has performed at Carnegie Hall, with the Chattanooga Symphony, and Wells Cathedral in England. In recent years, he has performed in ensembles and as a soloist in several European countries. In his spare time, Jonathan enjoys traveling and scuba diving.
Larry Frazier has sung with professional opera companies across the United States, including the Santa Fe Opera, New Orleans Opera, Opera Memphis, the Indianapolis Opera, the Mississippi Opera, and the Syracuse Opera. More recently, he created the role of The Elder in the Emmy Award-winning production of StarChild, by James Oliverio, which was broadcast statewide on Georgia Public Television. He holds a doctorate in music from Florida State University, and Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Louisiana State University, where he served as graduate assistant conductor of the LSU Acapella Choir. He taught choral music at Texas Tech and at Tennessee Tech, and served as Director of Education/Outreach for Opera Memphis. With over 25 years experience as a choral conductor Dr. Frazier is now in his 17th year at the University of West Georgia, where he is Professor of Music and Director of Opera Workshop. A graduate of Jacksonville State University, Lee has over 30 years of vocal performance at a variety of venues in the Atlanta area as well as throughout the Southeast. He studied voice with Randall Richardson at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama and with Michael O'Neal in Atlanta. As a fourteen -year member of The Michael O'Neal Singers and a twelve-year member of The Michael O'Neal Chamber Singers, Lee has been featured as tenor soloist on numerous occasions. He is a frequent soloist for Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church in Marietta and at Cumming First United Methodist Church. Additionally, Lee sings on a contract basis with Cherokee Recording Studios. Lee is a past president of the MOS chorus and in his third year as Board Chairman for The Michael O'Neal Singers, Inc. Aside from vocal performance, Lee is Territorial Manager/Registered Principal for the Allstate Insurance Company. Lee is married to Rebecca and has two sons. Heather Jones received a vocal performance degree from Oral Roberts University in 1990. While there she sang with the ORU Chamber Singers and the Ladies and Gentlemen of Jazz, as well as a professional quartet in Tulsa, OK. Mrs. Jones and her husband toured nationally with a convention show band for a year following college. Since then, she has traveled abroad with music ensembles to Holland, Jamaica, Russia, and Latvia. Presently she is assisting the music director at her church and she solos professionally. This is Heather's third season with The Michael O'Neal Chamber Singers. John LaForge, bass, has performed with symphony orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States, including The Washington Opera, Dallas Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Sante Fe Opera, Chautauqua Opera, and The Atlanta Opera, among others. He has also performed in metro Atlanta with Atlanta Ballet, Atlanta Sacred Chorale, Collegium Vocale, and Peachtree Repertory Opera. His active orchestral repertoire includes such works as Handel's Messiah, Faure's Requiem, Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Verdi's Requiem, Haydn's Creation and Bach's Saint Matthew Passion and B Minor Mass. John presently serves as Coordinator of Music Education for Fulton County Schools and is an active choral and vocal clinician and adjudicator. He is also active in numerous arts organizations in the Atlanta area, including serving as a member of the Spivey Hall Education Committee and Atlanta Opera Advisory Council. Most recently, he was named to the Advisory Board of the National Center for Educational Partnerships in Music. Matthew Link is in his sixth season singing with The Michael O'Neal Chamber Singers. A native of Omaha, Nebraska, he moved to Atlanta in 1994 after studying Music Engineering at the University of Miami with voice as his principal instrument. A computer programmer by day, he has used those skills to help set up web-based rehearsal methods for the larger 150 voice choir, where he also served as Baritone section leader for several seasons. Matthew enjoys reading, travel, woodworking, hiking, and mountain climbing, and formerly worked as a sound engineer and production manager for live concerts and television. He and his wife, Leslie, reside in Roswell with their brand new son, Duncan. Karen Lupton, a Pennsylvania native, has been living and singing in Atlanta since 1997. A graduate of Eastern College (Pennsylvania) with a Bachelor of Arts in Vocal Performance, Karen has performed with the Southside Theater Guild, the Americolor Opera Alliance, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus, and the Capital City Opera Company. She has been featured as soprano soloist in MOS performances of John Rutter's Gloria (2001) and Handel's Messiah (2002). Now in her fourth year with the Chamber Singers, she would like to thank Michael and her fellow Singers for another great year of music making! Toni Pisacano Myers has been involved with musical ventures since childhood, performing both as a pianist and vocalist. She has served as Director at Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist Churches and for 18 years has taught private voice and piano. Toni conducted the Washington Choral Society and the Amelia Island Chorale, which she founded and directed for 10 years before moving with her husband to Atlanta. The Michael O'Neal Singers has been part of her musical schedule for ten years now , and she stays active in many national and international choral federations. She served as the MOS Chorus President for two years, is currently on the Board of Directors for MOS, and serves as Assistant Conductor for the group Benjamin Pruett, tenor, is in his second season with The Michael O'Neal Chamber Singers. He made his professional operatic debut as Basilio in the 2002 Athena Grand Opera production of Le Nozze di Figaro. He is currently a resident artist with the Capitol City Opera Company, with recent performances as the Duke in Milton Granger's Talk Opera. He spent the summer of 2002 with the Bay View Music Festival in Michigan where he was seen as the Mayor in Albert Herring and the tenor soloist in Mozart's Vesperae Solennes. As a member of the Atlanta Singers, he was featured as the tenor soloist on the December 2000 aca Digital® release of Chantez Noël. Mr. Pruett's collegiate roles include Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Rodolfo in La Bohème, and Alfredo in La Traviata in fully staged performances with the State University of West Georgia Opera Workshop. He recently completed his Master of Music degree in Performance at the University of Georgia and is currently a member of the voice faculty at Emmanuel College. He and his wife, Ashley, reside in metro Atlanta, Georgia. Debbie Rostad, soprano, is in her eighth season with The Michael O'Neal Singers and Chamber Singers. In this season's Christmas Concert, Debbie sang the soprano solo for Respighi's Laud to the Nativity. She has also appeared as soloist in MOS performances of Handel's Messiah and Schubert's Mass in G. As part of the 2002 British-American Church Music Festival, Debbie soloed at Canterbury Cathedral, London's St. Paul's Cathedral, and St. Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, Scotland. She was recently featured in a solo role in the Atlanta Ballet's production of A Thousand and One Nights at the Fox Theatre. Debbie also has done commercial studio work in Atlanta. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Debbie and Pete have two children, Erik and Kristi. A native of Lake Hartwell, Georgia, Paul's formative years were spent studying piano and eventually horn, which earned him music scholarships to study at The University of Georgia. It wasn't until attending UGA that voice became a primary focus, and continues to be today. Paul has sung with numerous choirs and ensembles including the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus, the Capitol City Opera Madrigal Singers, the Springer Opera House and most recently, The Michael O'Neal Singers. By day he is employed by Roswell-based Witness Systems, a software company, in global marketing where he manages advertising and customer communications. Paul is in his third season with MOCS, and is a staff tenor soloist at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in the heart of Buckhead. Future plans for Paul include obtaining an MBA in the Atlanta area. Contralto Karen Sikorski has appeared as a featured soloist with the Columbus Symphony, Albany Symphony, Atlanta Bach Choir, Dallas Civic Chorus and many regional colleges and universities including Truett-McConnell College, Piedmont College, Emory University, Agnes Scott College, and Oglethorpe University. She has performed in recital with the Atlanta Repertory Opera, Roswell Lyric Opera and Friends of the Atlanta Opera, and has been a guest soloist for many local and regional churches. Her choral credits include the Dallas Civic Opera, Atlanta Opera, Atlanta Symphony Chamber Chorus, and Robert Shaw Chamber Singers. Her active oratorio repertoire includes such works as Handel's Messiah, Bach's Magnificat, Christmas Cantata, and Saint John Passion, Mozart's Requiem, Duruflé's Requiem, and Mendelssohn's Elijah. Ms. Sikorski holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Trinity University. Currently a member of The Michael O'Neal Chamber Singers and the Atlanta Symphony Chamber Chorus, Karen maintains a private voice studio and runs a marketing consulting practice. Lisa Young holds a bachelor's degree in voice performance from St. Mary's University of Minnesota and studied under internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Joy Davidson and Cliff Jackson of the Greater Miami Opera. She studied acting under Peter Franklin-White, former Principal actor and dancer with the Royal Ballet, London. From musicals to oratorios and opera, her solo credits extend from Atlanta to the international waters of the South Atlantic. In 2002, she released Shine Through, a solo CD of inspirational and contemporary Christian music. The mother two boys, CJ and Miles, Lisa and husband, Rob, own Prime Business Insurance Agency in Lilburn and are active members of Briarlake Baptist Church.
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Christina Bartholic, soprano, is in her first full season with the Michael O'
Neal Chamber Singers. A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Christina began performing as a pianist and a vocalist at an early age. Later she learned to play the flute and the oboe. A graduate of The University of Georgia
, she studied vocally with Dr. Gregory Broughton for seven years. She received a bachelor's degree in music therapy and was trained in treating preschool and elementary age children with special needs. She was
a member of several performing groups including The University of Georgia Concert Choir, Women's Glee Club and Pitch Black, a smaller eight- member
ensemble. Mrs. Bartholic performed leading roles in such shows as Oklahoma, Carousel and West Side Story and chorus roles in South Pacific and Guys and Dolls. Christina maintained a
private voice and piano studio in Athens, Georgia, for several years. She also served as assistant musical director and as a soloist at her church.
Patty Campbell Dontje has been a member and soloist for The Michael
O'Neal Singers and The Michael O'Neal Chamber Singers since 1996. Prior to joining MOS, Patty was an eight-year member and soloist for The Gwinnett Festival Singers, now known as the Atlanta Sacred Chorale.
Both groups feature her on recordings. She also has done commercial studio work in Atlanta. Born in Elmira, New York, Patty Dontje made her way South after joining the US Army in 1978. In 1980, after
competing in an Army-wide audition, Patty was selected as one of only four vocalists chosen for the U.S. Army Forces Command Band multi-media show, "The Sounds of
Freedom," based at Ft. McPherson in Atlanta. After an honorable discharge from the Army in 1981, Patty was employed by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She currently is
Executive Secretary to the President of Cox Newspapers, Inc., and has 22 years with the company.
