Meet the performers in the
September 2023 through May 2024
Music at Bath Concert Series!
Wit’s Folly
September 15, 2023 • February 2, 2024
May 17, 2024
7:00pm in the Historic Chapel
Wit’s Folly is a Northeast Ohio chamber ensemble specializing in engaging, energetic and high-quality performances of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century chamber music. Music of this period was written to be heard in small, intimate settings. Good music played well was important to the listeners, but they also wanted to mingle, chat, flirt, eat, drink and generally enjoy themselves. This is the atmosphere Wit’s Folly strives to achieve with their small group of historical instruments: two violins, viola, cello and clarinet.
Singers Companye
September 17 • November 19, 2023
January 28 • May 19, 2024
4:00pm in the Sanctuary
Singers Companye is one of northeast Ohio’s premiere chamber choirs. Under the direction of founding executive artistic director, Samuel Gordon, the ensemble consists of about 32 singers whose collective vocal/musical backgrounds constitute a vibrant sound and extraordinary musicianship. In recent years, the ensemble has concentrated on primarily modern choral works which often involve collaborative instrumentalists who bring a wide variety of musical textures to the listening experience. The ensemble regularly appears on the finest music series in the region and has also garnered superb reviews in Europe. The 2023-24 season will feature them as Choir-in-Consortium at the Bath Church, their new home base in Bath, Ohio, where they will offer an exhilarating series of concerts.
Heather and Lisa Malyuk
November 12, 2023
4:00pm in the Historic Chapel
Lisa and Heather Malyuk are celebrated performing artists in the U.S. and abroad. These young musicians have received much positive acclaim for their interpretation of old-time Appalachian, Celtic, world and original folk music. Their performances feature an articulate hammered dulcimer coupled with inventive guitar playing and are spiked with dynamic tunes on the fiddle and banjo uke. Lisa and Heather exude musical maturity and ingenuity during their sets of eclectic folk tunes while preserving the history of the music and carrying the traditions into the future. Their ever growing repertoire of energetic reels and jigs, bittersweet waltzes, driving international rhythms and old-fashioned sacred music is a must hear!
Burning River Brass
December 16, 2023
7:30pm in the Sanctuary
Since 1996, Burning River Brass has been dazzling audiences from Alaska to Taiwan with "power and virtuosity," "harmonious blend," and "consistently stirring performances." Composed of twelve of the finest brass and percussion players in the country, Burning River Brass is an ensemble on fire! Burning River Brass is consistently applauded for the infectious joy with which it performs. Their repertoire includes fresh arrangements of classic literature as well as original works written specifically for the groups. The camaraderie continues into their educational and outreach programs, where the players provide students with a rich, positive experience to encourage their enthusiasm for music in the future.
Jeff Sonoda
March 13, 2024
4:00pm in the Sanctuary
Jeff has a Bachelor of Arts degree in German from Ohio University and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Akron. He studied organ with Barbara MacGregor and voice with Richard Anderson. He has played keyboard for shows at the Salem Community Theatre including “Les Miserables”, “The Mikado”, Benjamin Britten's “The Little Sweep”, “Jekyll and Hyde”, “Into the Woods”, “Evita”, Howard Goodall's “The Dreaming”, and “Pirates of Penzance”. Jeff has sung with many choirs including the University of Akron Concert Choir, Voci, the Salem Youth Chorus, Master Singers Chorale, Singers Companye, and the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. Jeff has been an organist at Nativity of the Lord Jesus Catholic Church for 20 years and The Bath United Church of Christ for 16 years.
Dan Shiller
April 14, 2024
4:00pm in the Sanctuary
Dan Shiller is a world percussionist from Austintown, Ohio. He earned a Master’s Degree in World Percussion from Oakland University (MI) and a Bachelor Degree in Percussion Performance from the University of Akron (OH). Dan has worked with percussion masters from Trinidad, Brazil, West Africa, the Middle East, and Japan. He has taken two trips to Ghana to study African drumming and the gyil, a pentatonic instrument traditionally played in Ghana. Dan is currently studying with Jerome Balsab, the lead gyil teacher at the Dagara Music Center in Ghana. Dan is a dance accompanist for ArtSparks in Akron and Cuyahoga Falls, he directs a steel band in Youngstown, and is a freelance performer.
Bath Festival Brass
April 21, 2024
In the Sanctuary
Enjoy an afternoon of Brass music featuring some of northeast Ohio’s top brass musicians. Variety will be the theme! From Baroque to Modern. Classical to Jazz. Religious and secular selections. Ensembles as small as duets (perhaps even a solo or two), large as a “choir” of eight or more, and just about everything in-between.
Your aural senses will be treated to the delights of antiphonal Gabrielli. The Baroque version of “Dueling Banjos” will be performed with two brass quartets positioned at opposite sides of the Sanctuary performing separately and in concert at the same time, playing off each other. The musician’s challenge is matched by the listeners’ reward.