Meet Past Performers in the Music at Bath Concert Series!
Sept 2023 - Dec 2024
Wit’s Folly
September 15, 2023
February 2 • May 17 • October 20, 2024
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 • November 17, 2024
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
December 1, 2024
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
December 19, 2024
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
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
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
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.
Julie Anna Gulenko
June 23, 2024
Julie Anna Gulenko is praised for her graceful soprano voice and sensitive musical interpretations. The Northeast Ohio native is an alumna of Oberlin Conservatory, where she studied with Marlene Rosen and performed in several Oberlin Opera Theater productions. Julie embraces the worlds of opera, musical theater and early twentieth century pop. She’s recently collaborated on performance projects with the Cleveland Ballet, the Western Reserve Historical Society, and the Tuesday Musical Association Members Program. In recent seasons, Julie has appeared on stage with the vocal trio Two Gents & the Lady in New York City, New Jersey, Delaware and Ohio. Julie was a 2017 OC Ars Vocalis Academy young artist and a 2018 and 2019 artist fellow with the Ukrainian Art Song Project Summer Institute in Toronto, Canada.
Ben Gage Band
July 14, 2024
Ben Gage is a songwriter from Akron, Ohio blending folk and roots blues. He grew up in the rust belt in Northeast Ohio, in the countryside along the great Lake Erie. His roots run deep alongside the hard working blue collars that Ohio has to boast. That tenacity, love of family, and respect for a long day can be seen in his music. In the fall of 2021, Ben quit his job in the tech sector to pursue music full-time. Now he travels the US sharing stories and songs and always collecting more.
“For me, nothing captures a moment the way a song can. I have always struggled to live in the moment, itching to get to the next “thing”, but a song stops me in my tracks. It demands attention and will fall to pieces without it. Songs are my anchors to the now.”
-Ben Gage
Babies in Black
September 15, 2024
In 2014 Rachel and Beth began playing together as 50s-60s pop duo, Babies in Black. They conceptualized their band after listening to early Beatles albums together. Both loved the idea of bringing back the doo-wop duo, like a female Everly Brothers.
Rachel Roberts is a singer-songwriter and guitarist from the underground rock factory of Akron, OH. Roberts has a sultry, folk rock sound; a mix of Sade, Joni Mitchell, and Pat Benatar.
Dr. Beth Hiser is a music professor at Baldwin Wallace in Cleveland, OH. Hiser has her doctorate in music theory, and is accomplished on several instruments including the violin, piano, and upright bass.
Theron Brown Trio
October 5, 2024
Theron Brown, Zaire Darden, and Jordan McBride are the Theron Brown Trio and they’re in the business of making you feel good through music! A glimpse of gospel, jazz, and soul from the great legends is what inspires the sound of pianist Theron Brown’s music.
Originally from Zanesville, Ohio, Theron currently resides in Akron, Ohio, where he is Professor of Practice at The University of Akron teaching jazz piano, and the program coordinator for Curated Storefront’s Artist Residency Program at the ‘I Promise School’. Theron also serves as an educator for the interactive piano learning app, Playground Sessions. Theron is heavily involved in the music community as the founder and artistic director of the Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival.
Umojah Nation
November 9, 2024
Umojah Nation, Northeast Ohio’s inspirational reggae band, adopted its moniker from the Swahili word for unity–Umoja! While seeded in Jamaican roots and dancehall, Umojah Nation possesses an original style of reggae all its own. The leads, husband and wife duo Tracey Aquart-Nguma and Stefano Nguma, are gifted singers and songwriters who craft songs with intelligent and thoughtful lyrics. Their intricate musical arrangements, draped over tasty bass lines and tight reggae rhythms, recall the great British bands Steel Pulse and Aswad from their late 70's heyday. Based in Akron, OH, Umojah Nation has been a steady fixture in the music scene since 2006, performing in local clubs, city parks, large music venues, and festivals from Akron to Cleveland to Canton and beyond.