The Mercersburg Area Community Chorus presents Durufle’s Requiem and Music from Opera, on Saturday and Sunday April 29 & 30 at 4pm, in the Irvine Memorial Chapel at Mercersburg Academy. Soloists for the performances will include Tad Ennen, baritone; Meghan Kasanders, soprano; Dawn Pierce, mezzo-soprano and Gran Wilson, tenor. Admission is free, and seating is limited, so early arrival is recommended. For more information: call 717-261-0112 or visit mercersburgchorus.org .
Thaddeus Ennen, baritone, is excited to make his return to Mercersburg Area Community Chorus. His active performing schedule includes concerts featuring the newly commissioned song cycle, People of the Land, that discusses the lives of American farmers during WWII. Thaddeus has also performed roles with Santa Fe Opera, Des Moines Opera, Cedar Rapids Opera, Pensacola Opera, and Knoxville Opera. In addition to his active performing career, Thaddeus teaches voice and music at Coe College and Mount Mercy University alongside his private studio. Thaddeus recently graduated from Louisiana State University with his Doctor of Musical Arts degree. He holds a Master of Music degree from University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a Bachelor of Music degree from Simpson College.
Hailed by Opera News Magazine as “a wonderfully promising, rich dramatic soprano”, Meghan Kasanders is quickly establishing herself as a rising star in the world of classical music. A 2019 Grand Finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, she was celebrated by the New York Times as “a soprano who brought a gleaming sound and ample carrying power” to her performances, offering the competition an “authentically Wagnerian sound.” Ms. Kasanders has sung a wide variety of roles on the opera and concert stages throughout North America and Europe, and holds degrees from Simpson College, Rice University, and The Juilliard School.
Mezzo-soprano Dawn Pierce is a native of Olean, New York, and currently an associate professor of voice at Ithaca College. She was recently a featured recitalist in the Middlebury Song Festival, and has performed Verdi Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth and Messiah with symphonies throughout the country. On the operatic stage, she’s performed Béatrice in Beatrice et Bénédict with Asheville Lyric Opera, Charlotte in Werther with Mobile Opera, and Carmen in Carmen with Opera Ithaca. She is internationally recognized for her top-selling course, How to Sing with The Great Courses.
The career of Gran Wilson, tenor, spans more than four decades on four continents. He has sung the leading tenor repertoire with the New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Australian Opera, Netherlands Opera and Opera Frankfurt, to name but a few. He has performed with the Boston Symphony, St. Paul Chamber Symphony and Seattle Symphony, among others, and has appeared on CBS Morning News, PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center and NPR’s All things Considered. Professor Wilson has been on the voice faculty of the University of Maryland for 22 years, and is currently the Voice-Opera Division Coordinator.
Founded in 1975, the Mercersburg Area Community Chorus performs concerts each year featuring major choral-orchestra compositions. For more information: call 717-261-0112 or visit mercersburgchorus.org .
