The Southern Crescent Chorale will present Mozart’s Requiem on Sunday, Feb. 27 at 3 p.m. at Spivey Hall at Clayton State University. Under the direction of Janice Folsom, this concert will be accompanied by Rick Massengale at the world renowned Spivey Hall organ. Tickets for the concert are $15 for adults and $7.50 for students and may be purchased at www.southerncrescentchorale.org, from any Chorale member, or at Spivey Hall, www.spiveyhall.org or 678-466-4200.
The Chorale will be joined for this concert by four outstanding soloists.
Jennifer Mclean Stadelmeyer, soprano, holds a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from Stetson University, a master’s degree in music education from the University of Alabama, and is a National Board Certified teacher in early and middle childhood music. Stadelmeyer enjoys singing as a soprano in the Southern Crescent Chorale and was recently honored as Teacher of the Year at Peeples Elementary School. She performs regularly in the Metro-Atlanta area.
Andrea Caldwell, mezzo soprano, earned a Master’s Degree in vocal performance from Austin Peay State University. In the summers of 2002 and 2003, she studied and performed in Salzburg, Austria where she had the opportunity to work with opera singer Grace Bumbry and Sylvia Plyler (opera and accompanying, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music). Currently she has a small-but-mighty voice studio at the Fine Arts Academy at Flat Creek, Fayetteville, Ga. In addition to her teaching position, she enjoys performing with Southern Crescent Chorale as a chorister and as an occasional soloist. She has performed for a season with The May Festival Chorus (James Conlon, Robert Porco conductors) and as a member of Xavier University’ Harmonia Sacra Xavierana Choir, Cincinnati, Oh.
Grammy-winning American tenor Richard Clement has performed with most of America’s major orchestras and music directors, bringing tonal beauty and superb musicality to repertoire from the baroque to the contemporary. He recently earned particular acclaim for the title role of Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius with the North Carolina Symphony and Sacramento Choral Arts Society and Orchestra. In addition he premiered–and recorded–Theofanides’ The Here and Now with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony, including performances in Atlanta and at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Among the most in-demand tenors for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, invitations include the Brooklyn Philharmonic, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra; New Jersey, Milwaukee, San Antonio, Oregon, San Diego, Baltimore, Nashville, Phoenix, Colorado and Toledo Symphonies.
Clement studied voice at Georgia State University and the Cincinnati Conservatory, where he received his Master of Music degree. He was a Tanglewood Music Festival Fellow, has been a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio and was a recipient of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Jacobson Study Grant.
Clement is currently an assistant professor and artist-in-residence at Georgia State University.
Bass-baritone John LaForge has performed with opera companies and symphony orchestras throughout the United States, including The Washington Opera, Dallas Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Chautauqua Opera, and The Atlanta Opera, among others. He appears regularly as a guest soloist with various organizations in and around the Atlanta area, including the Michael O’Neal Singers, Atlanta Ballet, Atlanta Sacred Chorale, Georgia Philharmonic, and Capitol City Opera. He has received awards and recognitions from the Sullivan Foundation, the Florida Suncoast Opera Competition, the Houston Grand Opera Auditions, the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.
LaForge is the coordinator of Music Education for Fulton County Schools. His 13-year career in music education began as choral director at Tri-Cities High School, the Visual & Performing Arts Magnet program in Fulton County. During his tenure at Tri-Cities, his choirs performed at numerous concert venues throughout the state, including Spivey Hall and Symphony Hall in metropolitan Atlanta and at the GMEA In-Service Conference in Savannah.
In addition to his responsibilities in Fulton County, LaForge is director of auditions for the Metropolitan Opera National Council Southeast Region and works with numerous fine arts organizations in the Atlanta area.
