Advent Music Events at Sacred Heart Cathedral

December 6-8, 2013

All performances are at Sacred Heart Cathedral, 296 Flower City Park, Rochester (between Dewey and Lake avenues). Plenty of free parking! 

The concerts are free and open to the public; free will offerings will benefit the House of Mercy, Santa Lucia School, San Salvador, and Catholic Relief Services work on behalf of the victims of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

The Cathedral Community annual Creche Festival Weekend, Dec. 6-8, features three distinct musical events to set the tone for the season of Advent, the four weeks leading up to Christmas. For Christians, Advent is the season of hope, longing and anticipation that leads up to the celebration of the birth of Christ.

More than 100 Nativity sets (crèches) will be on display in the cathedral narthex, Nov. 30-Dec. 29

Friday Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m.

La Fiesta de la Posada (“Festival of the Inn,”) by Dave Brubek. This choral concert, based on Mary and Joseph’s search for lodging, reminds us of the basics of life that God wants us to have. Performed by Rochester Lyric Opera, Kevin Nitsch, director. Soloists include:

Tim Kennedy, baritone,founder and Artistic Director of Buffalo Opera Unlimited.  A native of Philadelphia, Kennedy studied voice at the Philadelphia Musical Academy.  He earned a Master’s degree in Music and Theatre from SUNY at Buffalo.  He has taught at the elementary, secondary and college levels and has performed as an actor, singer, and director.

Brian Bohrer, tenor, earned a Bachelor of Music in Education and Vocal Performance from Ithaca College and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music.  He made his professional debut with Ithaca Opera in 2000, appearing in Le nozze di Figaro, and has since performed roles with Opera Rochester, Rochester Opera Factory, and Empire State Lyric Theatre.  Bohrer has been teaching vocal music for 13 years at Rush-Henrietta Senior High School, where he directs three choirs and a piano introduction course.  In addition, he is the director of the Asbury Singers.

Mario Martínez, baritone, made his United States professional operatic debut in the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra production of Beethoven’s Fidelio, performing the role of Don Pizarro. During his professional career, Martínez has appeared with numerous companies, including the Mercury Opera of Rochester, Rochester Lyric Opera, Eastman Opera Theater, Opera Rochester and Buffalo Opera Unlimited. Performances include leading roles in Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila (concert version), in Rossini’s La Cambiale di matrimonio, Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, the critically acclaimed Mercury Opera productions of L’Elisir d’Amore and L’amico Fritz, as well as concert presentations at the Canterbury Cathedral in the United Kingdom, the National Theater in the Dominican Republic, and the Merkin Concert Hall in New York City. Martínez, a skilled singing-actor of extended vocal range, feels at home in dramatic and comic roles, as well as oratorio, musical theater and Spanish Opera and Zarzuela repertoire.

Elizabeth Phillips, soprano, boasts a versatile repertoire that ranges from early music to contemporary opera to avant garde. She has been a featured soloist for orchestras throughout the United States and has collaborated with Julianne Baird, Malcolm Bilson, Steve Reich and Bobby McFerrin.  Phillips is the soloist and section leader at Asbury First United Methodist Church in Rochester and holds an adjunct faculty position at the Rochester Institute of Technology.   She manages a thriving private studio and her masterclass, Instinctive Singing, offers coaching in vocal performance and dramatic interpretation to students from high school through the collegiate level She is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where she was awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate in Voice. 

Saturday Dec. 7, at 7:30 p.m.

Candlelight Lessons and Carols, performed by the Third Presbyterian Church Junior Choir, Christina Lenti, director; Antioch Baptist Church Choir, Brandon Hughes, director; Cathedral Choir, Ginny Miller, director. In this ecumenical prayer we express our common faith and hope for the future.

Sunday Dec. 8, at 2 p.m.

The Dady Brothers and Friends in Concert, John and Joe Dady with Roxanne Ziegler, harp; Susan Kieren, oboe; Lynda Dimitroff, cello. With this performance of Celtic music and friendship, the hope of the season stirs our hearts.