Saint Clement's Music Staff and Choir
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| Organ Specification | |
| Staff / Choir |  |
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[Excerpted from Phillip Truckenbrod Concert Artists]
Peter Richard Conte is highly and widely regarded for his skill as a performer, arranger of organ transcriptions, and for his unique and varied concert programs. Not many performers today offer a Bach Prelude and Fugue followed by Bizet's "Carmen" or a Strauss waltz. He has been featured several times on National Public Radio and on ABC national television's "Good Morning America."
Mr. Conte is the Grand Court Organist of the legendary Wanamaker Organ in
Philadelphia. When not touring, he performs on the six-manual 29,000 pipe
instrument twice daily, six days per week. He has performed throughout the
United States as well as a number of times in England, including a recital
at St. Paul's Cathedral, London. He was a featured artist at the 2003 national
convention of the American Guild of Organists.
Mr. Conte's compact disc "Orchestral Hors d'oeuvres" recorded at
Longwood Gardens (available from Towerhill-Recordings) has established a new
criterion in the use of the organ for sheer delight. He is also well-recorded
as a choral director, appearing on the Dorian and DTR labels with the professional
choir he directs as Organist and Choirmaster at S. Clement's Church, Philadelphia.
Before coming to S. Clement's, Mr. Conte held a similar position at the Washington
Memorial Chapel, Valley Forge, where he founded and directed the Chapel Choir
of Men and Boys. He toured with this choir in England, singing in residence
at both St. Alban's and Peterborough Cathedrals.
Peter Richard Conte is an Associate of the American Guild of Organists and
holds the prestigious Performer's Certificate in Organ from Indiana University
where he studied with Larry Smith and Robert Rayfield. He has also served
as Associate Organist of the Cathedral of the Incarnation, Garden City,
New York, while studying with Robert Kennedy.
Mr. Bernard Kunkle
Associate
Organist Bernard Kunkle came to S. Clement’s
after several years as Choirmaster of the Washington Memorial Chapel in
Valley Forge, where he began as assistant organist in 1993. Mr. Kunkel began
his musical education studying piano performance at Hartt School of Music,
a division of the University of Hartford. Extending his keyboard skills
to the Organ, he has played many recitals in Philadelphia and its suburbs.
Not only is he a virtuosic organist, but he also works in the capacity of
organ technician, assisting in repairing and maintaining many of Philadelphia’s
well known organs. Mr. Kunkel is also a well known voice teacher and has
served as an adjunct on the music theory faculty at Swathmore College.
Choir
Melinda Whiting Burrows,
soprano
sang with the choir of St. Clements from 1991 to 1995, and rejoined the choir upon her return to the Philadelphia area in 2004. She has performed with New York-based Music at Saint Luke's, St. Michael's Music and Arts, and the Tiffany Consort; in Washington, DC, she sang with the Woodley Ensemble as a soloist and ensemble member, and with the Palestrina Choir. Ms. Burrows toured England twice with The Princeton Singers, appearing with them as a soloist at the Three Choirs Festival (Hereford), among other venues. A music journalist and broadcaster for 25 years, she served from 1996 to 2006 as the editor in chief of Symphony, the country's only magazine devoted to the orchestra industry. As a radio presenter, she has hosted nationwide concert broadcasts by the Philadelphia Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, among others. She has presented classical music programs and reported on the arts for National Public Radio, American Public Radio, New York Times radio station WQXR (New York City), and WHYY-FM (Philadelphia). In July, 2006, she was appointed vice president for communications at The Curtis Institute of Music. Ms. Burrows lives in Riverton, New Jersey with her husband, conductor and vocal coach John Burrows.
Alan Champion, bass
joined the St. Clements Choir in 2002. He studied vocal music performance
for his bachelor's degree in his home town of Tulsa. He also studied singing
privately with Tom Farraco (Westminster Choir College, Princeton.) Since
1998 he has sung with The Princeton Singers an unaccompanied choral group
based in Princeton, NJ. With The Princeton Singers he recorded 3 c.d.s of
repertoire ranging from the early music of Machaut, Palestrina & Tallis
to modern jazz, classical to international folk, and liturgical to gospel.
He has sung as a soloist and choral ringer with several liturgical and community
based choruses throughout New Jersey, New York & the Philadelphia area.
Brian Ming Chu, baritone
An acclaimed proponent of music from Monteverdi to contemporary opera, Brian
has sung roles with regional opera companies in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and
Washington, and was a 2004 studio artist with the Baltimore Opera in Carmen,
Salome, La scala di seta, and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Recent signature roles
include Marcello in La Bohème and the title role of The Barber of Seville.
An established oratorio soloist, he has collaborated with Boston’s The
King’s Noyse, Washington’s Cathedral Choral Society and Orchestra
of the 17th Century, Concert Artists of Baltimore, the Dryden Ensemble, Piffaro,
the Philadelphia Singers, and Brandywine Baroque. He has appeared in recital
at New York’s Weill and Merkin Halls, at the Phillips Collection in
DC, and has been a featured artist with the Caramoor and Carmel Bach Festivals.
Since joining the choir in 2004, Brian has enjoyed the discipline that singing
at St. Clement’s brings to his solo work. As a young singer, he received
guidance from influential musicians such as Peter Schreier (St. John Passion)
and William Christie of Les Arts Florissants (Charpentier’s Médée)
while completing his degree in architecture at Cornell University. He did
his graduate studies in voice/opera at the Peabody Conservatory. Currently,
he lives in Philadelphia and teaches on the voice faculty of Muhlenberg College.
A devoted foodie, he also moonlights for the Fair Food Project, an organic/sustainable
agriculture advocacy in the Reading Terminal Market.
Alexis Freedberg, soprano
joined the S. Clements Choir in 2001. Originally
from the Boston area, she first encountered the Anglo-Catholic musical tradition
at Christ Church New Haven, while studying music as an undergraduate at
Yale. Currently a third-year student at the University of Pennsylvania School
of Medicine, she will most likely pursue a career in psychiatry. In her
limited free time, she enjoys playing piano, cooking, cycling, and Latin
American travel.
Matthew Marcucci, tenor
Matthew Marcucci has been singing at St. Clement's
since 2005. A native of Merion Station, Pennsylvania, Matt's singing career
began while he was a student at The Haverford School in Haverford, Pennsylvania.
As a student there, Matt sang in the school's Glee Club and The Notables,
a small, select acappella ensemble. Matt has performed with numerous ensembles
throughout the greater Philadelphia region, including the Bryn Mawr Boychoir
of The Church of the Redeemer in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania led by Daniel Moriarty,
The Choir of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Overbrook, Pennsylvania
directed by Timothy McDonnell, and Schola Nova, the resident instrumental
and vocal ensemble of the International Institute for Culture. Matt is currently
an undergradute at the University of Pennsylvania studying History, Music,
and Mandarin Chinese.
Amelia Schmertz, soprano
Amelia Schmertz has been singing with the S. Clements
choir since 1998. She has sung with the choirs of Christ Church, New Haven,
St. John’s Episcopal in Norristown, Schola Cantorum of St. Peter’s
in the Loop, Chicago, and Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago
(her alma mater). She pursues a daytime career in arts management and is
currently director of the Business On Board program at the Arts and Business
Council of Greater Philadelphia. Amelia lives in the Art Museum area with
her husband, son, and two cats.
Timothy J. Smith,
tenor
Timothy J. Smith earned a degree in sacred music from
Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ. While at Westminster, Mr. Smith
sang with virtually every major orchestra from around the world, including
repeat performances with The New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia Orchestra,
The London Symphony Orchestra, The London Sinfonia, The Cleveland Symphony
Orchestra, The San Francisco Symphony, The Royal Concertgebouw of Amsterdam,
and The Berlin Philharmonic. He has been studying choral repertoire since
his enrollment in the Florida Boychoir School some eighteen years ago. Since
then Mr. Smith has sung with several professional choirs including the Schola
Cantorum of Orlando, Florida, Gloria Musicae of Sarasota, Florida and The
Cambridge Singers of London, England, under the direction of John Rutter.
Mr. Smith currently serves as the director of Vox Fidelis, the choir-in-residence
at Christ Church, in New Brunswick, NJ, which provides leadership for many
of the Vesper services throughout the year. Vox Fidelis specialises in sacred
Renaissance music. Mr. Smith is also assistant to Andrew Kirkman and the Rutgers
Collegium Musicum, a small, auditioned, vocal ensemble, specialising in sacred
Renaissance music. By day, Mr. Smith is a voice, piano, and music theory instructor
as well as the director of sales, all at the Academy of Music on Main Street
in Spotswood, NJ, which boasts well over 400 students and 35 faculty members.
Eric Swartzentruber, baritone
Eric joined his wife Johanna at S. Clement’s in 1992. A native of
Princeton, New Jersey, Eric has been hailed by the Philadelphia Inquirer
as a “velvet-voiced tenor.” A specialist in sacred music, he
has performed with many of this country’s leading vocal ensembles,
including American Boychoir, Chanticleer, Schola Nova, Choral Arts Society
of Philadelphia, the Princeton Singers, and Fuma Sacra. He has also performed
with the Schola Cantorum of Oxford under the direction of Philip Cave, and
collaborated with several Baroque ensembles, including Piffaro, and Brandywine
Baroque. He performed in the American premiere of Penderecki's Seven Gates
of Jerusalem with the New York Philharmonic under Kurt Masur as a member
of the Philadelphia Singers, and was a member of Opera Festival of New Jersey's
chorus for productions of Mozart's Don Giovanni, Verdi's Falstaff, and Strauss'
Die Fledermaus.
In addition to appearing as a guest soloist in numerous area churches, Eric
serves as cantorial soloist for Temple Micah in Glenside, PA, and is a regular
member of Kol Rina, the choir of Temple Emmanu’ El in Westfield, New
Jersey, the state’s largest Reform Jewish Synagogue.
Noted for his wide vocal range, Eric has performed and recorded as an alto,
tenor, and bass. He appears on over a dozen commercial recordings under
the direction of James Litton, John Bertalot, Peter Richard Conte, and Steven
Sametz. He has also been featured on radio broadcasts on WHYY and the BBC.
Eric graduated summa cum laude from Rider University in English Literature
and Composition. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Princeton,
where he is the Director of External Affairs for Princeton Academy of the
Sacred Heart.
Johanna Swartzentruber, soprano
Johanna Swartzentruber joined S. Clement’s choir in 1991. She grew up
in Germany and Princeton, New Jersey, where she received her early training
as a chorister under James Litton. While earning a graduate degree in Classics
from Princeton University, she spent over a year in Oxford, where she sang
at Christ Church and St Mary the Virgin and was a member of the Schola Cantorum;
she also recorded a CD with the Clerkes of Oxenford under David Wulstan. She
met her husband Eric singing and recording with the Princeton Singers under
John Bertalot. She has been a soloist with the Choral Arts Society under Donald
Nally and has performed on several occasions with Piffaro, the Renaissance
wind band of Philadelphia. In addition to singing, Johanna works as a freelance
linguist, interprets 19th-century farm life at a local living history farm,
and spends time with her husband and two growing daughters in Princeton and
Germany.
Karen Wapner, alto
Karen Wapner has sung at St.Clement's since 2002. She has a BS in
Music Education, MM in Voice, and MA in Music Therapy. She sings with The
Princeton Singers and West Jersey Chamber Music Society and has studied voice
with Tamara Matthews and Julianne Baird. Karen works for the NJ Division of
Mental Health Services and is pursuing advanced study in the field of Psychiatric
Rehabilitation. She lives with her partner, Alix, in Moorestown, NJ.
| Staff | ||
| Mr. Peter Richard Conte, Organist and Choirmaster | ||
| Mr. Benard Kunkle, Associate Organist | ||
| Choir | ||
| Soprano | Melinda Whiting Burrows | |
| Alexis Freedberg | ||
| Elizabeth Holt | ||
| Kristin Kopple | ||
| Amelia Schmertz | ||
| Johanna Swartzentruber | ||
| Alto | Deann Giles | |
| Brian Ramsey | ||
| Karen Wapner | ||
| Tenor | George Feeser | |
| Matthew Marcucci | ||
| Vincent Metallo | ||
| Timothy Smith | ||
| Baritone | Brian Ming Chu | |
| Eric Swartzentruber | ||
| Bass | Les Anders | |
| Alan Champion |
