Review: Otter Creek Music Festival - The Cantata Singers

Visiting all the way from Boston, the Cantata Singers bring early music to Vermont.

Visiting all the way from Boston, the Cantata Singers bring early music to Vermont.

Barn Opera takes the Otter Creek Music Festival under its wing.

Founded in 1979, and formally known as the Salisbury Summer Series, the Festival continues to host regional and summer audiences for performances of all kinds of chamber music, including classical, folk, jazz, and theater. In 2023, Barn Opera in Brandon, Vermont joined forces as Otter Creek's fiscal sponsor, allowing the festival to grow and develop into a regional destination for exceptional performances. Both venues, the 1838 Meeting House and the 200+ year old Barn Opera House, boast intimate, warm acoustics and are spectacular venues to hear small ensembles perform world-class music. In 2022, founder Glenn Andres invited musician and arts administrator, Joshua Glassman (pictured upper right) to take the reins and transform the series into a festival model, while maintaining the charm and appeal it has throughout the local community. July 27th, on the festival’s second day, seven members of the early music ensemble “Cantata Singers” performed works by Händel, Bach, and Pergolesi in the Salisbury Congregational Church.

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About the Cantata Singers

From their website, “Founded in 1964, Cantata Singers is a Boston-based chorus and orchestra whose roots lie in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The ensemble’s main season and chamber concerts now explore a wide range of music that reaches from the 17th century to the present, often exploring connections to Bach’s continuing and profound influence on our music, our culture, and ourselves. Our unique education program, Classroom Cantatas, teaches song-writing and choral singing to Boston School children, guided by the belief that all children deserve the means to express their creative voices.”

In 2022, the Cantata singers welcomed Noah Horn as their seventh music director.

As a conductor whose work has been praised as “superb” (The New York Times), “well-prepared and joyful” (Detroit Free Press), “excellent,” and “fluent and fresh” (Opera News), Noah Horn greatly looks forward to his new role as Music Director of the Cantata Singers. He comes to the ensemble having directed choirs and orchestras at the professional, collegiate, and community levels. His other current projects include serving as chorus master for the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director and founder of the professional vocal ensemble Audivi. With Audivi he has conducted historically-informed landmark performances of Bach’s Mass in B minor and Monteverdi’s Vespers, as well as premiering dozens of new compositions and touring several times around the US. He has worked with ensembles in Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Turkey, Greece, Canada, and the Philippines.

An avid educator, Noah has served as director of choral activities and on the music faculty of several universities and colleges, including Oberlin, Williams, Amherst, and Hampshire Colleges, and Wesleyan, Wayne State, and Western Michigan Universities. His former graduate students hold choral artistic director positions across the country. He has taught a wide variety of courses at the graduate and undergraduate levels, including choir, orchestra, conducting, music theory and ear training, choral literature and music history, voice, and collaborative piano.

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Meet The Musicians

Seven members of the Cantata Singers joined us at the Salisbury Congregational Church on July 27th. Pictured from left to right is soprano Janet Ross, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Webb, music director and harpsichordist Noah Horn, violinist Kevin Bushee, violist Laura Markowitz, violinist Michelle Liechti, and cellist Thomas Jocks.

Janet Ross

Soprano Janet Ross is a core member of the Handel and Haydn Society, Emmanuel Music, Boston Baroque, and Cantata Singers. Janet earned undergraduate degrees in piano and flute performance and a Master of Music in piano performance from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where she was named Chancellor’s Scholar, an award recognizing academic achievement and service to the school. As a pianist, Janet won myriad solo and concerto competitions, including the concerto competition, Schubert/Brahms Category, and Grand Prize in the Eastman School of Music’s Young Artists International Competition. She performed in recital at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, as the recipient of the VSAArts Panasonic Young Soloists Award. Janet also has a M.Ed. in elementary education from UMass-Amherst, teaches piano and voice lessons, co-teaches the children’s choir at Church of the Redeemer-Chestnut Hill, and works for the Shady Hill School Teacher Training Center. She volunteers with the House Rabbit Network and serves on the Board of Trustees of Cantata Singers as the Chorus Vice President.

Jennifer Webb

Mezzo-soprano Jennifer Webb appears regularly as a soloist and chorister in the Boston area. Since 2011, she has performed with Cantata Singers and Ensemble under the direction of David Hoose and has been featured as alto soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Bach cantatas, the Magnificat and B Minor Mass, Handel’s Israel in Egypt and Solomon (First Woman), and works by Zelenka, Lazar Weiner, Irving Fine, and John Harbison. In 2018 she was a soloist in the world premiere of Peter Child's Lamentations, commissioned by Cantata Singers, and she has premiered songs by Marjorie Merryman and Shawn Okpebholo in their Chamber Series. Her 2022-2023 season includes Osvaldo Golijov’s Oceana with Cantata Singers and their new music director Noah Horn, Handel’s Alexander’s Feast with the King’s Chapel Choir, and a celebration of Daniel Pinkham’s centennial at King’s Chapel.

Kevin Bushee

Violinist Kevin Bushee appears regularly as a soloist and section leader with the New England Bach Festival and Berkshire Bach Society and has played extensively with Arcadia Players, Handel & Haydn Society, Dartmouth Chamber Singers’ Project, Musica Viva of New York, American Classical Orchestra, and the Vermont Mozart Festival. Early violin specialist, Mr. Bushee has shared the stage with internationally renowned performers including Jaap Schroder, Max von Egmond, and most recently Malcolm Bilson. Mr. Bushee has been heard on APR in the award-winning documentary, “Thomas Jefferson: A Life with Music” in which Mr. Bushee acts as both soloist and concertmaster/director of The Governor’s Musick, resident ensemble for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

Laura Markowitz

Violist Laura Markowitz is a member of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and also plays in the Burlington Chamber Orchestra. Born in Pittsburgh, PA she earned her bachelor’s in music from Indiana University. Her teachers include Paul Biss, Peter Marsh and Larry Shapiro. Before moving to Vermont in 1991, her professional career included the Florida Orchestra (Tampa), the Ohio Chamber Orchestra (Cleveland) and the Santiago Philharmonic (Chile). Laura takes part in various chamber concerts in the area, as well as providing ambient string music for local singers and groups including Deb Flanders, Cricket Blue and Bella Voce. An avid fiddler in Swedish and Celtic styles, she is a member of the band Symphony Reel, which plays for children across the state through the VSO’s Symphony Kids program. Laura maintains a teaching studio in Richmond, alongside her life partner, cellist John Dunlop.

Michelle Liechti

Violinist Michelle Liechti earned her B.A. from Mills College studying with David Abel. She is Concertmaster of the Windham Philharmonic, plays with the Arcadia Players and Juno Orchestra, and performs throughout New England. She teaches violin and coaches chamber music at the Brattleboro music Center and Northfield Mount Hermon School. Her teaching and playing are deeply influenced by violinist and pedagogue, Kato Havas, author of “The New Approach to Violin Playing.”

Thomas Jocks

Cellist Thomas Jocks is a native of Montreal and luthier based in Vermont. Thomas studied at Oberlin Conservatory, McGill University, and the Newark School of Violin Making in England. After many years working in various violin shops, Thomas is now making intruments under his own name and is also persuing an active performance career.

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The Review

Langue, geme, HWV 188 - G.F. Händel (1685-1759)

Auch mit gedämpften, from BWV 36 - J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Bekennen will ich seinen Namen, BWV 200 - J.S. Bach (1685-1750)

Sabat Mater - G.B. Pergolesi (1710-1736)

The Venue

The Salisbury Congregational Church is beautiful and has all of the charm of the Vermont countryside. It is an intimate setting that is ideal for chamber music, and the added extension to the stage gives plenty of room for the players and vocalists. The acoustics are not too live nor too muted, and OCMF set up a system of microphones to aid in maintaining a proper balance. I could hear each part independently with ease, and next to nothing was lost. Previously, I have performed at the church in Barn Opera’s anual production of Menotti’s “Amal and The Night Visitors.” The space feels good for the voice, and it is a joy to be there.

The Ensemble

With music director Noah Horn at the harpsichord and the rest of our players, the breath of sound and tone that came from this small group was nothing short of impressive. The virtuosic lines executed beautifully by violinist Kevin Bushee and Michelle Liechti, coupled with the elegant lyric lines from cellist Thomas Jocks and violist Laura Markowitz, blessed us with a level of musicality that proved to be deeply moving. There were a few issues with tuning, but it wasn’t all too distracting. Specializing in early music, this ensemble was a refreshing addition to the church’s catalogue of previous performances. I can only imagine how glorious it is to hear the full chorus and ensemble under Mr. Horn’s baton, and I hope to very soon.

The Vocalists

What a lovely opportunity it was to hear two incredibly talented sopranos so close to my own home! Janet Ross and Jennifer Webb both boast impressive resumes, and it makes sense to me why they are both in high demand as interpreters of early music. Janet Ross’s tone was crystalline, and her voice breathlessly agile. In several of the coloratura passages she seemed as though she were floating on a cloud. Particularly in the high points of the “Sabat Mater,” her voice “zinged” right to the back of the house. Jennifer Webb’s rich tone was the perfect foil to Janet. Jennifer’s lyricism was bewitching, and her attention to detail was evident in the nuance of her dynamic interpretations. I found myself getting lost in the richness of her voice. For the both of them, the only thing I have to say in regard to criticism is that it was difficult for me to make out the Latin diction at times, but the German with all of its consonants was very clear. Both Janet and Jennifer have performed as principal soloists with the Cantata Singers, and I hope to hear them again the next time that I visit Boston.

Conclusion

I am ecstatic to see the introduction of so many diverse styles of music, classical and folk, to the larger Vermont community. The Otter Creek Music Festival will no doubt become a cornerstone of the culture in the coming years. Barn Opera was right to jump in and support them, and with their help, I can see this festival extending much farther than the town of Salisbury with all of its unique musical offerings. Their dedication to making this music accessible also does not go unnoticed and is greatly appreciated by Vermonters like me. I will be attending the festival again this coming Sunday to watch the final performance of its two weeklong season. Artistic Director Joshua Glassman, as a member of the Nightingale Vocal Ensemble as well, told me that this was not one to miss - and I look forward to hearing all of the original compositions that have been commissioned for this acclaimed group.

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