The third event of the 49th Sonora Bach Festival, The Locals Concert, will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at Chapel in the Pines, Twain Harte. The concert will feature 16 skilled residents of Tuolumne and Calaveras counties performing as vocalists or instrumentalists.
Performers include Bryna Anders, soprano; Victoria Hare, violin; Brook Moes, violin; Abigail Cover, piano; Kayla Ireland, viola; Daniel Godsil, piano; John MacAllister, lyric bass; Mark Siever, Piano; Ellora Maggs, violin; Diane Wright, mezzo soprano; Joy Willow, piano; Sandra Betti, flute; and John Carter, conducting.
“The local performers come with varying backgrounds and interests,” said Marguerite Close, festival board member and Locals Concert coordinator. “Some hold degrees and have lots of solo performance experience. Others have developed their musical skills less publicly.”
Some on the program include local musicians with college and university degrees in music and professional, musical experiences with orchestras and opera companies.
“We are so happy to give these locals an opportunity to perform. It motivates them and is such a huge inspiration to the rest of us,” said Jenny Moiso, a festival board member.
— Bryna Anders, a soprano for the concert, is also a kindergarten teacher in Angels Camp and loves horseback riding, culinary arts and holds a black belt in karate.
—Ellora Maggs, a violinist who has studied since the age of 7, is now a physical therapist with her business Peak Performance Care in Twain Harte.
— Diane Wright, mezzo-soprano, who has sung all her life including in choral groups and lessons, is a retired project manager for General Electric.
— Abigail Cover grew up in Washington state playing the piano and singing with her sisters and now sings in the Columbia Community Chorus.
— Brook Moes holds degrees from University of the Pacific and University of Maryland and is very active as a teacher of violin.
— Sandra Betti has played the flute since she was 9 years old; holds a degree in music from San Francisco State University; and currently is the music director at St. Patrick's Church, teaches flute, and performs frequently throughout the Mother Lode and Central Valley.
— Kayla Ireland is originally from St. Louis, Missouri, where she grew up playing viola in every youth symphony in the area; now resides in Dorrington, California; and currently performs with the Columbia College Orchestra, choir, and the Mother Lode String Quartet.
—Lyric bass, John MacAllister, is a graduate of the San Francisco Opera’s Merola training program and has been a soloist with the San Francisco Opera, Sacramento Opera, Opera San Jose, Los Angeles Civic Light Opera and at the Bear Valley Music Festival.
— Mark Siever, accompanist, studied piano at UCLA; was music director at Sierra Repertory Theater for many years; and an accompanists at Columbia College, Sonora.
— Daniel Godsil, has extensive experience accompanying but also composes extensively, and teaches music full-time at Columbia College, Sonora.
The music performances consisting of solos and ensembles will include compositions by Bach, Telemann, Rameau, Handel, Kreisler, and Giacomelli. Specific compositions include “Erbarme Dich” from The Saint Matthew Passion of J.S. Bach; Gavotte and Six Doubles by Rameau; Adagio and Allegro from Viola Sonata by Mendelssohn; “For Behold” and “Darkness Shall Cover the Earth” from Handel’s Messiah; Sicilienne and Rigadoun After Francoeur by Kreisler; Sposa son Dispezzata by Giacomelli’Vivaldi; Trieste and Allegro from Sonata for Flute and Keyboard in F Minor by Telemann; and a finale by the audience and all the performers in Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring by J.S. Bach.
Tickets for the concert are $20 and available at sonorabach.org; The Mountain Bookshop in Sonora or at the door.
