The Roanoque Baroque Chamber Orchestra with guest soloists Lalia Mangione violin, Rachel O’Brien, harp, along with vocalists Brooke Tolley, soprano and Charlie Blueweiss, baritone will present the fourth and final concert of its debut season on Saturday, May 13 at 7:00 P.M. at First Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, and at St. John Lutheran Church in Cave Spring, on Sunday, May 14 at 3:00 P.M.
CONCERT DETAILS:
G.F. Handel Concerto for Harp in Bb
Joseph Bologne Chevalier De Saint Georges, Concerto for Violin opus 7 No. 1 J.S. Bach “Coffee Cantata” BWV 211 With featured soloists:
Rachel O’Brien, harp
Lalia Mangione, violin
Brooke Tolley, soprano
Charlie Blueweiss, baritone
Paul Brockman, tenor
Conducted by Michael Shasberger
Rachel O’Brien (formerly Rachel Lee Hall) is the First Prize winner of the 2019 Ima Hogg Competition, won the 2013 Lyon & Healy Award, and has received prizes from the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra’s Anne Jett Rogers Award, Saratoga Harp Colony “Play with the Pros” Competition, Roanoke Youth Symphony Orchestra Young Artist’s Awards, and the James Bland Music Contest of the Lions Club.
The 2015 Cleveland Institute of Music Presser Scholar, has been soloist with the Houston Symphony and has been an orchestral harpist with the Cleveland, Akron, Firelands, and Roanoke symphony orchestras. She holds both a Bachelor and a Master’s degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music and has an ever-growing presence on social media, with over 40,000 followers. She will be featured in G.F. Handel’s Concerto for Harp in Bb Major.
Lalia Mangione‘s music making has taken her across the United States and as far away as Italy, Russia, and Lithuania. She has been concerto soloist with orchestras playing works by Lalo and Sibelius, and holds solo performance awards from the Performing Arts Scholarship Foundation and the Music Teachers National Association. Lalia holds a Master of Music in Violin Performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she studied under Marjorie Bagley and held a graduate assistantship as a member of the Graduate String Quartet. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance from Westmont College in California. She is currently working with the Cleveland based non-profit musical organization Renovare which is dedicated to sharing music at the highest level of artistry in diverse settings and with innovative programs to love neighbors, affirm the value of all people, and cultivate reconciled communities. She will be featured in the exciting Violin Concerto opus 7 No. 1 by Joseph Bologne Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the African-Caribbean-French composer from the time of Mozart. The amazing life story and music of Joseph Bologne is highlighted in the 2023 feature film “Chevalier.” He was one of the world’s most prominent swordsmen and most renown composers in pre-revolutionary France!
Brooke Tolley, General Director of the Roanoke Opera, will be the featured soprano soloist taking the role of the disobedient daughter in J.S. Bach’s charming and very humorous “Coffee Cantata.” Joining her as the frustrated father will be baritone Charlie Blueweiss, a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and recent arrival in Roanoke. Paul Brockman will sing the role of the narrator as well in this nearly operatic spoof on the dangers of coffee drinking!
The program will be conducted by Michael Shasberger, artistic director of Roanoque Baroque. Dr. Shasberger is a professor Emeritus of Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California and Conductor Emeritus of the Stratus Chamber Orchestra in Denver, Colorado. He also served as Artistic Director for the West Coast Symphony and Chamber Orchestra in Santa Barbara, CA and as a guest conductor with the Fine Arts Chamber Orchestra of Mexico, the Lithuanian National Chamber Orchestra, the Estonian National Chamber Orchestra, the Ft. Wayne Philharmonic and Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. A recent new resident of Roanoque he also serves as the Choral Director for St. John Lutheran Church.
The First Evangelical Presbyterian Church is located at 2101 Jefferson St SW and St. John Lutheran Church is located at 4608 Brambleton Avenue. Ample free parking is available at both locations. Roanoque Baroque encourages access to all members of the community with a “name your own price” admission policy. All tickets available at the door with a $20 per person suggested ticket price.
