Encore Wind Ensemble
Jerry Luckhardt, Conductor
Abigail Seaman, Soprano Soloist
Bill Chouinard, Organist

Selections to be performed
* La Procession du Rocio, Op. 9 - Joaquin Turina / A. Reed
* "Io Son L'umile Ancella" - Francesco Celia / Luckhardt
    soprano soloist, Abigail Seaman
* My Jesus! Oh What Anguish - J. S. Bach / A. Reed
* Konigsmarch - Richard Strauss / Barrett
            Interval
Serenade for Winds Op. 7 - Richard Strauss
* Fanfare from "La Peri" - Paul Dukas
            Interval
* Ye Banks & Braes O' Bonnie Doon - Percy Grainger
Dream Machine - Katherine Bergman
“Pines of the Appian Way” from Pines of Rome - Ottorino Respighi / Duker
    Organist, Bill Chouinard
* Americans We - Henry Fillmore

Conductor - Jerry Luckhardt

Abigail Leah Seaman began taking voice lessons at age 12 and has been singing ever since. Despite discouragement to study voice, she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance with a minor in Music History, graduating from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 2006. She moved to New York City after graduating to continue private vocal study with New York City Opera and Metropolitan Opera soprano Jen Aylmer.

Soprano - Abigail Leah Seaman

Abigail Leah earned a Graduate Performance Diploma and a Master of Music at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University, where she was a recipient of the Fraser Gange Memorial Scholarship. This past spring saw Abigail Leah join Lyric Opera Baltimore in their production of Verdi's Nabucco. In summer she appeared as Barbarina with Operation: Opera and later as Despina in scenes at Artscape 2014 in Baltimore.

Currently, Abigail Leah is enrolled at the University of Minnesota as a doctoral candidate with a fellowship from the School of Music. She will appear as Micaela in November in Brook's adaptions of Bizet's Carmen: La tragédie de Carmen.

Composer - Katherine Bergman

Katherine Bergman is a Minnesota-based composer who draws on literature, environmentalism, and found materials to create work that has been described as hypnotic and visceral. She has received commissions and performances from the Gustavus Wind Orchestra, The Dream Songs Project, the Minnesota Percussion Trio, and other leading ensembles and festivals throughout the United States. Katherine holds degrees from the University of Northern Iowa and Gustavus Adolphus College, and her composition instructors have included Mary Ellen Childs, Jonathan Schwabe, and Samuel Adler. Katherine is director and co-founder of Spitting Image, a collective of Minneapolis-St. Paul composers. More information at www.katherinebergman.net

Bill Chouinard is Organist and Music Coordinator at St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in Mahtomedi, Minnesota, a position he has held since 1988.  Mr. Chouinard, whose past organ teachers include Dean Billmeyer, Kim Kasling, and Edward Berryman, has presented workshops on service playing and improvisation techniques and has served as organist for religious conventions and for numerous hymn festivals. A prize-winning finalist for the McKnight Foundation Fellowships for Performing Musicians, he has appeared several times on live national radio broadcasts on the St. Paul Fitzgerald’s Wurlitzer theatre organ and is a frequent performer on the American Public Media radio program “Pipedreams.”  Mr. Chouinard’s accomplishments also include performing with the Minnesota Orchestra and touring as a guest organ soloist with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.  He has recorded both organ and harpsichord for several recent choral compact discs, and his first solo recording of the St. Andrew’s organ, Bill Chouinard Premieres, is available on the Pro Organo label.

In addition to keyboard duties, Mr. Chouinard remains active as a bassist in the Twin Cities, performing frequently both live and in studio with many album credits for both electric and upright bass.  Bill resides in White Bear Lake with his wife and three children.

Organist - Bill Chouinard
Photo Credit - Star Tribune

NOTE: The first performances by Encore Wind Ensemble of the above listed works
* La Procession du Rocio, Op. 9 - First MMEA Performance, February 15, 2001
* "Io Son L'umile Ancella" - Second MMEA Performance, February 15, 2007
* My Jesus! Oh What Anguish - Third MMEA Performance, Thursday, February 13, 2014
* Konigsmarch - Inaugural Concert - Sept. 15, 1996
* Fanfare from "La Peri" - Luckhardt’s first concert, March 25, 2000
* Ye Banks & Braes O' Bonnie Doon - Charles B. Olson, conductor emeritus, April 15, 2004 MENC National Biennial In-Service Conference
* Americans We - Inaugural Concert - Sept. 15, 1996