The Bach Ensemble's Musicians

The Bach Ensemble is a 40-voice auditioned chorus of Volunteer Singers, which performs with professional Instrumentalists and Vocal Soloists.

• Vocal Soloists
• Instrumentalists
• Singers

Vocal Soloists

Vincent Davies, Tenor

Vincent Davies sings with Seraphic Fire, Miami's only professional chamber choir, where he was a soloist in Bach's Mass in B Minor. A 2007 vocal performance graduate from Miami University, Mr. Davies appeared in leading roles in the University's Opera Theatre, including Nanki-Poo in Gilbert & Sullivan's Mikado, Fernando in Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutti, and Don Octavio in Mozart's Don Giovanni. He performed as a soloist in Haydn's Mass in Time of War and Mozart's Requiem with St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Marco Island.

Valarie Milazzo, Soprano

Valarie Milazzo has performed as a Soprano soloist for the Bach Ensemble in Handel's Messiah and Dixit Dominus, and in Britten's Ceremony of Carols. She has also performed for programs of the Naples Opera Society. In Atlanta, Ms. Milazzo presented solo recitals featuring Schubert's The Shepherd on the Rock, Barber's Knoxville Summer of l915, and Schumann's Frauenlieben und Leben. Her opera roles for the Peachtree Christian Church Concert Series in Atlanta include "Mother" in Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, and "Lucy" in Menotti's The Telephone. Ms. Milazzo was a featured soloist with the Michael O'Neal Summer Singers, and with the Summer Singers of Atlanta in their performance of Mozart's Requiem. As a private piano teacher in Atlanta, she operated a studio with a national award-winning Junior Music Club. Ms. Milazzo moved to Naples with her husband Ben in 2006, and regularly serves as a Cantor at St. Ann's Catholic Church. She serves on the Naples Opera Society Board, and is Treasurer of the Board for The Bach Ensemble.

Janet Ortenzo, Mezzo-Soprano

Janet Ortenzo is an established soloist performing oratorio and concert repertoire. She has performed as alto soloist in the Mozart Requiem and Haydn's Mass In Time of War at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Marco Island, and in Handel's Messiah, Bach's Magnificat, Vivaldi's Beatus Vir, Charpentier's Magnificat, Handel's Dixit Dominus, Mozart's Requiem, and Britten's Ceremony of Carols for The Bach Ensemble, as well as chants of Hildegard von Bingen, Durufle's Requiem, Brahms' Neue Liebeslieder and Bach's Magnificat for the Southwest Florida Symphony. She was also a soloist for the 2006 Bach Ensemble tour to England and the return voyage on the Queen Mary 2. She was the alto soloist for Voices of Naples' 2007 "Sing-Along Messiah" concert and has appeared as a guest soloist in several Naples Opera Society programs. She has also served as a cantor in several Catholic churches in Fort Myers and Naples. A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Ms. Ortenzo is the Assistant Principal of St. Francis Xavier School in Ft. Myers. She is a vocal student of Dr. Ronald Doiron and is the alto soloist and section leader at the Naples United Church of Christ.

Dr. Carl Ratner, Baritone

Dr. Ratner sang the leading role of Proctor in Robert Ward's The Crucible in January 2007 for Chicago Chamber Opera. He has also sung Falstaff in Verdi's Falstaff, Schicci in Puccini's Gianni Schicci, Ford in Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor, Mister in Blitzstein's The Cradle Will Rock, and Pappageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute. His recent recitals have included two featuring Schubert's Liederkreis, Op. 39, one in Chicago and one at Western Michigan University. In summer, 2006, Dr. Ratner toured with The Bach Ensemble as soloist in concerts in Bath London and on the Queen Mary 2. He has been a featured soloist for The Bach Ensemble in Handel's Messiah, Bach's Magnificat and Mass in A Major. Dr. Ratner continues to direct opera, most recently with Opera Naples in Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors and Debussy's L'Infant Prodigue, as well as Madama Butterfly. At Western Michigan University, Spring 2007, he directed Monteverdi's Orfeo. He began his career as Stage Director and Manager in opera under the tutelage of the renowned John Copley and Giancarlo Menotti, directing productions at Covent Garden, Munich Opera, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City Center, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Spoleto Music Festival in Italy. In Chicago, Dr. Ratner served as Artistic Director of the Chamber Opera Theatre for eight years, and as Artistic Director of Chicago Opera Theatre for fourteen years. Dr. Ratner is Professor of Voice and Director of the Opera Program at Western Michigan University.

Lloyd Reshard, Jr., Bass-Baritone

Lloyd Reshard Jr. has been a part of the South Florida music community since 2001. Hailing from Niceville, Florida, he graduated in May 2006 from the University of Miami's Philip and Patricia Frost School of Music, with a BM in Vocal Performance. There, he performed such principal roles as Sarastro, The Mikado, and Dulcamara. Mr. Reshard is currently a Soloist/Section Leader at the First United Methodist Church of South Miami under the direction of Paul Whiting. He has sung with the Florida Grand Opera Chorus in Aida, La Sonnambula, and Samson et Dalila. Mr. Reshard made his debut as a Messiah soloist in 2006 with Dr. David Davies at Key Biscayne Presbyterian Church and later with Masterworks Chorale in West Palm Beach, under the direction of Dr. Jack Jones. He first performed as a soloist with The Bach Ensemble in April 2007.

Ellie VanderMeuse, Soprano

Ellie VanderMeuse was a featured soloist in Haydn's Mass In Time Of War and in Mozart's Requiem, at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Marco Island. At the Island Opera Theater, she sang the role of "Liu" in Puccini's Turandot. She sang arias from Puccini's La Boheme and Turandot, Bernstein's West Side Story, and Andrew Lloyd Weber's Phantom of the Opera for the Paul Todd and Friends Concert, at St. John the Evangelist Church. Ms. VanderMeuse has also performed for programs of the Naples Opera Society. For The Bach Ensemble Ms. VanderMeuse has sung solos in Bach's Magnificat, Missa Brevis in A Major, and Mass in B Minor; in Handel's Messiah and Dixit Dominus; and in Vivaldi's Beatus Vir and Gloria. Her repertoire also includes solo work for Beethoven's Mass in C, Bizet's Carmen, Puccini's La Boheme, as well as appearances with the Green Bay Chamber Choir and Quattro Voci, a Baroque quartet. She is a cantor for St. John The Evangelist Church and St. Agnes Mission Church in Naples, and a founding member of The Bach Ensemble. She is also a case manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Florida.

Key Instrumentalists

Judith Yanchus Glazener, Messiah Concertmaster

Judith Glazener studied in Boston and New York with teachers Ruben Gregorian, Ivor Karman, and Joseph Fuchs. She has been a member of the Rotterdam Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony, principal second violin of the St. Paul Orchestra, and most recently, a first violinist in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Ms. Glazener is current concertmaster of the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra and the Candlewood Chamber Orchestra. Chamber music associations include the Monadnock Festival, the String Trio of New York, the Hammond Chamber Players, the Windham Chamber Music Festival, and the Norwalk String Trio. She made her New York recital debut at Merkin Concert Hall, and has appeared as a guest artist at the North Carolina School of the Arts and as a concerto soloist in Charlotte, NC.

Dr. Betty Pursley, Harpsichord Continuo

Dr. Pursley earned a DMA in organ performance from the University of Kansas and is the Minister of Music at The United Church of Marco Island. She has appeared in solo and ensemble concerts throughout the United States, and was formerly a professor or organ and music theory at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Singers

SOPRANO	ALTO	TENOR	BASS
Julia Bugera Carrin Chang Nancy D'Amico Diana Dearth Virginia Goodman Carol Hedman Gaby Matthiensen Valarie Milazzo Barbara Pikal Nancy Reddy Ellie VanderMeuse Roberta Zorn	Gay Carder Helga Drews Katheen Eisinger Cary Haurum Heidi Hoenicke Honey Lehman Ursula Loose Gisela Manchen Janet Ortenzo Joan Pollock JoAnn Pottorff Joann Poulter Carolyn Reese Jacqueline Sakraida Rose Schmigle Jan Stephens Jean Thompson	Kurt Colburn Fred Holcomb Paul Martin Joe Mulheran Michael Short Vic Silvestri	Dick Bennett J.T. Clark Bruce Galbraith George Pattison Jack Pearce David Ready Tony Ridley Larry Turns