Posted April 12, 2016
DAYTON, OHIO (April 12, 2016) – On Sunday, April 24, 2016 at 5 p.m., Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra (DPO) musicians will travel to Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, 2067 North Gettysburg Avenue, Dayton, OH to celebrate the human spirit through the universal medium of music with its first Stained Glass Series Concert of the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance 2015-2016 Ascend Season. The year’s Stained Glass Concert Series will welcome guest conductor Isaac Selya, Founder and Artistic Director of Queen City Chamber Opera in Cincinnati, OH. Each of the three concerts will feature vocal soloist William Henry Caldwell and the host church choir for an uplifting musical experience. Dayton Philharmonic Artistic Director Neal Gittleman will serve as the Master of Ceremonies at each of the Stained Glass Concerts this season. The concerts are free and open to the public with no ticket required. DPAA Associate Sponsor of the 2015-2016 Stained Glass Concert Series is CareSource.
The Dayton Philharmonic’s Stained Glass Concerts are part of a series of community outreach efforts called the Norma Ross Memorial Community Concerts in honor of the late Mrs. Norma Ross, a tireless advocate for music and minority youth. All Stained Glass Concerts are free with generous seating available. The 2015–2016 Stained Glass Series and Norma Ross Memorial Community Concerts are made possible by the Bob Ross Auto Group.
The 2015-2016 Stained Glass Concert Series will present three concerts as follows:
* Sunday, April 24, 2016, 5:00 p.m. at Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, 2067 North Gettysburg Avenue, Dayton; (937) 279-0580
* Sunday, June 5, 2016, 4:00 p.m. at Tabernacle Baptist Church, 380 South Broadway Street, Dayton; (937) 228-6393
* Sunday, June 12, 2016, 5:00 p.m. at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, 5301 Free Pike, Trotwood; (937) 837-7741
For this year’s Stained Glass Concerts, the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra is pleased to welcome to the podium Isaac Selya, Founder and Artistic Director of Queen City Chamber Orchestra. A musician of remarkable versatility, Selya is highly sought after as a conductor, pianist, vocal coach, cellist and administrator. He holds a doctorate from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where he specialized in historical casting trends in Mozart’s operas. He is one of the few conductors in the world who has conducted Mozart’s complete German-language operas. In September of 2014, Isaac was named New Artist of the Month by Musical America and conducted two programs with the National Symphony of Guatemala. In the summer of 2015, he served as Assistant Conductor for the Glimmerglass Festival, where he coached and conducted the first-ever reading of the revised version of Philip Glass’s Appomattox, with the composer present.
The DPO also welcomes to the stage vocalist William Henry Caldwell. Caldwell is currently the resident conductor for the Martin Luther King Celebration Chorus for the Cleveland Orchestra and the Classical Roots Community Chorus for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. In addition, Caldwell maintains a very active schedule as a lyric baritone with recent engagements with the Cleveland Orchestra, Bach Society of Dayton, and the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra. A retired full professor of music at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, Caldwell served as chairman of the Department of Fine and Performing Arts and for 34 years as conductor of the Grammy-nominated Central State University Chorus.
This year’s Stained Glass Concert concerts will feature Caldwell as soloist in George Frideric Handel’s beautiful “The Trumpet Shall Sound” from Messiah and Harry Thacker Burleigh’s poignant and moving “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” The orchestra will also perform Joseph Haydn’s “Clock” Symphony, the ninth in Haydn’s series of twelve symphonies nicknamed “The London Symphonies.” DPO Artistic Director Neal Gittleman will provide illuminating and helpful commentary for each musical selection, and each concert will end with a special selection featuring the choir at each sponsoring church.
The first Stained Glass Series Concert on April 24 will close with an inspiring piece entitled “Trust Me,” written by Richard Smallwood and performed by the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra musicians and the Calvary Missionary Baptist Church Choir, under the leadership of Calvary’s Minister of Music Joshua Washington.
For more information on this April 24 Stained Glass Concert, please call the Calvary Missionary Baptist Church at (937) 279-0580 or the Dayton Performing Arts Alliance at (937) 224-3521. For more information on the 2016 Stained Glass Series, visit www.daytonperformingarts.org/15-16/stainedglassseries.