United Church on the Green UCC
270 Temple Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Join GMChorale’s Alchemy vocal chamber ensemble for their performance in Orchestra New England’s 47th annual Colonial Concert.
Led by ONE’s founder and Music Director, James Sinclair, the concert will feature selections from Handel’s Messiah.It is free and open to the public. You won’t want to miss it!
Artist Name
Dann Coakwell, tenor, has performed as a soloist across Europe, Japan, and throughout the Americas, under renowned conductors such as Helmuth Rilling, Masaaki Suzuki, Monica Huggett, William Christie, María Guinand, Nicholas McGegan, Matthew Halls, and Craig Hella Johnson. He can be heard as a soloist on the Grammy-winning album The Sacred Spirit of Russia (Harmonia Mundi 2014), as well as in multiple other Grammy-nominated and critically acclaimed albums, recent examples of which include Mendelssohn & Bach: Matthäus-passion
(Analekta 2024), James Richman & Dallas Bach Society: Messiah (1741 Original Version) (Onyx Classics 2024), Bruhns: Cantatas and Organ Works, Vol. 1 (BIS 2022), led by Masaaki Suzuki, and Considering Matthew Shepard (Harmonia Mundi 2016).
Dr. Coakwell has performed Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully and David Geffen halls, as well as other prominent New York venues such as Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue and Trinity Church Wall Street. He has appeared as a soloist with organizations such as Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart in Germany, Bach Collegium Japan, Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela, Pacific Baroque Orchestra in Canada, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco, Oregon Bach Festival, Portland Baroque Orchestra and Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Dallas Bach Society, Conspirare, and the symphony/philharmonic orchestras of Orlando, Charlotte, Nashville, Indianapolis, Quad Cities, and Kansas City.
Specializing in the Evangelist and tenor roles of J.S. Bach, Coakwell has performed numerous productions of all of Bach’s major oratorios — St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, Christmas Oratorio, and Mass in B-Minor — as well as many of Bach’s cantatas. Also an enthusiast of Benjamin Britten, Coakwell has appeared in multiple productions of Britten’s Canticles, Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings, and St. Nicolas. Among the most prominent solo and titular roles of other frequently performed composers include: Handel’s Samson, Judas Maccabaeus, Israel in Egypt, Alexander’s Feast, and Messiah; Haydn’s Creation; Mozart Requiem and Mass in c (Levin and Süssmayr completions); Mendelssohn’s Elijah; and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.
Dr. Coakwell served for more than two and a half decades as an educator at institutions that have included Yale, Cornell, Ithaca College, and Colgate University, and he has appeared around the US and internationally as a guest teaching artist. He holds an Artist Diploma in Vocal Performance from Yale University, a DMA and MM from Texas Tech University, and a BM from the University of Texas at Austin.
A much sought after accompanist and chamber musician, Blake Hansen holds the position of rehearsal and performance accompanist for the Connecticut Lyric Opera, Hartford Opera Theater, Hartt School Choirs, Madison Lyric Stage, and the Greve Opera Academy in Italy. He also accompanies several choirs in Connecticut, including the choirs of The Hartt School, CONCORA, and the Griswold Community Chorus. As a chamber musician, he currently collaborates with pianist and mezzo-soprano Rebecca Batista de Almeida and violin virtuoso Adrian Sylveen. Hansen has performed in notable venues such as Steinway Hall in New York City, Teatro
Municipal de Niteroi, Brazil, and the Illsley Ball Nordstram Hall in Seattle, Washington.
Blake Hansen graduated from The Hartt School, University of Hartford, in 2013 with a Master of Music in piano performance under the tutelage of Luiz de Moura Castro. He now performs frequently as an accompanist and soloist in the U.S., South America, and Europe. Although primarily a pianist, he also pursued studies in violin, double majoring on both instruments during his undergraduate studies at Principia College.
Dr. Caroline O’Dwyer is a mezzo-soprano from Connecticut with a passion for both performance and pedagogy. As an active concert soloist, Caroline has performed with numerous ensembles, including the New Haven Symphony Orchestra and Greater Middletown Chorale, the Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and the Waterbury Chorale, the Nutmeg Symphony Orchestra, the Eastman Philharmonia, the Cordancia Chamber Orchestra, the Warwick Symphony Orchestra, the Skidmore Orchestra, and the Park Church Chamber Orchestra.
On the operatic stage, Caroline debuted the role of Miriam “Ma” Ferguson in the world premiere of Douglas
Buchanan’s Sackler Award-winning opera, Bessie and Ma (University of Connecticut, 2019). Other roles include: Prince Charmant (Cendrillon), Catherine (Le Mariage aux lanternes), the Abbess (Suor Angelica), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Cousin Hebe (H.M.S. Pinafore), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel), and Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus).
Equally recognized for her sensitive interpretation of art song, in 2018, Caroline was a national semi-finalist for the prestigious NATS Artist Award. She holds degrees from the University of Connecticut (B.M. and D.M.A.) and the Eastman School of Music (M.M.), and has been an Artist/Teacher of classical voice at the University of Rhode Island since 2018. At URI, she is a three-time recipient of the University Artist Series grant, which supports innovative faculty performances. She has been a guest clinician and performer at Bowling Green State University (2024), and has served as a judge for the Rhode Island Civic Orchestra Vocal Competition and the Connecticut NATS Student auditions.
Caroline also maintains a private voice studio and teaches yoga in Connecticut, where she resides with her husband, Steve and their cat, Harry.