Santo Fragilio Performing Arts Center
200 La Rosa Drive
Middletown, CT 06457
The first mainstage production of our Golden Anniversary season features Benjamin Britten’s Saint Nicolas cantata. Composed in 1948, the piece blah, blah, blah…
Guest artists for the performance of St. Nicolas include Dann Coakwell, tenor, and Harmonia chamber string ensemble, featuring Blake Hansen and Eric Trudel on piano.
We are pleased to have the Elm City Girls’ Choir and Saecula Singers join us on stage once again as we perform the premiere Sing On!, a work commissioned by GMChorale and composed by Thomas Brand, Music Director of Saecula Singers and our long-time friend and collaborator.
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.
Tom Brand, Music Director, and Elm City Girls’ Choir have been collaborating bi-annually with GMChorale since 2018. ECGC choristers experience preparing a broad range of choral literature and choral-orchestral masterworks with a mixed chorus and leading professional orchestras during their most musically formative years. Such rehearsal and performance opportunities are rare for youth their age and greatly enhance the choristers’ musical education by balancing their substantial treble repertoire with significant SATB works. Brand has composed several short compositions for various GMChorale and ECGC occasions and is most qualified to compose a longer new work to bring all of GMChorale’s collaborative performing forces
together in unity to celebrate years of successful alliances and creative partnerships. Brand arranges and composes diverse choral music that echoes music of the past while reflecting modern compositional styles proven to inspire those in our time and the future.
Thomas Brand holds the BM in Music from Yale College (1996) and the MM in Choral Conducting from the Yale School of Music (1996). Since 2021, he has served as Music Director at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Washington, CT. Brand is most recognized as the Founder and Artistic Director of the United Choir School and the Elm City Girls’ Choir in New Haven, CT, est. 1993. The school now serves over 550 students, ages 6 to 18, organized into more than thirty auditioned ensembles. In 2013, Brand established the Saecula Choir Foundation which supports intergenerational choirs and choral leadership. Brand has directed numerous college and university choirs and has led major festival choirs across the Northeast. As a composer and arranger, Brand has created more than 250 works for mixed, treble, and male choruses. His work bridges the historical and contemporary, often weaving together tonal beauty with rhythmic vitality and emotional clarity. Brand is a respected leader within MENC and ACDA.
Blake Hansen
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.
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 at 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 native of Quebec City, Canada, Eric Trudel received his primary training at the Conservatoire du Quebec, where he graduated with the highest honors in piano, harmony, counterpoint, fugue, and musical analysis. Upon graduating he entered and became the sole winner of the Prix d’Europe Competition. He subsequently perfected his skills in conducting and chamber music in Vienna.
An internationally respected pianist, his teaching appointments include Yale School of Music, Western Connecticut State
University, the Hartt School of Music, Southern Connecticut State University, and Showa University (Japan). He is the Director of Music at Congregation Mishkan Israel (Hamden CT) and First Congregational Church (Watertown, CT), and spends his summers teaching and performing at the American Institute of Music Studies (AIMS) in Graz, Austria.
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.