Artist Bios
Florilegium Chamber Choir
The Florilegium Chamber Choir specializes in music of the Baroque and the twentieth century. The Choir gives annual concerts in New York's major concert halls, presents a series of concerts in New York City churches, and performs special concerts as a guest ensemble of groups such as the American Composers Orchestra, New York Guild of Composers, and Continuum. Comprised of both professional and avocational singers, Florilegium has been in a position to devote itself to some of the most challenging music of the choral repertoire, and to encourage the creation of new, demanding works. Recent seasons have included performances of major works by Bergsma, Chance, Druckman, Gideon, Hindemith, Musgrave, Perle, Sessions, Talma, and Zaimont.
Florilegium's music director JoAnn Rice, a native of Oklahoma, holds degrees in organ and sacred music from the University of Tulsa and Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She studied voice with Earl Berg and Emile Renan in New York and organ with David Craighead at the Eastman School of Music. Ms. Rice is organist at St. Paul's German Lutheran Church in New York City and Temple Shaari Zedek of Brooklyn, New York. She founded the Florilegium Chamber Choir in 1976.
Rorate Coeli soloists: sopranos Bernadette Fiorella and Sharon Goldstein plus choir members marked with an "*" after their names. Parable soloists: Cheryl Bensman, soprano (Angel); Paul Kelly, tenor (Isaac); William Sharp, baritone (Abram); John Franklin, speaker. Members of Florilegium: Sopranos: Marti Bloem, Carroll Butterworth, Heather Carruthers, Elaine Cunningham, Emily Davidson, Wendy McCahill, Meg McDonald, Barbara Morrow, Kathy Ornstein, Kim Rich. Altos: Jennifer Geertz, Penny Gnesin, Betty Kulleseid,* Leslie Leonelli, Ruthie McGonagil,* Alice Merker, Christina Wright. Tenors: Shawn Norton, Clifford DuPree,* Steve Rothman, Carl Sievert, David Smith, Clyde Spooner. Basses: Roy Byrd, John Franklin,* Michael Meltzer, George Morrow, Doug Stewart.
