Soloists named for ‘Messiah’ performance

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A biennial Christmas tradition returns to Van Wert’s First United Methodist Church this Sunday, December 11, at 7 p.m. Handel’s Messiah will be performed by a 60-voice community chorus, a 16-piece chamber orchestra, and four soloists. The four soloists all have ties to the Ohio area, although two of them currently reside in New York City and the Boston area, respectively.

This year’s soloists include soprano Margaret Mack, alto Elizabeth “Betsy” Bellavia, tenor Daniel Doty, and baritone John Glann.

Mack earned her bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Toledo and her master’s in music from The Ohio State University. She made her professional operatic debut in the world premiere of David Lang’s Modern Painters at the Santa Fe Opera in New Mexico.  She received the “Outstanding Apprentice” award from the Santa Fe Opera for two seasons and went on to appear with the company in the world premiere performance, recording, and PBS national telecast of Tobias Picker’s opera, Emmeline.

Other performances have been with the Mid-Columbia Symphony in Richland, Washington, Aspen Opera Theatre in Colorado, Honolulu Symphony, Los Angeles Chorale, London Consort in the United Kingdom, and the West Bohemian State Orchestra in the Czech Republic.

Recently, she performed Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Brahm’s Ein Deutsches Requiem in Saint Louis, Missouri.  She has also sung with the New Jersey Choral Society and Puccini arias on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s concert series.

In 2015, Mack moved to Massachusetts following her marriage and now teaches voice at the Deerfield Academy.

Bellavia, originally from Kettering, graduated from Bowling Green State University with a bachelor’s degree in choral music. While at BGSU, she played such roles as Mrs. Jones in Street Scene, Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte and Second Lady in Magic Flute.  In her senior year at BGSU, she won the NPTS vocal competition for senior women in the state of Ohio.

Bellavia has taught choral music throughout the state of Ohio at Lemon-Monroe, Kettering Fairmont, and Franklin high schools and Fostoria Junior-Senior High School. She has directed and sung in many school and community theater productions, and has sung with the Dayton Opera Chorus in the 2002 Opera Gala and the opera Aida.  She has also sung “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the University of Dayton’s men’s basketball games, Dayton Dragon baseball games, and many BGSU events.

Currently, Bellavia is a full-time choral graduate assistant at BGSU after earning her master’s degree in choral conducting performance. Last spring, she played the role of Mama Lucia in BGSU’s spring opera, Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni and is currently cast in the role of Olga Olsen in Kurt Weil’s Street Scene.

Bellavia lives in Perrysburg with her husband, the Rev. Dan Bellavia, pastor of First Baptist Church of Greater Toledo, and their three sons: Christopher, John, and James.

Doty is a tenor who is equally at home on the opera, theatre, or concert stage. As participant of the Opera Theatre and Music Festival of Lucca, Doty spent six weeks in the Tuscan village of Lucca, Italy, singing operatic arias at various venues associated with Lucca’s most famous son, Giacomo Puccini. He has appeared in master classes with such Metropolitan Opera stars as Martina Arroyo and Angela Brown.

Doty holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Bowling Green State University, and is also an ordained minister and holds a Master of Divinity degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. Currently, Doty is senior minister at The Bath Church/United Church of Christ in Akron. He is the father of three children, Kristian, Sean and Kaetlyn, and makes his home in Wadsworth with his wife, Amy, and their youngest daughter, Kaetlyn.

Glann has performed over 40 leading roles in opera, oratorio, and musical theatre. His repertoire ranges from the works of Bach to Verdi to contemporary compositions, including the world premiere of Robert Samels’ revolutionary opera Pilatus. Also an avid recitalist, he was hailed as a young Fischer-Dieskau for his performance of the Schumann Opus 24 Liederkreis at the Ann Arbor Art Fair Song Fest. Glann was a young artist with the opera companies of Indianapolis and Toledo, and has subsequently sung with numerous companies throughout the Midwest and New England.

A native of Ohio, Glann now resides in New York City, where he previously served as chair of classical voice studies at Wickham Vocal Studios, instructing many up-and-coming operatic talents, as well as Broadway leads, jazz singers, and crossover artists. His private voice studio is now gaining acclaim for producing young singers with “exceptional technical facility and dramatic intensity”. He also served as a staff vocal coach at the Huron Playhouse, one of the nation’s oldest and most successful summer theatres.

The public is invited to this performance of Handel’s Messiah at First United Methodist Church, 113 W. Central Ave. in Van Wert. The performance will include Part I, as well as “The Trumpet Shall Sound”, “Worthy is the Lamb/Amen”, and the “Hallelujah” chorus.

Paul Hoverman is conductor and Gloria Wendel is rehearsal accompanist and will be playing organ during the performance.

The Messiah performance is underwritten by the Saltzgaber Music Fund of The Van Wert County Foundation, in cooperation with First UM Church.