The ANN ARBOR FESTIVAL OF SONG
Pre-Art Fair Song Fest
A rvw birthday bash!
Thursday, July 14th @ 8:00 PM
Just as the myriad offerings at Ann Arbor’s famous Art Fair span a gloriously large variety of visual art genres, Kerrytown’s Pre-Art Fair Song Fest spans an equally large variety of musical genres!
Join the Ann Arbor Festival of Song performers as they celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, with songs by the birthday boy and his contemporaries.
Featured performers will include:
John Glann, baritone
Jane Schoonmaker Rodgers, soprano
Christopher Scholl, tenor
Ellen Strba Scholl, mezzo-soprano
Dale Schriemer, baritone
COVID-19 Safety Policy for Indoor Concerts
- Moving forward, all patrons and artists who wish to attend or present performances indoors at KCH must provide a valid, complete COVID-19 vaccination card OR proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test. Such proof must be presented at concert check-in, and may be displayed on a smartphone OR presented as a physical copy.**
- Additionally, masks are required for audiences inside the House and can only be removed when seated with a beverage (when available). When performing, artists may wear a mask, or not, at their own discretion.
**Proof of vaccination exceptions will be made for children under 5. These guests must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test.
With more than two decades experience as a vocal coach, collaborative pianist, choral conductor, and organist, Kevin J. Bylsma is a musician of impressive depth and ability, well known for his work in opera, art song, and oratorio. A longtime member of the Toledo Opera staff, Mr. Bylsma is currently the Head of Music Preparation and Chorus Master, and was recently names Co-Artistic Director with the company. He was formerly Music Director of the Department of Community Programs for the Michigan Opera Theatre and vocal coach, accompanist, and chorus master for OPERA! Lenawee. In recitals and master classes he has collaborated with the great American singers Samuel Ramey, Diane Soviero, Marilyn Horne, Dawn Upshaw, Michelle De Young, Irina Mishura, Katherine Lewek, and Jennifer Rowley. He is the Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Ann Arbor Festival of Song, and, for the past twenty-eight years, he has served the historic Mariners’ Church of Detroit as Associate Organist and Choirmaster.
Dedicated to the education and training of the next generation of operatic talent, Mr. Bylsma is Coordinator of Opera and Repetiteur at Bowling Green State University’s College of Musical Arts, responsible for vocal coaching and serving as a collaborative pianist for the school’s large body of young singers. Mr. Bylsma also served on the artistic staff of OperaWorks, an intensive opera training program, based in Los Angeles, CA.
A native of Grand Rapids, MI, Mr. Bylsma received his musical training at Calvin College, Bowling Green State University, and the University of Michigan—where he received the Robert Glasgow Organ Scholarship. He currently resides in Toledo, Ohio’s Old West End historic neighborhood with his cats: Rex and Dickens!
Jane Schoonmaker Rodgers, soprano, teaches voice and graduate courses at the College of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University. Her performing, recording, and directing credits include organizations on both sides of the Atlantic. Recent stage-directing includes Bowling Green’s productions of Così fan tutte, The Pirates of Penzance, Pasatieri’s Signor Deluso, her own adaptation of Offenbach’s The Lantern Wedding, and Cimarosa’s Il Matrimonio Segreto was in preparation this past spring before the Covid-19 lockdown. She frequently appears at the Kerrytown Concert House in Ann Arbor, including past performances with the Wine, Women, and Song ensemble, as well as the annual Parisian Soirée. With her frequent collaborator, pianist Kevin Bylsma, she co-directs The Ann Arbor Festival of Song, and she has sung weekly in the small professional choral ensemble at the historic Mariners’ Church of Detroit since 1994.
