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Bethany College announces soloists for the 130th Messiah Festival of the Arts. Rebecca Patrick Flaherty, Martha J. Hart, Glenn Litke, Richard Clement, and Iwao Asakura will join the Bethany Oratorio Society for the longest-running “Messiah” performance in North America.
Rebecca Patrick Flaherty, soprano, was one of twelve singers to participate in Sherrill Milnes’s weeklong Opera as Drama training program in New York. She traveled to Austin and Memphis to sing in “Messiah” and has performed sacred solo repertoire in Vienna, Salzburg, Prague, and the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Flaherty received training from Oberlin Conservatory, The Cleveland Institute of Music, and Georgia Southern University.
Martha J. Hart, mezzo-soprano, has recorded solos of the Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers. Other recordings include music of Charles Ives with the St. Olaf Choir, Linn Records, and a solo CD with pianist J.J. Penna. Hart is a member of “Three for the Road,” a trio performing American music from the 1930s and 40s. She also presents master classes at colleges and universities and serves on the voice faculty at The Ohio State University.
Glenn Litke, bass, earned music degrees at Tabor College and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He taught adjunct music courses at Bethany from 1990 to 1995 and has performed the bass solo in Bethany’s “Messiah” and “St. Matthew Passion” for over a decade. Litke has conducted the Tabor College Chorale and Concert Choir, the Liberty University Concert Choir, and the Berean Academy High School Choir. He has also directed vocal ensembles at Grace College of the Bible and has been a choral clinician and adjudicator at festivals in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Virginia
Richard Clement is a Grammy-winning tenor, who premiered and recorded Theofanides’ “The Here and Now” with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony, which was performed in Atlanta and at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Clement studied voice at Georgia State University and received his Master of Music degree from the Cincinnati Conservatory. He was a Tanglewood Music Festival Fellow, has been a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, and was a recipient of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Jacobson Study Grant. Clement is currently an assistant professor and artist-in-residence at Georgia State University.
Iwao Asakura, bass, is originally from Nagoya, Japan, and was a regional finalist at the 2000 Metropolitan Opera National Council audition and a semi-finalist of the 1997 Young Patroness of the Opera. Since 2002, Asakura has been an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). Asakura is currently the assistant professor of voice at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Southern Mississippi. He holds a Master of Music in vocal performance from Florida State University.
Bethany College announces soloists for the 130th Messiah Festival of the Arts. Rebecca Patrick Flaherty, Martha J. Hart, Glenn Litke, Richard Clement, and Iwao Asakura will join the Bethany Oratorio Society for the longest-running “Messiah” performance in North America.
Rebecca Patrick Flaherty, soprano, was one of twelve singers to participate in Sherrill Milnes’s weeklong Opera as Drama training program in New York. She traveled to Austin and Memphis to sing in “Messiah” and has performed sacred solo repertoire in Vienna, Salzburg, Prague, and the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Flaherty received training from Oberlin Conservatory, The Cleveland Institute of Music, and Georgia Southern University.
Martha J. Hart, mezzo-soprano, has recorded solos of the Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers. Other recordings include music of Charles Ives with the St. Olaf Choir, Linn Records, and a solo CD with pianist J.J. Penna. Hart is a member of “Three for the Road,” a trio performing American music from the 1930s and 40s. She also presents master classes at colleges and universities and serves on the voice faculty at The Ohio State University.
Glenn Litke, bass, earned music degrees at Tabor College and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He taught adjunct music courses at Bethany from 1990 to 1995 and has performed the bass solo in Bethany’s “Messiah” and “St. Matthew Passion” for over a decade. Litke has conducted the Tabor College Chorale and Concert Choir, the Liberty University Concert Choir, and the Berean Academy High School Choir. He has also directed vocal ensembles at Grace College of the Bible and has been a choral clinician and adjudicator at festivals in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Virginia
Richard Clement is a Grammy-winning tenor, who premiered and recorded Theofanides’ “The Here and Now” with Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony, which was performed in Atlanta and at New York’s Carnegie Hall. Clement studied voice at Georgia State University and received his Master of Music degree from the Cincinnati Conservatory. He was a Tanglewood Music Festival Fellow, has been a member of the Houston Grand Opera Studio, and was a recipient of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Jacobson Study Grant. Clement is currently an assistant professor and artist-in-residence at Georgia State University.
Iwao Asakura, bass, is originally from Nagoya, Japan, and was a regional finalist at the 2000 Metropolitan Opera National Council audition and a semi-finalist of the 1997 Young Patroness of the Opera. Since 2002, Asakura has been an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). Asakura is currently the assistant professor of voice at Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas. He earned a Doctor of Musical Arts and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Southern Mississippi. He holds a Master of Music in vocal performance from Florida State University.
To purchase or reserve tickets for Bethany College’s performances of Handel’s “Messiah” on April 17 and 24 at 3 p.m. and Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion” on April 22 at 7:30 p.m., call Bethany’s Messiah Coordinator at (785) 227-3380, ext. 8137, or e-mail bunningb@bethanylb.edu. Special rates are available for students, churches and tour groups. Tickets can also be purchased online or in person at Presser Hall Box Office on Bethany’s campus, open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For a full listing of special events and exhibits during the Messiah Festival of the Arts, visit www.bethanylb.edu/messiah.
Every year since 1882, the Bethany Oratorio Society has presented “Messiah” at the college. The society has performed “Messiah” across the plains, in Carnegie Hall and on national television. Bethany College, established by Swedish Lutheran immigrants in 1881, is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The mission of Bethany College is to educate, develop and challenge individuals in their search for truth and excellence as they lead lives of faith, learning and service. Bethany College is on the Web at www.bethanylb.edu.
