Bach in Baltimore: Haydn's 'The Creation'

• Elissa Edwards, soprano
• Rob McGinness, baritone
• Ben Ellerin, tenor

First there was Chaos…swirling, random sounds, then suddenly, in one of the most astonishing musical explosions, there was Light! And life began. Haydn's magnificent oratorio, The Creation, has it all: Archangels singing heroic recitatives and operatic arias, monumental choruses, and 4-part fugues ("The Heavens are Telling") and even a love duet between Adam and Eve. Haydn poured his symphonic genius, his operatic mastery, his humor, and his joyful spirit into this masterpiece. Experience The Creation, Haydn's extraordinary celebration of planet earth with Bach in Baltimore.

About Bach in Baltimore

Bach in Baltimore's mission is to perform the choral and instrumental works of Johann Sebastian Bach (and his contemporaries) and to educate the concert-going public about the musical language of Bach and the texts he chose to set to music.

We strive each month to present these works in a historically informed way that will enrich the lives of our audience members and inspire creativity. We wish to foster an appreciation for the arts, particularly for Baroque music, within the entire community. We are committed to providing educational experiences for people of all ages in order to instill a lifelong connection Bach's music.

About Elissa Edwards, soprano

http://elissaedwards.com/

About Rob McGinness, baritone

Employing his "impressive singing … well-supported tone and supple phrasing," (Baltimore Sun) baritone Rob McGinness connects characters to ideas, and listeners to sounds. Excited to return to live performance, Rob's season includes Così fan Tutte and Carmen with Arizona Opera, The Ghosts of Gatsby Las Vegas Opera, and engagements with the Phoenix Symphony and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

As a featured soloist, Rob performed in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall and Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium. Other concert credits include Carmina Burana with Maryland Symphony Orchestra, Mahler's Songs of a Wayfarer and Duruflé Requiem with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, and Brahms Requiem with The Washington Chorus, for which the Washington Post praised his "warm baritone."

Committed to promoting and performing new works, Rob premiered roles in Frances Pollock's award-winning opera Stinney, The Ghost Train by Paul Crabtree, and the lead role in Shining Brow, Daron Hagen's opera about Frank Lloyd Wright. Rob's own compositions include vocal, theatrical, and orchestral pieces premiered at IngenuityFest, Andy's Summer Playhouse, and by the Windham Orchestra in Vermont.

Currently a member of the Arizona Opera Marion Roose Pullin Opera Studio, Rob was a young artist with Opera Theater St. Louis, Pittsburgh Festival Opera, Teatro Nuovo, and Bel Canto at Caramoor. He holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory and the Peabody Institute where he currently teaches courses on grant writing and career skills. An award-winning performer, Rob placed first in the Sylvia Greene Vocal Competition, second in the Piccola Opera Competition, and received the Patricia A. Edwards Award in the Annapolis Opera Vocal Competition.

About Ben Ellerin, tenor

Cantor Ben Ellerin became the cantor and music director at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation in 2018. He holds a Master of Sacred Music and ordination from Hebrew Union College in New York and completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees in Vocal Performance and Choral Conducting at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music. In addition to his work within the synagogue, Cantor Ellerin has appeared as a guest soloist in concerts throughout the wider Jewish community, featuring repertoire spanning a wide array of classical, Israeli, Jewish, Yiddish, American folk, and contemporary music, as well as his own original works. His compositions have been performed by the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial Choir and in Jewish communities and camps across North America, Europe, and Israel.