Ladies Musical Club: Songs at Tagney Jones Hall

• Dhanushi Wijeyakulasuriya, soprano
• Rachel Moore, soprano
• Silas Berlin, piano
• Rob Toren, piano
• Dora Barnes, soprano
• Katie Hochman, soprano
• Luke Raffanti, piano
• Janet Anderson, piano

Natasha Senanayake — Everyone Sang ("I. Everyone suddenly burst out singing," "II. ..and the song was wordless," & "III. ..and the singing will never be done")
Janet Anderson — For Snow ("Snow-Flakes," "Silver Filigree," & "For Snow")
Janet Anderson — Another Hand ("I. Lost Child," "II. Another Hand," & "III. Wanderlust")
Franz Schubert — Gretchen am Spinnrade ("Gretchen at the spinning wheel"), D. 118
Franz Schubert — Die Junge Nonne, D. 828
Franz Schubert — Du bist die Ruh ("You are rest and peace"), D. 776, Op. 59, No. 3
Sergei Rachmaninoff — Ya zhdu tebya ("I wait for thee"), Op. 14, No. 1
Sergei Rachmaninoff — Sumerki ("Twilight"), Op. 21, No. 3
Sergei Rachmaninoff — Siren ("Lilacs"), Op. 21, No. 5
Sergei Rachmaninoff — Fragment from Musset (Loneliness), Op. 21, No. 6
Giacomo Puccini — "Vissi d'Arte" from Tosca

About Ladies Musical Club of Seattle

http://www.lmcseattle.org/

About Dhanushi Wijeyakulasuriya, soprano

Dhanushi Wijeyakulasuriya, originally from Sri Lanka, holds a Licentiate Diploma in Singing from Trinity College of Music, London. She began voice lessons in 2004, in Sri Lanka with Menaka Sahabandu and also studied with Asitha Tennekoon. At 17, she made her debut with the Symphony Orchestra of Sri Lanka. Dhanushi has performed extensively in Sri Lanka.

Highlights include soprano soloist in Vivaldi's Gloria, scenes from The Marriage of Figaro (Susanna) and The Barber of Seville (Rosina), and The Workshop Players' The Phantom of the Opera (Christine Daae). After moving to the U.S. in 2015 she studied voice with Timothi Williams and Dr. Rachel Copeland at Penn State. Dhanushi has since presented several solo recitals in the U.S. She currently continues her vocal studies with Rachel Anne Moore and Barbara Bonney. In addition to her musical pursuits, she holds a Ph.D. in Statistics from Penn State and works as a Senior Data Scientist at Microsoft.

About Rachel Moore, soprano

Rachel Anne Moore is a Seattle-born coloratura soprano who has traveled the U.S. and Europe singing musical theater and opera professionally. She trained at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, receiving a Bachelor of Music. After undergraduate studies, she went on to pursue her Master of Music degree at the University of Tennessee Knoxville as the 2008/2009 Spivey Humanities Fellowship recipient. During her time at UTK, Ms. Moore understudied and performed roles with the Knoxville Opera. After graduating, Moore relocated to Germany, where she had a successful musical theater career performing the role of Carlotta in The Phantom of the Opera and Christine in its sequel Love Never Dies. Upon returning to the U.S., she toured with Love Never Dies and eventually debuted on Broadway in The Phantom of the Opera. In 2020, Moore opened her private voice studio, Moore Than Music, teaching budding musical and opera singers.

About Silas Berlin, piano

Silas Berlin is a classical pianist with a rounded approach. Classically trained from the age of six, Silas discovered jazz while in high school and later found that he "re-discovered" classical music by way of the jazz music in which he was ensconced. Silas takes great pleasure in realizing the ways in which music is connected. He believes that discovering those connections naturally cultivates and propels intrigue and passion for music, and certainly aids in the appreciation, understanding and love of classical music.

Silas holds a Bachelor’s of Music from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, where he studied with renowned pianist and teacher Peter Mack. Silas is a competition medalist, winning the silver medal in both the 2020 Seattle Bach festival and the 2020 Russian Music Competition with his performance of Alexander Scriabin's 4th Sonata. While piano technique is naturally key to learning the instrument, Silas firmly believes that knowledge of music theory can only benefit one's playing, and was hired as a music theory tutor by Cornish.

Silas derives great pleasure from teaching piano and enjoys tackling the tricky issue of playing the piano with each individual student, through their unique needs and wants. It is often that the teacher learns from the student, and it is in those special moments that Silas is especially reminded of the joy that comes with playing and teaching piano.

About Katie Hochman, soprano

Soprano Katie Hochman enjoys performing recitals, opera and opera scenes through the Ladies Musical Club and Puget Sound Concert Opera. Highlights for the soprano have been the title role of Massenet's Cendrillon and soloist in La Damoiselle Élue both with Puget Sound Concert Opera. Katie has previously sung with Portland Opera, Utah Opera, Willamette Concert Opera, Opera Theater Oregon, and Rainier Family Opera. She has also enjoyed orchestral work as soprano soloist in Handel's Messiah, Fauré's Requiem, Haydn's Creation, and Mozart's Exultate, Jubilate.

About Dora Barnes, soprano

Dora Barnes was born and raised in Yakima Washington and now resides in Seattle. She is a classically trained vocalist, pianist, and saxophonist, and is currently studying with Davida Kagen. Dora attended Yakima Valley Community College and Central Washington University with a focus on vocal performance. Dora has performed with the Seattle Art Song Society, Ladies Musical Club, and the Puget Sound Concert Opera, among others. Notably, she has performed as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, placed 1st in the PAFE Opera division, placed 3rd in the Seattle Opera Guild's Singer Development Awards, and was an honorable mention in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Awards. When not singing opera, Dora is the lead singer and plays saxophone in two Motown/Oldies bands, and also composes her own music.

https://www.dorabarnes.com/

About Luke Raffanti, piano

Luke Raffanti has been a frequent piano performer around Seattle since moving here in 2017. Before the pandemic, he performed frequently at house concerts, retirement homes, and for benefit concerts. In 2018, he earned the top prize in the Chopin Northwest solo piano competition and in 2019 he was featured as vocal accompanist and solo pianist on Classical KING FM. He has enjoyed collaborating with several professional opera companies: Seattle Opera, Seattle Modern Opera Company, and Northwest Opera in Schools, as well as numerous individual professional vocalists. Luke teaches roughly 40 students of all ages at Cascade Piano Studio in Ravenna, and is the collaborative pianist and organist at Richmond Beach Congregational United Church of Christ in Shoreline. Lately Luke has been taking voice lessons with Davida Kagen and singing with Seattle Pro Musica. He earned a BM in classical piano performance and a BA in environmental studies from Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music.

https://soundcloud.com/luke-raffanti

About Janet Anderson, piano

http://www.janetandersonpiano.com