Overture Magazine 2019-20 BSO_Overture_Nov_Dec | Page 28

MESSIAH Esther Heideman JOSEPH MEYERHOFF SYMPHONY HALL Saturday, December 7, 2019, 3 pm Sunday, December 8, 2019, 3 pm Edward Polochick, conductor Esther Heideman, soprano Sandra Piques Eddy, mezzo-soprano Norman Shankle, tenor Sidney Outlaw, bass BSO Symphonic Chorale George Frideric Handel Ed. Watkins-Shaw Messiah Part I INTERMISSION Part II Part II The intermission will last 20 minutes. The performance will end at approximately 5:30 pm. PRESENTING SPONSOR: SUPPORTING SPONSOR: About the Artists Edward Polochick Since winning the Leopold Stokowski Conducting Award, Edward Polochick has attracted attention as an orchestral, operatic and choral conductor. He is currently Music Director of Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra, as well as Associate Conductor of Orchestras, Director of Choral Ensemble and Opera Conductor for the Peabody Institute. He founded Concert Artists of Baltimore in 1987, an all-professional chamber orchestra and all-professional vocal ensemble, which presented critically acclaimed performances in the Baltimore/D.C. area for over three decades. His appearances have included the Baltimore, Chautauqua, Aalborg, St. Petersburg and Mexican State symphony orchestras; the Houston, Omaha and 26 OV E R T U R E / BSOmusic.org Jacksonville symphonies; the Opera Company of Philadelphia; and the Daejeon Philharmonic. An accomplished pianist and harpsichordist, he has also appeared as piano soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Polochick resides in Baltimore, where he is often asked to share his music knowledge at various lecture series, adjudications and radio broadcasts. Awards and achievements include the Peggy and Yale Gordon Achievement Award; becoming an honorary member of the Baltimore Music Club; the Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumnus Award; and being named Baldwin Scholar at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, where he held lectures, demonstrations and panels. Polochick is also a regular panelist on Face The Music, a review of recordings hosted by Jonathan Palevsky of WBJC. Edward Polochick last appeared with the BSO in December 2018, conducting Messiah. A winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Esther Heideman is known for impressing audiences with her dynamic stage presence and her angelic voice. Heideman has performed with major orchestras throughout the world, including the New York Philharmonic; Baltimore, Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta and Cincinnati symphony orchestras; Minnesota Orchestra; St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; Seattle Symphony; Boston Baroque; and Beijing New Music Ensemble, as well as the Aspen Music Festival and School and The U.S. Naval Academy. Esther made her Metropolitan Opera debut singing Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. In addition to performing the traditional concert repertoire, Heideman has been featured prominently in premieres by some of today’s most respected contemporary composers, including Stephen Paulus, Libby Larsen, Wolfgang Rihm and Daniel Schnyder. Heideman was also a featured soloist on the recently released CD: Ireland’s Poet- Patriots with the Choral Arts Society of D.C. and the National Cathedral. Esther Heideman last appeared with the BSO in December 2003, performing in Messiah, Ed Polochick, conductor. Sandra Piques Eddy American mezzo- soprano Sandra Piques Eddy begins the 2019–20 season at Inland Northwest Opera with her role debut as Suzuki in Madama Butterfly. She travels to Pittsburgh Opera to sing the role of Paula in Florencia en el Amazonas before returning to Boston Lyric Opera for another debut as Adalgisa in Norma. Last season Eddy returned to Florentine Opera to sing the role of Mistress Revels in Prince of Players. At the Metropolitan Opera she sang the roles of a Novice and the Abbess in Suor Angelica. In Japan,