"Messiah" by George Frideric Handel

Jon Hurty is the director of choral activities and Henry Veld Professor of Music at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. He directs the Augustana Choir, the Augustana Chamber Singers, serves as the conductor of the Augustana Oratorio Society and teaches conducting. He is also the conductor and artistic director of Augustana Choral Artists. Before coming to Rock Island he was director of choral activities at Concordia University in Irvine, California.

Active as a guest conductor and clinician throughout the United States and abroad, he has served in this capacity in All State, State and Regional festivals of the American Choral Directors Association, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, National Association for Music Education, and many colleges and high schools. Other professional activities have included conducting the Tian Kong Choir and serving as guest professor at Huazhong Normal University in Wuhan, China, as well as guest conducting on the Quad City Symphony Orchestra subscription series. He has conducted his choirs in concerts throughout the United States as well as Austria, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

He completed his undergraduate degree in vocal performance at Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, where he graduated summa cum laude, his master’s degree in choral conducting at California State University, Northridge, and his doctorate in choral conducting and literature at the University of Illinois. He has studied conducting with John Alexander, Don Moses, Chet Alwes and Ann Howard Jones. Throughout his career, Hurty has had an interest in developing and refining his skills as a conductor and has studied conducting in workshops with Paul Christiansen, Robert Shaw and Helmut Rilling, as well as singing under many conductors including Christopher Hogwood, Sir Charles Groves and Roger Wagner.

Praised as a “consummate vocal actress,” Michelle Areyzaga is held in high regard throughout the United States and beyond for her “appealing, expressive soprano” (New York Times). She has recorded for Naxos, Proteus, 4Tay Records and the Cedille labels.

Performances include the Chicago Symphony, as well as with the symphony orchestras of Cleveland, Minnesota, Colorado, Phoenix, Richmond, North Carolina, Wichita, Fort Wayne, South Dakota, Hartford, San Antonio, Toledo and Rochester. She has appeared in festivals of Buffalo, Ravinia, Oregon Bach, Blossom, Tucson Desert Song and Grant Park. Overseas, Areyzaga has performed with the Orquesta Sinfónica de México, Orquesta Filarmónica de Montevideo, Uruguay’s Orquesta Sinfónica del Sodre, Costa Rica’s National Symphony Orchestra, and London’s Royal Academy of Music.

Areyzaga also has sung leading roles with New York City Opera and Chicago Opera Theater. Other roles have included Micaela, Cio-Cio-San, Susanna, Musetta, Pamina and Cunegonde.

A “superb vocal soloist” (The Washington Post) with “impressive clarity and color” (The New York Times), tenor Steven Soph performs concert repertoire spanning works by Bach, Beethoven, Handel, Haydn and Mozart, to celebrated new works by Stacy Garrop, Ted Hearne, David Lang, Caroline Shaw, Christopher Theofanidis and Judith Weir. Upcoming solo engagements include Handel’s Messiah with Philadelphia’s Tempesta di Mare, Seattle’s Music at Epiphany and Kansas City’s Spire; Christopher Theofanidis’ Siddhartha with the Yale Philharmonia; Bach’s B minor Mass with the Austin Philharmonie; Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Elmhurst Symphony; Bach’s Magnificat with the Bach Society of St. Louis and Vox Seraphim (Waco, TX); and Mendelssohn’s Elijah on the Highlander Concert Series (Dallas). Soph recently appeared in Handel’s Saul with the Handel + Haydn Society (Boston), Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Handel Choir of Baltimore, Mozart’s Requiem with the Bach Society of Winter Park, Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Master Chorale of South Florida, and Britten’s War Requiem at the University of Iowa.

Jonathan Woody, bass baritone is a highly sought-after performer and composer. He has been featured with historically-informed orchestras such as Apollo’s Fire, Boston Early Music Festival, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Bach Collegium San Diego and Portland Baroque Orchestra, earning praise as “charismatic,”“riveting,” and “wonderfully dramatic.” Jonathan will perform Handel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall in 2026. Also an avid performer of new music, Jonathan has premiered works including Ellen Reid’s prism (2019 Pulitzer Prize winner),Ted Hearne’s The Source, Missy Mazzoli’s Breaking the Waves (NYC premiere) and Du Yun’s Angel’s Bone (2017 Pulitzer Prize winner). He has appeared with Staunton Music Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Portland Bach Festival, Carmel Bach Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, Opera Lafayette, Opera Idaho, Gotham Chamber Opera and Beth Morrison Projects. Jonathan has recorded with the Choir of Trinity Wall Street (Musica Omnia), Boston Early Music Festival (RadioBremen) and New York Polyphony (BIS Records).

Jessye Wright, mezzo soprano, was named one of the “Upwardly Musical Artists on the Move” in Symphony Magazine’s Guide to Emerging Artists.Wright made her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut in Carousel (Principal and Nettie Fowler understudy). She performed Mozart’s Requiem with National Chorale in Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall; Hansel in Hansel and Gretel with Chattanooga Symphony and Opera; and Mozart’s Vesperae solennes Confessore with Chicago’s Music of the Baroque. Wright sang Handel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall with MidAmerica Productions; the title role in Carmen at Ravinia Music Festival (Opera Theater North); and Pitti-Sing in Mikado with Nashville Opera. Abroad, she performed Meg Page in Falstaff with New York Opera Society in Castres, France, and also was a soloist in the International Advent Singing Festival in Vienna. A past national semi-finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions,Wright won second place in the International Classical Singer Competition.

Jon Hurty, conductor
Sheila Doak, accompanist

* Augustana Choir
† Augustana Choral Artists

Soprano

• Norallene Able
• Danielle Allaway*
• Adele Bartlein
• Aubry Butler
• Natalie Caughlin*
• Kathy Clader
• Maya Cronfel*
• Angela Dearking
• Vicki Deusinger
• Hannah Dochterman*
• Gail Dover
• Georgi Feigley*
• Kat Figaro
• Katie Griswold†
• Karen Hagerty
• Brittany Hall
• Mylene Hanzelka
• Haleigh Jacocks†
• Cheri Janiczek
• Chloe Knobloch*
• Renee Long
• Jessie Madden
• Alison McCrary
• Maggie Meyers*
• Kristan Mitchell†
• Eleanor O’Neill
• Kerri Peterson†
• Emma Poppy
• Brooke Randazzo
• Julia Remour*
• Elisabeth Ruggiero*
• Kristin Rundle*
• Susan Runyon
• Annika Sevig*
• Emily Shenk-DeMay†
• Lily Slater*
• Rikka Stewart
• Courtney Thames
• Miranda Tyda*
• Jenn Van Speybroeck†
• Courtney Wachal
• Cindy Weinberger
• Kathryn Wherry
• Anna Winn†
• Liz Wurster*

Alto

• Carol Bentsen
• Ellie Betzle
• Carla Chapman
• Haley Chellberg
• Ella Conrad*
• Zelda Cowell
• Amy Croft†
• Giovanna Davila†
• Anne Earel†
• Andrea Edelen
• Carole Fenney
• Gwen Foulkes
• Jenny Freeman
• Grace Fuechtmann*
• Kayley Guinto*
• Barbara Guss
• Sosi Hagopian
• Anita Hdouck†
• Margaret Horn
• Sylvia Hughes*
• Madeline Hutchinson
• Kimberlee Isaacson
• Jenna Jenke*
• Judy Johansen
• Olivia Jones*
• Kathryn Kramer
• Barbara Kuttler†
• Joey Loven*
• Abby Malina*
• Amber Mraz†
• Maddy Overstreet*
• Haven Perdomo*
• Natalie Platt*
• Casper Rakickas
• Jan Riccio
• Sandy Ridolfi
• Bev Rosenbohm
• Ellen Ryan
• Genevieve Ryan*
• Sally Schulz
• Kim Schwarzkopf
• Tamara Sneddon†
• Michelle Steen
• Jensen Stoneking*
• Debra Swift
• Rachel Thomaschefsky
• Kelly Thompson†
• Margaret Thompson†
• Hedda Ungerstedt*
• Dana Wojciechowski
• Jillian Younger
• Lesley Zwicky

Tenor

• V Bechtel*
• Brent Behrens†
• Keaton Connell†
• Avery Denius*
• Jim Earel†
• Thom Elliott
• Daryl Empen
• Kallik Ewen*
• Jon Hansen*
• Isaiah James*
• Ryan Jones†
• Aiden Koehne*
• Mark Meyer
• Lex Mikulski
• Jack Moore*
• Michael Njus*
• Christopher Pace*
• Aaron Randolph*
• Lucas Rettig*
• Christine Rugh
• Matthew Schulz
• Ryan Sondgeroth*
• Terry Stratton
• Sidney Underwood*
• Karin Witherow

Bass

• Julian Anderson*
• David Baxter†
• Tyler Beckman*
• George Behnke†
• Perry Bentsen
• Kal Boswell*
• Spiro Bruskas
• Donald Buss
• Brandon Connell†
• Bailey Connors†
• Carter Denton*
• Patrick Downing†
• Dan Drescher
• Zachary Emrich-Muise*
• Andrew Endress*
• Gregory Etzel†
• Luke Exner*
• Gregory Graf
• Logan Hall
• Brennan Hampton*
• Jerry Hansen
• Richard Hanzelka
• Mick Harper
• Maxfield Huang*
• Jerry Johansen
• George Kalemkarian
• Dan Kraus
• Hector Lareau
• Don Madson
• Leo Marin*
• Issac McConnell
• Kaden Micklos*
• Ardie Miller
• Reid Miller*
• Percy Morgan*
• Carroll Morrow
• Gregory O’Neill
• Richard O’Neill
• Jon Palomaki
• Dave Pederson
• Brendan Poirier*
• Owen Risch
• Tony Schiltz
• Chris Schwartz†
• Hunter Smith
• George Swift
• Jerry VanScoy
• Rece Vining†

VIOLIN I

• Hisham Bravo Groover, concertmaster
• Dortha DeWit
• Andrew Gentzsch
• Charlene King
• Michele Ottesen
• Susan Stone

VIOLIN II

• Jeffrey Phillips, principal
• Eugenio Alfaro
• Kim Busic
• Stephanie Dotzel
• Paula Hartmann
• Kris Kendall

VIOLA

• Deborah Dakin, principal
• Gae Ellyn Gentzsch
• Kylie Little

CELLO

• Dong Yeol Hong, principal
• Madeline Kusar
• Jim Reck

BASS

• Mike White, principal
• Richard Wagor

OBOE

• Paul Chinen, principal
• Barb Reck

BASSOON

• Matthew Kowalczyk

TRUMPET

• Scott Marino, principal
• Margaret Ellis

TIMPANI

• Tony Oliver

CHORUS ORGAN

• Michael Elsbernd

CONTINUO ORGAN AND HARPSICHORD

• Christopher Nelson