A quartet of professional singers provides the choral music for the early Sunday morning service and joins the choir for the later service. They are some of the finest young musicians Chicago has to offer.
Katie Calcamuggio, Mezzo-soprano, took her MM in Vocal Performance at Northwestern University and has sung with Chicago Opera Theater, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Opera Moda, Glimmerglass Opera, Florida Grand Opera, and Syracuse Opera.
Gregg Rodriguez, Baritone, is not only a singer but also a fiddler and mandolinist with many bands in the Chicago area. He has appeared at the Chicago Blues Festival.
Elena Batman, soprano, holds the Master of Music degree from University of Northern Colorado and the Doctorate of Music from Northwestern University. She performed the role of Carlotta in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway for 5 years, on the National tour for one year and in Las Vegas for 2 years. Her opera credits include major roles with New York City Opera, Connecticut Opera, Anchorage Opera and Colorado Little Theater of the Rockies. Concert work includes appearances at Ravinia Festival, and with ensembles throughout the USA. Awards include the MacAllister Award and Metropolitan Opera Competition Regional Finalist. In the New York Post critic Clive Barnes wrote of her Broadway performance: “Elena Batman as a dazzlingly coloratura Carlotta....is fine-tuned and excellent.”
Bryce Bartu, tenor, is a first year graduate student in Vocal Performance at Northwestern University. He received his Bachelor’s Music degree from University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He was a member of First Plymouth Congregation Church and Abendmusik’s Lincoln Choirs.
