A Mass for Christmas Eve

Robert Eisenstein, Artistic Director (bass viol)

Robert Eisenstein has led over 200 productions and performances with Folger Consort over the past 40 years, including Measure + Dido at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Napa Valley Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice at Strathmore, The Fairy Queen, and Hildegard Von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum at the Washington National Cathedral. Recently retired as the Director of the Five College Early Music Program; Music Director for the Five College Opera Project production of Francesca Caccini’s La Liberazione di Ruggiero; Mount Holyoke College faculty emeritus, where he taught music history and performed on the viola de gamba, violin, and medieval fiddle. He is an active participant in Five College Medieval Studies. Recipient of Early Music America’s Thomas Binkley Award for outstanding achievement in performance and scholarship by the director of a college early music ensemble.

Christopher Kendall is founder of the Folger Consort. He is dean emeritus of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance after serving two terms as the school’s dean, where he was responsible for establishing the University of Michigan Gershwin Initiative, for re-instituting international touring, for the funding and design of a $30M expansion/renovation of the music building, and for launching the interdisciplinary enterprise ArtEngine and its national initiative a2ru (Alliance for the Arts at Research Universities). In Washington, in addition to his work with Folger Consort, since 1975 he has been Artistic Director and conductor of the 21st Century Consort, the new music ensemble-in-residence at the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Mr. Kendall served as Director of the University of Maryland School of Music from 1996 to 2005 during a period of rapid development and its move to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony from 1987 to 1992 and Director of the Music Division and Tanglewood Institute of the Boston University School for the Arts from 1993 to 1996, Mr. Kendall has guest conducted many orchestras and ensembles in repertoire from the 18th to the 21st centuries. His recordings can be heard on the Bard, Delos, Nonesuch, Centaur, ASV, Arabesque, Innova, Bridge, and Smithsonian Collection labels.

Hannah Baslee’s work in the DC area includes performances with Thirteen, the Washington Bach Consort, 21st Century Consort, Washington National Cathedral, and the Schola at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Internationally, Hannah has toured with the Clarion Choir, The English Concert, Washington National Cathedral in Spain, and the American Soloists Ensemble in South Korea. Selected recordings include: the Clarion Choir’s Grammy-nominated Rachmaninoff: All Night Vigil; The Thirteen’s Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 and Monteverdi: The ‘Lost’ Vespers; Washington Bach Consort’s Myths Contested; and the Clarion Choir’s upcoming album Rachmaninoff Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.

Rhianna Cockrell (Mezzo-Soprano) has captivated audiences with her interpretations of Renaissance and Baroque works as well as her passion for contemporary works. Her singing has been hailed as “luscious” (Washington Classical Review) and “beautifully controlled…breath-taking…otherworldly” (Early Music America). As a frequent and award-winning interpreter of J.S. Bach’s music, Cockrell’s performances have been described as “unforced” and “resolute” (Oregon ArtsWatch). Her 2024–25 season includes her solo debut with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in Frederich Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Magnificat, and with Washington Bach Consort in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Recent solo features include an album release of Bach’s B Minor Mass with Cantata Collective, an artist residency with the Cornell Department of Music featuring a commission premiere of Amelia Brey’s All the Flowers Were Mine, Bach’s St. John Passion with True Concord Voices & Orchestra, Bach’s B Minor Mass with The Thirteen, and Bach’s Wir danken dir, Gott, wir danken dir BWV 29 with Oregon Bach Festival. Cockrell holds degrees from Yale University, University of Minnesota, and George Mason University.

Tatiana Chulochnikova
Violin

Praised for her “thrilling technique” and “dark plush romantic violin sound,” Tatiana Chulochnikova enjoys an international career as a violin soloist, recitalist, concertmaster, chamber musician, recording artist, and educator. Highlights of the 2026–27 season include solo appearances with Folger Consort, American Bach, Washington Bach Consort, and Pratum Integrum. She has performed at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Hall and the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage, and collaborated with conductors including Pierre Boulez, Christopher Hogwood, Philippe Herreweghe, and William Christie. Her acclaimed recordings include albums released by Steinway & Sons and Toccata Classics. Tatiana holds degrees from Juilliard, Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and Oberlin Conservatory.

Wade Davis is in high demand as a solo performer and chamber music collaborator. He regularly performs with Folger Consort, the Washington Bach Consort, as a guest with the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society, and his own baroque ensemble, S’amusant, co-founded with Patrick Merrill, harpsichordist in 2013. Other appearances include Piccolo Spoleto Festival’s Early Music Series, Indianapolis Early Music, MOJA Arts Festival, The Spire Series, and Bach Ascending. Known for wide variety of styles, he’s also featured on popular indie music concert series such as Sofar Sounds Baltimore and has guested with New York-based band Reserved for Rondee and Baltimore-based band Outcalls in addition to the “Swans for Relief” project video curated by Misty Copeland to raise funds for dancers whose companies had been affected by the 2020 pandemic shutdowns. Wade maintains a private studio of cello students in both Baltimore and Washington, DC. He holds both a master’s degree in Baroque Cello Performance and a Graduate Performance Degree in Historical Cello from Peabody Conservatory as a student of John Moran.

Hailed by The New York Times as a “particularly agile singer,” baritone Mark Duer’s poignant lyric singing has been heard in numerous solo engagements with the Washington Bach Consort, and with varied ensembles including the American Virtuosi, New York Chamber Ensemble, the Cleveland Opera, Ash Lawn Opera, Greensboro Opera, Ensemble for Early Music, Cleveland Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony, Berkshire Choral Festival, Woodstock Fringe Festival, Apollo’s Fire, Musica Sacra, and at Weill Hall, Carnegie Hall, Tanglewood, and the Mark has also sung and recorded with the Bach Sinfonia, Handel and Haydn Society, Voices of Ascension, Chantry, Opera Lafayette, and sang seventeen seasons as a member of the renowned ensemble, Pomerium. His discography includes the Gothic, Delos, DG/Archiv, Dorian, and Glissando labels. Media appearances include CBS Sunday Morning, NBC’s Today Show, and radio broadcasts as soloist with Pipedreams (NPR), and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Robert Eisenstein, Artistic Director (bass viol)

Robert Eisenstein has led over 200 productions and performances with Folger Consort over the past 40 years, including Measure + Dido at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Napa Valley Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice at Strathmore, The Fairy Queen, and Hildegard Von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum at the Washington National Cathedral. Recently retired as the Director of the Five College Early Music Program; Music Director for the Five College Opera Project production of Francesca Caccini’s La Liberazione di Ruggiero; Mount Holyoke College faculty emeritus, where he taught music history and performed on the viola de gamba, violin, and medieval fiddle. He is an active participant in Five College Medieval Studies. Recipient of Early Music America’s Thomas Binkley Award for outstanding achievement in performance and scholarship by the director of a college early music ensemble.

Nina Falk is a Fulbright scholar in London and Rome. She has played for years with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Boston Orchestra’s Handel and Haydn Society, Opera Lafayette, the Carmel Bach Festival, Apollo’s Fire, and her ensemble, Arcovoce. She is the founder and director of A Musical Heart, which brings live music to the bedsides of hospice patients.

Crossley Hawn is a DC-based soprano recognized for her versatility and artistry across a wide range of musical genres. She has appeared as soloist with Folger Consort, the Washington Bach Consort, Chatham Baroque, The Thirteen, Choralis, Cathedra, and the City Choir of Washington. An accomplished ensemble musician, she has also performed with Kinnara, True Concord, the US Air Force Singing Sergeants, and other distinguished vocal groups. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the White House, Lincoln Center, and the Washington National Cathedral. Crossley served as Project Manager and ensemble singer for Experiential Orchestra’s GRAMMY-winning premiere recording of Dame Ethel Smyth’s The Prison. She is a cantor and choir member at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Susan Lewis Kavinski is a soprano vocalist and retired service member with the United States Navy Band, Washington, DC. For two decades, Susan has been privileged to perform as a featured soloist and ensemble member; she has sung for presidents, vice presidents, high-ranking military leaders, Congress, popes, and an array of foreign and domestic dignitaries. As a freelance artist, she recently made her debut with Opera Lafayette’s production of Dido and Aeneas. Susan has appeared with Folger Consort, the National Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, Washington Bach Consort, Washington Chorus, and Washington National Cathedral Choir.

Praised for his “beautiful,” “sweet-voiced” tone, and “superbly acted” portrayals, Patrick Kilbride, tenor, is enjoying an international career. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and the University of Maryland Opera Studio, with fellowships from the Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Festival, and L’Académie du Festival Aix-en-Provence. He was the winner of the 24th Concours international de chant de Clermont-Ferrand, France, making his European debut in opera houses throughout France in Handel’s Acis and Galatea with Damien Guillon and Le Banquet Céleste (Rennes, Clermont-Ferrand, Chaise-Dieu, Avignon). He has sung roles with Festival d’Aix-en-Provence in Francesco Cavalli’s Erismena with Leonardo García Alarcón and Cappella Mediterranea in the opera houses of Paris, Saint-Denis, Luxembourg, and Versailles, and with the Britten-Pears Arts Aldeburgh Festival at Snape Maltings Concert Hall in Frederich Handel’s Theodora with Christian Curnyn and Sarah Connolly.

Annie Loud, violinist and violist, is on the faculty at the National Cathedral School. She is also an active performer on both period and modern instruments, appearing regularly with Opera Lafayette, Tempesta di Mare, North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, and Washington Concert Opera.

Paula Maust is a performer, scholar, and educator dedicated to fusing research and creative practice to amplify underrepresented voices. She is the creator of Expanding the Music Theory Canon, an open-source collection of music theory examples by women and people of color. A book based on the project was released by SUNY Press in 2024. Paula is also an early modern area editor for Grove Music Online Women, Gender, and Sexuality Project and is an Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. She performs extensively in the region as a harpsichordist and organist and is a co-director of Musica Spira, a DC-based ensemble that tells the stories of early modern women musicians.

Described as “excellent” and “sterling,” by The New York Times, tenor Oliver Mercer performs regularly throughout North America and Europe as a concert soloist, recitalist, and opera singer. A specialist of the Baroque era, he has performed with Glyndebourne Opera Festival; English National Opera; Spoletto Festival USA; Boston Early Music Festival; Opera Theater Company, Dublin, Ireland; Bach Society of Charleston; Savannah Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony, INseries Opera, and Mid Wales Opera. He has appeared as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Trinity Church Wall Street, the Barbican Centre London, Washington National Cathedral, the Kennedy Center, and the Royal Albert Hall.

Dan Meyers is a flexible performer of both classical and folk music; his credits range from premieres of contemporary chamber music to playing Renaissance instruments on Broadway for Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. He is a co-founder of the early music/folk crossover group Seven Times Salt, and in recent seasons has performed with Hesperus, the Newberry Consort, the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Severall Friends, the Henry Purcell Society of Boston, the 21st Century Consort, and In Stile Moderno. He also plays traditional Irish music with the band ISHNA, and eclectic fusion from around the Mediterranean with his ensemble Zafarán. www.danmeyersmusic.com

Patricia Ann Neely has appeared with many early music ensembles including the Folger Consort, Tempesta di Mare, Opera Lafayette, TENET Vocal Artists, North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, the Smithsonian Chamber Players, the New York Collegium, the Washington Bach Consort, Amor Artis, ARTEK, Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera, the Boston Camerata, Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, the Newberry Consort, the New York Consort of Viols, and Early Music New York, among others, and was a founding member of Parthenia Viol Consort. For many years she was the principal violone player for Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity. She spent three years touring with the acclaimed European-based medieval ensemble Sequentia as the medieval fiddle player, performing throughout Europe and North America, at festivals including, Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht, Bach Tage in Berlin, Tage Alter Musik in Herne, Wratislavia Cantans in Poland, Music Before 1800, and Early Music Vancouver. Ms. Neely began playing the viol at Vassar College and continued her studies, earning an MFA in Historical Performance at Sarah Lawrence College, with additional studies in Belgium with Wieland Kuijken.

A native of Washington, DC, Leslie Nero was professionally active for 15 years in Ontario and Quebec, Canada, playing in several orchestras. Upon returning to the Washington metropolitan area, she began playing as a freelance violinist and violist with both modern and baroque ensembles. She often performs with Folger Consort, Opera Lafayette, Modern Musick, and the Washington Bach Consort. She also enjoys teaching violin to many eager fourth and fifth grade students in the Alexandria City Public Schools.

Labeled a “standout baritone” by the SFGATE, Corbin Phillips is a classical singer with a passion for early music. His most recent solo appearances have included the role of Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with Opera Henriette, a newly-founded baroque opera company in Baltimore; bass soloist in Bach’s St. John Passion at the Baltimore Basilica, and bass soloist in Handel’s Dublin Messiah with Tempesta di Mare. Other appearances have included performances with Folger Consort, Gallicantus, Mountainside Baroque, Opera Lafayette, and Big Mouth Society.