3rd Sunday Concert Series at Christ Church

THE THIRD SUNDAY CONCERT SERIES

THE THIRD SUNDAY CONCERT SERIES NEWS RELEASE

Christ Episcopal Church
120 S. New Hampshire Street
Covington, Louisiana 70433

Media Contact: Margaret Mashburn
(985) 626-5714
mmashbur@bellsouth.net

January 1, 2008

ROSS AND PAQUETTE TO PERFORM IN THIRD SUNDAY SERIES

The Third Sunday Concert Series at Christ Episcopal Church in Covington will host soprano Nancy Ross and tenor John Paquette on Sunday, January 20 at 5 p.m.

The duo will perform a program of duets and solos from American stage and theatre including such favorites as “All I Ask of You” and “The Music of the Night” from Phantom of the Opera, “If I Loved you” from Carousel, “Tonight” from West Side Story, and “I Could Have Danced all Night” from My Fair Lady.

Ms. Ross is a familiar name in the New Orleans area having performed frequently with the New Orleans Opera Association and Jefferson Performing Arts Society, just recently in La Traviata. She made her Carnegie Hall debut as soloist in Mozart’s Mass in C Minor with the New England Chamber Ensemble. She has also performed with the Middletown Symphony of Ohio, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Denver Symphony, and the King’s College Orchestra in Aberdeen, Scotland. She sang two special recitals with Very Venice in Venice, Italy. She holds the degrees of B.M.E. from Loyola University and M.F.A. in vocal Performance from Tulane University where she was also Visiting Assistant Professor from 1989-1991. Nancy is a regional finalist from the Metropolitan Opera auditions and a semi-finalist in the Center for Contemporary Opera International Opera competition in New York City. She was awarded a Louisiana fellowship in 1999.

Mr. Paquette has sung with the New Orleans Opera and is a past regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions. He received music and vocal training at Loyola University. He entertained as soloist in the Fairmont Hotel’s Sazerac room for fourteen years and for two years at the New Orleans Petroleum Club. He was featured on a television special in Europe while stationed in Germany and has also performed leading roles in Broadway musicals and operettas with the New Orleans Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre, special concerts at Loyola’s annual Music festival in Colorado and as emcee and soloist in concerts with the New Orleans Summer Pops Orchestra. He has appeared as a guest soloist in the New Orleans Symphony Chorus, with the New Orleans Concert Choir and the Christ Church Cathedral concert Series.

Ms. Ross and Mr. Paquette will be accompanied by Donna Clavijo who recently returned from Tempe, Arizona, where she received a Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano from Arizona State University while serving as the music director and performance pianist for Arizona Opera’s travelling production of “Old Maid and the Thief,” as well as a freelance pianist/vocal coach. She now serves as rehearsal pianist for the Jefferson Performing Arts Society and orchestral pianist with the Jefferson Symphony Orchestra.

All concerts in the Third Sunday series are free, open to the public, and followed by a reception where the audience can meet the performers.

The series is supported in part by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development, Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism in cooperation with the Louisiana State Arts Council as administered by the St. Tammany Arts Commission.

Christ Church is located at 120 S. New Hampshire in Covington at the entrance to Bogue Falaya Park. For more information, contact the church office at (985) 892-3177.