Sigma Alpha Iota

58 Fall 2023 • sai-national.org DR. WILLIAM O. BAKER Dr. William O. Baker was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Kansas City Alumnae Chapter in June. Dr. Baker is an entrepreneurial conductor and creator of choral organizations. He founded the DeKalb Choral Guild in 1978 at the age of 19. By the age of 21 he had conducted Brahms' German Requiem, Vivaldi's Gloria, Schubert's Mass in G, and Handel's Messiah with professional orchestras, launching a career of artistic leadership that has extended over forty years. He has conducted the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor of Bach, and the Sacred Service of Ernest Bloch. Dr. Baker studied voice and choral conducting at Mercer University and the University of Georgia before culminating his formal education at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago where he earned the Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting. He created the Atlanta-based William Baker Festival Singers in 1985 and established the William Baker Choral Foundation in 1990. In 1998 he moved his home to the Kansas City area and created the Kansas City ensemble of the Festival Singers. The Choral Foundation has created over a dozen ensembles based in three states, involving hundreds of musicians each year. His choirs have performed for numerous conventions of the American Choral Directors Association, the National Association for Music Education, and the American Guild of Organists, in addition to the 1982 World's Fair and music festivals in the United States and Great Britain. He has led the Festival Singers in the production of 25 nationally released recordings and in television and radio appearances across the nation, including The First Art, The Sounds of Majesty, and National Public Radio's Performance Today. His accomplishments have been recognized in his home states through numerous proclamations by state governors and congressman, by the cities of Kansas City, MO and Roeland Park, KS, and by a 2015 proclamation by the State of Georgia House of Representatives. In 2012 he was honored for his contributions to the cultural life of his hometown by the Pro-Mozart Society of Atlanta. In 2015 he was named Conductor Emeritus of the DeKalb Choral Guild. HANNAH DE PRIEST Hannah De Priest was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Evanston Alumnae Chapter in April. Praised for her "impeccable" singing, American lyric soprano Hannah De Priest is quickly developing a reputation for "most masterful" (Olyrix) performances on both sides of the Atlantic. The 2nd Prize Winner of the 2021 International Cesti Competition, she is especially known for "vivid portrayals" of music from the high baroque, but performs an increasingly wide range of repertoire. Opera credits include an "irresistible" (L'Opera) Belinda in Dido & Aeneas, Ïole (Handel's Hercules), Drusilla (L'incoronazione di Poppea), and Oberto and Morgana in Alcina. Recent performances include Circé and Medée with Les Délices, being named a finalist in North America's three major Bach Competitions, the Handel Aria Competition (2021), Le Concours Corneille (2019), attending the Carmel Bach Festival as a Virginia Best Adams Vocal Fellow, and covering the lead role in André Campra's Le Carnaval de Venise as a Young Artist with the Boston Early Music Festival. Highlights of the 2021-2022 season included debuts with the Oxford Lieder Young Artist Course, Columbus Symphony, Apollo Chorus & Orchestra, and Pegasus Early Music, as well as return engagements with, among others, Les Délices and Bella Voce. 2022-23 debuts include Serpina in a French production of Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona with Opera Lafayette and two productions with the Boston Early Music Festival in June 2023. With partner Michael Pecak, she performs song repertoire that spans centuries. This past fall the duo traveled to upstate New York, where they toured a program inspired by 18th-cent. soprano Josepha Duschek, featuring songs and concert arias by Mozart and Beethoven. Hannah belongs to Beyond Artists, a coalition of artists that donates a percentage of concert fees to non-profit organizations. She supports Deborah's Place, an organization that supports women experiencing homelessness in Chicago, with her performances. She is also a laureate of the prestigious Luminarts Cultural Foundation's competition's Encouragement Award (2022). Hannah holds an MM in vocal performance from McGill University in Montréal, where she held an elite fellowship and studied with renowned Canadian soprano Joanne Kolomyjec, and an MM in historical performance practices from Case Western Reserve University. She graduated from William Jewell College magna cum laude with honors in music. During her undergraduate degree, she spent a year abroad at the University of Cambridge, performing and extensively touring with the Sidney Sussex College Choir under the direction of David Skinner. She currently studies with soprano Tracy Cox. DR. LISA JELLE Dr. Lisa Jelle was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Kappa Tau Chapter at Capital University in April. Dr. Jelle is Professor of Flute at Capital University, Principal Flute of the Ashland Symphony and the Central Ohio Symphony, an Associate Musician with the Columbus Symphony, and a frequent performer with NATIONAL ARTS ASSOCIATE a person who is nationally recognized for distinguished contribution to the arts Distinguished Members

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