3/3/24 Great Heroines of the Baroque
About the Performers:
Katherine Shuldiner graduated from Oberlin Conservatory in viola da gamba performance under the tutelage of Catharina Meints. She performs with Chicago based ensembles such as BBE: Bach and Beethoven Experience, Bella Voce, and The Newberry Consort. Nationally, Katherine has performed with Washington Bach Consort, La Follia Austin Baroque, as well as performing Bach’s Saint Matthew’s Passion with Bel Canto Chorus and the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra. Katherine is becoming a fixture in the Chicago baroque music scene, performing with Chicago based musicians such as Rachel Barton Pine, David Schrader, Mark Shuldiner, Martin Davids, and more. Ms. Shuldiner served a two year term on the board of the Viola da Gamba Society of America and currently serves on the board for both the VdGSA Third Coast and the Oak Park Recorder School. She was also chosen to perform in the first Early Music America's Young Performers Festival during Boston Early Music Festival. When Katherine is not performing, she enjoys teaching the viola da gamba to children and adults alike. In the summer, she has taught at Madison Early Music Festival and Mountain Collegium and is the Viola da Gamba Director and teacher at Whitewater Early Music Festival.
Dutch soprano Josefien Stoppelenburg is best known for her dazzling vocal agility and her passionate and insightful interpretations. Stoppelenburg has performed all over the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America as a Baroque Music and Oratorio specialist, and as a concert singer. Her appearance on Chicago’s classical radio program, “Live from WFMT”, was selected as one of the 10 best performances in 2016.
Stoppelenburg was the 2022 Artist-in-Residence at the Boulder Bach Festival (Colorado) and appeared with the Arizona Bach Festival, Cincinnati Bach Ensemble, Bach Week Evanston, Bach Society of Dayton and perform Bach’s St. John and St. Matthew Passion in the Netherlands.
Josefien recently appeared to great acclaim in “Annelies”, an oratorio about Anne Frank by composer James Whitbourn. This English composer praised Stoppelenburg's outstanding performance, stating: “I have heard many performances, but few so accomplished and so full of understanding as hers."
Stoppelenburg taught Baroque vocal masterclasses at Indiana University (Jacobs School of Music), the University of Colorado, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and Illinois State University and Louisville University School of Music. She has performed for the Dutch Royal family on several occasions. Her new CD 'Modern Muses, contemporary treasures for voice and cello' , with American cellist Jean Hatmaker, was released this Fall by Navona Records.
Stoppelenburg is also a painter. Her colorful art has been used in opera sets, album booklets, fashion, and on music festival posters. She is currently illustrating a children’s book.
Stephen Alltop serves as Senior Lecturer in Conducting at the Bienen School of Music. He is the Music Director of the Apollo Chorus of Chicago, Champaign-Urbana Symphony Orchestra, and the Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra. A specialist in oratorio and opera, Alltop has performed with many of the leading musicians of our time. He has appeared as a keyboardist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Joffrey Ballet, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and Music of the Baroque. Dr. Alltop has guest conducted orchestras and choruses across the United States, Europe and Korea, and conducted world premieres of works by John Luther Adams, Jan Bach, Frank Ferko, Stacy Garrop, Stephen Paulus, and Joseph Schwantner. Dr. Alltop lectures frequently for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Northwestern University Alumnae Continuing Education Series and Osher Lifelong Learning. Since 2014, he has given presentations on leadership for various programs in the Kellogg School of Business.
