FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Deb Faling:

April 23, 2003 269-337-7407, or bach@kzoo.edu,

for further information

KALAMAZOO NATIVE WINNER OF ANNUAL

BACH FESTIVAL YOUNG VOCALIST COMPETITION

Ten young singers from Michigan and Indiana have won the Bach Festival Young Vocalists Competition and will be performing in concert on May 11, at Stetson Chapel, Kalamazoo College. Twenty semi-finalists in the Young Vocalists Competition competed in March at the First Congregational Church in Kalamazoo. Judges Maureen Balke, of Albion College and Ralph Klapis, of Valparaiso University, chose three winners and two honorable mentions in both the College Division and the High School Division. The semi-finalists were chosen from a blind tape screening and then invited to the live competition. Entrants this year came from Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Texas.

Winning the Genevieve W. Connable First Place in the College Division is Rachel Steel, soprano, a sophmore at the University of Michigan School of Music and a graduate of Kalamazoo Central High School. She is currently studying voice with Martha Sheil.

Second place was awarded to Emily Marvosh, mezzo-soprano. Ms. Marvosh studied voice with Mary Stewart Kiesgen and attended Central Michigan University. She will attend Boston University in Fall 2003 to pursue a Master of Music Degree in Vocal Performance. Mary Stefanac, soprano, a junior at Kalamazoo College placed third in the College Division.. Mary Stefanac is also a Kalamazoo native and studies voice with Jim Turner.

Two honorable mentions were also awarded. Kristi VanOveren, soprano, of Grand Rapids, and Zach Mondrow, baritone, a junior at Kalamazoo College, were awarded College Division Honorable Mentions and will be performing at the May 11, concert.

Jason Coffey, baritone, Allendale, Michigan was awarded first place in the High School Division. Mr. Coffey studies voice with Dale Schriemer and attends Allendale High School. Second place winner in the High School Division is Theresa Zapata, soprano, of Northview High School, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Alexandra Michelle Stewart, soprano, of Portage High School, Portage, Indiana placed third in the competition. Receiving High School Division Honorable Mentions are Christopher Hathaway and Joseph Curry, both of Portage Northern High School, Portage, Michigan.

These vocalists will be showcased in a free recital on Sunday, May 11, at 7:00 p.m., in Stetson Chapel, Kalamazoo College. This is the first of several events during Bach Festival Week 2003. They will receive their prizes at the concert and a reception to meet the vocalists will follow.

Bach Festival Week runs from May 11 to 17 and includes the Young Vocalists Concert on Sunday, May 11, Bach-Around-the-Block Organ Crawl on Monday, May 12, and the Bach Legacy Lecture with Raymond Harvey, lecturer, on Thursday, May 15. These events are all free and open to the public. The Festival Finale Concert will take place on Saturday, May 17. J.S. Bach’s B Minor Mass will be performed by the Bach Festival Chorus and Orchestra conducted by James Turner, music director. Tickets for the B Minor Mass are $25, $18, or $5 and are available by calling the Bach Festival office at 269-337-7407 or at the Miller Auditorium Box Office, 269-387-2300. For further information regarding any of the Bach Festival events, please call the office or check out their web site, www.kzoo.edu/bach/.

The Bach Festival is generously supported by Kalamazoo College, Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, Irving S. Gilmore Foundation, Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, National Endowment for the Arts, Arts Fund of Kalamazoo County, Burdick-Thorne Foundation, Center for Western European Studies, H.P and Genevieve W. Connable Fund, Dorothy U. Dalton Foundation, Plaza Arts Circle, Harold and Grace Upjohn Foundation, Stryker Corporation, Fritz and Associates, Inc., Jaqua Realty, Millennium Restaurant Group, Peter J. Thomas Company, Inc., and many individual supporters.