Principal singers
Suzanne Adam, Soprano. Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1978. Suzanne has been passionate about music, singing and spirituality since she was a small child, and now works with thousands of children across the UK through Fischy Music, a children’s music organization. In demand as a vocalist and fiddler, Suzanne also writes and performs with acoustic duo Fair Witness and bluegrass group The Homecoming String Band.
Elisabeth Von Trapp, born and raised in Vermont, is the granddaughter of the legendary Maria and Baron von Trapp whose story inspired The Sound of Music. She has carried on the legacy of the internationally renowned Trapp Family Singers, enthralled audiences from European cathedrals to Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center, and had her music featured on National Public Radio, BBC-Radio, Japanese National Radio and CNN Spanish Radio. www.elisabethvontrapp.com
Jane Beaumont Snyder, Soprano. Jane is a “renaissance soul” who is devoted to the healing of spirit through the senses. Her many passions include poetry, dance, yoga, massage therapy, dreamwork, astrology, organic farming, vegan cuisine, philosophy, and, of course, music. She has a B.A. in French and Jazz Studies from Scripps College.
Reina Guarnaccia, Mezzo Soprano. Reina Guarnaccia has grown up in the glorious green hills of Vermont with a passion for music, culture, and language. Although she began vocalizing at a very early age, her musical career began at Champlain Valley Union High School with Carl Recchia, Andrew Miskavage, and Robin Fawcett. She has starred in the musical “Honk!”, sung with the funkadelic band”Soulvation Army,” and performed lead vocals in a number of University of Vermont jazz combos.
Emily Day, Alto. Emily Day has been singing professionally for ten years. She graduated with honors from the New School Jazz and Contemporary Music Program in New York and has been a lecturer and/or adjunct faculty at the University of Vermont, Johnson State College, St. Michael’s College and Community College of Vermont. She also had performed with the Swingin’ Vermont Big Band and with smaller ensembles in the greater Burlington area.
Will Burhans, Tenor. Rev. Will Burhans, pastor of the UCC Charlotte Congregational Church and a singer/songwriter, has recorded two CD’s of original acoustic spiritual music; “Making Shadows” in 2003 and “Weight of Grace”, 2006. His recordings feature Carl Recchia on piano and Tim Cummings on whistle, both also featured in The Celtic Mass for Peace. In 2015 Will left Vermont to become Pastor of the UCC Church in Winchester, Massachusetts.
Vincent Pelletier, Bass/Baritone. Vin Pelletier manages the Language Resource Center at UVM and was formerly the chair of Humanities at Trinity College. A musician all his life, in many genres and with different instruments. He now performs regularly with the Oriana Singers and the Vermont Mozart Festival and has sung many principal roles ranging from the sublime (Jesus in the St. Matthew Passion) to the ridiculous (Shadbolt in Yeomen of the Guard). “The Celtic Mass for Peace recording project cemented together a very loving group of singers and players for an intense week of peacemaking. Thanks for the privilege of being part of it.”
Choral singers
Ellen Bosworth, Soprano
Sarah Gilmore, Soprano
Annemieke Spoelstra, Soprano. “Dutch born pianist Annemieke Spoelstra called classical music ‘pure’ at age 3. Since then she has filled her life with searching for beauty in music, language, and nature. As a performer and teacher, she feels a great responsibility to bring music alive.” She earned her degrees (Bachelor and Masters as Performing Artist) for soloist, chamber music and art song accompaniment. Annemieke has performed concerts in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, and the USA. www.annemiekespoelstra.com
Juliet McVicker, Alto
Roy Cutler, Tenor
Pete Sutherland, Bass. Raised on a diet of Broadway show tunes, operatic arias and British invasion melodies, Pete discovered both traditional music and songwriting in college and like Huck Finn “lit out for the territories”. A warm-voiced singer and multi-instrumentalist known equally for his potent originals and intense recreations of age-old ballads and fiddle tunes, his performances “cover the map”. Pete remains active as a teacher, studio producer and festival programmer. www.epactmusic.com
Carl Recchia, Choral Conductor. Carl Recchia has been teaching choral music for many decade, presently working with high school choirs. He has guest-conducted numerous festivals, teaches a Jazz/ Gospel chorus at the Flynn Theatre, is music director for the FlynnArts summer musical with Robin Fawcett. Carl has served as music director for a number of local New England theatres and as co-manager of the All State Chorus at the Vermont All State Music Festival.
Instrumentalists
David Gusakov, Violin ~ Co-arranger. David Gusakov, a 1971 graduate of Yale University, moved to Vermont in 1973. He joined the Vermont Symphony that year and a popular bluegrass/swing band, Pine Island, the next. David has been very active on the Vermont music scene for the past 40 years as teacher, conductor, composer/arranger and as violinist/violist in a wide variety of groups, genres and musical settings.
Patricia Julien, Flute. Patricia Julien is a Professor of Music at the University of Vermont, where she teaches courses in music theory and jazz composition and arranging. She received the Ph.D. in Music Theory from the University of Maryland, College Park (conducting research on the early compositions of jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter) and the degree Master of Music in Jazz and Commercial Studies from Manhattan School of Music (with emphasis on jazz flute performance and composition/arranging). She has appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Alice Tully Hall, and The Kennedy Center, and has toured the eastern United States, Canada, and Europe. Ms. Julien has compositions published with Imagine Music Publishing. www.patriciajulien.com/wordpress/
Tim Cummings, Whistle & Small Pipes. Timothy Cummings is a piper and whistle-player who performs, teaches, and composes piping and Celtic-related music in Vermont. Tim has studied at The College of Wooster (OH), Victoria University of Wellington (NZ), The College of Piping (PEI), and the RSAMD in Glasgow. He recently launched Beithe Publishing, a cottage-industry devoted to publishing contemporary piping music. www.timothycummings.com
John Dunlop, Cello. John Dunlop, attended Oberlin and received his Master of Music from the San Francisco Conservatory. John is principal cello with the Vermont Symphony Orchestra and has served as principal cello with the Vallejo Symphony, the San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra, Chautauqua Festival Orchestra and the All-New England Orchestra. He has backed up Phish (Dirt), Lyle Lovett, and Trey Anastasio Solo Album. He composed and recorded incidental music for an independent film, “Andy Across the Water”, which was voted Best Comedy at the 2002 Aspen Shortfest.
Ana Ruesink, Viola. Ana Ruesink, violist, plays with many classical music ensembles throughout the region, including the Vermont Symphony, the Burlington Chamber Orchestra, and the Green Mountain Opera Festival. She also enjoys other musical genres. She plays regularly with Impropriety, an English country dance band. Her trio Symphony Reel plays an eclectic mix of Scandinavian and Irish music, performing both on the concert stage and in schools across Vermont. At present her favorite group is the Barker Family String Band, a collaboration with her husband and two young daughters.
Dominique Gagne, Flute. Dominique Gagne, originally from Londonderry, NH, is a jazz flutist, pianist and composer. She has a Bachelor’s in Music Education from Oberlin Conservatory and a Master’s in Jazz Composition and Arranging from UMass Amherst. She has just relocated to Brooklyn, NY from Burlington, VT, to focus on a new band which fuses elements of both Brazilian and Mississippi-based pife and drum music. She is currently teaching privately in Manhattan and works for Music Together, an early childhood music program.
Mance Grady, Bodhran. Mance Grady, Master Player of the Bodhrán, sanctioned by the National Endowment for the Arts through RISCA’s Master/Apprenticeship Program to foster the preservation and perpetuation of the art of bodhrán playing, is the first in the U.S. to receive this distinction. A premier Celtic percussionist, Mance’s authority on the Bodhrán and remarkable ability to create scales and harmonies are legendary. www.mance.com
Recording engineers/artists
Chuck Eller. Chas Eller has been in the recording industry for 29 years and has recorded or produced over 500 LP’s and CD’s for numerous independent and major record labels, creating music scores for clients such as Columbia Pictures, and Walt Disney and receiving three INDIE Awards. He has co-produced several music specials for National Public Radio, including the 1988 Newport Folk Festival. Charles Eller Studios is an unsurpassed facility in Charlotte, Vermont, that has become synonymous with quality audio recording, mastering, and music production. In 2001, Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio partnered with him in the creation of a studio at Trey’s personal creative workshop, “The Barn.” He performs with the internationally known pop-jazz group Kilimanjaro, now with their new album, ‘Homecoming’, and for years with the Unknown Blues Band and B.B. King alumnus Big Joe Burrell. Chas helped record and produce the original Kilimanjaro records, which both made the “Top Five” for national jazz radio airplay. With these two bands he has performed across the U.S. as well as festival appearances in Switzerland, The Soviet Union, Holland, Denmark, and has toured nationally with blues legend, Paul Butterfield and singer songwriter, Elisabeth von Trapp. www.charlesellerstudios.com
Lane Gibson. Engineer, Lane Gibson, was a professional musician and vocalist for over 30 years. He was one of the co-founders as well as the keyboardist for “The Davis Bros. Garage Band,” a successful rock group in New England and Colorado in the seventies and early eighties. One of his compositions, “Lookin’ For the Money” landed them a record contract with Charisma Records in the U.K. Lane joined with local band “Downpour”, working with them until 2000. In 1993 he reconnected with Chas whose new studio was by then too busy for one operator. Gibson says, “It has been an amazing opportunity for me to work with incredible gear, an extremely talented engineer and musician, and a client list of genuinely, wonderful people, who I enjoy both musically and personally.”
Children's Peace Songs