Auditorium Theatre 2018-19 Issue 2 Too Hot to Handel

10 | TOO HOT TO HANDEL | JANUARY 19+20, 2019 BIOGRAPHIES Bill Fraher ( Too Hot Choir Director) is a native of rural Illinois who has been making music since he was a child and conducting choirs since high school. He has served as pianist, organist, music director, and worship director at churches in St. Louis, Oakland, San Francisco, and the Chicago area. He was director of music at Chicago’s historic Old St. Patrick’s Church from 1991 to 2013. During that time, the music program expanded to include numerous liturgical choirs as well as a number of concert choirs that delighted audiences not only at Old St. Patrick’s Church, but at Chicago’s Symphony Center; Galway, Ireland’s Arts Festival; and the National Concert Hall of Ireland in Dublin. During his tenure, commissioned works came from Ireland’s Shaun Davey, Noel Eccles, and Liam Lawton and from Chicago’s Rory Cooney, Gary Fry, Scott Stevenson, and Ben Wedge. Fraher continues to be involved at Old St. Patrick’s Church as director of concert choirs and programs. He is also music and artistic director, creator, and producer of Siamsa na nGael : A Celebration of the Celtic Arts, now in its 24 th year. This is Fraher’s 14 th year as director of Chicago’s Too Hot Choir. Singers are welcomed from throughout the Chicago metropolitan area — from Hoffman Estates to Crown Pointe and Gary, IN; from Broadview to Lakeview; from Hyde Park to Lincoln Park to Oak Park; from Aurora to Harvey to Joliet; from the west side of the city to the north and south sides. If you would like to be a part of this wonderful, hardworking group of singers or for more information on any of the programs Fraher is involved in, please contact him at BillFraher52@gmail.com. Matt Long (Assistant Conductor, Pianist/Projection Manager) is a pianist and music director known for his versatility and sensitive musicianship, playing in a variety of styles with spirit and ease. Long has served as Assistant Conductor/Pianist for the Chicago Too Hot Choir every year since its beginning, and has served as Projection Manager since the annual production began incorporating projections. He was also the music director, arranger, and pianist for Songs of a Dream , which featured the voices and story of Too Hot to Handel ’s own Rodrick Dixon and Alfreda Burke. In 2015, Long released his first solo CD, titled Love’s the Greatest Beauty , a collection of spirituals arranged in jazz and jazz-gospel styles. In 2017, he released the follow-up album Wouldn’t Change a Stroke: Matt Long Band Plays the Music of Prince. Long has appeared onstage with The Joffrey Ballet in performances of the Philip Glass score for In Creases, and was rehearsal pianist for the world premiere production of Christopher Wheeldon’s The Nutcracker in 2016. As a vocal and choral accompanist, Long has played for the Community Renewal Chorus, Old St Patrick’s Church concert choirs, and DePaul University, among many others. For ten years, he was the pianist for the Lyric Opera’s Meet the Artist outreach programs, and he has accompanied several singers in recitals at the Chicago Cultural Center. He served as the organist for the Community Church of Wilmette from 2007-2018 and received a Colleague certificate from the American Guild of Organists in 2018. A native of Kansas, he graduated with highest distinction from Northwestern University’s School of Music in 1994. Marin Alsop (Concept) is the Music Director of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Chief Conductor Designate of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. She is an inspiring and powerful voice in the international music scene, a music director of vision and distinction who passionately believes that “music has the power to change lives.” She is recognized throughout the world for her innovative approach to programming and for her deep commitment to education and to the development of audiences of all ages. Alsop is the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship.. Bob Christianson (Co-arranger and Orchestrator) is a musician, composer, arranger, and conductor. He scored HBO’s Sex and the City series and the series Wildlife Emergency for Animal Planet, and was nominated for an Emmy for his music for ABC Sports. Christianson received his bachelor’s degree from SUNY at Potsdam (Crane School of Music) and completed his graduate work in composition at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. After college, he started out in New York City as a musical director and conductor for Broadway shows, including Godspell , The Magic Show , and Gilda Radner — Live from New York. In the concert arena, he has had the good fortune to work on several projects with longtime friend Marin Alsop, his favorite being Too Hot to Handel with co-arranger Gary Anderson.