Eleanor Mayerfeld is a soprano from Madison hailed for her “free, clear top range and finely pointed phrasing” (South Florida Classical Review). She currently tours the upper Midwest as Pamina in Opera for the Young’s adaptation of The Magic Flute. She has also performed Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), and Papagena (The Magic Flute). Concert soloist appearances include Caccini’s Alme luci beate and Vedrò’l mio sol (Middlebury Bach Festival), Strauss’s Saüsle, liebe Myrthe (AIMS-Graz), and the world premiere of Salve Regina, a commission from the Middlebury Community Chorus by Ukrainian composer Dmytro Malyi.
Praised for his “gripping performances” by The New York Times, baritone Ryne Cherry regularly performs with various professional Opera, Baroque and Choral ensembles. Ryne’s current season has him performing Mozart’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah with Handel and Haydn Society, Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with Madison Bach Musicians, and various concerts of Renaissance and Baroque music with both The Mirandola Ensemble and La Grande Bande in Minneapolis, MN. Ryne’s recent highlights include his solo debut with Handel and Haydn Society in Handel’s Israel in Egypt with Jonathon Cohen at Symphony Hall in Boston, Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion with Bernard Labadie and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall and Mozart’s Requiem with La Chapelle de Quebec and Bernard Labadie at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Canada, and a national tour of Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spaulding’s jazz-opera Iphigenia. Ryne was a 2022 Virginia Best Adams Vocal Fellow at Carmel Bach Festival, a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow from 2016-2018, and 3rd prize winner of the 2020/2021 Lyndon Woodside Oratorio Competition in New York City. Ryne is currently in his 3rd year as Vocal Director of Just Bach Concerts, a Baroque ensemble based in Madison, WI.
Soprano Amanda Lauricella has been described as a voice with an “arching thrill to it” (Isthmus.com). Previous roles include Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, and Rosina in The Barber of Seville. Amanda recently received her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Voice Performance with a minor in Theatre and Drama at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was a 2023 finalist for the Musicians Club of Women Vocal Competition. She is currently working as an Adjunct Professor of Voice at Carroll University and Beloit College and is touring with Opera for the Young as Beauty in Grétry’s Beauty and the Beast.
After over 40 years as Director of Music at Luther Memorial Church in Madison WI, Bruce Bengtson retired in 2018. Beginning organ study in Salem, Oregon, at the age of 11, he earned degrees in organ performance at Southern Methodist University and Valparaiso University, winning state and national competitions during his college years. Bruce has been featured in concerts in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Europe. He continues to play services and concerts, accompany vocalists/instrumentalists, teach organ lessons, and is a member of the Organ Historical Society, the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, and the American Guild of Organists. He taught organ lessons at Lawrence University, Appleton, WI 2019-2020, and assists in playing for Masses at Pastorate XXII of the Diocese of Madison.
Eric Miller performs as a viola da gambist, cellist, and occasional trumpeter around the Midwest, currently performing with the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, ViolMedium, and frequently giving solo recitals. Previous performance credits include the Arbor Vitae String Quartet, the Madison Choral Project, the MadisonChamber Choir, Madison Youth Choirs, and American Players Theater as well as countless chamber music projects, mostly centered around historical performance. As an improviser, he is known for his skill and sensitivity in collaboration with songwriters and has collaborated on several albums with songwriter Katie Burns. As an explorer in experimental music, he has recorded several hours of lo-fi electronic music with his duo, Basidium. Trained in the Suzuki method, Eric has taught cello, trumpet, and viola da gamba lessons to students all ages and abilities at his home in Madison, Wisconsin since 2009. He holds degrees from Northern Illinois University and the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Acclaimed for his “deeply hued countertenor” (The New York Times), Geoffrey Williams is in demand as a singer, conductor, teacher, and early music specialist throughout the United States and abroad. Dr. Williams began his musical life as a treble in the American Boychoir. A devoted church musician, he has served the parishes of Emmanuel Memorial Episcopal Church in Champaign, Illinois; St. Mary the Virgin, Times Square; Trinity Church in Princeton; Washington National Cathedral; and was for a decade a Gentleman of the Choir of Men and Boys at Saint Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, in New York City. He is founder and artistic director of the GRAMMY-nominated male classical vocal quartet New York Polyphony. Praised for a “rich, natural sound that’s larger and more complex than the sum of its parts,” (National Public Radio) New York Polyphony is one of the foremost vocal chamber ensembles active today. Dr. Williams is married to Emilie, who teaches pre-K to eighth grade music at Adeline Montessori School in Summit, and they have two sons, Ellis Michael and Peter Grafton.
Dr. John Bragle is the Director of Community Programs at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, where he supports teaching artists providing weekly music instruction to more than 12,000 students around southeast Wisconsin. A passionate music educator, singer, researcher, and arts advocate with more than 20 years of teaching experience in public and private school music programs, higher education, and community-based music settings, Bragle served from 2005-2022 as the Director of Choirs and Instructor of Voice at the Interlochen Arts Academy and Camp. While at Interlochen, choirs under his direction have performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Traverse Symphony Orchestra, and Interlochen’s World Youth Symphony Orchestra in venues such as Lincoln Center, DAR Constitution Hall, and Detroit’s Orchestra Hall. Bragle graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Michigan State University, where he also earned a master’s degree in Choral Conducting. In 2021, he received his doctorate in Music Education from Boston University, and was recognized by the Music Education faculty with a departmental award for his scholarship and contributions to the community. An active performer of a wide variety of repertoire in concert and recital, he has a particular passion for the music of Bach, German Lieder, and the art songs of Gerald Finzi.
Just Bach Concerts 