‘Messiah Musicians’ set to perform at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

Amy Jo Connours

Amy Jo Connours, mezzo soprano, is an accomplished oratorio singer who has performed Mozart’s “Coronation Mass”, Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” and the hauntingly beautiful “Celtic Mass” by Michael McGlynn.

Her silky mezzo tones cross over to multiple genres from opera, oratorios and the classics, to jazz and contemporary composers.  

She recently returned from a summer tour singing across Europe in Spain, Ireland and Scotland.

Lorraine Murphy, soprano, has taught and sung in Nigeria and performed in major countries in Europe. Locally she is the soprano section leader and board member of Key Chorale and a founding member of Sarasota’s newest women’s ensemble, “Belle Canto.” View More images >>

Together with Ms. Connours she performs in the ensemble ‘Three Divas and the Dons. She is Minister of Music at St. John’s United Methodist Church in Sarasota and has a busy voice and piano studio.

Robert Lischetti, tenor, has sung in concert and opera throughout the United States and Europe, and locally with the Sarasota Opera, Venice Symphony and Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestras.

He teaches voice at his private studio and is the music director at the Universalist Unitarian Church in Sarasota.

Lothar Bergeest, bass-baritone, has performed over four dozen opera, oratorio and musical theater roles. His appearances with Skitch Henderson and the New York City Pops Orchestra at Carnegie Hall and the National Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as the lead in Andrews Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera”, led to numerous national tours performing the music of Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers and others.

Marlena Chow, violin, has been a member of the Naples Philharmonic since 2001 and the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra since 2003. She is a certified Suzuki violin teacher, and maintains a private violin studio in Naples.

Roxane Frangie Solowey, violin, plays with the Sarasota Orchestra, and is a founding member of Musicians Out of the Box (MOB) and The Cypress Quartet, and an active violin teacher of students of all ages in the Sarasota community.  

In 2006 and again in 2012 MOB released two children’s CDs that combine fairy tales with classical music, both of which won a Gold Award from the Parents’ Choice Foundation.

Nathan Frantz, viola, has played with the Sarasota Orchestra since 1999. He teaches the string orchestra at Booker High School and spends summers on the faculty of Luzerne Music Center in Lake Luzerne, NY.

Julie F. Cornwall, cello, is a freelance cellist. She is a full-time contracted cellist with the Southwest Florida Symphony, and can be found performing as soloist or in small ensembles in concerts, churches, weddings and for special events. She has performed throughout the U.S. and abroad.

James Hignight, bass, has played with the Bach Festival Orchestras in Orlando and Lake Wales, the Naples Master Singers, Imperial Symphony Orchestra and Hot Springs Music Festival Orchestra. He teaches bass at Lake Wales High School and attends Rollins College on a full music scholarship.

Margaret Harris Smith, conductor/harpsichord, has been St. Andrew’s organist/choirmaster since 1989. Her recital appearances include Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg, Virginia and the Washington National Cathedral.