“a superb performance”
The American Organist
Staff < Core Musicians
ALAN AUSTIN
Baroque violin
Chamber musician, soloist, orchestral player, teacher, concertmaster of the Texas Bach Collegium of San Antonio, and the Houston Bach Society. Austin has been a featured guest performer on many recital series throughout the Southwest. Most recently, he led a critically-acclaimed orchestra of international period-instrument players in Austin for three performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. He is also the General Director of the Immanuel and Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival at the Moores School of Music.
BECKY BAXTER
Baroque harp
Specialist in historical harps, including instruments from the medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods. Baxter’s performances include triple harp solos in the Houston Grand Opera’s productions of Monteverdi’s Orfeo and L’incoronazione de Poppea, as well as the Houston Chamber Choir/Ars Lyrica co-production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. She has recorded on the Dorian and Naxos labels with Chatham Baroque and Catacoustic Consort.
MATTHEW DIRST
Harpsichord and organ
See his bio on the staff page.
DEBORAH DUNHAM
Violone and double bass
Currently on the music faculty at Sam Houston State University. Dunham has recorded annually, since 2001, for Telarc as a member of Boston Baroque; her past collaborations with other ensembles, soloists and contemporary composers can be found on Arsis, Bridge, Mode, Naxos, New Albion and New World Records. She was a member of the Rochester Philharmonic from 1987–1997 and worked with the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops Orchestras from 1996–2001. She also performs with Mercury Baroque and the Handel and Haydn Society.
MELISSA GIVENS
Soprano
“Sings with a joyful authority” (Buffalo News) and is praised by audiences and critics alike for her rich, liquid tone and expressive singing in repertoire ranging from Baroque to contemporary music. Recent appearances include a European tour of the Brahms Requiem with the Houston Symphony, Brahms Mozart’s C-Minor Mass with the Victoria Bach Festival, and the title role in Handel’s Esther with Ars Lyrica. Givens also performs regularly with the Bach Society of Houston and Austin-based Conspirare. She can be heard on her solo compact disc, let the rain kiss you, available at
TIMOTHY JONES
Bass-baritone
One of the leading bass-baritones of his generation, has appeared in productions with the Michigan Opera Theater, the Lake George Opera Festival, Opera Idaho, the Shreveport Opera, Opera Southwest, the Pensacola Opera and the San Antonio Lyric Opera, and in concert with numerous American orchestras. Jones made his New York debut as a recitalist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in February 2000. Associate Professor of Voice at the Moores School of Music, he is a champion of opera, the concert stage, chamber music, solo recitals, and premières of modern compositions.
GERROD PAGENKOPF
Countertenor
Hailed by the Houston Chronicle as having “an elegant bearing and a sweet, even sound.” Since moving to Houston, Pagenkopf has performed the roles of Oberon in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the title role of Handel’s Rinaldo with the University of Houston’s Moores Opera Center. He also performed the title role of Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Actéon with the Moores School Collegium Musicum and Ars Lyrica. Pagenkopf has been a soloist for performances of Bach’s Mass in B Minor, St. John Passion, St. Matthew Passion, as well as Handel’s Israel in Egypt. He recently performed Handel’s Messiah with Mercury Baroque, as well as a group of Handel arias for countertenor with the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater.
RICHARD SAVINO
Archlute, theorbo and Baroque guitar
International recording artist with an extraordinary range of repertoire spanning the Renaissance to the Romantic eras; his CDs have received the Diapason d’Or, among other prizes. Savino is director of ensemble El Mundo, with whom he has recorded numerous discs. As a continuo player and accompanist he has worked with some of the world’s most respected performers He is presently Professor of Music at California State University at Sacramento and also teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory.
BARRETT SILLS
Baroque cello/Viola da gamba
Laureat of international cello competitions in France, Germany, and Brazil. Sills has concertized on three continents and has toured South America as Artistic Ambassador; he has also been a touring artist for the Texas Commission on the Arts. Principal cellist of the Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet Orchestras, he is a frequent soloist with both orchestras as well as principal cellist with Ars Lyrica and Mercury Baroque. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Yale University.
COLIN ST. MARTIN
Baroque flute
Premier Prix (Bachelor of Music) from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Brussels, Belgium, under Barthold Kuijken and Master of Music with Performer’s Certificate from the Indiana University Early Music Institute. St. Martin performs with a variety of ensembles including the Washington Bach Consort, Opera Lafayette, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Smithsonian Chamber Players, New York Collegium, and Arcanum. His recordings may be found on such labels as Focus, Naxos, Newport Classics, Gaudeamus, and Centaur.