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DIRECTOR OF MUSIC
JOHN-KEVIN HILBERT brings substantial experience in music direction to WPC. Among his artistic credits are service as artistic director of the San Francisco Philharmonic Orchestra, the San Francisco Choral Festival, the Oakland Lyric Opera, and the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts. At WPC, John-Kevin combines his love for conducting and composing. His body of original work includes a full-length operetta, A Time for Courage; Requiem, which debuted at Westwood Presbyterian Church in 2000; The Creation, an oratorio; and several musical plays, based on Biblical themes, for performance by children. Hilbert has a Bachelor of Music from Union College in Nebraska and a Master of Music in Piano Performance from Michigan State University.
ORGANIST
Playing from the heart defines Namhee Han’s approach to music making. She was a featured artist at the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) in 2004 and was selected for the 6th Musashino-Tokyo International Organ Competition in 2008. Constantly expanding the repertoire of her artistic expressions, she has played the harpsichord and harmonium with the GRAMMY Award winning Southwest Chamber Music.
A native of South Korea, Namhee Han studied the piano from age eight. After earning a Bachelor of Arts in English education from Seoul National University, she came to the US to pursue graduate studies in linguistics. It was then that she encountered the organ and became immediately fascinated with the limitless tonal and expressive possibilities of the instrument. She began organ study with Thomas Harmon in 1999 and completed Master's and Doctoral degrees in organ performance at UCLA working with Christoph Bull. In addition, she holds Master’s and Ph.D. degrees in applied linguistics from UCLA.
Dr. Han has coached with French organ masters Marie-Claire Alain and Jean Guillou, and has participated in master classes by such eminent teacher-organists as David Craighead, Frederick Swann, Marilyn Keiser, Christopher Herrick, Paul Jacobs, Kimberly Marshall and Sophie-Véronique Cauchefer-Choplin. She has also studied with Philip Smith, the Organ Conservator at Walt Disney Concert Hall.
The resident organist at Westwood Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles, Dr. Han is keenly interested in contributing to the music community in Southern California and regularly collaborates with instrumentalists, orchestras and choral groups in local performances. She enjoys teaching piano and organ, and maintaining an intellectually stimulating and physically active life.
SOLOISTS
TRACY COX, mezzo-soprano, currently studies with Juliana Gondek as a Voice Performance major at UCLA. Tracy has been seen in the UCLA Opera Department's productions of Puccini's Gianni Schicci as La Ciesca, as well as Las Sorella Infermiera in Puccini's Suor Angelica. She plans to pursue a career as an operatic mezzo-soprano. In between productions, Tracy enjoys teaching voice to children with a love for Broadway.
PAUL CUMMINGS, baritone, stays busy as a soloist, chorister, teacher, and composer/arranger. He has been a soloist for the Los Angeles Bach Festival, Long Beach Opera, Musica Angelica, Pacific Composers Forum, and the UC Irvine Opera Department. He has been featured on numerous cds for the Telarc, Harmonia Mundi, and RCM labels, in projects ranging from medieval music to children's music. He currently teaches voice, movement, instrumental music, and improvisation to grade school children, using the Orff Schulwerk method, at several Los Angeles schools.
NATHANIEL REYNOLDS, baritone, has enjoyed singing with the Chancel Choir and was thrilled to participate in the Musicale. When he's not leading the bass section of the choir, Nathaniel performs in musicals and operas across the Los Angeles region. A recent performance credit is the role of Curly in Oklahoma with the Santa Monica Theater Guild.
HOLLY SEDILLOS is a soprano section leader and soloist in the Chancel Choir. She recently graduated from a two-year acting program at the Joanne Baron/D.W. Brown Acting Studio in Santa Monica. She currently studies voice with James Uselman. Performance highlights include appearing as Luisa in The Fantastics at the Kentwood Players Westchester Playhouse; singing coloratura arias, "The Doll Song" and "Je Suis Titania," from Mignon in International Opera Alliance master classes with Maestro Peter Mark of Virginia Opera; and serving as a section leader in the Verdi Chorus.
REBECCA SJOWALL, soprano soloist, was recently chosen as the winner of the 2007 Jenny Lind Vocal Competition and was a featured artist in the 59th Annual Jenny Lind Concert in Bridgeport, Connecticut and toured Sweden as the American Jenny Lind. She has performed the role of Helena in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream with UCLA Opera; Pamina in Mozart's Die Zauberflote with New Operafestival di Roma in Italy; La Marchesa del Poggio in Verdi's Un giorno di regno; and Marguerite in Auber's Manon Lescaut. Other roles include Gretel in Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel and Rosalinde in Johann Strauss' Die Fledermaus. On the concert stage, Ms. Sjàwall has appeared in recital in Japan, Italy and across the United States, and she has performed the soprano roles in Haydn's Missa in Augustiis, Vivaldi's Gloria, Handel's Messiah and Dvorak's Te Deum.
MIGUEL VARGAS, tenor, is a trained classical musician, but is just as comfortable singing Broadway music. He has studied music and performs in the Los Angeles area with local companies.
CHILDREN
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