SACRED ECHOES
with the Children's Chorus of San Antonio
Sacred Echoes
October 22nd, 2023, 3:00pm
Alamo Heights United Methodist Church
825 E. Basse Road, San Antonio, Texas
The first concert of the season, SACRED ECHOES features Bernstein's Chichester Psalms and Nicholas Strimple's Franciscan Chronicles. Conducted by Dr. Yoojin Muhn, this concert features the Children's Chorus of San Antonio directed Caralong with beloved San Antonio organist N. Seth Nelson and Heldon tenor Cameron Schutza.
Dr. Carolyn Cruse
Artistic Director, Children's Chorus of San Antonio
Dr. Carolyn Cruse brings a passion for fostering vocal development and musical artistry in singers-musicians of all ages and expertise in collaboration and artistic vision in multiple settings. This is her first season with the Children’s Chorus of San Antonio after a 14-year tenure at Texas Tech University as Associate Director of Choral Activities and Associate Professor of Music Education, where she enthusiastically worked to cultivate and nurture relationships with music educators both locally and throughout the state. Dr. Cruse has served as a clinician/conductor and festival adjudicator throughout the United States and in Newfoundland, Canada, Finland, Italy, and Kenya. She is currently serving as President of the Texas Choral Directors Association (TCDA) and is a founding member of both mirabai, a professional project-based women’s choral ensemble dedicated to enhancing artistic expectations of women’s choral singing, and Alegría, a brand new women’s chorus based in San Antonio.
Cameron Schutz
Tenor
Praised by Opera Magazine for his “clarity of tone, ringing high notes and clear German diction,” tenor Cameron Schutza is in demand for his “expressive spinto voice” (Opera Warhorses) in concert and opera worldwide. Mr. Schutza was awarded Second Prize and Orchestra’s Choice awards at the 2020 Lauritz Melchior International Singing Competition (LMISC) in Aalborg, Denmark. Recent performances include Old Deuteronomy in the National Tour of Cats, Erik in Wagner’s Der Fliegende Holländer, Radames in Verdi’s Aida, and a concert of Wagner where he sang excerpts form Tristan und Isolde and Die Walküre. For his performances with Baltimore Concert Opera’s Madama Butterfly, Maryland Theatre Guide stated, “CameronSchutza as B. F. Pinkerton navigates the demanding role with professional aplomb. In his opening arias, he quickly establishes himself as a quintessential tenor, able to control the signature high notes of the role with color and nuance…he was outstanding.”
Mr. Schutza was lauded for his company and role debut as Chairman Mao in the Princeton Festival’s production of Adams’ Nixon in China, with Bachtrack saying, “Cameron Schutza is the Heldentenor Adams imagined for Chairman Mao, a big voice with a ringing top,” and Parterre Box admiring the tenor’s “freaky tessitura” and “unearthly beauty.” He performed excerpts from the title role of Siegfried for The Metropolitan Opera Guild’s Wagner Ring Showcase at Lincoln Center’s Bruno Walter Auditorium, and was a soloist for the Lorin Maazel in Memoriam Concert with the Castleton Festival. In October and November 2021 he performed Calaf in Puccini’s Turandot with Ozark Lyric Opera and was soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Austin Symphony Orchestra.
N. Seth Nelson
Organist
N. Seth Nelson has earned a DMA and MM in organ performance at The University of Michigan, under the tutelage of Dr. Marilyn Mason. While there, he was also the first to earn the Certificate in Musicology, writing a thesis on the pipe organ controversy of the Puritans in New England. He earned a BM from the University of Texas at San Antonio as a pupil of Dr. Bess Hieronymus. There he received numerous awards for his work as an organist, pianist, and accompanist, and was honored with the Presser Award, graduating from the UTSA Honors College Summa Cum Laude.
A passionate church musician, Nelson is Organist at the 153-year old First Baptist Church of San Antonio. Previously, he has been Interim Organist at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Austin, and Shepherd of the Lakes Lutheran Church in Brighton, Michigan, and Faith Presbyterian Church in San Antonio. Dr. Nelson, an Associate with the American Guild of Organists, maintains an active concert schedule and has performed in France, the Czech Republic, Poland, England, Germany, Austria, and in the United States. Equally comfortable on the piano as the organ, he is in high demand as a collaborative musician. Nelson is the accompanist for the San Antonio Choral Society, and is on the accompanying faculty of Trinity University.