Oh! that I on wings could rise

The Church of Beethoven, Oak Park proudly presented Baroque trio Kiyoe Matsuura, Mary Arendt, and Joel Spears in a production titled "That I On Wings Could Rise". Through a collection of arias performed by soprano voice, baroque violin, and theorbo, this program explores the representation of flying creatures in baroque music, from doves, to nightingales, and butterflies. Rounding out the program are several uplifting and soaring pieces by composers including Handel, Strozzi, Torri, and Landi.

Sunday, August 19th
Open Door Repertoire Theater
Oak Park, IL

Soprano Mary Arendt, (Green Bay, WI) is a vocalist living in Chicago, IL. Ms. Arendt graduated with her Master's in Vocal Performance in 2016 from the DePaul School of Music within the studio of Elizabeth Byrne. She is currently her alma mater's Coordinator of Career Services and Alumni Engagement.
Ms. Arendt was most recently seen as Pamina in Chicago Summer Opera's Die Zauberflote, Euridice in Monteverdi's L'orfeo and Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute with DePaul Opera Theatre, and as Night in Purcell’s The Fairy Queen with Madison Early Opera Workshop. She was a semi-finalist in the 2017 American International Czech & Slovak competition, and the first place recipient of the 2013 Kleinman Vocal Competition. Orchestral engagements include the Mozart and Faure Requiems with the DePaul Symphonic choir, Vivaldi's Gloria Rv. 588 with the DePaul Community Chorus, Handel's Messiah with the UW-Green Bay Festival Orchestra, and as a featured soloist for Christmas at DePaul and the 2016 Madison Early Music Festival.
A passionate advocate of Baroque and Early Music, Ms. Arendt was a 2018 soloist in the Chamber Music Hawaii Baroque concert series. She was also awarded a 2016 Workshop scholarship from the Early Music America organization, was selected to perform in the 2015 and 2016 McGuckin Harpsichord recitals with harpsichordists Ketil Haugsand and Alexander Weimann, respectively, and spent the summer of 2015 with Dame Emma Kirkby at the Ringve Music Festival in Trondheim, Norway. Ms. Arendt most recently toured with MENT Consort to Rochester, NY, sponsored by Pegasus Rising.

Kiyoe Matsuura is a Chicago-based baroque violinist and violist. She is a co-founder of the MENT Consort, a period quartet which has collaborated with esteemed harpsichordists Jason J. Moy, Ketil Haugsand, and Alexander Weimann, and was recently distinguished as a Pegusus Rising Young Artist group. Ms. Matsuura performs regularly in Chicago with the Bach and Beethoven Experience, among other groups. She has been a participant at baroque festivals including Juilliard at the Piccola Accademia, the American Bach Soloists Academy, and the Baroque Performance Institute at Oberlin. Before turning her focus to early music, Kiyoe was a regular member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago. Ms. Matsuura earned her master’s degree in violin performance from the DePaul School of Music, where she is now on faculty of the Community Music Division.

Joel Spears began his creative life at 3, when he began drawing and making little illustrated books, inspired by his mother. Later on, he taught himself to play the guitar, first acoustic and then electric. After that he became inspired by the sound and the vast repertoire of the lute, and years later began studying the instrument in all its various forms. Today Joel is much sought after as a soloist, continuo player, lecturer and teacher. He is a founding member of the ensemble Black Tulip, and has performed with Lyric Opera of Chicago (including on-stage appearances), Chicago Opera Theater, The Marion Consort, SDG Chicago Bach Project, Seraphic Fire, and many more. In addition to playing for numerous live radio broadcasts on 98.7WFMT, he has appeared at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Chicago Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall, the Bach Week in Evanston Festival, and the Handel Week Festival. As a lecturer and performer, he has appeared at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Madison Early Music Festival, and as Guest Artist and Lecturer at Grand Valley State University. Joel is currently Lute Instructor at the Music Institute of Chicago, and Artistic Director of The Early Music Series at the Byron Colby Barn in Grayslake, Illinois. He is also the first theorbo teacher in the nation at the high school level, teaching at Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, IL.