A. Dennis Sparger, MUSIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR of the Bach Society of Saint Louis since 1986, has earned critical acclaim as “a conductor equipped with insight as well as craftsmanship.” Under his direction the Chorus has been labeled as “right up there with the best this city has to offer.”
His performance of Bach's Mass in B minor was described as “elegant,” and Haydn's Creation was “in perfect balance.” The St. Louis premiere of Berlioz' rediscovered Messe solennelle was hailed “a landmark event” and Rachmaninoff's Vespers, sung in Russian at the Cathedral Basilica, was reviewed as “sublime, lingering in the far reaches of the building like so many gorgeous sunsets.”
During his tenure, Dr. Sparger has led the Bach Society Chorus in over 70 performances of the major works by Bach and other composers, including Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Berlioz, Brahms, and Rachmaninoff. Performances have included established soloists Christine Brewer, Susan Graham, Kristine Jepson, Erie Mills, Phyllis Pancella and William Warfield, and have nurtured outstanding young singers Thomas Barrett, Rochelle Ellis, Kristen Frost, Angela Horn, Lester Lynch and Mary Wilson.
Under Dr. Sparger's leadership, the Bach Society introduced a Young Artists scholarship program for singers under the age of thirty; the awards have provided financial support and solo opportunities for 38 aspiring soloists to date. He also established a professional core of paid Principal Singers, elevating the performance level of the Bach Society Chorus and bringing employment opportunities for trained choral singers. Upon his recommendation, the Board of Directors designated a position for Composer-in-Residence to promote the creation of new works to be premiered by the Bach Society Chorus.
Dr. Sparger received his professional training from the University of Illinois where he studied with Harold Decker and, in 1981, was awarded a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral conducting. He received a Bachelor of Science in Education degree in music and a Master of Arts degree in music history and literature at Eastern Illinois University, where he studied choral music with John Maharg.
In 1998 Dr. Sparger was presented with the prestigious award named for his mentor, the Harold A. Decker Award, by the Illinois chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. He was named Choir Director of the Year by the St. Louis chapter of the American Guild of Organists in 2003, and was honored as one of Eastern Illinois University's 50 Outstanding Graduate Alumni in 2005. In 2008 Dr. Sparger was selected to participate in a Liberty Fund colloquium on Redemption and Human Freedom in Bach's St. Matthew Passion. He is a member of ACDA, Chorus America and the National Society of Arts & Letters.
He has served as a panelist for both the Illinois Arts Council and the Missouri Arts Council. His scholarly article on the 17th Century Polish composer Andrzej Hakenberger appears in the latest edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Following a career in music education, Dr. Sparger now serves a larger constituency as associate producer and writer of JOY!, a weekly program of sacred choral music heard on KFUO-FM CLASSIC 99.
In addition to his outstanding work with the Bach Society Chorus, Dr. Sparger has received recognition as music director and conductor of the Masterworks Chorale in Belleville, Illinois, an organization he founded and conducted from 1974 to 2007. He also founded the Masterworks Children's Chorus and was their conductor from 1985 to 1990.
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Stephen Mager, COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE, composes in a variety of genres, with a special emphasis on music for the voice, particularly for chorus and orchestra. His works have been performed by such distinguished ensembles as the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus; VocalEssence, Minnesota; and the Dallas Symphony Chorus.
His full-scale choral symphony, Sinfonia Pastorale, received its St. Louis premiere in 1997 with the Bach Society of Saint Louis, to critical praise: “the music does indeed have a painterly quality to it. The orchestration is complex and colorful, and the music is inclined to linger over beautiful images… [Mager] writes gratefully for the voice…” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).
In 2004, he was appointed Composer-in-Residence for the Bach Society of Saint Louis, which has since commissioned and premiered several major choral works: The Lamb's High Feast (2005), an Easter choral cycle on Gregorian chants; I saw eternity (2006), a choral fantasia on a Bach chorale, after Henry Vaughan; and in 2008, Missa lucis (“Mass of Light”), for chorus and chamber orchestra. One critic aptly described the Mass as “lushly lyrical” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).
His Christmas carol settings have also received critical attention: “Mager's settings… went well beyond mere arrangements; the Noël de la Vièrge had a simple dignity and deft orchestral touch that set it above the usual holiday fare” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch). A collection of his carols is featured on the compact disc, Joy for Every Age, recorded in 1998 with the Arcangeli Chamber Chorus. “These excellent carol settings…exhibit a slightly different kind of charm and sophistication that owes much to their more expansive…fully integrated orchestrations… Mager is conscious of mood and meaning and is very good at drawing listeners into the particular character of each carol” (David Vernier, Classicstoday.com).
His opera, Dream of the Pacific, was commissioned and premiered by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis for the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark expedition (2004). It was subsequently produced by Opera Omaha (2005), Kansas City Lyric Opera (2005), and Washington National Opera (2006). “Mager excels at conveying a wide variety of feelings…all in a musical language that is both lyrical and comprehensible” (Washington Post).
An active choral and opera conductor, Mager completed his master's degree at Indiana University, and later returned there for doctoral studies. His teachers have included Jan Harrington, Julius Herford, Thomas Binkley, Robert Shaw, Margaret Hillis, Robert Porco, Dale Warland, John Poole, and Carmen-Helena Tellèz. Stephen Mager is also an accomplished organist and pianist. His publishers include Oxford University Press and MorningStar Music. |
Joel D. Knapp, ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR, is Conductor of Choral Activities at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. He is also the conductor of the Concert Choir of the Masterworks Children's Chorus. Dr. Knapp has had previous positions at Circle High School in Towanda, Kansas, Utah State University, Texas Tech University, the University of Akron, and Jacksonville State University. He earned a bachelor's degree in music education from Wichita State University, and was award a Masters of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
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Steven S. Slusher, ASSISTANT CONDUCTOR, received his Master of Music Degree as the Choral Conducting Graduate Assistant at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. Mr. Slusher holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Ohio Northern University, where he is the Founding Director of The ONU Men’s Chorus. He served as Band Director in the Lima City School District as well as the Director of the Lima Alumni Band. Mr. Slusher has conducted throughout the United States from the Crystal Cathedral in California to Riverside Church in New York City. He was the 2003 guest conductor of Summer Dreams, a city honors choir of 68 students, that traveled to New York City to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with the famous America Sings. Mr. Slusher has won numerous vocal competitions, including the Southern Illinois Young Artist Competition and Lima Symphony Orchestra Competition. He has also given numerous recitals for both conducting and singing. He has appeared in many musicals and opera stage productions and is a Principal Singer for the St. Louis Symphony Chorus. Mr. Slusher was a two year recipient of the Young Artist Award of the Bach Society of Saint Louis and serves as soloist for both groups. He is currently teaching as Adjunct at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO and is fully employed by LegalMetric of St. Louis.
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Sandra Geary, ACCOMPANIST, is a member of the piano faculty of the Community Music School of Webster University. A native of Ireland, Ms. Geary received piano performance diplomas from the Royal School of Music, Trinity College, London, England; the Cork School of Music, Ireland; and a bachelor's degree in music from The Saint Louis Conservatory of Music. While a student at the conservatory, Ms. Geary studied with Joseph Kalichstein and Carole Tafoya. Currently, she is the accompanist for the Bach Society of Saint Louis and the Washington University Opera Department and Concert Choir. She accompanies many students in recitals and competitions, and serves as accompanist for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis on many occasions. In June 2006, Ms. Geary will serve as Vocal Coach/Accompanist for the Black Hills Summer Arts Institute in South Dakota.
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Cynthia Johnson, ASSISTANT ACCOMPANIST, earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in piano from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, where her main focus was chamber music. Ms. Johnson has worked extensively as a collaborative pianist and coach in the St. Louis metropolitan area for nearly 35 years, performing with student, church and professional singers, instrumentalists and choirs alike, while continuing to remain quite active as a choral singer herself. Before joining the Bach Society of Saint Louis, she served for 17 years as the accompanist for the Masterworks Chorale of Belleville. In addition to her role as assistant accompanist of the Bach Society, she performs regularly with the chorus as a principal soprano.
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