DIRECTOR

Tim is already well known to many in Iowa City from his recent visits to Zion Lutheran Church and to City High. For 31 years he was Director of Music at Clare College, Cambridge where he brought the Chapel Choir to international acclaim, having succeeded Sir John Rutter in this role in 1979. After his tenure at Clare, he founded a professional choir in Zürich, Switzerland, and now divides his time between freelance conducting and composing.

Since 1978 Tim has been associated with Europa Cantat, which brings amateur singers together from all over the world for clinics and workshops, and this connection has led to many invitations to run singing days around the globe. He runs an annual singing week in the Tyrol, Austria, which this year takes place in August, its final concert being in the Cathedral of St James, Innsbruck (www.berwangmusic.com).

Working with amateur singers with a mix of technical instruction and much fun has been a particular passion of Tim’s throughout his career, and we can expect a singing day filled with glorious sounds and much enjoyment from which we will all come away knowing just a little more about ourselves, our singing habits, and how we can sing just that little bit better!

BARITONE SOLOIST

Stephen Swanson is a concert and opera singer, a teacher of singing, and opera stage director. He earned degrees from North Park College and Northwestern University and served a two-year American Guild of Musical Artists apprenticeship with the Wolf Trap Company. After an internship at the International Opera Studio of the Zurich Opera, Swanson sang in opera houses in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands for nineteen years. In 1994, he joined the voice faculty at The University of Iowa School of Music.

Throughout his career, Swanson has performed with many renowned conductors, including concerts under Sir Georg Solti, Rafael Frübeck de Burgos, Margaret Hillis, and Vance George; and operas under Giuseppe Patanè, Nello Santi and Ferdinand Leitner. An extremely versatile performer, he sings works from the Baroque to the avant-garde as well as standard baritone concert repertoire, such as Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, and his signature piece, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. In 2019, he added the 108th opera/operetta/musical role to his repertoire.

SOPRANO SOLOIST

Maria Hagan currently serves as the Director of Music and Liturgy at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish in Hiawatha. She is also an adjunct Instructor of Voice at Kirkwood Community College. Hagan holds a DM in Conducting from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, a Masters Degree in Sacred Music and Choral Conducting from Emory University, and a Bachelors Degree in Sacred Music and Voice from Westminster Choir College. A rising choral conductor, Hagan was a semi-finalist for the American Prize in 2021 for her performance of Dvorak’s Mass in D Major, Op. 86 featuring the Indiana University Chorale and Conductors Orchestra.

VIOLIN SOLOIST

Renee Santos is currently pursuing her Master of Arts in violin performance at the University of Iowa, studying with Dr. Scott Conklin. She is a member of both the Dunn Graduate String Quartet and the Seamark Quartet under the instruction of Prof. Elizabeth Oakes. Renee also earned her Bachelors of Music at the University of Iowa, and has been an active member in the Chamber Music Residency Program and the UI Symphony Orchestra. She has won numerous competitions and performance opportunities and has served as concertmaster of UISO. She has participated for the past four years in the Summer Chamber Tour, a collaboration between the Chamber Music Residency Program and Arts Share that brings chamber music to communities throughout Eastern Iowa.