The South Haven Performance Series is presenting Stephen Lancaster, baritone, and Kevin Vaughn, organist, for a concert on Friday, July 29, 2022. This 7:30 pm concert will take place at Peace Lutheran Church.
Described as “a fine storyteller” in the American Record Guide and as “varied in tone and alive to feeling” in Fanfare Magazine, baritone Stephen Lancaster engages audiences through a diverse repertoire of vocal music. Winner of the Nico Castel International Master Singer Competition and The American Prize in art song and oratorio, he has been featured as a soloist in venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, Chiang-Kai Shek Memorial Hall, and Centro Cultural de Belém.
A passionate recitalist, Lancaster has performed with many groups and in many places. Chamber performances include recitals for Gstaad New Year Music Festival, Musique dans le Grésivaudan, Les Grandes Heures de Saint-Emilion, and Festival de Musique d’Uzerche. He has recorded an album of French art songs with pianist Martin Katz, Le Menu des Mélodies on Centaur Records as well as Dichterliebe & Liederkreis, Op. 39 with fortepianist Laure Colladant on the Blue Griffin label. His performances include a wide range of repertoire, including An American Requiem, Kindertotenlieder, In Terra Pax, Dona Nobis Pacem, and concert works by Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. On the operatic stage, highlights include Anthony in Sweeney Todd and Dancaïro in Carmen with Eugene Opera; Jake Wallace in La fanciulla del West with Apotheosis Opera; Papageno in Die Zauberflöte at the Atlantic Music Festival; Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro with Opera Notre Dame. As an ensemble singer, he performs with the Grammy award winning vocal ensembles Conspirare and the Sphinx Organization’s EXIGENCE as well as with TACTUS and Schola Antiqua.
Lancaster holds degrees from the University of Michigan (A.Mus.D.) and the University of Notre Dame (M.M.). He joined the music faculty at the University of Notre Dame in 2007, where he teaches classical and musical theater singing styles to graduate and undergraduate voice students and serves as head of the graduate voice studio.
Kevin J. Vaughn is Director of Music and Organist at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (South Bend, Indiana), accompanist for the South Bend Chamber Singers (Nancy Menk, director), and a nationally-touring concert artist. He appears regularly as a solo organ recitalist and recent engagements include concerts at churches and universities in Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Berlin (Germany) and Toronto (Canada). In addition to performing, Vaughn has previously served on the instructional faculty of Goshen College (organ, and harpsichord) and the University of Notre Dame (piano and organ). He regularly teaches organ literature to master’s and doctoral students in the Graduate Program in Sacred Music at Notre Dame.
Vaughn holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in piano, organ, and sacred music, including the first Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance conferred by the University of Notre Dame. His former teachers include Phyllis Warner and Craig Cramer. He is a past dean of the St. Joseph Valley (IN) chapter of the American Guild of Organists and holds the Guild’s Colleague certificate.
Vaughn and Lancaster perform together regularly in collaborative programs of sacred music for voice and organ. Their first recording, Sacred Song, was released on the Albany label in 2018. According to Ken Rodgers, music professor at Hesston College, “The approach that Kevin Vaughn and Stephen Lancaster take to finding a balance between organ and voice is exhilarating.”
Performances are provided thanks to the generous support of the South Haven Community Foundation, corporate sponsors and individual donors. Tickets are $10.00 at the door. Students are always free. Doors open 30 minutes before the performance.
The next concert in the series will feature a return of the popular Axiom Brass on Friday, August 26, 2022, at the First United Methodist Church.
