MOZART’S REQUIEM

APRIL 25, 2026 @ 7:30 PM

POTTER CENTER

Section A: $40
Section B: $35
Section C: $25
Student Tickets: $5

An evening of emotional and powerful music. Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture begins with celebratory and bold sounds. Schumann’s Piano Concerto follows, full of beauty and heart, performed by 2022 Gilmore Young Artist winner, Janice Carissa. Mozart’s Requiem, featuring Jackson Chorale, Hillsdale Arts Chorale and Albion College Chorus, closes the program with dramatic, inspiring music that will stay with you long after the final note.

PRE-CONCERT CONVERSATION
Join us for a free, interactive lecture before the concert at 6:30pm.

LIVE STREAM

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Johannes Brahms (arr. Leidig)
Academic Festival Overture <1879>

Robert Schumann
Concerto, Piano, op.54, A minor <1841–1845>

INTERMISSION

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Requiem, K.626 (Süssmayr) <1791>

RUNTIME: 2H

AFTERPARTY

Location: Country Club of Jackson

GUEST ARTISTS

Janice Carissa
Pianist

A Gilmore Young Artist and winner of Salon de Virtuosi, Janice Carissa has “the multicolored highlights of a mature pianist” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and “strong, sure hands” (Voice of America) that “convey a vivid story rather than a mere showpiece” (Chicago Classical Review). Her artistry has been showcased at an array of renowned stages, including the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, the United Nations, the Kennedy Center, Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Following her Philadelphia Orchestra debut at age sixteen, Janice has since performed with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the San Diego, Nashville, Kansas City, Amarillo, Des Moines and Jakarta symphonies among others. Highlights of the 2024-2025 season include concerto performances with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Osmo Vanska, the Erie Philharmonic, the Boise Symphony Orchestra, the Knoxville Symphony and recital debuts with Washington Performing Arts and the Salon Piano Series of Wisconsin.

Janice’s passion for chamber music has led her to performances with Bravo! Vail where she was a piano fellow, the Brooklyn Chamber Music Society and Jupiter Chamber Concert Series; collaborations with Vadim Gluzman, Miriam Fried, Paul Neuebauer, Lucy Shelton, Marcy Rosen, David Shifrin, Jennifer Cano, Peter Wiley, among other distinguished musicians; and appearances at Marlboro, North Shore, Ravinia, Caramoor, and Kneisel Hall festivals.

Born on July 26, 1998, in Indonesia, Janice left Indonesia 2013 to enter the Curtis Institute of Music with a full scholarship from Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest, where she was a pupil of Gary Graffman. She went on to earn a Master of Music at The Juilliard School where she studied with Robert McDonald. When away from the piano, Janice is an avid foodie and loves going on strolls with her camera.

Elia Meekhoff
Soprano

Elia Meekhoff is an American soprano known for her expressive artistry, vibrant stage presence, and dedication to championing both contemporary and traditional repertoire. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Michigan State University, where she previously earned her Master of Music in Vocal Performance. Her scholarly work explores interwar themes in opera, with research and lecture recitals on composers such as Margaret Bonds and Lili Boulanger.

Elia has performed leading roles in a wide range of operatic and musical theatre productions, including Rosasharn in The Grapes of Wrath (Gordon), Clorinda in La Cenerentola (Rossini), Sandrina in La Finta Giardiniera (Mozart), and Johanna in Sweeney Todd (Sondheim). She made her debut with the Grand Rapids Opera Chorus in Puccini’s La Bohème and has appeared as a soloist with the Bach Society of Grand Rapids and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

A passionate advocate for new music, Elia played the role of Mary in the American premiere of Alexis Bacon’s Margaret and Mary and has collaborated with Michigan State’s Musique 21 Ensemble. Her concert and recital engagements include performances of works by Debussy, R. Schumann, Richard Strauss and Lori Laitman.

In addition to her performance career, Elia is an experienced educator and vocal pedagogue, having taught privately since 2016 and served as a teaching assistant in vocal pedagogy and undergraduate voice at MSU. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes healthy vocal technique and expressive freedom. Her students have been accepted into competitive collegiate music programs and competitions such as the Sutton Foster awards.

Elia has trained internationally at the Netherlands Lyric Opera Festival and Italy for the Singing Actor program. She is the recipient of multiple scholarships, including the Lorie and Chuck Barbieri Voice Scholarship, and was awarded the Excellence in Opera Ensembles award by the Lansing State Journal for her portrayal in A Little Night Music.

Committed to community engagement and arts advocacy, she has written and directed music education initiatives, including a grant-funded music outreach program in partnership with the Putnam District Library.

Elia’s teachers and mentors include Jane Bunnell, Amanda Pabyan, and Grace Mara. She has developed her artistry through coachings with renowned artists such as Ricky Ian Gordon,Rachelle Jonck and Craig Rutenberg.

For more information, please visit www.eliameekhoff.com

Meagan Wozny
Mezzo Soprano

Meagan Wozny is a Michigan mezzo soprano, born and raised south of Detroit and moved to Lansing where she earned a bachelor’s in music education, a Master’s in vocal performance, and is expected to graduate with her Doctor of Musical Arts from Michigan State University. This season, Meagan has performed the roles of Ma Joad in Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath, and La Ziá Principessa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. She has had the honor of performing in many operas at Michigan State University, including A Little Night Music, La Cenerentola, Die Zauberflöte, and Albert Herring. She has also performed with Opera in the Ozarks in Arkansas, where she sang Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible. Meagan studies with Jane Bunnell.

Michael Seare
Tenor

Michael Seare is a leggiero/lyric tenor from the small town of St. Anthony Idaho. He studies with Mark Rucker and has studied with Jack Livigni and Kristine Ciesinski. He has performed the role of Jim Casey (Grapes of Wrath), Rodolfo (La Boheme), Frederic (Pirates of Penzance), as well as various musical theater roles like Professor Bhaer (Little Women), Enjolras (Les Misérables), and the Priest (Man of La Mancha). He has performed as the featured tenor soloist for Ramirez’s Nuestra Navidad, Handle’s “Messiah”, Mozart’s “Requiem”, Kurt Bestor’s “Saints on the Seas”, and Hector Berlioz’s “Les nuits d’été” with MSU symphony orchestra, Collegiate Singers of New York City, MSU symphony orchestra, Rexburg’s combined symphony orchestra and choir, and the Rexburg Tabernacle orchestra, respectively. He is ecstatic to be celebrating such musical giants with you tonight.

Andrew Potter
Bass

Bass Andrew Potter has garnered increasing demand across the country for his larger-than-life stage presence with a voice to match. Last season, Mr. Potter made his Florida Grand Opera début as Sarastro in Die Zauberflöte, returned to Seattle Opera as Panthée in Les Troyens, took his Angelotti in Tosca to Richmond Symphony, joined Opera Omaha to sing the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, and joined the roster of The Metropolitan Opera to cover Sarastro in Simon McBurney’s Die Zauberflöte. This season, he returns to The Metropolitan Opera to cover Timur in Turandot, and he débuts with Los Angeles Dream Orchestra to sing the same role in their semi-staged concert production of Turandot.

In addition, he will return to Dallas Opera as the Jailer/Javelinot/Thierry in Dialogues of the Carmelities, début with New Orleans Opera as Baron Ochs in Der Rosenkavalier, sing Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia with Nashville Opera, and return to Opera Omaha for his role début as Blitch in Susannah.

The 2023-2024 season established Potter as one of the premier basses in the opera world today, with major house débuts at Dallas Opera as Angelotti in Tosca, Seattle Opera as Abimelech in Samson et Dalila and in their world premiere of A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Atlanta Opera as Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Portland Opera as Vodnik in Rusalka, Detroit Opera as Harašta in The Cunning Little Vixen, and Santa Fe Opera for both Der Rosenkavalier and the world premiere of The Righteous. Additionally, Potter joined the Fort Worth Symphony to cover Hunding in Act I of Die Walküre, Pacific Symphony as Colline in La bohème, I Filarmonici Columbus as Méphistophélès in Faust, and Houston Symphony as Second Soldier in Salome.