Choral Fellows & Scholars Program @FBC
The First Baptist Church of Medford, with generous support from the Boston Baptist Social Union, is proud to announce the 2022-2023 Season of the Choral Fellows and Scholars Program.
Ms. Gina Picerno
Gina Picerno is the Director of the Choral Fellows and Scholars Program.
Ms. Picerno studied at New England Conservatory in Boston receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance. She has been involved in performing sacred music in churches throughout Rhode Island and Massachesetts from a young age, working with many renowned directors and organists. She was a member of the Rhode Island Civic Chorale, and as also appeared in opera performances with Artist’s Internationale in Rhode Island and in musical theatre productions at Giordano’s Dinner Theatre in Massachesetts.
Ms. Picerno has attended the McClosky Institute for Voice and continues to study vocal technique. She has been singing and coaching the choir in vocal technique at First Baptist Church for over 20 years as well as teaching piano and voice privately. Ms. Picerno also holds a Masters of Education in Early Childhood from Lesley University and teaches at The Centre School in Milton, where she has implemented a music curriculum for toddler and preschool age children.
She has studied voice with Susan Clickner and Bonnie Pomfret. She has sung under the direction of and in collaboration with Lorna Cooke DeVaron, Donald Polumbo, Ronald Morris, and Alexander Peloquin.
Mr. David Owens, Interim Director of Music
David Owens is an experienced composer, pianist, organist, conductor and accompanist. He has worked as a collaborative artist with hundreds of singers and instrumentalists, as well as appearing as a piano and organ soloist, in chamber music, and as a conductor.
Mr Owens is also a widely-read music journalist, having received the Deems Taylor Award for Distinguished Music Criticism from the American performing rights society, ASCAP. He has published and networked widely on the subject of contemporary music, including radio work, lectures and panels. He has acted as a consultant on the subject to such organisations as the New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Maryland State Arts Council, and the American Symphony Orchestra League.
His compositions have been played and sung by a number of chamber ensembles, orchestras, choruses and soloists. Included among his works: Concerto for Viola and Orchestra; The Shores of Peace (chorus and chamber orchestra); Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano; Double Concerto for Tuba, Euphonium and Orchestra, and an opera in three acts, Jonah. Performers of his music in the New England area have included the Wellesley Symphony Orchestra, the M.I.T. Wind Ensemble, the Cambridge Madrigal Singers, the Arlington/Belmont Chorale, the U.S. Coast Guard Band (New London, CT), the Longy Sinfonietta, as well as a number of individual players and singers.
The Albany Records catalogue lists a CD recording of several of Mr Owens’ works
(TROY 1506).
Monica Rajan, 2021-2022 Soprano Fellow
Soprano Monica Rajan is enjoying a widely varied career as a multi-faceted musician. Since moving to Boston, Monica has performed with several notable companies in the area including First Witch in Dido and Aeneas with Boston Camerata and Firebrand of Florence with Emmanuel Music. Rajan was also an inaugural member of Boston Opera Collaborative’s Artist Training program. On the concert stage, Rajan has been seen as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Schubert’s Mass in G, Saint-Saëns’s Oratorio de Noël, Handel’s Messiah, and Mozart’s Regina Coeli. Monica holds a B.M. from The Catholic University of America and is in her final year of studies at Longy School of Music of Bard College. When she’s not in a practice room, Monica likes to bike, explore Boston, and spend time with her family.
Nmesoma Ogbuani, 2021-2022 Alto Fellow
Nmesoma, a graduate of Industrial Chemistry from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, began singing as a teenager in her church choir, The Deeper life Bible Church. Her passion for music made her a recipient of the MTN Foundation Scholarship to study Music (vocal performance) under the tutelage of Sir, Emeka Nwokedi, at the MUSON School of Music and graduated with 'Distinction'. She also holds a master’s degree (MMus) in Vocal Performance from the Longy School of Music of Bard College, Massachusetts, U.S.A. and currently training as a Certified Music Practitioner.
She holds awards for Best Female Singer MUSON (Musical Society of Nigeria) diploma, MTN Foundation for Leadership and Music Distinction Award (3rd place), a two-time recipient of the Longy ‘Lia and William Poorvu’ Scholarships and the Music for Healing and Transition Program (MHTP) Longy Scholar and a Choral Fellow with the First Baptist Church Medford MA. She holds a distinction in ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) Singing Grade 8 and also plays the trombone.
Grant Yosenick, 2021-2022 Tenor Fellow
Grant Yosenick (tenor), has a wide range of musical interests from early music to opera to cabaret. His recent stage credits include Pontio Pilato in Wanger’s rarely performed Das Liebesverbot with the Cambridge Chamber Ensemble, Pedro in the world premiere of Omar Najmi's En la ardiente oscuridad, the title role of Mozart's Lucio Silla, and Prince Populescu in Kalman's operetta Countess Maritza. His recent ensemble credits include Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem with Carduus, Honneger’s Joan of Arc at the Stake with Odyssey Opera, and the world premieres of Joseph Vella’s Hyland Mass and Thomas Morse’s Frau Schindler. He is a frequent collaborator with many Boston-based ensembles, including the Boston Camerata, the Choir of Men and Boys at Saint Paul Parish in Harvard Square, and Triad: Boston's Choral Collective. He is also an avid chess player with a peak USCF rating of 1964.
Nicholas Ford, 2021-2022 Baritone Fellow
Nicholas Ford (he/him/his) is a composer, vocalist, writer, and performer from Scutchalo country in Mississippi. Mr. Ford's music for voices is often abstract and textless, crafting a story or ritual experience between the composer, performer, and listener with the intent of creating collective catharsis and promoting community. His work has been recorded by the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra and the Quince ensemble. He finds inspiration in various art traditions, from spiritual jazz, Delta blues, and mid-century American experimental music, to performance art and the Southern Gothic school. Nicholas received a master's degree in music composition from the Boston Conservatory in 2021. He composes and sings for Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, and serves on the board of NGVE and Youth Pro Musica.