Scot's warm personality and enjoyable character are a welcome addition to the Channel 3 Early Warning Weather team. Before joining Channel 3 in November 1998, Scot earned his bachelor's degree from St. John's University in New York City, his Master'sdegree at Syracuse University and a degree in meteorology from Stony Brook University. Scot has always wanted to take part in television, but first held many jobs before he decided to return to school in 1990. Shortly afterward, Scot got his first on-air job in Topeka, Kan., as a weekend meteorologist and a weekday general assignment reporter. His contributions to the community include volunteering at various events -- whether it's helping organizations raise money for a cure or spending time with children -- Scot makes a personal commitment to help anyway he can especially with our CD Christmas In Connecticut - A State Of Gratitude where Scot sings "The Mystic Christmas Moon". See a video of "Better Connecticut" featuring Scot recording in our studios by going to our NEWS section.
Scot Haney
Connecticut native, Allison Demers is featured as part of the team that makes up WRCH Lite 100.5 FM's morning show with Allan Camp and Mike Stacy. She is the executive news director as well as the ying that balances Allan and Mike's yang. She has a quick wit that occasionally engages before the rest of the mind has had a chance to catch up. That pleases Mike to no end and keeps Allan ready with another song-just in case. Allison also explores more in depth community issues as host of WRCH's Public Service Affairs Show Spotlight. She is involved in The Miss CT scholarship foundation and has sung professionally earlier in her career. Everyone involved in this project thanks her for her generosity and beautiful vocals on the title song "Christmas In Connecticut" in which her greatest wish is "that people may be blessed".
Allison Demers
Nichelle has appeared for two years, as Mary Magdalene, in a play written by Derrick Williams, called "He Is Risen". She has also appeared with the Pfizer Players in "Finian's Rainbow", and in various plays with Vital Elements of the Arts (New Haven) as well as "Forgiven", a play by Dennis McGee. She was cast as an extra in the movie "Everybody Wins" (filmed in Norwich with Nick Nolte and Debra Winger). As a singer Nichelle is a member of the Praise and Worship team and Miracle Voices Ministries at her church Miracle Temple. She has appeared at Lake Compounce with New Kids on the Block, with DW & The Gospel Family as backup for the Doobie Brothers, Josh Groban, CT. Sun basketball Christmas in July and Andy Williams. She sings the title song "A State Of Gratitude", which was written to honor military friends and family. Nichelle sent in a demo without knowing what the song was about, or what song she would be auditioning for. The words of our song came to life when we read headlines about a high profile military funeral in Colchester, CT that Nichelle sang at eariler this year. The funeral was for Sergeant Richard Ford who was killed in Iraq in February 2007. He had been Nichelle's High School sweetheart. They had gone their separate ways and remained friends through the years. Now she sings with all of her heart to honor Richard and his family.
Nichelle Rollins
Wendy (Sunega) Quinn was raised in Broad Brook CT. She began playing the organ at St. Catherine church there at 12 years old and has continued to do so to this day. She also plays and cantors services at 5 other churches in the area. Her choir at St. Mary's in East Hartford CT, which she has directed for the past 18 years, was invited to sing for the Pope in 1992. Wendy's musical career includes a tenure at Riverside Park directing a community show choir called "Friends in Harmony" in which she provided the participants with vocal and choral instruction on behalf of the Park for various charity organizations. She studied and worked with Rev. Arthur Wendel of the Manhattan School of Music on many salutes to Broadway and she is currently a soloist for weddings and special services throughout Connecticut. This year Wendy sings the solo "For Every Season" and performs with the choirs singing "Angels We Have Heard On High" and "You are Emmanuel". She also helped in writing "A State Of Gratitude", "A Stable Song" and "For Every Season".
Wendy Quinn
Cassandra began her performing career at a very young age in Enfield, CT, where she was raised. She played Annie in the 20th anniversary revival of the show at its birthplace, the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, CT and branched out into film and TV with performances with Michael J. Fox in Spin City and Anna Paquin and Sean Connery in the film Finding Forrester. Recently opening for Anna Nalick, Cassie is a very taleneted singer songwriter in her own right. Her current self-produced CD "Hiding Underneath", as well as "Hold the Sun," are available at www.ckubinski.com. Cassandra is currently involved in a film project "Clear Blue Tuesday" along with many public performances. This year she sings the song "A Stable Song" and "You Are Emmanuel" and she also sings backup for "The Mystic Christmas Moon".
Cassandra Kubinski
The music world is full of guitar playing, young, male singer/songwriters. But rarely does one get up onstage with as simple a grace, and as unassuming a charm, as James Adamo. From the first licks of his jazzy pop/rock to his captivating voice, you know you're in for a treat. We know him and love his performances with Cassandra Kubinski in venues all over CT. James also plays the Rockwood Music Hall, the Triad, Arlene's Grocery, and Sin-E, impressing hard-edged New York fans with his nimble guitar work as much as his vocal honesty. He started playing guitar at 15 and in 1997 joined a boisterous jam band that came to be known as Doctor Pocket, an incredibly popular band with college students and in upstate NY. They were successful enough to open for Derek Trucks Band, Jeff Healy, J. Giles, and the Samples. After much success in that arena it was James' voice and fast-developing songwriting skills that came to the forefront. In 2006, James began to record and play solo and is co-writing with some of NYC's best, including Lorraine Ferro (Jessica Simpson, DOVE award winner), Janice Fitzgerald, and Angus Clark (TransSiberian Orchestra guitar hero). His website and latest CD "Piece it Together" can be found at www.myspace.com/adamojames.
James Adamo, photo by Rob McCulloch
Louise Fauteux is a busy opera and concert soloist in the Northeast.She can be heard this 2007-2008 season performing with Concora, the New Haven Oratorio Choir, the Connecticut Master Chorale, the Westchester County Singers, the New Haven Chorale, and the Farmington Valley Chorale.In her career, Louise Fauteux has been a featured soloist in Peer Gynt with the New York Philharmonic, led by Kurt Masur, and she was a Carmel Bach Festival fellow and national semifinalist for the MacAllister Awards.Last year’s highlights include a concert with Alarm Will Sound at Miller Theater (NYC).Louise was brought up in East Windsor, received her graduate degree from Westminster Choir College and now lives in West Hartford. In addition to performing she teaches for the Hartt School of Music and is a newly appointed choir director for Kingswood-Oxford School.She welcomes visitors to her website at http://www.louisefauteux.com/. This year Louise sings "All My Heart This Night Rejoices" along with the choir singing "Love Was Born For Us To Share" and "You Are Emmanuel".
Louise Fauteux
Lianne recently completed a 5-month residency with Opera Colorado, where sheperformed the roles of Gianetta in L’Elisird’Amore, Dionisia in La Curandera, Alexis in The Island of Tulipitan, and covered the role of Oscar in Un Ballo in Maschera. Additionally, she has been fortunate to have soloed with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic, Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra, West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Western New York Chamber Orchestra, the Orchard Park Symphony, the Chautauqua Orchestra Ensemble, the Tallahassee Bach Parlay, and has sung at the Bach and Beyond Festival in Fredonia, NY. She has performed roles with such opera companies as Syracuse Opera, Ash Lawn Opera Festival, and the Berkshire Opera Company. Lianne holds a Bachelor of Music, cum laude, from State University of New York (SUNY) College at Fredonia, and a Masters of Music from Florida State University. She received further training at the Lake Placid Institute for Music and the Humanities, the Austrian American Mozart Academy, and V.O.I.C.Experience.Awards include the Florida State Univeristy’s Glennys Gallaher Award for Vocal Excellence, 4th place in the Shreveport Opera’s Singer of the Year Competition, and2nd Place Winner of the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions in the Rocky Mountain Region. Lianne was one of the voices on "Love Was Born For Us To Share" and "You Are Emmanuel".
Lianne Coble
Luke received his bachelor of music in voice performance from the Hartt School of Music. His first operatic performance was that of Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte in 2001 with the Easthampton Opera Theater. IN 2002 he performed the role of Peter Quince in Britten's Midsummernight's Dream at the Chatauqua vocal program. In 2004 he studied performance as a member of the Opera Theater Center at the Aspen Music Festival. Currently Luke is pursuing Graduate studies at the Hartt School of Music. As a student, Luke's operatic roles include Junius in Britten's Rape of Lucretia, Masetto in Mozart's Don Giovanni, Sam in Bernstein;s Trouble in Tahiti, and Count Almaviva in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro. In 2005 he performed the role of Mozart's Count at the Dicapo Theater in NY with the Martina Arroyo Foundation. Among his Mozart roles also is Papageno in Die Zauberflote. In the Broadway repertoire Luke has performed the role of Emile de Becce in Roger's and Hammerstein's South Pacific. During is studies he has received scholarships from the Chautauqua Institution, the Hartt School of Music, the Aspen Music Festival, the Martina Arroyo Foundation, and the Voice Experience Foundation. Luke solos this year on "Oh Holy Night" in both French and English and is part of the ensemble in "Love Was Born For Us To Share" and "You Are Emmanuel".
Luke Scott
Colin is in his senior year at The University of Hartford, Hartt School of Music, where he studies music composition, piano, and conducting. He sings with the Hartt Chorale and Chamber Singers, accompanies for the vocal and theatre divisions, and is the musical director of the University of Hartford's a cappella group "L'shir." He is also a tenor with First Presbyterian Church in Hartford and the Greater Middletown Chorale. His compositions have been performed by several ensembles at Hartt, including the Hartt Tour Choir, which sang in Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany in the summer of 2006. Following graduation, Colin plans to pursue a Master's in Conducting. This year Colin is part of the ensemble in "Love Was Born For Us To Share" and "You Are Emmanuel".
Colin Britt
Jana Pivácek-Cole is an International Voice and Acting Teacher and professional performer for 37 years. Training from Ball State University,Oberlin College, and New York City. She started Tapestry Singers in 1991 when moved to Granby from NYC where they have raised over $40,000 since we began. We are a not-for-profit organization which meets every Friday night faithfully, 12 months a year. Our next benefit will be February 9th at 7:00 PM and February 10th at 4:00 PM at Trinity Tariffville Church to Benefit the Kateri Medical Clinic in Nigeria. For our new CD, the Tapestry singers performed the song "Gratefully" which was directed by Jana.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Lawrence Cole
Jason received his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Baldwin-Wallace College, where he studied voice with Sophie Ginn-Paster. Jason has appeared with the Cleveland Opera in several productions, including Lucia di Lammermoor, and Samson and Delilah among others. He has appeared in principal opera roles, such as the title role in Gianni Schicchi, Carl Olsen, in Street Scene, and the Sergeant of Police in the Pirates of Penzance. He has appeared as a featured soloist of the Bach and Handel Society of Cleveland. He currently teaches voice and piano lessons at Summit Studios in Manchester CT. He is also one of the writers on "Speak to Me of Hope" and was an invaluable resource in making this CD come to life.
Jason Stammen
Sarah Blackburn was brought up in Windsor Locks, Connecticut and is 18 years old and loves to sing.. She attends the Watkinson School and is extremely involved in the Hartford Children's Theatre. She has appeared in such shows as Once Upon a Mattress as Princess Winifred, Runaways, Alice in Wonderland, The Miracle Worker and 42nd Street. She is currently in Fame: the Musical, which will take place this October at The Classical Magnet School in Hartford. She was our special guest coming in to sing with the chorus on The First Noel on this CD. This was Sarah's first recording studio experience which she handled like a pro. We expect to see a lot of Sarah in the future and thank her for giving her time to this effort.
Sarah Blackburn
John is our lead engineer both at the Green Street Arts Center and at DreamCatcher Studios. He offered his time, valuable expertise and comic relief during long recording and mixing sessions. John has compositions in films, videos and commercials. He has a BS Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Colorado and has maintained his own recording studio and recording school for the past fifteen years. He has been the producer on over 40 released CDs for many artists, and currently teaches Audio Production and Electronic Music at Middlesex Community College. He maintains his own studio, DreamCatcher recording studio in Broad Brook, Connecticut. Thank you for all the extra accommodations you made to see this project through. John wrote the music for "The Mystic Christmas Moon" featured on Christmas In Connecticut - Volume II.
John Bergeron
Jared was raised in Broad Brook, Connecticut. He spent many years playing the organ and piano at St Catherine church and has been sought out to play for numerous CT events through the years including Riverside Parks Community Theatre shows where he not only played but arranged many of the numbers chosen for each show. He is currently a keyboardist, producer, composer, and multimedia artist. A graduate of Harvard '97 in Applied Science, with a Masters degree from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, he has played around the world and has worked with #1 Billboard and Grammy award-winning artists. He attended the Hartt School of Music in grade school. As Organist of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral in New York City, he is raising funds for a restoration of the great 1868 Henry Erben organ. He's currently playing with and directing/producing a number of bands in New York City. Jared played all the musical arrangements and produced every song for both CDs. He also underscored and co-wrote "Christmas in Connecticut", "Speak to Me of Hope", "Season of Peace", "A State Of Gratitude", "A Stable Song", "For Every Season" and "Lighthouse Keeper's Christmas".
Jared Lamenzo
Judy Lemay was raised in Broad Brook, CT and began her music career taking voice and show production instruction with Rev. Arthur Wendel. She cantored for many years at St. Catherine church and owned her own singing telegram business in which she wrote all of her own songs. As a Special Events Director at Riverside Park, she wrote scripts such as "Brother Act" and the story of the Park's founder Ed Carroll Sr. called "One Mans Dream" and many more custom scripts for specific charities. She also studied voice at the Hartford Conservatory and Summit Studios. She is currently a writer for different periodicals and greeting card companies, including The Airport News at Bradley International Airport. This CD united a love of words and music and she wrote "Christmas in Connecticut", "Speak to me of Hope" and "Season of Peace" and started her own Independent Record Label Company called Bright Lights Music, LLC. In their second year in business Judy is releasing her second album and has written the following new songs; "A State Of Gratitude", "The Mystic Christmas Moon", "For Every Season"and "A Stable Song".
St Mary's Church Choir located in East Hartford, CT is directed by Wendy Quinn. They have been together since the early 1970's and made a pilgrimage to Rome in 1992 as the choir was invited to sing for the Pope. They were accompanied by Jared Lamenzo when he was just 17 years old. Thank you St Mary's Church Choir for your beautiful spirit and voices. (Names not in picture order...)
Directer
- Wendy Quinn, Soprano - Joanne Blum, Lorraine Dagon, Cathy Hartley, Mary Santomento, Pat Washburn, Traci Washburn, Alto - Phyllis Cassidy, Lorraine Sapia, Marilyn Tamiso, Pauline Wood, Wanda D'Agostino. Tenor - John Jacobellis, Peter Camarco, Brian Hartley, Evelyn Mulligan, Bass - Franklin Tamiso, Donald Wood,
The Tapestry Singers recorded the song "Gratefully" (Names are not in picture order) * (Director) Jana Pivácek-Cole - Trinity Church, Tariffville Liz Breen- Sacred Heart Church, Suffield Molly Drenzek- Second Baptist Church of Suffield * Bob Franzen- Southwick Congregational Church. MA Marilyn Gibbs - Trinity Church, Tariffville Nancy Holl- St. Bernard's Catholic Church, Tariffville Paula Kern - Trinity Church, Tariffville Vince Metallo - Sacred Heart Church, Suffield *Sue O'Brien - St. Mary's Church, Windor Locks Charlene Peterson - St. Mary's Church, Windsor Locks Becky Sears- First Congregational Church of Granby Shannon Smith - Second Baptist Church of Suffield * "The Three Threads"
In 2006 Debra Dondzik kindergarten class from Orange CT entered our essay contest and won first prize. $250.00 was awarded to "The Will Santa Find Me?" Foundation on the children's behalf and $250.00 was awarded to the children who turned it over to the "Bright Horizans Foundation for Children in Need". Their story was put to music and we are proud to have had them record it on our CD with the help of Louise Fauteux, Savannah Giammarco and Hannah Dessert.
Teacher: Debra Dondzik Molly Fabrizio, David Rozycki, Michael Parent, Nicholas Chiu, Olivia Chiu, Ava Galdenzi, Shannon Winters (missing from photo)
Savannah is a voice student of one of our resident professional singers Louise Fauteux. Savannah was Miss CT Sweetheart in 2005 where she won the talent competition. She was 1st runner up this year for Miss Connecticut Junior Preteen, she won the talent competition singing "Kids" from Bye Bye Birdie. She also won the actress competition. Savannah loves horseback riding and has several 3,4,5, and 6th place finishes in her first two competitions on her horse Luigi. She has auditioned for several shows in NY and made it to the round of 64 for a touring production of Annie. She has also been dancing since the age of 2 where she has taken tap, ballet and jazz/hip hop which she now specializes in. She loves swimming and roller blading, drawing, and writing stories.
Hannah Dessert is 12 years old and loves to sing. She is a voice student of Louise Fauteux at the Hartt School of Music Community Division. Hannah has been a member of Connecticut Children's Choir and along with singing, Hannah is learning to play the guitar. Her other love is dance. She takes ballet, pointe, modern, tap and jazz at Riley's School of Dance. She has performed with her dance studio at Walt Disney World, Sea World, and Universal Studio in Florida. She enjoyed being a part of this CD.
