The Epiphany Festival

laura choi stuart, soprano

Hailed as “a lyric soprano of ravishing quality” by the Boston Globe, Laura Choi Stuart has appeared on the mainstage with Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Boston, Annapolis Opera, Lake George Opera, the In Series, and Opera North in roles including Musetta, Adina, Gilda, Pamina, and Frasquita. Equally comfortable in recital and concert settings, Laura was honored for art song performance as 2nd prize winner at both the 2010 and 2012 National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Awards and as one of the 2009 Art Song Discovery Series winners for the Vocal Arts Society. Based in the Washington, DC area,

Laura appears regularly with the Washington Bach Consort and the Washington Master Chorale, in addition to solo appearances with many area ensembles. Solo highlights of the current season include Messiah and St. Matthew Passion at the Washington National Cathedral, Brahms Requiem and a holiday celebration featuring Bach Cantata 51 and Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 with the New Orchestra of Washington, and works of Tavener and Mealor with Cantate. She received her training at The Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program for Singers, Opera North, and Berkshire Opera, as well as The New England Conservatory and Dartmouth College.

richard giarusso, baritone

Praised by The Washington Post for his “expressive and perfectly controlled voice,” Dr. Giarusso maintains an active career as a baritone, working regularly with some of the most prominent professional ensembles throughout the greater DC region.

While at home in a variety of repertoire, he has developed a particular proficiency in the performance of early music and lieder. Dr. Giarusso served for many years as a member of the singing faculty at Berkshire Choral International. In Boston, he appeared with several acclaimed ensembles and sang five years with the Choir of the Church of the Advent, gaining fluency in a repertoire ranging from plainchant to world premieres with a special emphasis upon Renaissance polyphony. In the greater DC area, he maintains associations with many of the most prominent professional ensembles in the city, including the Washington Bach Consort and the Choirs of the Washington National Cathedral. He will make his solo debut at St. Thomas Church, Fifth Avenue, New York City, in March 2020.

A specialist in the German lied, he has published articles on Schubert’s late lieder in edited volumes from Ashgate and Oxford University Press. Performances of the same repertoire, with both historical and modern instruments, have been a staple of his professional activity for nearly twenty years.

He has studied voice with Keith Kibler, Pamela Dellal, and Elizabeth Daniels, and has performed in masterclasses with Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Mitsuko Shirai, and Hartmut Höll. He has coached German lieder with Robert Levin, Malcolm Bilson, and John Shirley-Quirk.

molly jones castrucci, cello

Dr. Molly Jones enjoys a versatile career as an orchestral and chamber musician, soloist, and teacher. She currently lives in Berwyn Heights, Maryland, and is the Assistant Principal Cellist of the Maryland Symphony Orchestra and Section Cellist in the Akron Symphony. Molly regularly performs as a substitute with the National Symphony Orchestra. As soloist, she most recently performed Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic.

In addition to her performing career, she is the private cello instructor at DeMatha, Bishop McNamara, and Springbrook High Schools and maintains her own private teaching studio. Her teaching has taken her across the country; in 2018 Molly was the featured Guest Cellist for Clark County (Las Vegas) School District's “Cello Day.”

Furthermore, Molly is co-founder of Lumino Festival, a one-week restorative retreat in Connecticut for young professional musicians. The festival will begin its third season in June of 2020!

Molly received her Doctor of Musical Arts in Cello Performance from the University of Maryland. Her dissertation was titled “Voices from the Holocaust, Remembered: Selected Works for Cello." She has presented her research at numerous synagogues in Maryland.

When she is not performing or teaching, Molly enjoys going on walks with her husband Tyler and playing with their cats Izzy and Sebastian.