CONNECTICUT CAST

MidWest Symphony Orchestra conducted by Madeline Tsai

Madeline Tsai, conductor
Conductor, percussionist and organist, Ms. Tsai has served as director of music at Six Mile Run Reformed Church in Franklin Park, New Jersey since 2006. A native of Taiwan, Ms. Tsai earned her FBA from Taipei National University of the Arts. She graduated from Westminster Choir College of Rider University in 2008, where she majored in Conducting and Sacred Music, with organ as her primary instrument. In 2001 and 2002, she represented Taiwan as the main percussionist and soloist for the World Youth Choir performing in North and South America. She has also worked with the National Symphony Orchestra, Taipei Philharmonic Choir, Ju Percussion Group, Chinsui Choir, and Yinqi Orchestra and Choir. While at Westminster, she was invited to the Spoleto music Festival in USA in 2005 and 2006.Ms. Tsai won numbers awards including the GuanDu Music Competition and Second Prize for A Cappella in Asia in 2003. Previously she conducted the Scout Children Choir and Linnan Church Choir, and taught piano and percussion at the Fu-Shing private middle school in Taiwan. She has studied conducting with Maestro Ken Kiesler, Mr. Timothy Brown, Dr. Joe Miller, Dr. Andrew Megill, Dr. James Jordan among the others, and is an organ pupil of Ken Cowan. Madeline served as accompanist for Westminster’s Bach Festival (summer 2007). She was accompanist for Princeton Girlchoir Cantores and Grace Notes in 2006. Ms. Tsai was invitied to Conductors Retreat at Medomak with Maestro. Ken Kiesler in 2008.

Lance Keizer, tenor
Lance Keizer (Chaplain), a native of Montreal, Québec, Canada, is a second year graduate student earning a Master of Music in Voice Pedagogy and Performance (performance) at Westminster Choir College, where he currently studies with Dr. Scott McCoy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in voice performance from McGill University in Montreal, Québec. Mr. Keizer has performed the roles of Franz and Cochenille in Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann with Summer Opera Lyric Theater in Toronto, Ontario (2006), La Théière and Le Petit Vieillard in Ravel's L'Enfant et les Sortilèges, Anatol in Samuel Barber’s Vanessa and Le Brazillien in Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne with Opera McGill (2007). Mr. Keizer reprised the role of Le Petit Vieillard in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges (November, 2007) with Westminster Opera Theater and performed in the opera chorus for Westminster Opera Theater’s production of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito (April, 2008). He made his debut performance last year with the Princeton Musical Amateurs Society performing the tenor solo for Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor. Lance Keizer recently made his debut as L’Aumônier in Westminster Opera Theater’s production of Poulenc Dialogues des Carmelites. (April 2009)

Crystal A. Charles, mezzo
Crystal A. Charles is from Jersey City, New Jersey and is a senior voice performance major at Westminster Choir College of Rider University. She performed with the Westminster Opera Theater chorus in La Clemenza di Tito. She was also cast as Captive Girl in Amistad at Spoleto Festival USA, and Ada in the musical Hosea! with the Salvation Army. Crystal also performed in William Shakespeare's Pericles Prince of Tyre as Bawd. She has also performed as Mère Marie in the Poulenc Opera, Dialogues des Carmelites. She is currently a student of Dr. Lindsey Christiansen.

Ashley Yin-Hsuan Chen, cellist
Born in Taoyuan, Taiwan, Miss Chen started to play piano at the age of 5 and cello at the age of 10. She was cello principal both in the Taipei university of the arts symphony orchestra and string orchestra, Hunter college symphony orchestra, Voice of spring symphony orchestra, member of Evergreen symphony orchestra and Taipei Sinfonietta & Philharmonic orchestra and performed in St. Petersburg and Moscow in Russia with conductor Alexander Rudin in 2004. She joined the Schleswig-Holstein music festival in the summer of 2006 and toured in Europe with conductors Christoph Eschenbach and Christoph von Dohnanyi. She performed in orchestra and chamber music all over the world, including Japan, Russia, Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, USA and Taiwan. She studied with Prof. Margo Tatgenhorst Drakos at Manhattan school of music for master degree. Now she is pursuing her doctoral degree in Rutgers University, under the instruction of Prof. Jonathan Spitz.
The Greek Warriors, is the premier Ancient Greek Hoplite re-enactment group on the East Coast and was established in 2004. The group is currently commanded by both George Marcinek and Peter S. Giakoumis of NY. The Greek Warriors is a dedicated living history group, recreating the ancient Greek Hoplite Warrior. Their arms and armor portray the classic Greek Warrior in full panoply. Most of the equipment and arms are hand made, some of which is created by the members themselves in a similar fashion as the ancients did. The group has appeared on television, film and print media throughout the world.