Jonathan Wessler currently is in his second year at the Eastman School of Music, pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance with William Porter. He previously earned the Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Master of Sacred Music degree from the University of Notre Dame. Past teachers include Sherry Seckler, Christiaan Teeuwsen, David Boe, and Craig Cramer. In addition, he has performed in master classes with Marie-Louise Langlais, Daniel Roth, Olivier Latry, Michel Bouvard, Hans Fagius, and Jon Laukvik. Jonathan holds the Colleague certificate from the American Guild of Organists and was a finalist in the 2007 Arthur Poister Organ Competition.

He serves as the assistant organist at Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York, and as the principal continuo player for the Peoria Bach Festival in Peoria, Illinois, where he also has been a featured performer on the organ and the harpsichord. Jonathan is a six-year alumnus of the acclaimed Lutheran Summer Music Academy and Festival. He lives in Rochester with his wife, Joy, and their four-month-old daughter, Julia. Jonathan is a Peoria native having attended Concordia Lutheran School (www.concordiapeoria.com) and Woodruff High School.

On the Peoria Bach Festival 2010 he will serve as primary keyboardist and present a full organ recital featuring the music of Bach (8:00 p.m. on Friday, June 4th). He will also play several chorale preludes from the Orgelbuchlein (Little Organ Book) and illustrate their descriptive musical elements for the Peoria Bach Festival children's program entitled "Mr. Bach Gets Into Trouble" (4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 8).

After apprenticeships at Lake George and Santa Fe, James Doing was invited to join the Netherlands Opera Studio in Amsterdam to pursue further training and launch an international career in opera. James has sung over 70 operatic roles in Paris, Nice, London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Antwerp, Turin, Stuttgart, Doha (Qatar), New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Santa Fe, Cleveland, Cooperstown (Glimmerglass), Milwaukee, Madison and elsewhere. His operatic roles range from Telemaco in Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulisse (Netherlands Opera and Brooklyn Academy of Music) to his critically acclaimed portrayal of Roderick Usher in Philip Glass's The Fall of the House of Usher in the Stuttgarter Hofkonzerte, and Gorlaeus in the world premiere and subsequent release on Nonesuch of Louis Andriessen's De Materie. As a Mozart specialist his roles include Tamino, Belmonte, Don Ottavio, Ferrando, Oebalus, Marzio, Bastien and the comedic Pedrillo, Basilio, and Vogelsang.

James also launched a concert career in Europe after winning the Erna Spoorenberg International Oratorio Vocalists Competition in Holland. As an internationally renowned interpreter of J. S. Bach, James Doing has sung over 100 performances of the St. Matthew and St. John Passions and the Christmas Oratorio in Europe, Japan and North America, including many performances in Amsterdam's famed Concertgebouw and Stateside with The Bach Choir of Bethlehem, Peoria Bach Festival, Choral Society of Durham, and the Universities of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin. In March 2005 he performed Bach's Magnificat and Easter Oratorio with Chicago's Music of the Baroque and in March 2006, his solo tenor performance in the first ever Dutch language Matthew Passion was released by Universal Music/Deutsche Grammophon. He has performed Messiah around the world including Amsterdam's Concertgebouw and in Tokyo and is the tenor soloist on the world premiere recording of Beethoven's Kantate auf die Erhebung Leopolds II zur Kaiserswurde with conductor Jean-Paul Penin and the Krakow Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

His mastery of the German language led to recording contracts in the early 1990s with Evangeliums Rundfunk with whom he recorded a solo Gospel album, three albums of German hymns, and the role of Jesus in a musical Adam und Co. which subsequently went on tour throughout Western and the former Eastern Germany. This affinity for the German language also led to his engagement at Theaterhaus Stuttgart in 1997 singing four critically acclaimed performances of Schubert's epic song cycle Winterreise (in the orchestration by Hans Zender), to sold out audiences.

As a performer, he has been universally praised for his vocal agility, clear timbre, effortless and stylish interpretation, as well as his command of languages and fine dramatic and comedic acting. He has received notice as "admirable" The New York Times, "refined lyric tenor" Opera News, "strong and musical voice" Le Figaro, "vocally first rate" Opern Welt, "great vocal presence" Opernglas, "serene, sweeping, smooth voice" Stuttgarter Zeitung, "absolutely perfect" Main-Echo, and, "deeply moving . . . never failed our expectations . . . more than impressive" The Jerusalem Post.

He currently bases his singing career out of Madison, Wisconsin where he is Professor of Voice at University of Wisconsin's School of Music. Current and former students have won the Wisconsin, Minnesota and Oregon MET Auditions and sung nationally with New York City Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, other regional opera companies, and in the young artist programs of Santa Fe, San Francisco, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Minnesota, Portland, Sarasota, Des Moines and Central City.

On the Peoria Bach Festival 2010, James will serve as the Evangelist for the performances of the St. Matthew Passion on Thursday, June 10 and Friday, June 11 at 8:00 p.m.

Gerard Sundberg's compelling baritone voice is celebrated internationally for its beauty and clarity. He is active both here and abroad having distinguished himself as a concert artist with his mastery of bass/baritone repertoire. Recent performances include the St. John Passion conducted by John Nelson in Paris at the Notre Dame Cathedral. He has appeared as soloist with the Robert Shaw Festival Singers, and with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra under the direction of the late Robert Shaw. For many seasons he has captivated audiences with his performances of Handel's Messiah with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Following another Messiah performance, a critic declares, "His recitatives and arias remained focused and filled with energy.... He demonstrated excellent range, control and diction." He maintains an impressive presence in the Chicago area, frequently appearing as soloist with the West Suburban Choral Union, recently for a performance of Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony. He also has sung extensively with the Oregon Bach Festival under the artistic leadership of Helmuth Rilling. Rilling praises Mr. Sundberg for his "exceptionally stunning high range" and "perfect command of the German language and high musicality". He is a graduate of Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and holds both Master of Fine Arts and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the University of Minnesota where he studied voice with Clifton Ware and Roy Schuessler. He is presently Professor of Voice at Wheaton Conservatory of Music in Illinois where he teaches studio voice and vocal pedagogy. He remains active as a church musician and vocal and choral clinician. His two recordings are Singer on a Journey, including four sacred song cycles by Brahms, Beethoven, Vaughan Williams and Carlisle Floyd, and Songs for the Journey including arrangements by Edwin Childs of sixteen hymns and gospel songs.

On the Peoria Bach Festival 2010, Gerald sing the bass/baritone arias for the performances of the St. Matthew Passion on Thursday, June 10 and Friday, June 11 at 8:00 p.m. He will also perform selected recitatives and arias on the Chamber Concert on Wednesday, June 9 at 5:30 p.m. and the Bach at Noon concert on Thursday, June 10 at 12:05 p.m.