Ocean Grove to Present Orchestra of St Peter by the Sea, 9/12

The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association will present its 2015 season finale concert by the Orchestra of St. Peter by the Sea, conducted by Father Alphonse Stephenson, on Saturday, September 12, 2015 at the Great Auditorium. Showtime is 8 pm. Tickets are $25 reserved, $20 general admission. Order online at www.oceangrove.org or call 800-590-4064. The Great Auditorium is located at Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways in Ocean Grove, NJ. All facilities are handicapped-accessible.

The program, entitled "A Tour of New York," will feature selections associated with New York's greatest theatres and concert halls: Avery Fisher Hall, The Metropolitan Opera, Broadway, and Aeolian Hall. Works include Beethoven's Egmont Overture and Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, as well as Broadway and operatic selections. The soloists are soprano Victoria Cannizzo, baritone Chris Pinnella and pianist Janice Carissa.

Father Alphonse Stephenson formed his first orchestra in New York City's theatre district, while serving at St. Malachy's, the Actors' Chapel. In 1980, the late Broadway director and choreographer Michael Bennett engaged him as conductor and musical director for his smash hit, "A Chorus Line." Father Alphonse conducted nearly 3,000 performances of the record-breaking musical. A student of George Schick and Robert Abramson, Father Alphonse has been guest conductor of the Fresno Philharmonic, the Delaware Valley Philharmonic, Metro Lyric Opera, the Great Palm Beach Symphony Orchestra, the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra and the Key West Pops. A retired National Guard/US Air Force Chaplain and Brigadier General, he retired from military service last year and now devotes his time to the Cecelia Foundation,

a non-profit organization which he founded to bring orchestral performances to Catholic schools throughout the state and gift instruments to deserving students. "All three soloists are grant recipients from the Foundation," said Stephenson. "I am delighted to see how they are progressing in their respective musical careers."

Victoria Cannizzo, soprano, earned degrees in music from the University of Chicago and Binghamton University. She most recently appeared as Verdi's La Traviata with Tri-Cities Opera. With the same company she has also sung the role of "The Countess" in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro and anticipates future performances as "Lucia di Lammermoor" and "Pamina" in The Magic Flute. She maintains an active concert schedule performing frequently with orchestras in NJ. Ms. Cannizzo was recently a prize winner in the Liederkranz Foundation Vocal Competition.

Broadway baritone Chris Pinnella has performed Off Broadway, regionally, and with several orchestras as a guest vocalist throughout the tri-state area as well as in New York City at New World Stages, Birdland, The Duplex, The Laurie Beechman Theatre, and Don't Tell Mama. He has performed and worked with Oscar winner Julie Andrews as well as multiple Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Ian Fraser and the TONY nominated John Buchinno and Marcia Milgrom Dodge. As a recording artist and vocalist, Chris recently became a member of the platinum selling rock band, The Trans-Siberian Orchestra. His debut LP was released in 2012.

A native of Indonesia, pianist Janice Carissa entered the Curtis Institute of Music in 2013 and studies with Gary Graffman and Robert McDonald. All students at Curtis receive merit-based full tuition scholarships, and Ms. Carissa is the Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest Fellow.

A recipient of numerous awards and honors, Ms. Carissa is a Young Scholar of Lang Lang's International Music Foundation and the winner of the 2014 piano competition at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen Music Festival and School; Star Performance Award Winner of 2012 American Protégé International Music Talent Competition in New York, and the Top Prize Winner of the IBLA Foundation's 2006 International Piano Competition.

Ms. Carissa has been featured on television and radio stations, including Indonesia Mencari Bakat, Inspirasi Pagi, Sang Juara, Global TV, RCTI, Trans TV, BC TV, Metro TV, Voice of America, WQXR in New York's The Greene Space, and National Public Radio's From the Top.

Recent career highlights include her orchestra debut performing Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with St. Peters by the Sea Orchestra and Father Alphonse Stephenson in New Jersey, Beethoven Concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Cristian M?celaru at the Mann Center in Philadelphia, and performances at the United Nations in New York as part of "UN Day Concert 2014: Lang Lang & Friends; " at Oxford University's St Hilda's College; and Chicago's Jay Priztker Pavillion with Lang Lang. Ms. Carissa has also performed in Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, the Frederick Chopin University of Music's Grand Concert Hall in Warsaw, at the Theatre Hall of The Lipinski Academy of Music & Ryszard Bukowski Wroclaw in Poland, and at Rimini, Cesena and Ragusa in Italy as IBLA winner. She has performed for the President of Indonesia and other dignitaries at the Presidential Palace Indonesia and for Lady Dewi Sukarno in Bali. Together with her brother Ryan Ferguson, Ms. Carissa performed a duo recital in the "Fantastic Sound of Two Pianos," held at the Sydney Opera House in November 2011.

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