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| The Kensington Consort was formed in March of 2006 by
James Wilson who gathered together a
group of eight singers who shared a love of early music. The group
gave its debut performance on 2 April, 2006 at St. Andrews Episcopal
Church as part of their "Musical Mosaic" concert series. |
Current Members
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Dianne Hahn Black (Alto) holds a Bachelor’s degree in voice from
UNC-Chapel Hill, a Master’s degree in music therapy from Florida State
University and a certificate in accounting from Guilford College. Ms.
Black currently sings with the Bel Canto Company and has previously sung
with the Camerata singers, and the Greensboro Oratorio Society. Dianne
is a CPA and CFO for Management Resource Systems, Inc. |
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Tandy Brown (Baritone/Tenor) is a Wilmington native and graduate
of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to
the Kensington Consort, Mr. Brown also sings with the Bel Canto Company
and has been a member since 1988. He owns and operates Buffalo
Creek Custom Woodworking and Remodeling, is an experienced carpenter and
an avid kayaker.
Mr. Brown, his wife Susan Burkholder, and their two
daughters, Ali and Rosa, share their Greensboro home with various
assorted mammals.
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Hannah Rose Carter (Soprano) grew up in Ontario, Canada
and upstate New York and received her Bachelor’s degree in vocal
performance and music education at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music.
She relocated to Greensboro in 2003, and attended the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro, where she earned her Master’s in vocal
performance. Ms. Carter has appeared as a soloist with the Greensboro
Choral Society, UNCG Chamber Singers, Dei Laudes Choir, and at St.
Andrew’s Episcopal Church. She has just completed her first season as a
member of Bel Canto Company.
Most recently, she has appeared on stage as Millie Goat in
UNCG’s touring children’s opera, Figatroll and the Three Billy Goats
Gruff, and as Lucy in Greensboro Opera Company’s production
of The Telephone. Ms. Carter works for Kindermusik
International and teaches voice privately. Her husband, Brian, is an
accomplished cellist and recent graduate of UNCG’s Master’s program. The
two enjoying cooking fabulous feasts for two and raising their teenage
dog, Belle.
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Collin Cooper (Counter-Tenor) is a recent
graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he
received his Bachelor of Arts in Romance Languages and English. During
his tenure there he was also a voice student, as a baritone, of Mr.
Stafford Wing. Collin has performed as soloist with the North Carolina
Symphony, UNC Chamber Singers, Tar Heel Voices, and the Hillyer
Community Chorus of Raleigh, NC.
While living in Montpellier, France, he studied counter-tenor under
Ms. Petra Antonini at La Conservatoire de Musique à Montpellier. During
his residence there, he gave recitals at La Cathédrale Saint Pierre, La
Conservatoire de Musique, and Notre Dame d’Avignon.
Recent solo engagements include Handel’s Messiah sponsored by
The Wesley Foundation at the UNC-Chapel Hill (2005); André Campra’s
Messe de Requiem, with the North Carolina Symphony and the Hillyer
Community Chorus in Raleigh, NC (2005). Currently, Mr. Cooper is
alto soloist at First Presbyterian Church, Burlington, NC, a voice
student of Polly Butler-Cornelius, and is completing his Masters degree
in Romance Languages at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
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Matthew DiCamillo (Baritone) is a
native of Niagara Falls NY and has a
Bachelors of Arts degree in applied music from SUNY Fredonia as well as
a M.M. degree in vocal Performance from UNCG. He has performed as
soloist with the Buffalo Philharmonic and will be singing Peter in
Capital Opera’s production of Hansel and Gretel in January 2007.
Matthew teaches voice at Elon University, the Music Academy of North
Carolina, and is associate voice instructor at Szymanski Studios in
Chapel Hill. |
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Shana DiCamillo (Soprano) is a native of
Rochester, NY, with a Master of Music degree from UNCG, and a Bachelor
of Music in Music Education from the State University of New York at
Fredonia (summa cum laude). She has performed the roles of Merry in
The Mighty Casey and Mrs. Hayes/Susannah cover in Susannah at
UNCG, where she has also sung the role of Susannah in scenes from Le
nozze di Figaro. Shana has appeared in recital at the Schlern
International Music Festival in Italy (2003, 2004) where she performed
the role of Pamina in scenes from Die Zauberflöte, and Zerlina in
scenes from Don Giovanni as well as singing in numerous chamber
music recitals. Shana can be heard in recital throughout the Triad area
and performs with the Bel Canto Company as well as serving as their
Choral Manager and Music Librarian. She has recently been seen as the Sandman in Hansel and
Gretel with the Greensboro Opera Company. Shana is
on the voice faculty at the Music Academy of North Carolina, and works
as an administrative assistant at Gilliam Coble & Moser L.L.P. |
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Charles "Chip" Renn (Tenor) is from
Ohio and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from
The Ohio State University. While there, Chip sang with the OSU
Men’s Glee Club and the Chorale. He recently completed a
Master’s degree in Applied Mathematics at UNCG and currently
works as an IT professional in Greensboro. |
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Bill Snedden (Tenor) is a native of Atlanta, GA and holds
a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of North Carolina at
Greensboro where his principal voice teachers were Christine Isley and
Richard Estes. He also studied piano with Inga Morgan, harpsichord
with Dr. Barbara Hill, and organ with Dr. Kathryn Eskey. Mr.
Snedden recently returned to UNCG where he earned a Masters in Business
Administration in 2002.
Mr. Snedden sings with the Bel Canto Company, and is a
frequent guest soloist/section leader & organist at several area
churches. He has appeared with the NC Bach Festival and the
Magnolia Baroque Festival as well as in local productions of
Mozart's Requiem, Handel's Messiah, Honnegger's King
David, and various cantatas of J.S. Bach. Currently, Mr.
Snedden is a Sr. Business Analyst with UnitedHealth Group in Greensboro.
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Past Members
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Wendy Looker (Alto)
is the Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Music at
Guilford College. A native of Buffalo, New York, Wendy holds a Bachelor
of Arts degree in Vocal Performance from the State University of New
York College at Geneseo and a Master's degree in Conducting from the
University of Michigan. She recently received her doctorate in Choral
Conducting at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. During her
graduate studies, Ms. Looker conducted in masterclasses and workshops
under the tutelage of conductors such as Dale Warland, Paul Hillier,
Tõnu Kaljuste, Jon Washburn, Vance George and Robert Page.
In March of 2006,
Ms. Looker was the guest clinician for the Guilford County All-County
Middle School Treble Chorus and in April of 2007, conducted the Guilford
County All-County Elementary Chorus. |
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James Wilson (Baritone) was the Director of
Music at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Greensboro, NC and founder of
the Kensington Consort. In the fall of 2005 Mr. Wilson completed a
Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting at Boston University’s College of
Fine Arts under Dr. Ann Howard Jones and David Hoose. He obtained his
Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from The Hartt School in
Hartford, CT where he was a student of Frederic Moses and Edward
Bolkovac.
While studying in Boston, Mr. Wilson
was Music Director of the Boston University Choral Society, where in the
spring of 2005 he conducted Mendelssohn’s Psalm 95 with the B.U. Choral
Society in collaboration with the All Campus Orchestra. He also served
as Assistant Conductor under Mr. Scott Jarrett with the Marsh Chapel
Choir.
As a baritone soloist, Mr. Wilson has
appeared with the Choral Society of Greensboro, Braintree Choral
Society, the Manchester Community Choir of Manchester, NH, the
Masterworks Choral of Boston, MA, and the Marsh Chapel Choir at Boston
University. Recent solo engagements include the role of Pilatus
in J.S. Bach’s St. John Passion, Handel’s Messiah,
Mozart’s Requiem, and Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass.
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Priscilla Jane Smith (Alto) was born in
Ann Arbor, Michigan , and completed a Bachelor of Music in Vocal
Performance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in
2006. She has most recently appeared in the Greensboro Opera
Company's productions of Madama Butterfly and Gianni
Schicchi (singing the role of Zita). Jane has also been seen
in UNCG's productions of H.M.S. Pinafore as Little
Buttercup, and Lakmé as the Gypsy Fortune Teller and the
understudy of Mallika and as Kate Pinkerton in
Capitol Opera's production of Madama Butterly. In
2007, Ms. Smith sang with the UNCG Masterworks choir as contralto soloist in Honegger's
King David. She has placed several times at the North
Carolina NATS competition, won 3rd prize in the 2006 Charlotte
Opera Guild competition undergraduate division, and most
recently won 1st place in the Mid-Atlantic Regional NATS
competition. |
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