Christmas Vocal Quartet Featuring Local professional Vocalists

Please join us Sunday December 3^rd from 2:30-3:30pm in the church for a Christmas Vocal Concert, featuring a quartet of local professional vocalists. You won’t want to miss this great way to get into the holiday spirit!

Melissa Palfey (alto) is an alumna of the Eastman School of Music, where she studied French horn performance. She is a member of the choir at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist, where she has been singing for three years. In addition to choral singing, she teaches private lessons on French horn and trumpet. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in music education with a choral focus at Case Western, where she is a teaching assistant for the Concert Choir.

Ian Crane (bass) has been a professional vocalist and bagpiper for decades. He was a founding member of Quire Cleveland and performs with Apollo’s Fire, as well as the King’s Counterpoint (SC) and Vox Regis (SC). In 2018 he toured Britain and Ireland with Apollo’s Fire, and, in 2019, participated in the Amherst Early Music Ensemble Singing Intensive. Ian holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Cleveland State and master’s degree in Choral Conducting from Kent State University. Ian recently co-founded the Cleveland Celtic Ensemble and regularly performs with them as a piper/vocalist. In March he conducted the premiere of Irish-Born composer Eoin McQuinn’s Ireland Journey. Choirpiper.com

Emilio Santiago (tenor) is a senior Vocal Performance major attending Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music. He will be graduating in the spring. As an aspiring professional opera singer, Emilio has performed in a variety of operatic productions from chorus roles in The Pittsburgh Opera and Opera Western Reserve, to leading roles at The Dana School. His travels in the vocal music world have taken him to multiple continents, including summers spent in South Korea as a member of a touring choir, and Hungary for a young artist program. Upon graduation, Emilio looks to enter the competition scene and work towards finding his ideal Graduate Program. Outside of school and opera, Emilio has been hired for various weddings, funerals, and other local recitals, whether they be for churches or local wineries.

Rachel Morrison (soprano) is a graduate of the University of Akron and has performed all over Cleveland for the last 20+ years. Having toured Italy, Austria, Sicily, and Ireland with Singers Companye, Rachel currently calls the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist her choral home. She has sung with the chamber choir at the Cathedral for 6 years. In addition to her choral exploits, she has performed with the Cleveland Opera, Cleveland Opera Theater, and the Fairview Park Fine Arts and Theater Association and her roles include: Medda Larkin (Newsies), Miss Marian (The Music Man), Belle (Disney’s Beauty and the Beast), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Santuzza (Cavalleria rusticana), and many others. Currently, Rachel resides in North Olmsted with her dog, Emma.