Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, “A German Requiem”

Saturday, November 8, 2025, 3:00 pm

Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford

BRAHMS: A German Requiem

SARAH CALLINAN, soprano

GREGORY RIZZO-FLOWER, bass-baritone

 

THE HARTFORD CHORALE

JACK ANTHONY POTT, Artistic Director

 

MARIANNE VOGEL, organ

Director of Music, Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford

Tickets

The FVSO is thrilled to once again welcome The Hartford Chorale, Sarah Callinan and Gregory Flower for an unforgettable and moving performance of Brahms’ monumental work, Ein deutsches Requiem, “A German Requiem”. Unlike traditional settings, Brahms focuses on comfort and solace for the living rather than prayers for the dead. It is a deeply personal work, with Brahms selecting his own text from the Lutheran Bible and apocrypha. The seven-movement piece explores themes of mourning, loss, and ultimately, hope and eternal peace.

This performance is dedicated to longtime FVSO member and violist, Pastor William Barnes, who sadly passed away in July 2025. We remember Bill for his generosity of spirit, talent and kindness. Bill was unofficial chair of the welcoming committee, making sure new players were recognized and supported. He will be greatly missed by all of us.

MEET THE HARTFORD CHORALE

Hartford Chorale is a volunteer not-for-profit organization that presents, on a symphonic scale, masterpieces of great choral art throughout southern New England and beyond, serving as the primary symphonic chorus for the Greater Hartford community. Through its concerts and collaborations with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and other organizations, the Hartford Chorale engages the widest possible audiences with exceptional performances of a broad range of choral literature, providing talented singers with the opportunity to study and perform at a professional level.


For more information, please visit hartfordchorale.org

MEET THE DIRECTOR OF THE HARTFORD CHORALE JACK POTT

Jack Anthony Pott is a highly respected conductor, soloist, voice teacher, and clinician throughout Connecticut. In 2023 he was appointed as the 4 th Music Director for Hartford Chorale, after serving as Assistant Music Director for 9 years. Since 2016 he has been the Director of Music & Arts at Asylum Hill Congregational Church in Hartford where he oversees a vibrant music program, concert series, and the acclaimed Boar’s Head & Yule Log Festival. In March 2025 he guest-conducted the Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s Masterworks concert, featuring the Mozart Requiem. Equally comfortable on the other side of the podium, he has been a featured tenor soloist with many ensembles in Connecticut, including the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, New Haven Symphony Orchestra, CONCORA, Voce, Inc., Hartford Chorale, GM Chorale, Con Brio, and the Mystic River Chorale. In December 2022 he made his Carnegie Hall debut as the tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah. Additionally, he is on the roster of Connecticut Choral Artists (CONCORA) and is a featured soloist on albums of the music of Morten Lauridsen, Paul Mealor, and Patrick Hawes by the Hartford-based professional choir, Voce. Having been a member of the voice faculty for both Central
Connecticut State University and the Hartt School Community Division, Mr. Pott now teaches privately. He
holds a Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from The University of Michigan and also did
graduate studies in choral conducting and voice performance at the University of Connecticut. Mr. Pott
resides in South Windsor, CT, with his wife and two dogs.

MEET SOLOIST GREG RIZZO-FLOWER

As a bass-baritone, Greg has been praised for his “rich and powerful voice,” (Cape Cod Times) captivating audiences across the region in performances spanning opera, operetta, musical theatre, oratorio, art song, and choral masterworks. He has become a go-to collaborator for many conductors, valued for his versatile technique, keen musicianship, and profound dedication to character and text. Freelance solo oratorio highlights include Elijah in Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Handel’s Messiah, Duruflé’s Requiem, Mozart’s Requiem, Fauré’s Requiem, Haydn’s The Creation, Jesus in Dubois’ The Seven Last Words of Christ, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and many works J.S. Bach . Greg has been a featured soloist in symphonic masterworks with the Hartford Chorale, Farmington Valley Chorale, New Haven Chorale, New Haven Symphony, New England Symphony, Greater Middletown Chorale, Manchester Symphony and Chorus, Farmington Symphony, New Britten Symphony, Eastern Connecticut Symphony and Chorus, The Hart School of Music, The University of Connecticut, Yale School of Music, and many more. He was a national finalist in the Collegiate Division of the Classical Singer Competition in 2014. Greg regularly performs(ed) with leading professional ensembles, including Concora, Voce, Alchemy, Voices of Concinnity, Novi Cantori, and the Schola Cantorum at the Cathedral of St. Joseph.

Opera and operetta highlights include Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas and “Pa” Ferguson in the world premiere of Douglas Buchanan and Caitlyn Vincent’s Bessie and Ma (both with UConn Opera), Cadmus in Handel’s Semele (Simsbury Opera), Frank Maurrant in Weill’s Street Scene (Hartt Opera Theatre), Dr. Falke in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus (Hartt Opera Theatre), and Lord Mountararat in Gilbert & Sullivan’s Iolanthe (College
Light Opera Company). Musical‑theatre credits feature Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof (College Light Opera Company), Mr. Maraczek in Bock & Harnick’s She Loves Me (College Light Opera, UConn Opera), Jamie in Jason Robert Brown’s The Last 5 Years, Man 2 in Brown’s Songs for a New World (Branch River Theatre).

As a conductor and educator, Greg currently teaches choral music and music theory full time at Southington High School, and is the Director of Music at the Congregational Church in South Glastonbury, CT, where he curates vibrant, meaningful worship through choral leadership and community engagement. Previously, Greg has worked at Loomis Chaffee School and The Hartt School Community Division as a voice teacher, The University of Connecticut as a teaching assistant, Regional District 17, teaching middle school chorus full time, and St. Mark The Evangelist Church in West Hartford as Music Director and Organist. In Greg’s tenure at RSD17, his top choirs earned top honors in competition each year, and he consistently had at least 30 students participating in regional music festivals. At Southington High School, he has grown the choral department from 27 students to nearly 80 students in 3 years. Greg has had students from multiple positions attend High School All State, get a 4 or 5 on their AP Theory Exam, and go on to major in music in college. Greg transitioned from church singer to church director in 2017, when he began as organist for St. Mark the Evangelist, where he also directed the choir. In his time at CCSG, Greg has managed one of the largest congregational choirs in the state, started an annual Messiah Sing, rejuvenated the children’s’ music ministry, curated the monthly concert series, and produced and/or conducted larger concerts – including Faure Requiem with the church choir and collaborations on with professional colleagues from other churches and choral ensembles.

Greg’s compositional output is mostly either music he wrote for fun, or for function in religious worship. That said, he is interested in exploring more opportunities as a composer. He is credited on IMDB as a film composer for his work on the 1920’s Jazz-inspired Musical, Speak Easy To Me. Favorite compositions include: The Four Seasons of Robert Frost (choral), String Quartet No. 1, Fugue on “Truro” (Brass Quartet), Je Vous Salue
Marie pour Notre Dame (choral).

MEET SOLOIST SARAH CALLINAN

Praised for her ‘pure, lustrous voice’ and ‘Lucille Ball-like energy,’ soprano Sarah Callinan has performed a
wide variety of operatic and musical theater roles across the U.S. Some favorite roles include Despina in Così
Fan Tutte (Opera Carolina), Blondchen in Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Arizona Opera), Frasquita in Carmen
(Michigan Opera Theater, Opera New Jersey) Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Opera Theater of Connecticut),
the title role in La Fille du Régiment (Connecticut Concert Opera), Norina in Don Pasquale (Cape Cod Opera),
Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance (Mercury Opera Rochester), Adele in Die Fledermaus (Vox Opera), Susanna
in Le Nozze di Figaro (Mississippi Opera), Gilda in Rigoletto and Amina in La Sonnambula (Salt Marsh Opera),
and The Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute (Boston Lyric Opera – Tour).


Equally at home on the concert stage, Ms. Callinan has sung the soprano solos in Handel’s Messiah with Music
Worcester, the Pergolesi Stabat Mater with Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, the Verdi Requiem with
Chorus of Westerly and Cappella Cantorum, the Dvorak Te Deum with the Farmington Valley Symphony
Orchestra, Carmina Burana with the UConn Symphony and the Falmouth Chorale, Faure Requiem with the
Keene Chorale and Farmington Valley Chorale, Haydn’s Creation with Capella Cantorum, and the Vivaldi
Gloria with The Central Massachusetts Festival Chorus. She is also a regular guest artist at the Sanibel Music
Festival with Opera Theater of Connecticut, singing the music of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lerner & Loewe,
Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Gilbert & Sullivan, and various operatic concert performances.
Other recent engagements include creating the role of Doria/Young Woman in the world premiere of Giacomo’s
Muse with Barn Opera, making her role debut as Violetta in La Traviata with Opera Theater of Connecticut, and
performing the role of BakBak (Woodpecker) in the east coast premiere of Loksi’ Shaali’ (Shell Shaker) a
Native American Opera by Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate at Mount Holyoke College. Most recently, Sarah
returned to Opera Theater of Connecticut to sing Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus.


When she isn’t performing, Sarah is a highly sought-after voice teacher. She maintains studios at Mount Holyoke
College, Worcester State University, The Hanover Conservatory, and the Joy of Music Program, in addition to
her private home studio. She also teaches at the Vocal Intensive Program in Hartford every summer. She is
passionate about our national parks and enjoys road trips and hiking with her dog, Finch.