John Strang, director of music
Lenard Starks, director, Jubilee Singers and Youth Choir

JOHN STRANG

John, a lifelong Unitarian Universalist, became organist and director of music at All Souls in 2000. He has degrees in music composition and organ performance from the University of Michigan, and post-graduate study at Valparaiso University and Hope College. Before serving All Souls, he was music director and organist for several of the most progressive Christian congregations in the country. In addition to his work at All Souls, John served as university organist and assistant director of the Howard University Choir. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology and is enjoying the balance of two different, but complimentary careers.

LENARD STARKS

Lenard began directing the All Souls Jubilee Singers in January, 1996. At California State University in Sacramento, he majored in mathematics and minored in music, while serving as first clarinetist with several of the university's performing groups. He later served as Bandmaster while on active military duty in the U.S. Army Security Agency. For 11 years, Lenard sang with the 80-member Maryland Choral Society. He has participated in the planning and performance of several African-American choral music programs in the Washington area, and currently also directs choirs at Nottingham-Myers United Methodist Church in Upper Marlboro and the Heritage Signature Chorale in Washington.

ANGELA POWELL

Angela has served as the All Souls Choir Soprano Soloist since 2002. She received her Bachelor's degree from Oberlin Conservatory and her Master's degree from the University of Maryland. Ms. Powell has appeared in numerous operatic roles and performed with leading orchestras. Her repertoire includes music by classicists such as Bach, Brahms, Handel, Fauré, Mozart, and Verdi. She has also won numerous competitions, including the Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition and the Paul Robeson Competition.

Angela has toured extensively throughout the United States and Europe, including performances of the Fauré Requiem with the Master Chorale of Washington and the Prague Symphony Orchestra. She has appeared as Le Contessa in Le Nozze di Figaro, Rosalinda in Die Fledermaus, Micaela in Carmen, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and the title role in Carlisle Floyd's Susanna. Her varied repertoire includes such unusual opera roles as Mother Earth in Hailstorks's Paul Lawrence Dunbar: Common Ground, Madame Euterpova in Menotti's Help, Help the Globolinks, and Marfa in Rimsky-Korsakov's Tzar's Bride. Ms. Powell is a featured soloist at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Institution Gershwin Centennial Concert, and throughout the Metropolitan Washington, DC area. Ms. Powell has received performance awards from the Metropolitan National Council Auditions, Houston Grand Opera Competition, National Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition, National Association of Arts and Letters Vocal Competition, and the Maryland State Arts Council's highest grant awarded to an individual artist. Recordings include Christmas with the Master Chorale of Washington and Holocaust Cantata with the Master Chorale Chamber Singers.

STEVE COMBS

Steve is the All Souls Choir baritone soloist. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut under the baton of James Levine in the world premiere of John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles, which was televised on PBS. He appeared with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis in the title role of Colin Graham's first staging of Britten's Billy Budd and as Demetrius in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He was soloist in Saint-Saëns Oratorio de Noel and Mendelssohn's Von Himmel Hoch with Cathedral Choral Society, and featured in the world premiere of Donald McCullough's highly acclaimed Holocaust Cantata and subsequent recording. A graduate of the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Music degree and a Master of Music degree from the University of Minnesota, Mr. Combs has won the National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition, a Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation study grant, a Sullivan Award, and is a Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition winner. He has made solo appearances in Vaughan Williams' Mystical Songs with the Master Chorale Chamber Singers, in Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 at the Basilica of the Assumption in Baltimore, and with Washington Bach Consort.

TOM TEASLEY

Tom is the All Souls percussionist-in-residence. He has been described in The Washington Post as a "percussionist in the widest and most exuberant sense of the word." Tom combines percussion instruments and playing styles from Africa, India and the Middle East. He has fused this eclectic concept with American jazz and Western Classical music, creating what noted jazz writer Bill Milkowski calls, "a beautiful tapestry of rhythm." Tom frequently performs throughout the U.S. and Europe. Modern Drummer magazine awarded his latest CD, Global Groovilization and video, Global Fusion Percussion with positive reviews. "Percussionist and drummer Tom Teasley successfully fuses various rhythmic ideas from around the world, emphasizing the universal concept of groove. This hip West-African/Indian/Middle Eastern-influenced stew will soon have you hooked" (Martin Patmos, Modern Drummer). "This video challenges you to become not only a more technically adept drummer, but a more creative and even innovative one. Open-minded drummers of all genres and veteran world percussionists looking for a fresh approach should find this a great educational resource" (Will Romano, Modern Drummer).