Musick's Company is the resident performing ensemble of the Center for Old Music in the New World. The composition of the ensemble has varied over the years, but has always had at its core a dedicated group of singers and instrumentalists, with the occasional addition of special guest artists, all until recently under the direction of the late Donna Boyd. Our music director is now Mr. Loren Tice, with substantial assistance by instrumental coordinator Malissa Sullivan.

We have quite a lineup of oldsters and new-sters on our performing roster this year of 2012-2013. We thought you’d like to know who we are:

FRONT: Dwight Newton, John Hedger, Wayne Paling, Kathy Bihl, Malissa Sullivan.
REAR: Roberta Chase-Borgatti, Jenny Brock, Andy Johnson, Ephrem Bensusan, Ned Farrar, Thomas Couvillon, Reed Ruchman, Zach Jebens, Carolina Fernandez, Susan Carey, Emily Sartini, Dorothy Tice, Angela Parsons

FROM LEFT: Loren Tice, Aurora Grace, Anna Isaacs, Rupert Pickens

Music Director: Loren Tice

Loren is a keyboard instructor at Transylvania University. The first time he sang a madrigal in high school (in Abilene, Kansas) he was besotted by a new kind of music: old music. Life offered many avenues of musical expression, one of them Musick’s Company. For ten years, Loren has been Donna’s acolyte, and now he eagerly looks forward to following her light in times to come.

Instrumental Coordinator: Malissa Sullivan

Music, food and playing in the creek with frogs and bugs are among Malissa’s earliest interests in life. She works as a software engineer and plays when she can. :^) These days the play involves a menagerie of musical instruments, too. She plays recorders and a growing number of other occasional instruments.

Sopranos:

Roberta Chase-Borgatti
Roberta has a Bachelor's of Music from Boston University, as well as other advanced degrees in business and anthropology/linguistics. She has sung semi-professionally for many years in small and large choral ensembles and as a soloist, in music ranging from the Renaissance to the 21st century. In addition to Musick's Company, she sings with the Kentucky Bach Choir and in the choir at St Michael's Episcopal Church. Roberta moved to the Bluegrass from Boston in 2007 and runs a software company with her husband, Steve Borgatti, a professor at UK. They live in Nicholasville with their two retrievers, George and Molly.

Aurora T. Grace
A sophomore at Lafayette High School, Aurora is a violist in the school orchestra, and is speech team officer.  In her spare time, the daughter of Angela Parsons enjoys church choir at St. Michael’s, drawing manga and realistic portraits.

Anna Isaacs
Anna sang in church choir and studied voice in high school and college, singing in chorus and collegium at Union College in Barbourville. Then some years later, after law school, being a friend of Donna's, she inquired about singing again and joined the newly formed, somewhat casual group which became Musick's Company. Later, more intensive lessons from Donna taught her much more than just singing. She doesn't know where she would have landed otherwise, but early music and Musick's Company seems like the right place for her. Anna is board president of the Center for Old Music.

Jenny Brock
Jenny is a native Lexingtonian, schooled at Transy (B.M.Ed.) and UK (M.A. in voice performance under Phyllis Jenness). She has sung with Musick's Company since its inception and before, as Musica Nova, with our founding director, Donna Boyd, since 1973.

Susan Carey
Susan returns to Musick's Company after a few years off to sing with the Kentucky Bach Choir; she continues to sing in both groups. She likes to read, write, do crossword puzzles, and spend time with her children and grandchildren. Her 3 small dogs and a mischievous kitten help her in spare time activities but hide when she practices the piano or sings.

Altos:

Carolina Fernandez
Hailing from Barquisimeto, Venezuela, Carolina came to the U.S. in 2000 to attend UK’s School of Music. She is now a librarian in the Lexington Public Library system.

Dorothy Tice
Dorothy is a retired Fayette County string teacher and is currently volunteering at Central Baptist Hospital and her church, Maxwell Street Presbyterian, where she is known as the “copy queen”. Though her first love is playing the organ, she has sung alto all her life. Dorothy completed her masters in music education at UK.

Emily Sartini
Emily teaches special education at Harrison Elementary, and is currently working on a doctorate in special education at the University of Kentucky. She sings at the Cathedral of Christ the King and has been a member of Musick's Company for eight years. During her teen years she was a member of Donna’s high school group, Musica.

Angela E. Parsons
Not far from St. Michael’s Angela holds forth as housewife. She has a bachelor’s degree in music history from the University of Louisville. She loves needlework, beadwork, doll houses and writing fantasy novels.

Tenors:

Ephrem Hugh Bensusan
Ephrem is a currently Relocation Specialist with AllConnect, and has spent most of his career as an IT consultant. At one time a ministry candidate, he took a Licentiate in Theology from Whitefield Theological Seminary in 1991. Ephrem spent a number of years in the Eastern Orthodox Churches, where he served as a singer and cantor in various Russian, Serbian, and Arabic parishes. He currently sings in the St. Michael's Chancel Choir, and occasionally serves as Thurifer. In his spare hours he enjoys beadwork and family time with Angela, Aurora and Marissa.

Wayne Paling
Wayne has a huge enthusiasm for choral music, as he shares his talents with the Lexington Chamber Chorale as well as our group. His percussion work with us is a natural outgrowth of long experience as a trap drummer. Wayne's bachelor’s degree in music was achieved at Transylvania University, where his piano teacher was (imagine this) Loren Tice. After a career in management for Meijer Corporation in Illinois, Wayne is back teaching Special Education for Fayette County Schools.

Ned Farrar
Since moving to Lexington from his home town of Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1967, Ned has been a member of the violin section of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra. For 37 years he sang with Christ Church Men and Boys Choir. He is a charter member of the Lexington Chamber Chorale. He recently rejoined Musick’s Company after many years’ absence. Ned is a string teacher for Fayette County Schools.

Thomas Couvillon
Thomas is professor of music theory and composition at Eastern Kentucky University. His compositions include works for a variety of instrumental and vocal ensembles as well as several multimedia works that combine electronic music, video and dance. His music has received performances in a wide variety of venues. Thomas is originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Basses:

Andrew O. Johnson
Andy is a faculty member in UK's College of Public Health and teaches in the Master of Health Administration program. His first encounter with early music was when he joined a madrigal ensemble during his undergraduate days at the University of South Carolina. He enjoys most any hobby that involves turning money into loud noises, including tending to a family of cats and the recent purchase of a didgeridoo from Amazon.com on a lark.

Reed Ruchman
A Cincinnati native, Reed went to Henry Clay High School, majoring in English. As he puts, it “I guess I majored in English. It's the only class I took 4 years in a row.” Since then, he insists, “Whatever growing up I've done was in Musick's Company, wed to Donna Boyd.” The two were frequent flyers on two-lane highways. Their favorite country to visit was high plains country. “We would get mesmerized the same way that some people get by the ocean.”

Rupert Pickens
Rupert, a professor emeritus (French) of the University of Kentucky, has been singing with Musick’s Company for 19 years. He is currently a member of the board.

Zach Jebens
A senior at Tates Creek High School, Zach is active in the music and drama departments, which pleases step-father Wayne Paling. He has the honor of representing his high school next February in the Kentucky All-State Chorus. Presently, he hopes to major in music education at college.

Instrumentalists:

Kathy Bihl
Donna helped Kathy buy her set of maple recorders in the 70's. She played with her in Musica Nova before the formation of Musick’s Company and the Center. She was gone to Florida from '87 to '06 and when she retired and came back to Lexington she connected with Donna again to play and study. Kathy is the "newest" member of the current instrumental group.

John Hedger
John Hedger has been fondling a lute since around 1979. He is also a classical guitarist and composer, teaching at Transylvania University and Berea College for 20 years. John finished his Masters degree in music composition from UK in 1992, and has been with The Center for Old Music since sometime in the mid 80's when Donna Boyd first asked him to play on a Christmas program.

Dwight Newton
The University of Kentucky is Dwight’s seat of operations for his expertise in marketing technology and web services managing (for example, our own Center, the American Musical Instrument Society, and the Mozart Society of America). At New College of Florida and UK he learned viols and medieval fiddle with an occasional foray into the percussive arts. He joined with Donna in Musick’s Company in 1983.

Designers of the program: Laura Mentor & Steve Bennett
Laura is a stained glass artist who has installed public art works in libraries and hospitals across Kentucky. A hallmark of her work is to tell the story of communities and places through her art. Steve is art teacher at Edith Hayes Middle School in Lexington. He has also taught drawing and design in the UK Architecture School from which he graduated. The two are married and share a log cabin home and studios in Madison County.

Center for Old Music in the New World
PO Box 217
Lexington, KY 40588
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