Scott Mello and Jacob Ashworth to Offer Concert in Newton

On Friday, October 6th, at 7:30 p.m., tenor Scott Mello will offer a concert in collaboration with violinist Jacob Ashworth at Christ Church Newton. The performance will feature the song cycle Along the Field for voice and violin by English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, unaccompanied solo works by John Cage, György Kurtág, and Eugène Ysaÿe, as well as songs by John Dowland, Henry Purcell, and Franz Schubert, in new arrangements by the performers. A free will offering will be taken. Christ Church is located at 62 Main Street in the heart of downtown Newton.

A noted interpreter of Handel, Mello has recently appeared in Messiah with Handel Choir of Baltimore, Nashville Symphony, and San Antonio Symphony, La resurrezione with Bach Collegium San Diego, Solomon with Trinity Baroque Orchestra, as well as the title roles in Samson with conductor Nicholas McGegan and Jephtha with American Opera Theater. Career highlights include tours of Brahms Liebeslieder Walzer & Neue Liebeslieder Walzer with Mark Morris Dance Group, Claude Vivier Journal with Cappella Amsterdam, Bach Magnificat with American Bach Soloists, Monteverdi Vespro della Beata Vergine 1610 with Apollo’s Fire, Graun Der Tod Jesu with Finnish Baroque Orchestra, and Play of Daniel at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory, New York University, and Yale University School of Music and Institute of Sacred Music. A native of Fredon, New Jersey, and alumnus of Kittatinny Regional High School and the Children's Chorus of Sussex County, Mello currently resides in New York City and is a member of the GRAMMY®-nominated Choir of Trinity Wall Street, under the direction of Julian Wachner.

Ashworth is the founder and artistic director of Cantata Profana at the Yale School of Music, an ensemble for vocal and instrumental chamber music, which received the CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming in 2016. He is Co-Music Director of the innovative New York City Heartbeat Opera Company, which collaborates with diverse artists to stage traditional operas in newly reimagined productions. Ashworth has been an artist at the Staunton Music Festival, New Haven Festival of Arts and Ideas, Wellesley Composer’s Conference, Lake George Music Festival, and Music Mountain. A student of renowned violinist Ani Kavafian, Ashworth has also studied baroque violin with Robert Mealy as a member of the Yale Baroque Ensemble, and has performed extensively on period instruments, including as concertmaster for Nicholas McGegan with Mark Morris Dance Group, and with Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Juilliard 415, Yale Schola Cantorum, and New York Baroque Incorporated.

The performance will take place at Christ Church, 62 Main Street, Newton. For more information, visit www.christchurchnewton.org.