— Our Programs —

Upcoming Concerts

A Distinguished Ensemble

On Sunday, May 3, 2026, EGC Productions, in partnership with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, invites audiences to an unforgettable evening of chamber music that gives voice to composers who refused to be silenced. Set within the luminous acoustics of the National Presbyterian Church, this one-night-only concert brings together extraordinary musicians and powerful repertoire shaped by resilience, risk, and artistic truth.

Music Born of Resistance

On Sunday, May 3, 2026, EGC Productions, in partnership with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, invites audiences to an unforgettable evening of chamber music that gives voice to composers who refused to be silenced. Set within the luminous acoustics of the National Presbyterian Church, this one-night-only concert brings together extraordinary musicians and powerful repertoire shaped by resilience, risk, and artistic truth.

The concert features pianist Joseph Holt, joined by an exceptional ensemble of artists:

  • Boram Kang, violin — Acting Associate Concertmaster, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

  • Dariusz Skoraczewski, cello — Principal Cello, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

  • Catherine Wethington, soprano

Program Highlights

The evening unfolds with selections from Prokofiev’s Visions Fugitives, setting a restless, searching tone. Soprano Catherine Wethington gives voice to Rachmaninoff’s deeply emotional Romances, including the beloved Vocalise, and performs Phacelia by Sofia Gubaidulina—an evocative song cycle by the sole 21st-century composer featured in the program.

Violinist Boram Kang brings lyricism and edge to Prokofiev’s Five Melodies, while cellist Dariusz Skoraczewski performs the final movement of Rachmaninoff’s Sonata for Cello and Piano. The concert culminates in Shostakovich’s monumental Piano Trio in E Minor, Op. 67—a searing, 30-minute masterwork widely regarded as one of the most powerful chamber pieces of the 20th century.

— EGC PRODUCTIONS AND THE BALTIMORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRESENT —

Censored Voices: Silent No More

May 3, 2026 | 7:00 p.m.
National Presbyterian Church | Washington, D.C.
Chamber Concert

Program Notes

Enrich Your Experience

The evening begins at 5:00 p.m. with an optional light buffet supper and pre-concert lecture led by Dr. Rachel Franklin, BSO Inside the Classics Scholar in Residence. Her insights will illuminate the personal histories behind the music and deepen the listening experience.

Why This Concert Matters

Censored Voices: Silent No More is more than a concert—it is an act of remembrance and witness. These composers wrote under scrutiny, fear, and constraint, yet their music endured. Today, their voices remind us of the power—and responsibility—of artistic expression in the face of suppression.

Meet the Performers

  • Dr. Joseph Holt is a multi-talented concert pianist and musician, who served more than twenty years as principal pianist with The United States Army Chorus in Washington, DC, performing for US Presidents, dignitaries from around the world and military officials. He held the position of Associate Music Director for The Choral Arts Society of Washington for fifteen years and his recording of choral works by Ariel Ramírez on the Naxos label with Choral Arts Society was awarded a WAMMY for best Classical Album in 2006. In 2009 he was selected to be the Artistic Director for the Choral Artists of Sarasota, a position he held until 2025.  Under his leadership, the ensemble presented multiple regional and world premieres of new choral works as part of their mission, and they have been praised for their vocal finesse and powerful performances.  Highlights of his tenure include the world premiere of Listen to the Earth by James Grant, presentation of a newly choreographed version of Carmina Burana in collaboration with the Sarasota Contemporary Dance Ensemble, and Sarasota’s premieres of Too Hot to Handel, The Children’s March and Considering Matthew Shepard. Holt led the ensemble on two successful international tours – the 2012 Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival in Italy and to the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Normandy Invasion in France, 2024.  He served as Director of Artist Programs for the Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota from 2014 to 2021, annually engaging emerging and established musicians to perform in Sarasota, Florida.  He also served as Director of Music for Faith Lutheran Church in Sarasota from 2012-2022. The Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota recognized his achievements in the arts with the Artistic Achievement Award in 2017. 

    Currently, in addition to his performance career, he is the Producer and Host for Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning’s Music Monday programs, musical conversations with artists from around the world that offer insight into the lives of leading musicians.  He serves on the Board of Directors for Sarasota Music Archives and Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning.

    Unusual highlights of his musical career include coordinating and conducting the Filene Center Orchestra for a gala performance featuring premier comedian Victor Borge at Wolf Trap, compiling and directing the music for Prodigy, a children’s play about Mozart at the Kennedy Center, performing with soprano Jessye Norman at the base of the Hoover Dam, and assisting in the development of the National Music Conservatory in Amman, Jordan. 

    In  September, 2025, Dr. Holt was invited to prepare  a 44 voice chorus of professional singers for EGC Productions acclaimed performance of “Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa”, featuring the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra,  at Strathmore Music Center in Bethesda Maryland. And, in October, 2025, Dr. Holt was the featured pianist in a chamber concert titled Legacy, honoring his long history of music-making in Sarasota, Florida, where he performed works by Kabalevsky, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Prokofiev.  

    Dr. Holt holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Shenandoah Conservatory and the Catholic University of America.

  • Boram Kang joined the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in September 2015. Ms. Kang graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a bachelor’s degree in music, studying with Charles Castleman, Cleveland Institute of Music for her Master’s degree with William Preucil, and Performance Residency Program at Carnegie Mellon University with Andres Cardenes. While at Eastman, Ms. Kang won a Concerto Competition that earned her the opportunity to play Glazunov’s Violin Concerto with the National Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Kang was a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival during the summer of 2006, and was a member of Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan in 2001, 2002 and 2005. She recently won a position in the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center in New York City, formerly the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, performing in the 2025 summer season under the artistic direction of Jonathon Heyward, who also serves as the Renée and Robert Belfer Music & Artistic Director of the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center. In September 2025, Ms. Kang served as concertmaster for the acclaimed EGC Production concert Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa, which featured the full Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, Maryland.    

    Prior to joining Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, she was an Interim Assistant Concertmaster of Louisville Orchestra in 2012, and a fixed 4th chair of the Colorado Symphony in 2013 through 2015. 

    Boram started playing the violin at age five and moved to the United States to continue her studies. She attended the Peabody Conservatory Preparatory Division and was a student of Leri Slutsky who was a veteran second violinist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for over 25 years.

    Currently, in addition to his performance career, he is the Producer and Host for Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning’s Music Monday programs, musical conversations with artists from around the world that offer insight into the lives of leading musicians.  He serves on the Board of Directors for Sarasota Music Archives and Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning.

    Unusual highlights of his musical career include coordinating and conducting the Filene Center Orchestra for a gala performance featuring premier comedian Victor Borge at Wolf Trap, compiling and directing the music for Prodigy, a children’s play about Mozart at the Kennedy Center, performing with soprano Jessye Norman at the base of the Hoover Dam, and assisting in the development of the National Music Conservatory in Amman, Jordan. 

    In  September, 2025, Dr. Holt was invited to prepare  a 44 voice chorus of professional singers for EGC Productions acclaimed performance of “Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa”, featuring the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra,  at Strathmore Music Center in Bethesda Maryland. And, in October, 2025, Dr. Holt was the featured pianist in a chamber concert titled Legacy, honoring his long history of music-making in Sarasota, Florida, where he performed works by Kabalevsky, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Prokofiev.  

    Dr. Holt holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Shenandoah Conservatory and the Catholic University of America.

  • Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Cellist Dariusz Skoraczewski has been described by Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun as having “lush tone, expressive style and solid technique that have earned him admiration in a career that encompasses solo, chamber and orchestral music-making…” He has delighted audiences across the United States, Europe and Asia showcasing his artistry and virtuosic command of the cello. As a soloist he performed with numerous orchestras, including the National Philharmonic and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

    His diverse repertoire includes compositions from early Baroque to the present. His debut CD “Cello Populus” is an eclectic collection of contemporary solo pieces and includes works of Hindemith, Ligeti, Crumb, Penderecki, Saariaho and Lutosławski. Praised by Mike D. Brownell of AllMusic.com as “a truly exceptional album that leaves listeners eagerly waiting for another installment”, the recording earned considerable attention to award Dariusz the prestigious Baker Artist Award in Baltimore in 2013.  Dariusz’s second recording with pianist Michael Sheppard, “Cello Phantasia”, features music by Schumann, Franck and Rachmaninov. Joined by violinist Igor Yuzefovich to create Monument Piano Trio, the talented Peabody alumni group has a recording of pieces by Brahms, Shostakovich and Schoenfield. 

    As a recitalist and chamber musician, Dariusz has appeared in countless chamber music concerts including Chamber Music by Candlelight, An Die Musik, Keystone Korner, Music in the Valley, and The Spire Series in Baltimore as well as the Weill Hall, Barge Music Festival and Merkin Hall in New York City. He spends his summers performing as principal cellist at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming and Festival Mozaic in California.

    Dariusz began his musical education at the age of six in Warsaw, Poland studying with Zbigniew Liebig and Andrzej Zieliński. As a scholarship recipient at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore he studied with world-renowned cellist Stephen Kates.

    Since 2011 he has held the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff chair as the Principal Cellist of the Baltimore Symphony. Dariusz plays a 1702 Carlo Giuseppe Testore cello, generously on loan from Marin Alsop. This wonderful instrument allowed Dariusz to successfully record the complete Bach’s Cello Suites, which was released in the fall of 2017. Dave Seamann of the Fanfare Magazine said that Skoraczewski’s Suites “present the best recorded sound of a cello I ever have heard.” 

    Currently, in addition to his performance career, he is the Producer and Host for Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning’s Music Monday programs, musical conversations with artists from around the world that offer insight into the lives of leading musicians.  He serves on the Board of Directors for Sarasota Music Archives and Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning.

    Unusual highlights of his musical career include coordinating and conducting the Filene Center Orchestra for a gala performance featuring premier comedian Victor Borge at Wolf Trap, compiling and directing the music for Prodigy, a children’s play about Mozart at the Kennedy Center, performing with soprano Jessye Norman at the base of the Hoover Dam, and assisting in the development of the National Music Conservatory in Amman, Jordan. 

    In  September, 2025, Dr. Holt was invited to prepare  a 44 voice chorus of professional singers for EGC Productions acclaimed performance of “Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa”, featuring the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra,  at Strathmore Music Center in Bethesda Maryland. And, in October, 2025, Dr. Holt was the featured pianist in a chamber concert titled Legacy, honoring his long history of music-making in Sarasota, Florida, where he performed works by Kabalevsky, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Prokofiev.  

    Dr. Holt holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Shenandoah Conservatory and the Catholic University of America.

  • Catherine Wethington, American coloratura soprano and Washington DC native, has captivated audiences in North America and Europe with her “sumptuous coloratura and other-worldly pianissimi” (Herald Tribune). Opera Canada Magazine describes Ms. Wethington as having the “vocal power, dramatic finesse [and] vocal fireworks” necessary for bel canto opera. In September, 2025, Charles T. Downey of Washington Classical Review praised her “gleaming tone” and “crystalline intonation”, and Mark Judge wrote that she sang with a  “voice so powerful at times that it seemed like the heavens cracked open”.  

    In April 2023, Ms. Wethington was awarded first prize in the 14th City of Brescia Tribute to Maria Callas International Competition. In addition to first place, she won both the Callas and Verdi Awards, claiming three of the top prizes of the competition. In March 2023, Ms. Wethington was awarded the Song Prize in the Marie Kraja Opera Competition in Tirana, Albania. And, in January 2019, she was a finalist and third place winner in the Concorso Lirico Internazionale Gigli-Franci, in Rome, Italy. 

    In February 2025 Ms. Wethington made her Carnegie Hall debut on the Perelman Stage of Stern Auditorium, as soprano soloist in Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa, a stunning new concert experience that brought the life and spirit of Mother Teresa to the stage through original music and classical masterpieces. In September 2025, she performed in the same concert at the Strathmore Music Center with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. And, in July 2025, she was presented by Maestra Eve Queler at her 30th Annual Bel Canto Opera Concert in the Berkshires, Massachusetts, singing arias by Verdi, Donizetti and Massenet.  

    Comfortable in both comedic and dramatic roles, Ms. Wethington has appeared in opera productions in Europe and North America, performing the roles of Amina, in Bellini’s La sonnambula;  Medora in Verdi’s Il Corsaro;  Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto; Königin der Nacht in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte; Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orpheé aux enfers;  Blonde, in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail; Suor Genovieffa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica; and Olympia in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann.

    She made her debut on the John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall stage as soprano soloist in Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana”, a role she has repeated multiple times, including with the Choral Artists of Sarasota. Ms. Wethington made her London debut in Cadogan Hall, as a guest artist with the London Bel Canto Festival. Concert performances also include the La Musica Festival with Mr. Derek Han, concert pianist, and flautist Demarre McGill. She performed as part of the Kosovo Kamerfest 2019, Skopje Kamerfest 2019, and Albania Kamerfest 2019. And in the summer of 2022 Ms. Wethington returned to the Western Balkans as a featured artist in concerts conducted by Maestra Deniola Kuraja with the North Macedonian Philharmonic and the Albanian National Theater of Opera and Ballet Orchestra. In October 2023, she performed in Tirana, Albania, to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Beatification of Mother Teresa as part of the Tre Teneret concert series with the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Tirana.

    His diverse repertoire includes compositions from early Baroque to the present. His debut CD “Cello Populus” is an eclectic collection of contemporary solo pieces and includes works of Hindemith, Ligeti, Crumb, Penderecki, Saariaho and Lutosławski. Praised by Mike D. Brownell of AllMusic.com as “a truly exceptional album that leaves listeners eagerly waiting for another installment”, the recording earned considerable attention to award Dariusz the prestigious Baker Artist Award in Baltimore in 2013.  Dariusz’s second recording with pianist Michael Sheppard, “Cello Phantasia”, features music by Schumann, Franck and Rachmaninov. Joined by violinist Igor Yuzefovich to create Monument Piano Trio, the talented Peabody alumni group has a recording of pieces by Brahms, Shostakovich and Schoenfield. 

    As a recitalist and chamber musician, Dariusz has appeared in countless chamber music concerts including Chamber Music by Candlelight, An Die Musik, Keystone Korner, Music in the Valley, and The Spire Series in Baltimore as well as the Weill Hall, Barge Music Festival and Merkin Hall in New York City. He spends his summers performing as principal cellist at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming and Festival Mozaic in California.

    Dariusz began his musical education at the age of six in Warsaw, Poland studying with Zbigniew Liebig and Andrzej Zieliński. As a scholarship recipient at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore he studied with world-renowned cellist Stephen Kates.

    Since 2011 he has held the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff chair as the Principal Cellist of the Baltimore Symphony. Dariusz plays a 1702 Carlo Giuseppe Testore cello, generously on loan from Marin Alsop. This wonderful instrument allowed Dariusz to successfully record the complete Bach’s Cello Suites, which was released in the fall of 2017. Dave Seamann of the Fanfare Magazine said that Skoraczewski’s Suites “present the best recorded sound of a cello I ever have heard.” 

    Currently, in addition to his performance career, he is the Producer and Host for Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning’s Music Monday programs, musical conversations with artists from around the world that offer insight into the lives of leading musicians.  He serves on the Board of Directors for Sarasota Music Archives and Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning.

    Unusual highlights of his musical career include coordinating and conducting the Filene Center Orchestra for a gala performance featuring premier comedian Victor Borge at Wolf Trap, compiling and directing the music for Prodigy, a children’s play about Mozart at the Kennedy Center, performing with soprano Jessye Norman at the base of the Hoover Dam, and assisting in the development of the National Music Conservatory in Amman, Jordan. 

    In  September, 2025, Dr. Holt was invited to prepare  a 44 voice chorus of professional singers for EGC Productions acclaimed performance of “Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa”, featuring the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra,  at Strathmore Music Center in Bethesda Maryland. And, in October, 2025, Dr. Holt was the featured pianist in a chamber concert titled Legacy, honoring his long history of music-making in Sarasota, Florida, where he performed works by Kabalevsky, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Prokofiev.  

    Dr. Holt holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Shenandoah Conservatory and the Catholic University of America.

  • Inside the Classica Music Scholar in Residence for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

    Dr. Rachel Franklin has developed a stellar reputation throughout the mid-Atlantic region as a public speaker on music topics. Renowned for her wit, scholarship and ability to illuminate even the most complex concert works, her gifts for communication have led to countless lecture engagements for major orchestras and concert organizations, colleges, adult education groups and others. She has presented frequently at the Smithsonian Institution, The Library of Congress, the Peabody Institute, and on National Public Radio.

    This wide range of musical expertise has brought her back repeatedly to enthusiastic audiences, including the Smithsonian Associates, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Academy Art Museum in Easton MD, the Chesapeake Film Festival, the Annapolis Opera Company, the Cosmos Club in DC, and countless others. Besides appreciating her performing artistry, her listeners rave about her warm, engaging style as she illustrates at the piano. Her great passion is provoking connections and sparking imaginative pathways for her listeners and students, so their own creativity can be inspired by extraordinary musical art.

    She is the Inside the Classics Music Scholar in Residence for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, giving all their pre-concert lectures at the Music Center at Strathmore, and in 2023 appeared as one of the featured speakers at the world-renowned Aspen Ideas: Health Conference in Colorado. In addition she recently joined the roster of distinguished lecturers for New York’s 92nd Street Y’s “Roundtable” online platform. For the past two New Years she has given the Plenary Lunchtime Performance for the prestigious Renaissance Weekend conference in Charleston, SC, and in May 2024 she presented a unique show on 90 years of film music Oscars for the Avalon Theatre Chevy Chase’s annual gala.

    Rachel Franklin has concertized in major halls across Europe, Canada and the US. The Washington Post has praised her “cool-headed bravura and panache” and the Baltimore Sun lauded “a flawless crystalline technique, and warmth and electricity in her playing.” She is also doubly talented as an accomplished jazz pianist, leading her own unique classical/jazz chamber ensemble SONOS.

    Dr. Franklin is keenly aware of the need to reach out to audiences who want a “behind the scenes” experience with classical music and its great composers, history and place in the wider world of the arts. She offers many types of lecture-demonstrations, courses and lecture-recital packages. She also enjoys curating musical events and festivals, and all her presentations are designed to suit a wide variety of venues and audiences. She is always delighted to discuss possibilities with music-lovers and organizations.

    His diverse repertoire includes compositions from early Baroque to the present. His debut CD “Cello Populus” is an eclectic collection of contemporary solo pieces and includes works of Hindemith, Ligeti, Crumb, Penderecki, Saariaho and Lutosławski. Praised by Mike D. Brownell of AllMusic.com as “a truly exceptional album that leaves listeners eagerly waiting for another installment”, the recording earned considerable attention to award Dariusz the prestigious Baker Artist Award in Baltimore in 2013.  Dariusz’s second recording with pianist Michael Sheppard, “Cello Phantasia”, features music by Schumann, Franck and Rachmaninov. Joined by violinist Igor Yuzefovich to create Monument Piano Trio, the talented Peabody alumni group has a recording of pieces by Brahms, Shostakovich and Schoenfield. 

    As a recitalist and chamber musician, Dariusz has appeared in countless chamber music concerts including Chamber Music by Candlelight, An Die Musik, Keystone Korner, Music in the Valley, and The Spire Series in Baltimore as well as the Weill Hall, Barge Music Festival and Merkin Hall in New York City. He spends his summers performing as principal cellist at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming and Festival Mozaic in California.

    Dariusz began his musical education at the age of six in Warsaw, Poland studying with Zbigniew Liebig and Andrzej Zieliński. As a scholarship recipient at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore he studied with world-renowned cellist Stephen Kates.

    Since 2011 he has held the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff chair as the Principal Cellist of the Baltimore Symphony. Dariusz plays a 1702 Carlo Giuseppe Testore cello, generously on loan from Marin Alsop. This wonderful instrument allowed Dariusz to successfully record the complete Bach’s Cello Suites, which was released in the fall of 2017. Dave Seamann of the Fanfare Magazine said that Skoraczewski’s Suites “present the best recorded sound of a cello I ever have heard.” 

    Currently, in addition to his performance career, he is the Producer and Host for Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning’s Music Monday programs, musical conversations with artists from around the world that offer insight into the lives of leading musicians.  He serves on the Board of Directors for Sarasota Music Archives and Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning.

    Unusual highlights of his musical career include coordinating and conducting the Filene Center Orchestra for a gala performance featuring premier comedian Victor Borge at Wolf Trap, compiling and directing the music for Prodigy, a children’s play about Mozart at the Kennedy Center, performing with soprano Jessye Norman at the base of the Hoover Dam, and assisting in the development of the National Music Conservatory in Amman, Jordan. 

    In  September, 2025, Dr. Holt was invited to prepare  a 44 voice chorus of professional singers for EGC Productions acclaimed performance of “Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa”, featuring the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra,  at Strathmore Music Center in Bethesda Maryland. And, in October, 2025, Dr. Holt was the featured pianist in a chamber concert titled Legacy, honoring his long history of music-making in Sarasota, Florida, where he performed works by Kabalevsky, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Prokofiev.  

    Dr. Holt holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Shenandoah Conservatory and the Catholic University of America.

Meet the Performers

Joseph Holt
Co-Founder and Managing Director

Dr. Joseph Holt is a multi-talented concert pianist and musician, who served more than twenty years as principal pianist with The United States Army Chorus in Washington, DC, performing for US Presidents, dignitaries from around the world and military officials. He held the position of Associate Music Director for The Choral Arts Society of Washington for fifteen years and his recording of choral works by Ariel Ramírez on the Naxos label with Choral Arts Society was awarded a WAMMY for best Classical Album in 2006. In 2009 he was selected to be the Artistic Director for the Choral Artists of Sarasota, a position he held until 2025.  Under his leadership, the ensemble presented multiple regional and world premieres of new choral works as part of their mission, and they have been praised for their vocal finesse and powerful performances.  Highlights of his tenure include the world premiere of Listen to the Earth by James Grant, presentation of a newly choreographed version of Carmina Burana in collaboration with the Sarasota Contemporary Dance Ensemble, and Sarasota’s premieres of Too Hot to Handel, The Children’s March and Considering Matthew Shepard. Holt led the ensemble on two successful international tours – the 2012 Amalfi Coast Music and Arts Festival in Italy and to the 80th anniversary of the D-Day Normandy Invasion in France, 2024.  He served as Director of Artist Programs for the Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota from 2014 to 2021, annually engaging emerging and established musicians to perform in Sarasota, Florida.  He also served as Director of Music for Faith Lutheran Church in Sarasota from 2012-2022. The Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota recognized his achievements in the arts with the Artistic Achievement Award in 2017. 

Currently, in addition to his performance career, he is the Producer and Host for Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning’s Music Monday programs, musical conversations with artists from around the world that offer insight into the lives of leading musicians.  He serves on the Board of Directors for Sarasota Music Archives and Sarasota Institute of Lifetime Learning.

Unusual highlights of his musical career include coordinating and conducting the Filene Center Orchestra for a gala performance featuring premier comedian Victor Borge at Wolf Trap, compiling and directing the music for Prodigy, a children’s play about Mozart at the Kennedy Center, performing with soprano Jessye Norman at the base of the Hoover Dam, and assisting in the development of the National Music Conservatory in Amman, Jordan. 

In  September, 2025, Dr. Holt was invited to prepare  a 44 voice chorus of professional singers for EGC Productions acclaimed performance of “Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa”, featuring the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra,  at Strathmore Music Center in Bethesda Maryland. And, in October, 2025, Dr. Holt was the featured pianist in a chamber concert titled Legacy, honoring his long history of music-making in Sarasota, Florida, where he performed works by Kabalevsky, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich and Prokofiev.  

Dr. Holt holds degrees from the Eastman School of Music, Shenandoah Conservatory and the Catholic University of America.

Boram Kang
Violin

Boram Kang joined the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in September 2015. Ms. Kang graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a bachelor’s degree in music, studying with Charles Castleman, Cleveland Institute of Music for her Master’s degree with William Preucil, and Performance Residency Program at Carnegie Mellon University with Andres Cardenes. While at Eastman, Ms. Kang won a Concerto Competition that earned her the opportunity to play Glazunov’s Violin Concerto with the National Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Kang was a Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival during the summer of 2006, and was a member of Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo, Japan in 2001, 2002 and 2005. She recently won a position in the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center in New York City, formerly the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, performing in the 2025 summer season under the artistic direction of Jonathon Heyward, who also serves as the Renée and Robert Belfer Music & Artistic Director of the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center. In September 2025, Ms. Kang served as concertmaster for the acclaimed EGC Production concert Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa, which featured the full Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, Maryland.    

Prior to joining Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, she was an Interim Assistant Concertmaster of Louisville Orchestra in 2012, and a fixed 4th chair of the Colorado Symphony in 2013 through 2015. 

Boram started playing the violin at age five and moved to the United States to continue her studies. She attended the Peabody Conservatory Preparatory Division and was a student of Leri Slutsky who was a veteran second violinist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra for over 25 years.

Dariusz Skoraczewski
Cello

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Cellist Dariusz Skoraczewski has been described by Tim Smith of the Baltimore Sun as having “lush tone, expressive style and solid technique that have earned him admiration in a career that encompasses solo, chamber and orchestral music-making…” He has delighted audiences across the United States, Europe and Asia showcasing his artistry and virtuosic command of the cello. As a soloist he performed with numerous orchestras, including the National Philharmonic and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.

His diverse repertoire includes compositions from early Baroque to the present. His debut CD “Cello Populus” is an eclectic collection of contemporary solo pieces and includes works of Hindemith, Ligeti, Crumb, Penderecki, Saariaho and Lutosławski. Praised by Mike D. Brownell of AllMusic.com as “a truly exceptional album that leaves listeners eagerly waiting for another installment”, the recording earned considerable attention to award Dariusz the prestigious Baker Artist Award in Baltimore in 2013.  Dariusz’s second recording with pianist Michael Sheppard, “Cello Phantasia”, features music by Schumann, Franck and Rachmaninov. Joined by violinist Igor Yuzefovich to create Monument Piano Trio, the talented Peabody alumni group has a recording of pieces by Brahms, Shostakovich and Schoenfield. 

As a recitalist and chamber musician, Dariusz has appeared in countless chamber music concerts including Chamber Music by Candlelight, An Die Musik, Keystone Korner, Music in the Valley, and The Spire Series in Baltimore as well as the Weill Hall, Barge Music Festival and Merkin Hall in New York City. He spends his summers performing as principal cellist at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming and Festival Mozaic in California.

Dariusz began his musical education at the age of six in Warsaw, Poland studying with Zbigniew Liebig and Andrzej Zieliński. As a scholarship recipient at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore he studied with world-renowned cellist Stephen Kates.

Since 2011 he has held the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff chair as the Principal Cellist of the Baltimore Symphony. Dariusz plays a 1702 Carlo Giuseppe Testore cello, generously on loan from Marin Alsop. This wonderful instrument allowed Dariusz to successfully record the complete Bach’s Cello Suites, which was released in the fall of 2017. Dave Seamann of the Fanfare Magazine said that Skoraczewski’s Suites “present the best recorded sound of a cello I ever have heard.” 

Catherine Wethington
Soprano

Catherine Wethington, American coloratura soprano and Washington DC native, has captivated audiences in North America and Europe with her “sumptuous coloratura and other-worldly pianissimi” (Herald Tribune). Opera Canada Magazine describes Ms. Wethington as having the “vocal power, dramatic finesse [and] vocal fireworks” necessary for bel canto opera. In September, 2025, Charles T. Downey of Washington Classical Review praised her “gleaming tone” and “crystalline intonation”, and Mark Judge wrote that she sang with a  “voice so powerful at times that it seemed like the heavens cracked open”.  

In April 2023, Ms. Wethington was awarded first prize in the 14th City of Brescia Tribute to Maria Callas International Competition. In addition to first place, she won both the Callas and Verdi Awards, claiming three of the top prizes of the competition. In March 2023, Ms. Wethington was awarded the Song Prize in the Marie Kraja Opera Competition in Tirana, Albania. And, in January 2019, she was a finalist and third place winner in the Concorso Lirico Internazionale Gigli-Franci, in Rome, Italy. 

In February 2025 Ms. Wethington made her Carnegie Hall debut on the Perelman Stage of Stern Auditorium, as soprano soloist in Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa, a stunning new concert experience that brought the life and spirit of Mother Teresa to the stage through original music and classical masterpieces. In September 2025, she performed in the same concert at the Strathmore Music Center with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. And, in July 2025, she was presented by Maestra Eve Queler at her 30th Annual Bel Canto Opera Concert in the Berkshires, Massachusetts, singing arias by Verdi, Donizetti and Massenet.  

Comfortable in both comedic and dramatic roles, Ms. Wethington has appeared in opera productions in Europe and North America, performing the roles of Amina, in Bellini’s La sonnambula;  Medora in Verdi’s Il Corsaro;  Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto; Königin der Nacht in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte; Eurydice in Offenbach’s Orpheé aux enfers;  Blonde, in Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail; Suor Genovieffa in Puccini’s Suor Angelica; and Olympia in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann.

She made her debut on the John F Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall stage as soprano soloist in Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana”, a role she has repeated multiple times, including with the Choral Artists of Sarasota. Ms. Wethington made her London debut in Cadogan Hall, as a guest artist with the London Bel Canto Festival. Concert performances also include the La Musica Festival with Mr. Derek Han, concert pianist, and flautist Demarre McGill. She performed as part of the Kosovo Kamerfest 2019, Skopje Kamerfest 2019, and Albania Kamerfest 2019. And in the summer of 2022 Ms. Wethington returned to the Western Balkans as a featured artist in concerts conducted by Maestra Deniola Kuraja with the North Macedonian Philharmonic and the Albanian National Theater of Opera and Ballet Orchestra. In October 2023, she performed in Tirana, Albania, to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Beatification of Mother Teresa as part of the Tre Teneret concert series with the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Tirana.

Dr. Rachel Franklin
Inside the Classica Music Scholar in Residence for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Dr. Rachel Franklin has developed a stellar reputation throughout the mid-Atlantic region as a public speaker on music topics. Renowned for her wit, scholarship and ability to illuminate even the most complex concert works, her gifts for communication have led to countless lecture engagements for major orchestras and concert organizations, colleges, adult education groups and others. She has presented frequently at the Smithsonian Institution, The Library of Congress, the Peabody Institute, and on National Public Radio.

This wide range of musical expertise has brought her back repeatedly to enthusiastic audiences, including the Smithsonian Associates, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Academy Art Museum in Easton MD, the Chesapeake Film Festival, the Annapolis Opera Company, the Cosmos Club in DC, and countless others. Besides appreciating her performing artistry, her listeners rave about her warm, engaging style as she illustrates at the piano. Her great passion is provoking connections and sparking imaginative pathways for her listeners and students, so their own creativity can be inspired by extraordinary musical art.

She is the Inside the Classics Music Scholar in Residence for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, giving all their pre-concert lectures at the Music Center at Strathmore, and in 2023 appeared as one of the featured speakers at the world-renowned Aspen Ideas: Health Conference in Colorado. In addition she recently joined the roster of distinguished lecturers for New York’s 92nd Street Y’s “Roundtable” online platform. For the past two New Years she has given the Plenary Lunchtime Performance for the prestigious Renaissance Weekend conference in Charleston, SC, and in May 2024 she presented a unique show on 90 years of film music Oscars for the Avalon Theatre Chevy Chase’s annual gala.

Rachel Franklin has concertized in major halls across Europe, Canada and the US. The Washington Post has praised her “cool-headed bravura and panache” and the Baltimore Sun lauded “a flawless crystalline technique, and warmth and electricity in her playing.” She is also doubly talented as an accomplished jazz pianist, leading her own unique classical/jazz chamber ensemble SONOS.

Dr. Franklin is keenly aware of the need to reach out to audiences who want a “behind the scenes” experience with classical music and its great composers, history and place in the wider world of the arts. She offers many types of lecture-demonstrations, courses and lecture-recital packages. She also enjoys curating musical events and festivals, and all her presentations are designed to suit a wide variety of venues and audiences. She is always delighted to discuss possibilities with music-lovers and organizations.

Past Performances

Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa was presented on February 22, 2025, at Carnegie Hall (Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage) as a one-night musical event honoring the life and legacy of Mother Teresa. Conducted by Dante Santiago Anzolini and performed by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the program wove together sacred masterworks and contemporary compositions—including four U.S. premieres—to reflect key facets of Mother Teresa’s journey, from her service among the poorest of the poor in Calcutta to her spiritual perseverance and ultimate transcendence. Featuring soprano Catherine Wethington, baritone Sean Michael Plumb, and a professional Tribute Chorale, the concert included highlights such as Fauré’s Requiem, the American premiere of Genc Tukiçi’s Hymn for Mother Teresa, and Philip Glass’s Paradise from Symphony No. 5, offering audiences a deeply moving meditation on faith, compassion, and humanitarian legacy.

See the Program Book
Watch the Performance

Building on a sold-out, critically praised performance at Carnegie Hall in February 2025, Journey of Faith: A Musical Tribute to Mother Teresa came to the Music Center at Strathmore on September 6, 2025, presented by EGC Productions. The concert honored Mother Teresa’s life and legacy through a thoughtfully curated program led by conductor Dante Santiago Anzolini and performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, featuring classical masterworks and contemporary works that traced her spiritual journey from calling to global service, offering Washington-area audiences a powerful, one-night musical reflection on faith, sacrifice, and compassion.

See the Program Book