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On Break for the Summer!
Our Mission Statement
Music has long been recognized as a major source of inspiration and a major motivation for introspection as one confronts one’s religious faith. First Baptist has a long history of strong support for music and an outstanding music program including an excellent Rogers Electronic/Pipe Organ hybrid and one of the areas outstanding choirs. Music has the ability to move our mind and soul beyond its earthly roots, to help us soar in exaltation and praise of our God, and to move us in humility and supplication. Our responses to music are very personal and each of us responds in our own way. To that end music at First Baptist has three primary goals:
1. To enrich and enhance the worship experience through an eclectic but more traditional musical repertoire the meets the aptitudes and tastes of a varied congregation.
2. To provide an opportunity to those for whom musical expression is not only the foundation for their own personal expression of faith but also a valued and treasured gift which they desire to offer both to their God and their church.
3. To provide a musical outreach and mission to the greater Lexington Community through the presentation of special musical programs and participation in community events.
Dr. Robert P. Eaton - Minister of Music
Dr. Robert P. Eaton is founder and director of the Assabet Valley Mastersingers, a 70 voice regional chorus dedicated to the performance of major choral masterworks, and also the sixteen voice Assabet Valley Chambersingers. Dr. Eaton has a long career in church music and is currently Minister of Music at First Baptist Church of Lexington, MA. He has served as President for Eastern Division American Choral Directors Association as well as at the State and Division level in many capacities.
Dr. Eaton was Choral Director at Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, MA for many years. Dr. Eaton’s choruses won numerous awards at festivals and competitions, including gold medals for Jazz Choir, Camerata Choir, Chamber Choir, and Concert Choir. Dr. Eaton"s students have been selected for National and Regional Honors Choirs and were always well represented in District and All State Choruses. In 1994 he was awarded the Teacher of the Year Award at Algonquin for his work in developing Humanities courses.
In addition Dr. Eaton has been an organist/choir director for most of his career, active in the American Choral Directors Association, the American Guild of Organists, Music Educators National Conference, and Central District Massachusetts Music Educators Association. He has served as adjudicator and manager of All-State and District choruses and clinician/adjudicator for Festivals of Music. He received a Master of Music Education degree from Hartt School of Music with Dr. Gerald Mack and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting with Dr. James Jordan, also from Hartt. His DMA Dissertation was on Duruflé’s Requiem. Dr. Eaton has also studied conducting with Allen Lannom, Joseph Flummerfelt, and Sir David Willcocks.
Dr. Robert P. Eaton is founder and director of the Assabet Valley Mastersingers, a 70 voice regional chorus dedicated to the performance of major choral masterworks, and also the sixteen voice Assabet Valley Chambersingers. Dr. Eaton has a long career in church music and is currently Minister of Music at First Baptist Church of Lexington, MA. He has served as President for Eastern Division American Choral Directors Association as well as at the State and Division level in many capacities.
Dr. Eaton was Choral Director at Algonquin Regional High School, Northborough, MA for many years. Dr. Eaton’s choruses won numerous awards at festivals and competitions, including gold medals for Jazz Choir, Camerata Choir, Chamber Choir, and Concert Choir. Dr. Eaton"s students have been selected for National and Regional Honors Choirs and were always well represented in District and All State Choruses. In 1994 he was awarded the Teacher of the Year Award at Algonquin for his work in developing Humanities courses.
In addition Dr. Eaton has been an organist/choir director for most of his career, active in the American Choral Directors Association, the American Guild of Organists, Music Educators National Conference, and Central District Massachusetts Music Educators Association. He has served as adjudicator and manager of All-State and District choruses and clinician/adjudicator for Festivals of Music. He received a Master of Music Education degree from Hartt School of Music with Dr. Gerald Mack and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Choral Conducting with Dr. James Jordan, also from Hartt. His DMA Dissertation was on Duruflé’s Requiem. Dr. Eaton has also studied conducting with Allen Lannom, Joseph Flummerfelt, and Sir David Willcocks.
Sarah Mayo, Soprano
Sarah Mayo began singing with her own First Baptist Church of Charlottesville, Virginia at the age of 6 as part of the "Music Makers" Children's Choir. She now holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Mary Washington. Sarah appears regularly with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and A Joyful Noyse. She joined the FBCL senior choir as Soprano soloist and section leader in the fall of 2009.
Sarah's "day job" is in Human Resources at Harvard Law School.
Sarah Mayo began singing with her own First Baptist Church of Charlottesville, Virginia at the age of 6 as part of the "Music Makers" Children's Choir. She now holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from George Mason University and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Mary Washington. Sarah appears regularly with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and A Joyful Noyse. She joined the FBCL senior choir as Soprano soloist and section leader in the fall of 2009.
Sarah's "day job" is in Human Resources at Harvard Law School.
Ana Maria Ugarte, Contralto
Ana Maria Ugarte is a true contralto, a rare voice. Her rich, deep tones are brilliantly combined with an innate dramatic ability which mirrors her dramatic voice.
Ana recently was invited by Opera Providence to repeat her “wonderful”, “hilarious”, scene-stealing performance as Ruth in their 2014 production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates Of Penzance.
As a soloist she has performed in many of the great oratorio and orchestral works including Vivaldi’s Gloria; Israel in Egypt by G. F. Handel, Duruflé’s Requiem, and El Amor Brujo by Manuel de Falla. An innovative and energetic concert recitalist, she has appeared in and out of the United States.
In 2002, she made her international debut in La Antigua, Guatemala as guest artist at the Festival Mosaico. In 2003 she was invited by the first lady of El Salvador, Doña Lourdes de Flores to perform at both the Teatro El Presidente and the Teatro Luis Poma.
She lives in Ipswich with her husband and two children.
Ana Maria Ugarte is a true contralto, a rare voice. Her rich, deep tones are brilliantly combined with an innate dramatic ability which mirrors her dramatic voice.
Ana recently was invited by Opera Providence to repeat her “wonderful”, “hilarious”, scene-stealing performance as Ruth in their 2014 production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates Of Penzance.
As a soloist she has performed in many of the great oratorio and orchestral works including Vivaldi’s Gloria; Israel in Egypt by G. F. Handel, Duruflé’s Requiem, and El Amor Brujo by Manuel de Falla. An innovative and energetic concert recitalist, she has appeared in and out of the United States.
In 2002, she made her international debut in La Antigua, Guatemala as guest artist at the Festival Mosaico. In 2003 she was invited by the first lady of El Salvador, Doña Lourdes de Flores to perform at both the Teatro El Presidente and the Teatro Luis Poma.
She lives in Ipswich with her husband and two children.
Kilian Mooney, Tenor
Kilian Mooney is sought out as a chorister, soloist, and teaching artist throughout Boston. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from the University of Rhode Island and a Master's in Vocal Performance from the Longy School of Music in Cambridge.
Kilian performs with several choral groups in the Boston area, including Renaissance Men, Labyrinth Choir, and Cappella Clausura. He travels home regularly for engagements with the Providence-based early music ensemble, Ecclesia Consort, and he has sung with Boston Midsummer Opera and Opera Providence as well. In May of 2014, Kilian participated in the inaugural year of the Nahant Music Festival, where he performed as a vocal apprentice, singing the role of Donald in Douglas Moore's Gallantry and the tenor soloist in J.S. Bach's Cantata 12. In 2015 he returned to the Nahant Festival for its second season, again as a Bach soloist, and this time premiering a role in Sleeping Beauty, a new opera by Francine Trester. He has also performed at the Newport Music Festival in Newport, RI, and the Lucerne Music Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Currently, Kilian lives in Somerville, MA, and studies with Ryan Turner of Emmanuel Music. He has returned to his Alma Mater to speak on the art of singing and the importance of educating young singers, a calling that is near to his heart. He has shaped the minds and talents of young musicians through his teaching with the education outreach programs of both Cantata Singers and the Handel & Haydn Society, rewarding work to which he occasionally returns as a guest rehearsal conductor and as a musicianship instructor. Kilian teaches general music and chorus full-time at Saint Peter's School in Cambridge. He also provides the music ministry for their school masses on Thursday mornings.
Kilian Mooney is sought out as a chorister, soloist, and teaching artist throughout Boston. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from the University of Rhode Island and a Master's in Vocal Performance from the Longy School of Music in Cambridge.
Kilian performs with several choral groups in the Boston area, including Renaissance Men, Labyrinth Choir, and Cappella Clausura. He travels home regularly for engagements with the Providence-based early music ensemble, Ecclesia Consort, and he has sung with Boston Midsummer Opera and Opera Providence as well. In May of 2014, Kilian participated in the inaugural year of the Nahant Music Festival, where he performed as a vocal apprentice, singing the role of Donald in Douglas Moore's Gallantry and the tenor soloist in J.S. Bach's Cantata 12. In 2015 he returned to the Nahant Festival for its second season, again as a Bach soloist, and this time premiering a role in Sleeping Beauty, a new opera by Francine Trester. He has also performed at the Newport Music Festival in Newport, RI, and the Lucerne Music Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Currently, Kilian lives in Somerville, MA, and studies with Ryan Turner of Emmanuel Music. He has returned to his Alma Mater to speak on the art of singing and the importance of educating young singers, a calling that is near to his heart. He has shaped the minds and talents of young musicians through his teaching with the education outreach programs of both Cantata Singers and the Handel & Haydn Society, rewarding work to which he occasionally returns as a guest rehearsal conductor and as a musicianship instructor. Kilian teaches general music and chorus full-time at Saint Peter's School in Cambridge. He also provides the music ministry for their school masses on Thursday mornings.
Stefan Sigurjonsson, Baritone
Stefan Sigurjonsson has sung in choirs from childhood. First in his native country of Iceland, where he eventually started taking singing lessons, then in the Netherlands while working on a Bachelor of Music at the Utrecht Conservatory, and finally in the greater Boston area. Along the way he has sung with (among others) The Dutch Radio Choir, Schola Cantorum at Hallgrimskirkja, Iceland, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Cantata Singers of Boston and the Oriana Consort. He has sung solos of various types, too, of sacred and secular music.
Stefan Sigurjonsson has sung in choirs from childhood. First in his native country of Iceland, where he eventually started taking singing lessons, then in the Netherlands while working on a Bachelor of Music at the Utrecht Conservatory, and finally in the greater Boston area. Along the way he has sung with (among others) The Dutch Radio Choir, Schola Cantorum at Hallgrimskirkja, Iceland, Tanglewood Festival Chorus, Cantata Singers of Boston and the Oriana Consort. He has sung solos of various types, too, of sacred and secular music.
