Eric Rutherford will present a program on the history and interpretation of shape note singing.  He has just completed his dissertation on this topic for his DMA degree at the University of Washington.  The program will include audience participation.

John Eric Rutherford, tenor, is currently the music director at Federal Way United Methodist Church. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Otterbein College, a master’s degree from Northwestern University, and just completed his DMA at the University of Washington. He has over 15 years of teaching experience in vocal and instrumental music at all levels. Eric is also an avid performer. He has appeared in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte as Ferrando, Smetana’s The Bartered Bride as Jenik, Piccinni’s La Bouna Figliuola as Il Marchese, and Britten’s Midsummer Nights Dream as Lysander. His concert works include performances of Schubert’s Mass in G, Bach’s 21st Cantata, Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Vivaldi’s Dixit Dominus, Mozart’s C Minor Mass, and Handel’s Joshua. Eric has experience in numerous operatic scenes and also sung in several master classes, including a class with Renee Fleming in 2008. He has also been a featured soloist in many concerts and performances at a variety of venues including Door County Music Festival, Puget Sound Opera, Piccini Theatre in Bari Italy, Seattle Opera, Elmhurst Symphony, Columbus Opera Theatre and Tacoma Opera.