Musical Club Scholarship Concert to feature renowned tenor Mrak Bleeke

The Musical Club of Westfield will present Winds of Song, an annual Scholarship Concert featuring internationally renowned tenor, Mark Bleeke and The Monmouth Winds Ensemble on Sunday, November 24, 3pm at the First Baptist Church of Westfield, 170 Elm St.

Mr. Bleeke grew up in Westfield. His mother, Mrs. Evelyn Bleeke, is an award winning educator in the Westfield public school system, an accomplished singer, and organist and served as the Director of the Choral Arts Society of NJ for 32 seasons. Mrs. Bleeke is a longtime member of the Musical Club of Westfield.

Mr. Bleeke earned a degree from Westminster Choir College and credits not only his family for their support and encouragement but the Westfield public school system as well. “I was able to begin playing the French horn in third grade. There was always singing in classes and assemblies and the ability to choose from many music electives. I remember that my final semester of high school consisted of seven courses of musical study including Choir, Orchestra, Music Appreciation and a course in Orchestration.”, Mr. Bleeke recalled.

His early credits were engagements and recording with a number of ensembles including the Folger Consort and New York’s Ensemble for Early Music. Mr. Bleeke has sung hundreds of performances of Baroque and Classical masterpieces ranging from Handel and Bach to Mozart and Beethoven with such well known ensembles as the Seattle Symphony, Pittsburgh and Montreal Symphonies, The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Orchester Wiener Akademie, Carmel Bach festival, Boston baroque and the Tavener Consort to name but a few.

A versatile artist, Mark Bleeke also worked closely with Dave Brubeck on productions of Brubeck’s Oratorio and later recorded the piece with the National Symphony Orchestra. He has continued his interest in contemporary music having performed and recorded with many composers including Gian-Carlo Mennotti, Paul Winter, John Harbison and John Corigliano and as a member of the male vocal ensemble Hudson Shad, he maintains an active performance schedule.

 For the Scholarship Concert Mr. Bleeke will be joined by Carolle-Ann Mochernuk on piano and Beverly Shea on harp as well as The Monmouth Winds.

 The Monmouth Winds, all members of the Monmouth Symphony Orchestra (New Jersey), were formed in 2009. They not only enjoy playing music from the standard woodwind quintet repertoire, but also enthusiastically perform jazz, popular tunes, and world music, including works by living composers, and have recently begun commissioning new music. Audiences have praised the Monmouth Winds for their intriguing repertoire, which they perform with great vitality and insight, and they are developing a growing New Jersey following. From jazz to classical, this quintet woos their audiences with their considerable musicality and charm. Members of the ensemble are Jenny Cline, flute, Nicholas Gatto, oboe, Cathy Adamo, clarinet, Richard Sachs, horn and Linda Balavram, bassoon.

Photo caption: Mark Bleeke, tenor