Featured Artists

Lisette Kielson performs regularly at early music festivals and in concert in Chicago and throughout the Midwest as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player. Past President of the American Recorder Society (ARS) and former Director of Bradley University’s Collegium Musicum, Lisette currently teaches on the faculty of the Whitewater Early Music Festival, serves as Music Director of the ARS Chicago Chapter, and maintains an active schedule as workshop presenter across the country. Lisette holds Bachelor and Master Degrees in flute from Indiana University and a post-master’s Diploma in recorder from The Royal Conservatory of The Hague, The Netherlands.

Polly Purcell Brecht is a native of Galesburg, Illinois. She moved back to the area last year from Nashville, Tennessee, where she was a Professor at the Blair School/Vanderbilt and Organist/Music Associate at Westminster Presbyterian, Nashville, where she served for over 30 years. She currently teaches at Bradley University and serves as organist at Westminster Presbyterian, Peoria. She received degrees in piano, organ, and harpsichord performance from Indiana University and Florida State University, with additional studies at Oberlin, University of Houston, and the Eastman School. She also holds the performer’s certificate in organ performance and was a finalist in many competitions, including the Detroit AGO Nationals. Prior to her positions in Nashville, Polly was a tenured professor at Middle Tennessee State University for over 10 years. In addition she has served many churches in Tennessee, Florida, Houston, Indiana, and Illinois. She has extensive experience in solo and collaborative work on piano, organ, and harpsichord. On the Peoria Bach Festival 2024 she will be giving a solo organ concert on Sunday, June 2 at 4:00 pm and play continuo on the Thursday noon concert.

Adriana La Rosa Ransom is currently Director of the School of Music at Illinois State University, where she was cello professor for 14 years. She received a Bachelor of Music degree in cello performance from the University of Missouri, where she studied with Nina Gordon. She earned Master and Doctorate degrees in performance from the University of Minnesota, studying cello with Tanya Remenikova and chamber music with Jorja Fleezanis. As a soloist, Adriana has recently appeared with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois State Wind Symphony, and the Illinois State Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared as a guest artist on notable solo and chamber music recital series, including the Peoria Bach Festival, Chicago Cello Society concerts, the Trinity Lutheran Candlelight Concert Series, and at universities throughout the Midwest. Currently Principal Cellist of the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, she formerly was a member of the Minnesota Opera Orchestra, the St. Cloud Symphony (MN), the European Musical Festival Orchestra (Germany), and Sinfonia da Camera (IL). Adriana has served on the faculty at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Cloud State University, the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis, and the Grumo (Italy) Music Festival. She is the recipient of the University Outstanding Teacher Award, University Outstanding Service Award, and the Illinois American String Teachers Association Distinguished Service Award, among others. She is an invited presenter at the American String Teacher National Conference, covering topics such as David Popper’s character pieces, supplementary etudes for intermediate level cello concertos, and the use of visual color as a means towards musical expression.

Jonathan Wessler has served as Kantor at First Lutheran Church in Boston since 2016. Prior to that he was the Assistant Organist at the Church of St. Paul in Harvard Square and St. Paul’s Choir School. A Peoria native, he received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance from the Eastman School of Music, studying with William Porter. He previously earned the Bachelor of Music degree in organ performance from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, studying with David Boe, and the Master of Sacred Music degree from the University of Notre Dame, studying with Craig Cramer. He additionally mentored under Sherry Seckler and Christiaan Teeuwsen. He holds the Associate’s certificate from the American Guild of Organists and was a finalist in the 2007 Arthur Poister Organ Competition. He is the general editor of the Leupold Foundation's edition of the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach and a member of the Lutheran Missal Project editorial team, and gives presentations and lectures on early Lutheran music and liturgy. He maintains an active career as a recitalist and continuo player, appearing frequently with the Cantata Singers, the Concord Chorus, and the Peoria Bach Festival. This year he will also conduct the Peoria Bach Festival Orchestra in Bach's Orchestra Suite No. 3. The harpsichord used for all of the Peoria Bach Festival's 22 years was made by Jonathan when he was in high school.

Dr. Martin Dicke helped found the Peoria Bach Festival in 2003 and served as its Co-Director for 14 years while serving as Cantor at Trinity Lutheran Church, Peoria. From 2016-2022 he worked as a Music Specialist with the Office of International Mission for the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod serving among other places in Papua New Guinea and Taiwan. He  earned a Masters of Choral Conducting from the University of Minnesota (1987) and a Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Conducting from the University of Iowa (2008). Early in his career he served schools and churches in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) where he also founded and for 10 years directed a community choir. While studying at the University of Iowa he was Director of the Chamber Singers of Iowa City. He currently serves on the Board of David’s Harp (www.davidsharpmusic.org), an organization devoted to helping churches train a new generation of musicians. He is dedicated to helping musicians participate in what he calls “The Eternal Song” and blogs occasionally at www.jubalslyre.com. His compositions and arrangements are available on www.sheetmusicplus.com and www.jwpepper.com.