Douglas Cleveland is John Delo Faculty Fellow in Organ at the University of Washington.
Douglas was born in Tacoma, Washington and raised in Olympia. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music where he studied with Russell Saunders, a master’s degree from Indiana University studying with Larry Smith and Marilyn Keiser, and a doctorate from the Graduate Theological Foundation, where he completed his course work and final doctoral project at the University of Oxford School of Theology. He has been on the music faculties of St. Olaf College, Northwestern University, and the University of Washington. For twelve years he served as Director of Music at Plymouth Church in Seattle and is currently director of music at St. Thomas Medina Episcopal Church and Musician in Residence at Temple De Hirsch Sinai in Seattle.
Doug won first prize in the American Guild of Organists National Young Artists Competition in Dallas. Since then, he has performed in all fifty of the United States and in venues throughout Europe and Asia. His performances with American symphony orchestras have included the Chicago Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony and the National Symphony in Washington, DC. In Seattle, he has performed several times on the Seattle Symphony Organ Series at Benaroya Hall. He has performed with Seattle Pro Musica, Choral Arts Northwest, the Seattle Men’s Chorus, and Northwest Chamber Chorus. He has recorded six CDs on the Gothic label, which have received critical acclaim — his most recent being “Douglas Cleveland Plays Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago.” He has performed at the AGO National Conventions of Dallas, Denver, and Kansas City.
Emily Mwila is a soprano from New Zealand and Zambia, now based in Chicago, Illinois. She was part of the original revival cast of Anthony Davis’ The Life and Times of Malcolm X with Detroit Opera, Omaha Opera, and the Metropolitan Opera. In 2021, she appeared in the chorus of Porgy and Bess at the Metropolitan Opera. She made her Lyric Opera of Chicago debut singing the role of Evelyn/Fire Shut Up in My Bones (2021/22) and has subsequently sung Lucia Paret in Champion, been the soprano soloist in Lyric Opera’s concert performance of Mozart’s Thamos, King of Egypt, and most recently she played Sina in Missy Mazzoli’s The Listeners .She made her operatic debut in New Zealand at Eternity Opera (Zerlina/Don Giovanni), and other roles include Susanna/Le Nozze di Figaro, Mae Jones/Street Scene, and Euridice/Orfeo ed Euridice. Mwila received a Master of Music and Professional Studies Diploma in Voice at Mannes School of Music in New York.
Praised by the Durham Herald Sun as “a baritone with warm, rich tones and superb stage presence,” Bill McMurray has distinguished himself in more than forty operatic roles across the United States. He has portrayed some of the repertoire’s most celebrated characters, including Figaro (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Marcello (La Bohème), Dulcamara (L’elisir d’amore), Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), and Escamillo (Carmen). His performances have been featured with renowned companies such as Florida Grand Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, Opera Carolina, Central City Opera, Opera North, Knoxville Opera, Skylight Music Theater, and Union Avenue Opera.
