Friday, December 5, 2025
7:30 p.m.
Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel, 8700 NW River Park Drive, Parkville, MO
The annual “Intimate Christmas with the ICM Orchestra” returns for its fourth year and features a wide range of festive music. Bach’s Cantata 51, Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen (Praise God in Every Land), a virtuoso showpiece for soprano and trumpet, will be a featured work, along with the Pizzicato Polka and Radetzky March from the Strauss family. In addition to the Bach cantata, guest soprano Payton Boldt will also be featured in Maria Wiegenlied (Mary’s Cradle Song) by Max Reger, and former Kansas City Symphony harpist Deborah Clark will perform solo works by Benjamin Britten and Gustav Holst, as well as the haunting Coventry Carol. Other shorter works will also be performed, but those will be a special holiday surprise!
Program
Works by Bach, Max Reger, Benjamin Britten, Gustav Holst and other holiday surprises!
Biographies
Steven McDonald
Originally from Reading, Mass., Steven McDonald, director of orchestral activities, has served on the faculties of the University of Kansas, Boston University and Gordon College. While in Boston, he conducted a number of ensembles, including Musica Modus Vivendi, the student early music group at Harvard University. McDonald also directed ensembles at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, serving as founder and music director of the Summer Opera and Independent Activities Period Orchestra, and conductor of the MIT Chamber Orchestra and the Gilbert and Sullivan Players. At the University of Kansas, McDonald served as assistant conductor of the KU Symphony, and was the founder and music director of the Camerata Ensemble of non-music majors, and of the chamber orchestra “Sine Nomine,” a select ensemble of performance majors. Additionally, he has conducted performances of the KU Opera. He has also served as vocal coach at the Boston University Opera Institute and at Gordon College.
Payton Boldt
Payton Boldt (soprano) is working to receive her master’s degree in Vocal Performance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, studying with Dr. Maria Kanyova. She has performed with numerous opera companies around the United States and in Italy, appearing as Este Dame in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Kate in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance, Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Adele in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, and Adina in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore.
Dr. Aaron Romm
Dr. Aaron Romm comes to the role of Instructor of Trumpet at the University of Kansas from Sarasota, Florida, where he served as Co-Principal Trumpet of the Sarasota Orchestra and performed regularly with the Sarasota Opera and Music Festival. His solo and chamber performances and masterclasses have taken him to Brazil, Spain, Belgium, France, South Korea, and, of course, the United States, including Puerto Rico. This past summer he joined the faculty of the Rafael Mendez Brass Institute, also performing as a member of the world-renowned Summit Brass. He is a member of the Romm Trio, consisting of Aaron, Ron Romm (Trumpet and Former/Founding member, Canadian Brass), and Steinway Artist Avis Romm (piano), a unique two-trumpet-and-piano ensemble with a broad stylistic scope of repertoire. He previously served on the faculties of Illinois State University and State College of Florida (Manatee-Sarasota). Other performance experience includes the Utah Festival Orchestra and Jalisco Philharmonic in Mexico.
He holds a D.M.A. in Trumpet Performance and Literature and M.M in Trumpet Performance from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, and a Bachelor of Musical Arts from the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University.
Aaron Romm is a Warburton Performing Artist and Clinician.
