On Sunday 28 May at the 10am service, we look forward to music by several members of Musicians of Ma’alwyck, Ann-Marie Barker Schwartz, violinist, and Norman Thibodeau, flautist.  The entire group will be performing on Sunday, 11 June, at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Albany; tickets are available here.

Ann-Marie Barker Schwartz attended Boston University, where she studied with Roger Shermont and received a Bachelor’s degree in Music Performance. From 1982-1997 she was a member of the first violin section of the Albany Symphony Orchestra, and currently performs with the Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra. She is also the concertmaster for many of the Capital Region Choral Societies including Albany Pro Musica, Saratoga Voices and the Clare Ensemble. Barker Schwartz is the director and violinist of Musicians of Ma’alwyck. She received her Master’s degree in American History from the University at Albany (New York), where she specialized in research of music in America during the 1700s and 1800s. A Cunningham Research Resident at the New York State Library, she worked on early 19th-century musical activities in Albany, culminating in a production in 2009 of George Washington’s favorite opera The Poor Soldier by William Shield and John O’Keefe. Ms. Schwartz was a producer for Dorian Recordings, and continues in that capacity for the award-winning Baroque ensemble REBEL. Their last recording, devoted to music of Telemann, was in the 2014 Grammy pool.
Ms. Schwartz has taught music history at the University at Albany and Siena College. She is the adjunct professor of violin and viola at SUNY-Schenectady and also teaches the chamber ensemble class.

Norman Thibodeau has been a member of Musicians of Ma’alwyck since 2006. He also performs with the wind quintet Fünf and Vermont Virtuosi, and has performed with the Maverick Chamber Players. He was assistant principal flutist of the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México, and has played with almost all the professional orchestras in and near the Capital Region of New York State. In 2008, he was a guest solo artist for the Skidmore College Flute Festival. He has recorded solo flute works of Anthony Holland for Albany Records, and has had both live and recorded performances broadcast on NPR. He embraces variety and versatility in his performing life, having performed on a range of flutes from baroque traverso to contrabass flute, plus a quarter-tone flute including a sliding headjoint.
Also a composer, Norman has works published and recorded by ALRY Publications and Albany Records. Norman was trained at Peabody Conservatory and the University at Albany. His teachers include Irvin Gilman, Robert Dick, Stephen Preston, and Britton Johnson. Norman teaches flute at Schenectady Community College and the Berkshire Music School. He also teaches extended flute techniques each summer at the Wildacres Flute Retreat, and has taught flute at Colgate University, the College of St. Rose, and the University at Albany. Additionally, Norman is a trained practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method, an approach to movement education that musicians in particular have found highly beneficial to their performance level and comfort.