Celebrate spring with “Melodies in Bloom,” an Artist Showcase presented in partnership with Finger Lakes Opera, on Saturday, April 26th, at 3:00 p.m. in Lake Avenue Baptist Church! This FREE concert features the exceptional talents of baritone Holden Turner and pianist Gregory Smith in a captivating performance of music filled with light and warmth. Join us for an afternoon of exceptional artistry—free and open for all to attend!
Parking is available for free on both sides of Ambrose Street and Jones Avenue. Lake Avenue Baptist Church occupies the block between Ambrose Street and Jones Avenue, with entrances to the church on both streets.
Come early for even more music!
Join us for a special Prelude Performance at 2:15 p.m. featuring young performers from Agape Haven of Abundance, a growing, community-based, non-profit grassroots organization embedded in the Edgerton neighborhood of Rochester, where it meets the needs of its underserved population.
Holden Turner
Holden James Turner, a Baritone from Rochester, NY, was most recently seen as a Vocal Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival during the Summer of 2024. He has been seen in numerous productions with the Eastman Opera Theatre at the Eastman School of Music and has also been seen as a featured soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. He's been honored to perform as a Baritone Soloist for the Finger Lakes Opera on many occasions, The Rochester Oratorio Society, the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the Eastman Philharmonia and Eastman-Rochester Chorus, SUNY Geneseo Symphony Orchestra and Festival Singers, Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra, and many more in and out of the community of Rochester. Mr. Turner has worked with many types of artists ranging from Jon Batiste to Dawn Upshaw and Andris Nelsons. He is also a recipient of the Rochester Links Organization's "Young Black & Gifted" Scholarship, The William Warfield Scholarship, and has received a proclamation from the Monroe County Legislature in Rochester, NY.
Gregory Smith
Gregory Smith, a Texas native, began his piano studies at age 5. He graduated summa cum laude from Brigham Young University, receiving his BM in Piano Performance in 2021. While at BYU, Gregory assisted the opera (Dido and Aeneas, Die Zauberflöte, L’elisir d’amore), concert choir, wind symphony, symphonic band, and various instrumental and vocal studios as a collaborative pianist. Gregory’s awards and honors include 1st place in the 2021 Utah Young Collaborative Pianists Competition, Eastman’s Barbara M. H. Koeng Award for Vocal Accompanying, Eastman’s Barr Award for Accompanying, and 2nd and 3rd place pianist in the 2022 and 2023 Eastman Kneisel Lieder Competitions. He has participated with full fellowships at SongFest (2022, 2023) and Toronto Summer Music Art of Song program (2023), learning from such esteemed artists as Martin Katz, Graham Johnson, Roger Vignoles, and Craig Terry. Most recently, he studied at the Aspen Music Festival (2024) as an opera coaching fellow. Under the direction of Dr. Andrew Harley, Gregory completed his MM in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music at Eastman in 2023, and he is currently pursuing his DMA studies in the same program. Equally passionate about music theory, he is also a candidate for the Advanced Certificate in Music Theory Pedagogy and serves as a teaching assistant in Eastman’s theory department.
Joseph Avenue Arts and Culture Alliance programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.