Event Details

Bach to Baroque - January 22, 2023

The orchestra is excited to return to one of our very earliest venues and the venue for our very first Wassail concert back in 1998!

To celebrate our return to the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, we are excited to return as well to our orchestral roots with a program of music mostly from the Baroque era (1600-1750). 

Chevalier de Saint-Georges- SInfonia Concertante Opus XIII featuring BONJ violinists Alyson Whelan and Aimee Briant

Johann Sebastian Bach - Concerto for Two Violins featuring BONJ violinists Emily James and Rosalie Dumas.

Georg Philipp Telemann - Concerto for Flute and Bassoon TWV 52:F1 featuring BONJ principals Laura Ferraro and Andrew Pecota

Franz Joseph Haydn - Sinfonia Concertante featuring BONJ violinist Alyson Whelan, cellist Janis Kaplan, oboist Nancy Vanderslice, and bassoonist Lee Doswell

Alyson Whelan (violinist) is an accomplished soloist and chamber and orchestral musician. She began touring internationally at the age of 12 and has performed in such halls as Carnegie, Lincoln Center, and Bohemian National Hall, among many other theaters across the globe. She had her solo European debut in Vienna and Salzburg, Austria, to rave reviews.  Alyson has several advanced degrees ranging from an Executive Master of Business Administration degree to advanced degrees in performance and music education. She owns and runs a small music school in Hackettstown and Glen Gardner. In addition to being an active performer, Alyson is a sought-after financial advisor. She's a Certified College Planner and implements the infinite banking concept to business owners throughout the United States. 

Emily James (violinist) is a versatile musician who performs regularly in the New York Metropolitan and Tri-State area including solo, duos, trios, quartets, jazz ensembles, sacred music, and various orchestras including performances with the Pope’s Choir under the direction of Marco Frisina and The Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Robert Butts. She is a Summa Cum Laude graduate (M.A. and B.A.) from the John J. Cali School of Music, Montclair State University, where she attended on full scholarship. Awards and distinguished honors include the All-New Jersey Academic Team, the Dean’s Scholar Award from the John J. Cali School of Music, violin concerto competition finalist in the annual Concerto Competition at the John J. Cali School of Music and the featured piano soloist of Rhapsody in Blue with the Wind Ensemble at County College of Morris. Emily completed her second Master’s degree, an M.F.A. in Musical Theatre Writing with an emphasis on music composition from the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, where she attended on full scholarship. As a composer, her choral composition, Fire and  Ice, was premiered by the Harmonium Choral Society Chamber Singers during their 2018 season. Additionally, she has music directed at The Growing Stage and teaches collegiate musical theater courses. Emily is passionate about making a positive difference in the lives of her students and is the 2022-2023 Governor’s Educator of the Year Award recipient at her current school.

Aimee Morrill Briant (violinist) is an energetic chamber musician. She received her degree in violin performance at The Hartt School in Hartford, Connecticut. She has performed throughout the northeastern US and in Europe as a chamber musician and is currently a member of the trio Strings con Spirito. Orchestrally, Ms. Briant has held principal positions in the Rivers Symphony, New Sussex Symphony, and Essex County Summer Players, and is a member of The Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey. She enjoys an active freelance career. Ms. Briant is owner and teacher of the Crescendo Suzuki Studio in NJ. She also directs and teaches at several workshops throughout the year. 

Rozie Dumas (violist & violinist) is a freelance musician who performs regularly in the New York Metropolitan and Tri-State area including solo, duos, and various orchestras including performances with the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey, St. Peter by the Sea and the Pope’s Choir under the direction of Marco Frisina and The Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Robert Butts. She received her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Viola Performance (with a concentration in Music Education)  from the John J. Cali School of Music, Montclair State University. Rozie enjoys teaching a full studio of young violinists and violists, as well as being the Vice President of Things 4 Strings LLC.

Janis Kaplan (cellist) is a freelance cellist and violinist, introduced first to the cello at age nine by Rebecca Spena and the Vestal school district in Upstate NY. Through grade school, Janis studied the cello privately with Stephen Stalker and David Mordoff; she also studied the violin from the age of fourteen with Barb Lundy and Kathy Murphy. Janis studied Cello Performance at Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts with the “Queen of Cellists” Zara Nelsova before embarking on a ten-year career as an Early Childhood Educator. Never leaving music far from her classroom, Janis returned to performing in 2013, while continuing to support early childhood classrooms with her own music enrichment classes.  Janis has a passion for orchestral music and currently plays cello with the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey and the Hunterdon Symphony Orchestra, and violin with the Somerset Symphony, among many other ensembles. She also enjoys performing for, and planning, unique events, special celebrations, and recitals. In 2022 Janis organized the first ever LAWNCELLOS event in her own backyard which included authentic BBQ, an 18-piece cello choir, an audience of 100 people, and a celebrity drummer with MC. She recently began teaching both cello and violin privately in Hunterdon County in New Jersey.