Melvin P. Unger
Music Director and conductor

Melvin P. Unger came to the Cleveland area in 1998 to become Director of the Riemenschneider Bach Institute at Baldwin-Wallace College, a position that he continues to hold. He also conducts the B-W Singers, a relatively new ensemble of some 55 members. His previous academic and choral directing experience was principally in Edmonton, Alberta, where he taught at the North American Baptist College and conducted the Da Camera Singers for 17 years.

Mel Unger is a graduate of the University of Illinois (Doctor of Musical Arts in Choral Music), the University of Oregon (Master of Music in Choral Conducting), and the University of Saskatchewan (Bachelor of Music in Choral Music Education). He was one of the first North American students to study under renowned conductor and Bach specialist Helmuth Rilling, at the State Conservatory of Music in Frankfurt, Germany.

Unger’s choirs have appeared at a number of competitions, festivals, and choral conventions in Canada and the United States. In 1996, his Da Camera Singers were chosen to serve as principal chorus-in-residence at the Classical Seminar-Festival in Eisenstadt, Austria; during this time, the chorus performed the Vierne Mass at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna under Unger’s direction.

Unger is taking a sabbatical during the 2008-2009 Concert Season, and the Singers’ Club will be led by three guest conductors assisted by Assistant Conductor Robert P. Bellisario.

   

Robert P. Bellisario

Robert P. Bellisario
Assistant Conductor

Mr. Bellisario is currently in his 20th season as assistant conductor of The Singers' Club and his 16th season as director of the Centennials. He first joined the Club as an Albert Rees Davis Scholarship recipient in 1986. In 1987, he was awarded the American Choral Director Association Student Award. Mr. Bellisario has sung with Lyric Opera of Cleveland. Church of the Covenant Choir, the Old Stone Church, and The Robert Page Singers.
   

Charles M. Carr
Guest Conductor
December Concert

Dr. Carr has extensive professional experience in Cleveland, including leadership positions at Laurel School and Christ Episcopal Church (Shaker Heights). He is currently organist and choir director at the First Congregational Church of Hudson. His academic background includes degrees from Dartmouth College, Case Western Reserve University and, most recently, Indiana University, where he studied with Margaret Hillis and Robert Porco.
   

David W. Gilson
Guest Conductor
March Concert

A graduate of Allegheny College and the Cleveland Institute of Music, David Gilson is currently Associate Dean for Student Affairs at CIM. He has a strong background as a choral conductor as well as a vocal soloist, and is currently Director of Music at the United Methodist Church in Chagrin Falls. He is also an instrumentalist (trumpet and euphonium).
   

William B. Woods
Guest Conductor
May Concert

Dr. Woods chairs the music and dance departments at the Cleveland School of the Arts. He is a graduate of Tennessee State University and Case Western Reserve University, and has been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music. He directs the internationally-acclaimed R. Nathaniel Dett Concert Choir (the guest ensemble at the May 2002 Singers' Club concert) and is Director of Music Ministries at Antioch Baptist Church.