Sunday Feb. 2 - Feb. 16 - March 2 - March 16 - 4-6 pm
The perfect antidote to a chilly Sunday afternoon in winter! Four amazing programs!
All profits benefit Refugee Ministries
February 2 - Henry Armstrong and Pearl Kontarinis accompanied by St. Dunstan’s favorite pianist Joey Arkfeld
The jazz series kicks off with upcoming Jazz singers, Henry Armstrong, “whose sentimental jazzy crooning is inspired by Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Hartman and Mister Rogers” and Pearl Kontarinis, whose sultry tones are accompanied by St. Dunstan’s favorite pianist Joey Arkfeld.
February 16 - Love is in the Air!
A Valentine’s celebration of Great American Songbook hits such as “ The Man I Love”, “Till There was You” and “Let’s Fall In Love with star vocalists, Diane Atherton, Mia Athey, Lance Fisher and James Rogers.
March 2 - Alison Crockett
Hear the incomparable Alison Crockett with "Nina Simone's urgency, Betty Carter's chops, and Jill Scott's sass, capturing the essence of her bold and bravura style” (Philadelphia Inquirer), sing her “ Journeys in Jazz and Beyond.”
March 16 - Kate Vetter Cain, Derek Greten- Harrison and Aaron Goen
Get ready for a stunning and tuneful tour of the USA with singers Kate Vetter Cain, Derek Greten- Harrison and Aaron Goen, piano and visit a host of quirky and delightful characters. An evening of theater and jazz hits guaranteed to make you smile about America again - at least for an evening!
Tickets are $35 for each concert or $120 for the 4 of them - $10 for students
Tickets are also available at the door. Cash and checks are accepted.
5450 Massachusetts Ave, Bethesda, MD 20816 - Entrance on Fort Sumner Drive - Free Parking
Biographies of each artist
February 2 Concert
Henry Armstrong - vocalist
Henry Armstrong (he/him) is a singer and transgender activist from DC and is thrilled to be performing as part of St. Dunstan’s Jazz Series. With over 15 years in the performing arts, he has explored a multitude of styles, from Carmina Burana to Chuck Berry, and feels most at home crooning old jazz tunes. His sentimental jazzy sound is inspired by Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Hartman, and Mister Rogers. Performance highlights include singing in the opera chorus with Andrea Bocelli at the CFG Bank Arena and performing as a soloist with Woolly Mammoth Theatre in DC. He can be found singing throughout the DMV and online @henryarmstrongmusic
One-liner: "Absolutely gorgeous. Obsessed." - Stage and Screen Star Alexandra Billings
Pearl Kontarinis - vocalist
Hello everyone and welcome!! My name is Pearl Kontarinis and I am a senior in high school and I’m excited that I will be attending the Berklee School of Music in Boston this fall as an incoming Freshman majoring in jazz vocal performance. I love singing jazz with live accompaniment with its rich harmonies and the freedom to improvise which makes each performance unique and personal. I’d like to thank Diane Atherton, my vocal teacher of many years, and the St Dunstans’ church for giving me this opportunity to share my arrangements of these jazz standards.
Joey Arkfeld - piano
Joey Arkfeld received his Master of Music in Piano Performance at the University of Maryland, College Park, in the studio of Larissa Dedova, and his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at Lawrence University in the studio of Anthony Padilla. While at Lawrence, he studied organ performance, and continued his organ studies with John Walker in Baltimore, MD, after moving to the DC area. Joey’s piano skills have taken him across the U.S. and Europe as a collaborative and solo pianist, and he is the Third Prize winner of the 2018 Russell C. Wonderlic Piano Competition. Joey served as the Minister of Music and Organist at St. Dunstan’s from 2019 to 2022, and as Interim Minister of Music and Organist from 2018 to 2019. Currently he attends the George Washington University Law School and is expected to graduate in May, 2025. He resides in Washington, DC, with his fiance, Annabelle Castleman, and their three cats.
February 16 Concert
Diane Atherton - Soprano
Diane is a lover of all genres of music and has performed everything from Hildegard to Abba via Gershwin and Mozart! On the lighter side of musical life she has sung as a soloist at the Kennedy Center in Choral Art’s “ Rodgers & Hammerstein” tribute with Norman Scribner which she also performed at the River Series with St. Mary’s College and Larry Vote. Diane sang the role of Mariam in an off- broadway production of a musical based on the DH Lawrence’s ‘Sons and Lovers with Broadway star Christiane Noll and Garth Beardsley. Other crossover performances include a fully staged performance of “ The Magic of Lehar” in London, numerous after dinner shows including the hits of Cole Porter, Ivor Novello, Gershwin etc. Diane’s other musical performances extend from operatic roles such as Gilda, Susanna, Zerlina, Despina,Titania, Aminta to her love for concert and church music. Diane is the curator of the 2025 Jazz Series and is the Minister of Music at St. Dunstan’s Episcopal Church.
Mia Athey - Mezzo- soprano
Mia Athey, mezzo-soprano, is establishing herself as a multifaceted performer, telling stories through opera, musical theatre, film and writing. She’s been hailed by Opera News as "Particularly captivating … whose voice seems so well-suited to slip between speech and song that when she does let loose it is enormously gratifying." Passionate for new works, Mia has participated in 6 world premieres, including: Girlfriend 3/Congregant in Blue, Phoebe in The Passion of Mary Cardwell Dawson, Aishah McNair in The Knock and Auntie in the workshop for Show Way. She currently sings in the Contemporary Ensemble at The Washington National Cathedral.
Lance Fisher - Tenor
Lance Fisher, hailing from Salisbury, Maryland has a love for ensemble and solo singing. He regularly performs with Washington National Cathedral Choir and Washington National Opera Chorus and has performed in several productions including the world premiere of Grounded by Jeanine Tesori, playing Dr. Blind in Die Fledermaus, Bach St. Matthew Passion and Mass in B minor, sings with the International Semi Finalist Barbershop quartet Praxis, and is the section leader of Alexandria Harmonizers barbershop chorus. Lance holds degrees from Salisbury University and the Peabody Institute of Music recently completing his Masters under the tutelage of William Sharp.
James Rogers - Baritone
Washington-based baritone James Rogers has performed as a soloist in opera, oratorio, concert and recital in the Washington area with ensembles including Washington Master Chorale (Dona Nobis Pacem) Chamber Singers (Curlew River, Noye's Fludde), the Fairfax Choral Society (Lord Nelson Mass), Young Victorian Theatre (The Gondoliers), Victorian Lyric Opera Company (Die Fledermaus), Opera AACC (Don Giovanni), Inscape Chamber Orchestra (Façade, Trouble in Tahiti, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen), Urban Arias (The Filthy Habit), the Washington Savoyards (The Merry Widow), the Arts Chorale of Winchester, the Annapolis Chorale, the New Dominion Chorale, and the City Choir of Washington (The Creation, Dettingen Te Deum). National appearances include concerts and recitals in New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Dallas, and Honolulu.
March 2 Concert
Alison Crockett
From her international breakthrough in the 90s as a featured vocalist on DJ/King Britt’s Sylk 130 project "When the Funk Hit the Fan", and Acid jazz group Us3’s "An Ordinary Day in an Unusual Place", through her jazzy and exotic, Brazilian influenced 2018 EP "Obrigada" to the forward retro 2023 release "Echoes of an Era Redux", Alison Crockett has forged a groundbreaking, deliriously unpredictable path as a visionary and fiercely independent artist.
A multi-talented singer, songwriter and pianist who grew up spending nights absorbing her father’s extensive music collection, Alison developed her formidable jazz chops out of Temple University in Philly gigging with Orrin Evans, and later, in NYC, by fronting hip-hop jazz Greg Osby’s band. Alison has released a string of powerful soul and jazz driven recordings starting in 2004 with "On Becoming A Woman" and the remix dance recording "The Return of Diva Blue: On Becoming a Woman Redux". She pulled a 180 with "Bare," a stripped down, romantic acoustic set, then moved to a searing sociopolitical 2012 opus "Mommy, What’s a Depression?", speaking truth to power with electronic funk and jazz. Alison’s shows are more than just music, they’re events not to be missed – unpredictable, exciting and always entertaining.
March 16 Concert
Kate Vetter- Cain - soprano
Soprano Kate Vetter Cain’s “sweetness of timbre and vocal power” (The Washington Post) has propelled a vibrant career in musical theater, cabaret, opera, and concert. DC: Washington Concert Opera, InSeries, Folger Theatre, Washington Ballet, Washington Bach Consort, Opera Lafayette; REGIONAL: Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Bach in Baltimore, Tanglewood Music Center, Ash-Lawn Highland Festival, Caramoor Festival Opera, Taconic Opera; OFF-BWAY: Morphoses - the Wheeldon Company, New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players, Vertical Players. Learn more about Kate’s performing and teaching at www.katevettercain.com.
Derek Greten- Harrison - singer
Derek Greten-Harrison has performed as both a baritone and a countertenor in opera and choral music for the past two decades. His first love, however, has always been the Great American Songbook, and it is this repertoire that he most enjoys performing, drawing upon his extensive background in classical voice to recreate the period vocal stylings of the Golden Age of Hollywood. In 2024, he was a featured soloist on the 2-CD release State Fair and the 20th Century-Fox Songbook with Clare Teal, Scarlett Strallen, Michael Feinstein, and the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by David Charles Abell. This album featured 41 original film arrangements of the 1940s-50s, all newly restored by Derek and performed for the first time in many decades. Derek's other film music restorations include the complete scores to Meet Me in St. Louis and Gone With the Wind, as well as many other works from the Disney, M-G-M, and Warner Bros. catalogs. His work has been performed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Pasdeloup, Philly POPS, and PKF-Prague Philharmonia.
