Kicking off Dessoff’s 2025-2026 season is a performance of Adolphus Hailstork’s The World Called on Saturday, November 8, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. at Brick Church. Known for blending African, American, and European traditions and influenced by his studies with Nadia Boulanger, Hailstork’s work is based on Rita Dove's poem, Testimonial, that evokes themes of nostalgia, youth, and promise.
The Dessoff Choirs also perform Herbert Howells’s Requiem and Magnificat - originally written for St. Paul’s Cathedral in London - featuring organist Dr. Raymond Nagem, and a reprise of Tania León’s It’s a Journey, commissioned for the ensemble’s centennial with poetry by the late Nikki Giovanni. Steven Ryan joins The Dessoff Choirs on piano.
Herbert Howells, Requiem
Herbert Howells, Magnificat
Adolphus Hailstork, The World Called
Tania León, It’s a Journey
Brick Church
Meet the Soloists:
Joshua C. Bowden, tenor, is proudly making his debut as a soloist with the Dessoff Choirs. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Joshua is a third-year music performance major studying voice at Brooklyn College. Highlights in recent years include John Cale’s Steam on Glass, Cyrus Chestnut: Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concert, and theatrical appearances as Georg in Spring Awakening and Octavius in Julius Caesar.
Diana Claps, mezzo soprano, is thrilled to be singing for her second season with the Dessoff Choirs! She is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree at he Conservatory of Music of Brooklyn College, where she studies voice with Patricia McCaffrey. At the conservatory, she is a member of both the Conservatory Singers ensemble and the Brooklyn College Opera Theatre program. Diana earned her bachelor’s degree in music (classical performance) from the College of Staten Island in 2024, where she studied voice with Elena Heimur. Outside of her graduate studies, Diana cantors at St. Charles Church and St. Patrick’s Church, both on Staten Island.
Kevin Mann is a baritone living in New York City, currently pursuing his Advanced Diploma in Music Performance from the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music, where he studies with Sidney Outlaw. Previously, Kevin has earned his Master of Music in Classical Voice from the Manhattan School of Music and his Bachelor of Arts in Music from Virginia Commonwealth University. Later this year, Kevin will perform as Ben in Brooklyn College’s production of The Telephone, before performing as Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm and Mr. Lindquist in their production of A Little Night Music in 2026. Previous operatic roles include Pandolfe in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Gamekeeper in Rusalka, and Bob in The Old Maid and the Thief, as well as covering Paris in Romeo et Juliette and le Baron de Pictordu in Viardot’s Cendrillon. His concert work includes Evidence of Things Not Seen with Manhattan School of Music, performing as Pilate/Peter in Bach’s St. John’s Passion with St. Peter’s Church in NYC, and selections of Brahms’ Liebeslieder and Neue Liebeslieder with the Wintergreen Music Festival. Kevin is an alumnus of Berlin Opera Academy, Respiro Opera, and the Wintergreen Music Festival’s LEAD Cooperative. He was awarded the Abram Klotzman Memorial Scholarship from the Brooklyn College Conservatory of Music and the Elisavet Chatzivasileiou Memorial Scholarship from Berlin Opera Academy.
Nicole Osmolovskaya, soprano, is a senior undergraduate at the Brooklyn College Conservatory where she is majoring in Music Performance under Patricia McCaffrey and also pursuing a degree in Speech Pathology. At Brooklyn College, she has performed the roles of Oberto in Handel’s Alcina (Spring 2024) and Noémie in Massenet’s Cendrillon (Spring 2025). She is currently preparing for the role of Desiree in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. This summer she performed a commissioned work with choir during the United Nations’ “Time for Peace” event, and she has also performed with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dessoff Choirs in Gustav Holst’s The Planets, Brahms’ Requiem, and Verdi’s Requiem, all led by Malcolm J. Merriweather. Nicole is extremely grateful for the opportunity to perform the solo part in Hailstork’s The World Called and looks forward to a spectacular concert full of extraordinary music!
Gianna Terranova, soprano, is a Brooklyn native entering her second year of the Master of Music program in Voice Performance at the Conservatory of Brooklyn College, where she studies with Metropolitan Opera soprano Laquita Mitchell. She recently appeared as La Fée in Massenet’s Cendrillon with the Brooklyn College Opera Theatre, and she will soon perform the role of Anne Egermam in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music. Gianna earned her Bachelor of Music degree at the University of Miami under the guidance of Sandra Lopez Neill. While there, she portrayed Ottavia in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Miami Music Festival. Her performance received acclaim from the South Florida Classical Review, which praised her portrayal as “strongly dynamic . . . [with] the immediacy of verismo but with pristine attention to Baroque style.” Gianna has recently rekindled her love for musical theatre and expanded her training beyond opera at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting.