Musicians

Described as “exceptional ambassadors for classical music” and “innovative programmers”, Chicago-based Axiom Brass designs concert experiences for audiences that stretch the imagination and expand sensibilities. As strong advocates for the creation and performance of “living music”, the ensemble actively engages with their audiences to showcase the importance of performing the music of living composers.

The Lexington String Quartet has been performing annually at the Lexington Bach Festival. Initially, the quartet performed for area high school students. From 2011 to 2013, the quartet performed concerts in Sarnia, Ontario, and in Port Huron, Michigan. Since 2014, the quartet has performed two concerts in the Performing Arts Center of St. Clair Community College in Port Huron. This year, the ensemble opens the Lexington Bach Festival with a free performance for the community on Wednesday evening, September 10 at St. Denis Church in Lexington, a new tradition started last year. It also will perform two concerts the next day, free to the public, at the St. Clair Community College in Port Huron. The members of the string quartet are Melody Wootton and Denice Turck, violin; Janine Bradbury, viola; and Irina Tikhonova, cello. All are highly experienced and active in orchestras and other professional ensembles throughout Michigan.

John Thomas Dodson has served as Music Director or Principal Conductor of eleven American orchestras, led concerts in the Dominican Republic, Greece, Hungary, Mexico, Poland and Russia, and conducted opera productions with Cleveland Opera and Yale Opera. He has conducted in major venues around the world including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Severance Hall, Eastman Theatre Athens Megaron Concert Hall and Budapest’s Hungarian State Opera House. Dodson’s concerts have been featured on nationally syndicated broadcasts through Public Radio International. He is the founding Artistic Director of Conciertos de la Villa de Santo Domingo, an award-winning music festival and educational program in the Dominican Republic’s Colonial City, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In addition to his role as Music Director of the Lexington Bach Festival in Southeast Michigan he is Principal Guest Conductor of the Atlanta Community Symphony Orchestra. Dodson leads Mindfulness for Performers seminars in colleges and music conservatories in the United States and abroad. A graduate of Johns Hopkins University, Dodson holds a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from the Peabody Conservatory of Music and was a Conducting Fellow at the Aspen Music School.

Lexington Bach Festival Orchestra

The Lexington Bach Festival Orchestra is comprised of professional musicians located in the states of Michigan and Ohio. In addition to their artistic work with other professional orchestras in the region, many serve on the faculties of universities, colleges and other educational institutions throughout the area.