S’amusant: Wade Davis and Patrick Merrill
Performed Sunday, July 11th 2021.
View the streamed performance of the afternoon’s 4:30 concert.
PROGRAM NOTES (PDF)
Cellist Wade Davis is in high demand as a solo performer, collaborator, and educator. He holds degrees from the College of Charleston and Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University and has attended Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, the American Bach Soloists Academy, and the Seattle Opera’s Accademia d’Amore. He performs regularly with the Folger Consort of the Folger Shakespeare Library in DC and the Washington Bach Consort in addition to his own baroque chamber music ensemble, S’amusant.
Wade was the featured cellist for the “Swans for Relief” video curated and produced by Misty Copeland of American Ballet Theater and Joseph Phillips, Artistic Director of Ballet Philippines.
He maintains a studio (virtually) of private cello students, ranging from beginners to advanced students and professionals. Watch Wade Davis' remarkable Swan Lake video "Swans for Relief," featuring 22 dancers from 14 countries, put together by Misty Copeland, principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, to raise money for out-of-work dancers during COVID.
Patrick Merrill completed his Master’s degree at Peabody in harpsichord performance in 2015 with Adam Pearl. In 2016, he won second prize at the eighth Mae and Irving Jurow International Harpsichord Competition. As a harpsichordist, he has participated in master classes with Davitt Moroney and Trevor Pinnock on antique instruments, served as accompanist at the Amherst Early Music Winter Workshop and the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, and coached ensembles for Capitol Early Music. His continuo work includes appearances with Tempesta di Mare, Pennsylvania Philharmonic, the Washington Chamber Orchestra, the Bach in Baltimore series, the Salisbury Symphony Orchestra, and the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra. He also co-founded and performs with the Baltimore-based early music ensemble S’amusant.
Mr. Merrill serves on the faculty of the Department of Music at The George Washington University and at Baltimore School for the Arts. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate of Musical Arts in harpsichord performance at Peabody, for which he is a recipient of the Peabody Dean’s DMA Fellowship.