CHRISTA RAKICH and MIRANDA BERGMEIER Bios

CHRISTA RAKICH, Organist

Concert and recording artist, Christa Rakich, directs the music program at St. Mark the Evangelist Church in West Hartford, CT.  She has also served on the faculties of Westminster Choir College, Brandeis University, and the University of Connecticut, and as Assistant University Organist at Harvard.  Her Artist-in-Residencies have included the University of Pennsylvania and First Lutheran Church in Boston.  As a Fulbright Scholar, Christa Rakich studied for two years with Anton Heiller at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna, Austria.  She holds Bachelor’s degrees in Organ and German from Oberlin College (Phi Beta Kappa).  After receipt of her Master’s degree with honors from New England Conservatory, she was asked to join the faculty there, where she taught for many years.  A prizewinner at international organ competitions (notably Bruges 1976), Rakich has received particular acclaim for her interpretations of the music of J.S. Bach. With keyboardist Peter Sykes, she performed a complete cycle of Bach’s keyboard works in a series of 34 concerts from 2003 to 2005 aptly named Tuesdays With Sebastian.  With keyboardist Susan Ferré, Rakich is a founding performer of the Big Moose Bach Festival in Berlin, New Hampshire.  Recordings include Bach’s Clavierübung III, Leipzig Chorales and Trio Sonatas.

MIRANDA BERGMEIER, Soprano

Miranda Harris Bergmeier, originally from Brooklyn, Connecticut, has been singing and performing for as long as she can remember. She majored in Music at Bryn Mawr College, and earned a law degree at Vermont Law School.  Last year, Miranda and her family moved to Berlin, NH, after living for the past ten years in Vermont.  In Vermont, Miranda sang with the Randolph Singers, Sounding Joy, the Otter Creek Choral Society, and the Vermont Symphony Orchestra Chorus.  Also in Vermont, from 2006 to 2010, Miranda was a member of Counterpoint, a professional 12-voice ensemble under the direction of Robert DeCormier. Most recently, Miranda performed in the 2011 Big Moose Bach Festival in Berlin and Gorham, NH.  Miranda lives in Berlin, NH with her husband, their daughter, two cats and a happy crazy Labrador retriever.