05/15/2026
We are delighted to welcome this Sunday’s soloists for the final Bach Cantata Vespers of the season:
Maura Janton C**k, soprano
Maura Janton C**k is Adjunct Professor of Voice at Valparaiso University. She earned degrees from the University of Arizona (Tucson) and Minnesota State University-Moorhead. She has appeared as a soloist with the Fargo-Moorhead Symphony, the Tucson Symphony, the Southwest Michigan Symphony, and the Northwest Indiana Symphony. She has worked extensively with Robert Shaw and Helmuth Rilling. Recent engagements include performances with the Michigan Bach Collegium, Bach Chamber Choir and Orchestra of Rockford (Illinois), Miami Bach Society, Dayton (Ohio) Bach Society and the Cuesta Master Chorale and Orchestra (California). She has frequently been a soloist for Bach Cantata Vespers at Grace.
Emlynn Shoemaker, mezzo soprano
Emlynn Shoemaker is an operatic soprano based in Chicago, IL. Emlynn has often been praised for her vocal range and her earnest character choices which are reflected in her musical expression on stage. She sings regularly with Lyric Opera Chicago, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and sang for four seasons with Consonance—Chicago Choral Artists. Emlynn’s other upcoming engagements include appearing with Lyric Opera Chicago’s productions of Medea, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, and Carmina Burana as a member of their Chorus. Emlynn obtained her Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Kansas in 2021, where she studied with renowned mezzo-soprano Joyce Castle and graduated with honors. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Presbyterian College where she studied privately with Dr. Christian Elser.
Ace Gangoso, tenor
Ace Gangoso enjoys a varied career in Chicago as a singer, pianist, and liturgical musician. Recent concert solo engagements include Liszt’s Missa Solemnis (Symphony OPRF), Mozart’s Requiem (DuPage Chorale), Bach’s Weihnachts-Oratorium (Chicago Choral Artists), and recurring appearances in the Bach Cantata Vespers series (Grace Lutheran, River Forest). Ace is a chorister at the Lyric Opera of Chicago where he also sang the title role in Jason and the Argonauts in the 2023 production with Opera in the Neighborhoods. Other choral work includes the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Grant Park Music Festival; he also performs with ensembles and chamber groups such as Fourth Coast Ensemble, Chicago a ca****la, Schola Antiqua, Waveform, and Líriko (Filipino Tenors). An active church musician, his main post is as the Director of Liturgy and Music at Old St. Mary’s Catholic Church in the South Loop.
David Govertsen, bass
Chicago native David Govertsen has been active as a professional singer for over twenty years, portraying a wide variety of opera’s low-voiced heroes, villains, and buffoons. Mr. Govertsen has appeared as a soloist with numerous local and regional opera companies, including Lyric Opera of Chicago, Santa Fe Opera, Tulsa Opera, Chicago Opera Theater, and the Haymarket Opera Company. He is a member of the vocal chamber quartet Fourth Coast Ensemble, performing art song in Chicago and throughout the Midwest. As a concert soloist Mr. Govertsen has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Grant Park Orchestra, Santa Fe Symphony and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival among many others. He made his Carnegie Hall debut as the Herald in Otello with the CSO conducted by Riccardo Muti. Mr. Govertsen is currently on faculty at North Park University, Lewis University and the College of DuPage.
As we shared earlier this week, this service will also mark soprano Maura Janton C**k’s final appearance with Bach Cantata Vespers after more than 25 years singing with the series before she moves west.
🗓 Sunday, May 17
3:00 PM — Cantata Preview Lecture with Dr. Mark Peters
3:45 PM — Prelude: Gerald Finzi, Violin Concerto; Eleanor Bartsch, violinist
4:00 PM — Bach Cantata Vespers: "Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen," BWV 43
📍 Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest, IL
Free and open to all.
Emlynn Shoemaker Ace Gangoso
