Join Bach Aria Soloists for our beloved Holiday Concert in historic St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, with heartwarming music that includes soul-stirring arias from Bach, Handel, Debussy, Rutter, and Barber, plus traditional carols to sing along. Fill your holiday spirit with Bach Aria Soloists, and guest tenor J.W. Keckley.
Adults $40
Students $20
JW Keckley, Tenor
JW Keckley is a former opera singer turned communications director, currently serving at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Kansas City, Missouri.
Originally trained as a classical tenor, JW spent several years performing across the country. He has sung Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Acis in Acis and Galatea, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and Alfred in Die Fledermaus, to name a few of his leading roles. He appeared with Sarasota Opera as an Apprentice Artist, where he covered the role of Goro in Madama Butterfly and received the Sarasota Opera Guild’s Ann J. O’Donnell Award for Outstanding Apprentice Artist. He returned to the role of Tamino as an Encrantz Professional Fellow at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. At Central City Opera, he was a Studio Artist in the Bonfils-Stanton Foundation Artists Training Program, where he was honored with the Outstanding Studio Artist Award.
A longtime lover of art song, JW most recently performed Schumann’s Dichterliebe with composer and organist Kurt Knecht at St. Paul’s. He holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and St. Olaf College.
These days, JW lives in a century-old bungalow in Kansas City with his wife, Sophia, and their black cat, Taako. Outside of church communications and the occasional local gig, he’s a leatherworker, photographer, amateur baker, and enthusiastic advocate for proper shoe care. He still composes from time to time—mostly for the joy of it.