About the Ensemble
Soprano Megan Gillis, pianist Sarah Masterson, and baritone Thaddaeus Bourne have been performing together onstage and in recitals since 2010. In their most recent collaboration, the ensemble presented their program At Dusk at Steinway Hall in New York and in a regional tour of South Carolina in spring 2020.
Individually, each member enjoys an active musical career. Dr. Sarah Masterson serves as Associate Professor of Piano and Theory at Newberry College in Newberry, SC. She is an active recitalist and scholar focusing on the works of American women composers. Soprano Megan Gillis has performed roles such as Gertrude Stein in Virgil Thompson’s The Mother of Us All, Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, and Rose in Delibes‘ Lakme. In 2014, Megan was awarded runner-up in the Eisenburg-Fried Concerto Competition for her interpretation of Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915. In 2010 Megan made her European debut as Contessa Almavia in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro at the Gottisher Saal in Salzburg, Austria. Most recently, Megan completed the “Da Ponte Trio” by singing the role of Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutte with the Portland Summer Opera Workshop, Strauss’ Vier Letze Leider at Steinway Hall and Schoenberg’s Pierrot Luniare at the West Village’s acclaimed cabaret bar, The Duplex with inter I Collective. Megan has also been featured with composer, Darian Thomas, at House of Yes in Brooklyn, NY. When not performing, she is busy creating venues for others as Co-Executive Director of City Lyric Opera in New York. Dr. Thaddaeus Bourne has been praised for his rich baritone (Brooklyn Discovery) his lyrical and touching singing (Parterre Box) and his suave stage presence (Opera News). In the 2019-20 season his performances include Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia (Raylynmor Opera), Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Masterson Ensemble), soloist for Mozart’s Requiem and Vaughan Williams’ Serenade (Baroque on Beaver Island Music Festival), Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus (Opera Project Columbus), Signor Naccarelli in The Light in the Piazza (Schwob Opera at CSU), the titular role of Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (Opera in the Heights), and Vaughn Williams’ Five Mystical Songs (Troy Chorale).
The shared desire of all three artists to present masterworks of the repertoire in an approachable format united them in forming the Masterson Ensemble.
Available Programs
At Dusk: A Recital of German Masterworks
Recent Performances
February 11, 2020 – Newberry College (Newberry, SC)
February 10, 2020 – Coker University (Hartsville, SC)
February 9, 2020 – Sundays at Lowman Concert Series (White Rock, SC)
February 8, 2020 – Scotia Village (Laurinburg, NC)
February 7, 2020 – Bob Jones University (Greenville, SC)
May 24, 2019 – Steinway Hall (New York, NY)
Dr. Sarah Masterson, Pianist & Educator 