Rasaan Hakiem Bourke, Assistant Conductor

Rasaan Hakiem Bourke was born and raised in the Eastchester section of the northeast Bronx, where he taught himself to play the organ as a young child. Mr. Bourke began his musical journey at age 12, playing the pipe organ in Catholic parishes of the Archdiocese of New York. While a student at St. Raymond’s High School, he developed the skill of improvisation, getting inspiration for his improvisational techniques from composers Debussy, Stravinsky, Mozart, Vaughan Williams, Bach, and Palestrina. Mr. Bourke also has a deep love and passion for jazz and gospel music.

While working on his undergraduate degree in organ performance at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, Mr. Bourke developed an interest in conducting, which he studied under Dr. James Jordan. Mr. Bourke currently studies conducting with Dr. Thea Kano of the New York City Master Chorale and studies organ with Dr. McNeil Robinson of the Manhattan School of Music. Prior to his time at Westminster, Mr. Bourke studied keyboard with Dr. Eugene McCloud and Dr. Robert Owen.

Mr. Bourke has had the opportunity to serve as the Chorus Master for the One World Symphony Chorus, preparing scores such as Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio. He served as the founding Artistic Director of the Secaucus Town Chorale, New Jersey, a position he held for two full seasons.

In spring 2009, Mr. Bourke made his debut performance at Carnegie Hall as the pianist for the New York City Master Chorale in their performance of Morton Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna. He was also the pianist for the Chorale at the newly restored Alice Tully Hall under the baton of Dr. Thea Kano, premiering The Journey by west coast composer Aaron Fruchtman.

Currently, Mr. Bourke uses his talents at Saints John and Paul Church in Larchmont, NY where he is Director of Music, organist, and conductor of the Ioannes et Paulus Chorus. In addition, Mr. Bourke serves as Assistant Conductor of the New York City Master Chorale, a position he has held since 2006.

Laura Barger, Accompanist

New York-based pianist Laura Barger is increasingly sought after for her dedication to contemporary music, as well as for her energetic and committed performances. She has performed internationally both as a soloist and chamber musician at The Lucerne Festival (Switzerland), The National Gallery of Ireland, Västerås Konserthus (Sweden), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco), Darmstadt Festival for New Music (Germany), Bang on a Can Marathon at Mass MOCA and The Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada). Active in New York's new music scene, she can be heard performing everywhere from John Zorn's downtown experimental mecca The Stone to the Kaufmann Center's Merkin Hall. She is a founding member of piano and percussion quartet Yarn/Wire, and performs frequently with other contemporary music groups such as the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Argento Chamber Ensemble, Skogensemble, Wet Ink Ensemble and Lost Dog New Music.

Laura has premiered numerous works by composers from around the world, and has been fortunate to work directly with composers such as Philippe Leroux, Augusta Read-Thomas, Yan Maresz, Dai Fujikura, Alexandra Dubois, David Lang, Michael Gordon, and Terry Riley. Laura also holds degrees from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (BM) and Stony Brook University (MM, DMA). She is currently on faculty at the 92nd Street Y School of Music in Manhattan.