(OCEAN GROVE, NJ) -- The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association (OGCMA) will present its annual Sacred Masterwork Concert on Sunday, August 29 at 7:00pm in The Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. This year’s free concert is entitled “Hear My Prayer.” The program includes Red Bank resident John Michael Trotta’s Gloria,  Felix Mendelssohn’s Hear My Prayer, and Gabriel Faure’s Requiem.

Director of Music Ministries Dr. Jason Tramm will conduct the MidAtlantic Philharmonic, accompanied by Organist Dr. Gordon Turk, and guest soloists Monica Zigler (Soprano), Allison Gish (Contralto), Ron Naldi (Tenor), and Justin Beck (Bass).

According to Jason Tramm, “This year’s concert will focus on music of hope and consolation.  After the challenges we have all faced in the past few years, music has the unique ability to allow us to reflect and look forward to the future with faith and confidence.  Join us for an evening of beautiful sacred music performed in a unique and historic space.” 

From recitals to the opera stage, soprano Monica Rose Ziglar is known for “possessing a gift of transcending angelic high notes” (Tucson Citizen Press). Mrs. Ziglar studied music with Soprano/Professor Elizabeth Mosher at the University of Arizona and was known throughout the region for her opera and festival performances. In 1993 she went east to study at the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia, PA. In March, 2009, she made her Carnegie Hall debut singing Mendelssohn’s “Elijah.” And in addition to performing lead roles in major opera productions worldwide, Mrs. Ziglar has been the soprano soloist and choral section leader for the past 20 years with OGCMA, where she performs both a secular and sacred repertoire

Ronald Naldi is an internationally acclaimed lyric tenor who has performed with The Metropolitan Opera, Verona Opera, Opera da Camera of Rome, L’Opera Francais, New Jersey State Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Salzburger Landestheater. With St. Luke’s Chamber Ensemble he has sung over 200 performances of Haydn, Mozart, Offenbach, Rieti, Bakst, Fioravanti, and Rossini. He has performed with over 25 symphony orchestras and has an extensive repertoire of more than 30 oratorios. Mr. Naldi has worked under the baton of the world’s most famous maestri and has been a colleague with such artists as Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. He is the tenor soloist and artist-in-residence at OGCMA, where he is completing his 42nd consecutive season.

Bass-baritone Justin Beck has traveled a varied career path, both as an opera and concert soloist, as well as a choral singer and voice-over artist. He has had multiple performances at Carnegie Hall under the baton of notable conductors, including Robert Spano, with the Carnegie Hall Festival Chorus; Leon Botstein with the Bard Music Festival Chorus; and Steven Reineke with the New York Pops. He has also performed as a soloist with the Gregg Smith Singers. Beck performed for three seasons with the Opera Company of Middlebury Vermont, singing in productions of Massenet’s “Thaïs,” Puccini’s “La Rondine,” and Bizet’s “The Pearl Fishers.”

Gordon Turk (Organist-in Residence) is celebrating his 46th Anniversary as Resident Organist and Founder and Artistic Music Director for the OGCMA’s “Summer Stars” classical music series.  In these roles, he performs weekly recitals and at worship services on the massive Great Auditorium Pipe Organ and overseas a five-concert classical series in the Great Auditorium.  Turk travels nationally and internationally for concert performances, and has played at  Carnegie Hall, the Kimmel Center and other landmark concert halls in the US, Europe, Japan and Russia. 

Jason C. Tramm (Conductor) has been hailed as a “conductor to watch” by Symphony Magazine and “filled with Italianate passion” by the Huffington Post.  Maestro Tramm’s work in the operatic, symphonic and choral realms have received critical acclaim throughout the United States and abroad.   Tramm is currently in his 15th season as Director of Music for the  OGCMA, where he leads choral, orchestral, and oratorio performances in the historic Great Auditorium.  He also currently serves as the Director of Choral Activities at Seton Hall University (where he was named the 2017 University Faculty Teacher of the Year), Artistic Director of the MidAtlantic Artistic Productions, Executive Director of the Light Opera pf New Jersey, Music Director of the Axelrod Contemporary Ballet Theater, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Long Island Concert Orchestra.  He is the host of Music Matters with Jason Tramm, a podcast that explores artistic innovation under extreme circumstances, as seen through the eyes of distinguished artists.  

The Great Auditorium is located at Pilgrim and Ocean Pathways in Ocean Grove.  All facilities are handicapped-accessible. For more information, click here.

PHOTO BY LOVE IMAGERY