Music in the New World

Music in the New World explores the vibrant sounds of the colonial Spanish Americas, where European sacred traditions met local culture in the great cathedrals of New Spain.

Led by Guest Director Billy Traylor (Austin Baroque Orchestra), the Oklahoma Baroque Orchestra and Choir bring rarely heard works to life—many in modern performance for the first time.

Featuring music by Roque Ceruti, Antonio de Salazar, and Manuel de Sumaya, this program blends devotion, rhythm, and vivid storytelling in a soundworld both sacred and theatrical.

Performed on period instruments—alive, expressive, and newly heard today.

April 25 · Westminster Presbyterian Church

Pre-concert talk at 6:45PM

Students/Children FREE

Guest Director

Billy Traylor, Artistic Director of the Austin Baroque Orchestra, is an oboist, early music specialist, and musicologist currently pursuing doctoral studies in musicology at the University of North Texas. A native of Denham Springs, Louisiana, he holds degrees in oboe and bassoon performance from the University of New Orleans and Northwestern State University of Louisiana, as well as a Master of Science in Information Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. He studied period oboes and keyboards at Indiana University’s Historical Performance Institute and performs regularly with leading early music ensembles across Texas, including La Follia Austin Baroque, Orchestra of New Spain, and the Dallas Bach Society. As a scholar, his research focuses on the music and culture of early modern Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, with particular emphasis on Iberian sacred traditions and colonial archives. He is also active as an editor of performing editions drawn from Latin American and Iberian sources and has presented his work at major conferences including the American Musicological Society.

Soprano Soloist

Sofía Bagajewicz is a soprano and music educator with a strong background in both teaching and performance. She began her career in the public school music classroom, providing detailed instruction to students across five schools in Oklahoma and Oregon. She has also worked extensively with young singers in church and community music programs, fostering musical growth and expressive confidence in ensemble settings. She now offers voice lessons and music theory tutoring to students of all ages and abilities in the Oklahoma City Metro. 

As a performer, Sofía is currently a soprano with the Schola Cantorum at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral where she is an active member, and has previously sung with Schola Cantorum Oklahoma and the Windsong Chamber Ensemble. Her performance experience spans a wide range of sacred and concert repertoire, with particular depth in the Anglican choral tradition. She is especially passionate about early music, bringing stylistic sensitivity and historical awareness to her performances.

A native Spanish speaker, Sofía values the role of language in shaping musical expression and is particularly drawn to repertoire that highlights diverse linguistic and cultural traditions. Her musicianship has been recognized through multiple scholarships and regional vocal competition honors.

Alto Soloist

Savannah Gordon is a mezzo-soprano and an Oklahoma native. An active performer in the OKC Metro area, Savannah performs regularly with Painted Sky Opera, Canterbury Voices, and OK City Opera. She is an Education Outreach Artist with Painted Sky Opera and the Music Intern at All Souls Episcopal Church in OKC. She received her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2022. Her favorite performances include singing Chorus in Carmen, Chorus in The Pirates of Penzance, and The Secretary in The Consul. Currently studying with Dr. Danielle Herrington, Savannah enjoys performing a variety of musical genres on stage.

Tenor Soloist

Nathan Dougherty is a tenor who specializes in early music. He has performed with numerous period and chamber ensembles, including Apollo’s Fire, Les Délices, The Newberry Consort, Oklahoma Baroque Orchestra, The Thirteen, and Trobàr. He is also an Assistant Professor of Musicology and director of the Collegium Musicum at the University of Oklahoma. His research focuses on late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century French song and song cultures, with recent publications on debates around women’s sexuality and expression in song and historical performance practices related to the romance. His current book project explores the sentimental mode in French song and ways in which it reflected, shaped, and subverted views on gender, race, human and animal cognition, the family, and the nation. He received his PhD in Historical Musicology with an emphasis in Historical Performance Practices from Case Western Reserve University in 2022 and holds a master’s degree in early music performance from the University of Southern California.

Bass Soloist

Bass-Baritone Kody Goad is a native of Fort Smith, Arkansas. He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Music from the University of Arkansas, Fort Smith, and a Masters degree in Vocal Music from the Longy School of Music at Bard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His opera roles include The Bonze in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Melisso in Handel's Alcina, the Jailer in Strauss's Die Fledermaus, and Don Basilio in Rossini's Barber of Seville. In 2018, he received an Encouragement Award in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and he currently serves as a staff singer at St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Oklahoma City. When he’s not singing, he enjoys repairing and tuning pipe organs.