St. Barnabas Episcopal Church has been a proud partner of Habitat for Humanity of Greater
Cincinnati for many years, and our beloved Harmony for Habitat benefit concerts have been some of our most successful fundraisers for Habitat.
This year's concert is extra special, though. Harmony for Habitat 2022 is being organized as an Eagle Scout project by St. B's own Joshua Chertock, featuring talented young and emerging artists.
Harmony for Habitat 2022
Sunday, August 14
7:00 p.m.
St. Barnabas Episcopal Church
10345 Montgomery Road
Montgomery, Ohio 45242
Admission to the concert is free.
A free-will offering will benefit Habitat for Humanity of Greater Cincinnati.
Several local young and emerging musicians will be performing favorite works, including a two-piano arrangement of the first movement of Tchaikovsky's iconic Piano Concerto in B-flat minor, flute and violin duets by Shostakovich, a violin and piano sonata by Franck, and vocal selections including Ici-Bas, Moon River, America the Beautiful and more.
Lilyanne Thoroughman, Violin
Lilyanne is a high-school aged violinist who has played concerti with many orchestras. She lives with her family in Frankfort, Kentucky and often plays duets with her sister, Isabella.
Isabella Thoroughman, Flute
Isabella recently graduated high school and will be attending the University of Cincinnati this fall. She and her sister frequently perform duets together in churches and retirement communities.
Emily Thole, Vocalist
Emily is a high school vocalist and actor. She was recently a semi-finalist in the Overture Awards. Emily attends Bishop Fenwick High School.
Eric Heatley, Vocalist
Eric is from Tulsa, Oklahoma and is pursing his doctorate at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He performed the role of Ricky Jackson with the Cincinnati Opera in the world premier of Blind Injustice. He also recently sang with the Blue Ash-Montgomery Symphony Orchestra.
Joshua Chertock, Piano
Joshua is a high school student who plays piano and is a member at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church. Besides performing in this concert, Joshua is organizing it as part of his Eagle Scout project.
Michael Chertock, Piano
Michael (Joshua's father) is the Director of Music at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church. He is a successful piano soloist and conductor, appearing with orchestras internationally. He is currently symphony pianist with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Outside the CSO, he is Chair of the Piano Department at CCM, Conductor of the Blue Ash/Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, and the associate artistic director of the Linton Chamber Music Series.
Joshua's Journey to Eagle Scout
"I am helming the program this year as my Eagle Scout project. I chose Habitat for Humanity because the missions of Habitat for Humanity reflect a part of the morals encouraged in scouting: service, teamwork, and community," said Chertock.
Chertock began scouting when he was in fifth grade, and loves the way scouting encourages young men and women to teach and learn from each other.
"Be it through meetings and planning, campouts, events, or anything else, you have to learn to lead other people your age and work together as a team through first-hand experiences of success and failure," said Chertock.
While many scouts choose a construction-based service project as part of their journey to achieving Eagle Scout status, Chertock, a skilled pianist, chose something more personal.
"I felt like organizing a concert would better meet my passion for music, and I felt like it would be more likely for me to want to replicate this experience than a building project.
I chose to support Habitat for Humanity because it reflects some of the most important virtues in scouting, like service, teamwork, and community. It’s very easy to imagine my troop signing up to do a bunch of the service projects Habitat has to offer."