CPC Music Staff

Candace Wicke, DMA
Interim Director of Music
Candace Wicke, Conductor and Interim Director of Music at Central Presbyterian Church is an established conductor on National and International stages and comes to Central with a long history in music ministry. Dr. Wicke made  her  Carnegie  Hall  conducting  debut  in  2002,  premiering  the  Symphony of Psalms  by Imant Raminsh.  In addition to serving Central Presbyterian Church, Dr. Wicke is Artistic Director and Principal Conductor for Creatio Continuo and President and Executive Director of the Continuo Arts Foundation.

As a champion of new music and Conductor-in-Residence, Dr. Wicke has premiered new works in many of her Carnegie Hall appearances including the World Premiere of Stephen Edward’s Revelation, Requiem and the New York Premiere of the Ave Maria Mass. Appearing in November, 2008 on the prestigious Festival de Musica Sacre Series in Rome, Dr. Wicke will conduct the Continuo Arts Symphonic Chorus and Orchestra in the European premiere of the Edwards Requiem.  Singers from Central Presbyterian’s Motet Choir and Children’s Chorus join other professional and semi-professional artists from across the nation as musical ambassadors for this international and world-class performance.  For more information, visit www.continuoarts.com .

Ensembles under Dr. Wicke’s baton have received national and international acclaim, performing for the Global International Women’s Summit, Musica Mundi International, Legatus International, and the Miami Civic Associations Young Artist Debut. In 2004, Dr. Wicke conducted the world premiere of Bernadette, a one-act opera by Ramon Dominguez, at the Roca Center for the  Performing  Arts  in Miami, Florida. A popular clinician and judge, she has appeared as conductor in Notre Dame Cathedral, Sacre Coeur, Massabielle and the Théatre  Fountaine in France.  Dr. Wicke’s international experience also includes conducting the United States representative Wind Ensemble at the Taipei Presidential Inauguration.

Prior to Central Presbyterian Church and the Continuo Arts Foundation, Dr. Wicke served as fine Arts Chair, Director of Choral and Instrumental Studies at Lourdes Academy, and Director of Music and the Arts at Central Presbyterian Church in Miami, Florida.  She is a graduate of the University of Miami and Evangel University, majoring in vocal and instrumental performance, music education and conducting.  Her discography includes the Edward’s Revelation, Raminsh’s Symphony of Psalms, Dominguez’s Bernadette, Live from St. Mary’s Cathedral, What a Wonderful World and A Lourdes Christmas.

Adele Irving, Soprano Soloist and Section Leader
Adele has been a soprano soloist at Central Presbyterian Church since 1981. She has a BA in music from Bucknell University, where she was a piano major. In New York, she studied voice with Bernard Taylor and Erick Thorendahl and has coached with Thomas Grubb and Martin Katz. Her singing career has taken her to Alice Tully Hall in New York's Lincoln Center where she performed the music of Percy Grainger. Her other concerts include performances at Carnegie Recital Hall and the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. She sang in New York City at a concert celebrating the centenary of Kirsten Flagstad's birth. She also performed with Opera International at concerts in Princeton and Lancaster (Pa).

William Dembaugh, Baritone Soloist and Section Leader
Bill earned his MBE magna cum laude from Westminster (Pa.) College and his MM in voice from Cincinnati Conservatory. A former leading tenor of the New York City Opera (debut as Don Ottavio with Beverly Sills as Donna Anna) and the Biel-Solothurn Stadttheater of Switzerland, Bill has also appeared as a soloist with leading symphony orchestras including those of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. He has been tenor soloist since 1961 at CPC here in Summit, and at Livingston's Temple Emanu-el since 1980. Recent operatic roles include Eisenstien and the County in Nozze di Figaro for Stony Hill Players. Last season he appeared with the NJ Repertory Opera as a Dandy and the Stage Doorman.