About the Artist Since 1994, William Weinert has served as professor of conducting and director of choral activities at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, where he conducts the Eastman Chorale and the Eastman-Rochester Chorus and supervises the master's and doctoral programs in choral conducting. He has conducted throughout Europe, United States, and the Far East, and has served throughout the country as a clinician and an adjudicator, as well as giving numerous conducting master classes in North America, Europe, and Asia. Ensembles under Weinert's direction have performed at conferences of the American Choral Directors' Association, National Collegiate Choral Organization, and Music Educators' National Conference, and he has conducted master classes and honor choruses for these organizations as well. Weinert is also founder and music director of Voices, Rochester's only professional chamber chorus. This ensemble has performed repertoire from the Baroque period to contemporary compositions to critical acclaim since 2007. The graduate programs in conducting at Eastman have repeatedly been ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the finest in the country. A small number of students are admitted to these degree programs, and they are given significant podium experience with regular Eastman ensembles. In recent years Eastman choral conducting students have won first place in the ACDA national student conducting competitions in both the graduate and undergraduate divisions, and Eastman doctoral graduates in choral conducting have won the Julius Herford Prize, the American Choral Directors Association annual award for the best doctoral research project in choral conducting. Weinert earned A.B. in History and B.Mus. in Music Education degrees from Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music; M.M. in Conducting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; and M.M. in Music History and D.M.A. in Conducting from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he studied with Robert Fountain. He has previously served on the faculties of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the University of Southern Mississippi, and has served for three summers as guest professor at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg, Germany.Five Friends Master Class Series – Honoring Zachary NovakThe Five Friends Master Class Series honoring the lives of five talented Jacobs School of Music students—Chris Carducci, Garth Eppley, Georgina Joshi, Zachary Novak, and Robert Samels—was established in 2012 with a gift of $1 million from the Georgina Joshi Foundation, Inc. This annual series of lectures, master classes, and residencies by a number of the world's leading musicians and teachers focuses on areas of interest most relevant to the lives of the five friends—voice performance, choral conducting, early music, music theory, composition, and opera. The Georgina Joshi Foundation was established in 2007 as the vision of Georgina Joshi's mother, Louise Addicott-Joshi, to provide educational and career development opportunities for young musicians and to encourage and support public performance of music. The gift to the school establishes a permanent way for the world to learn about each of the five friends, their musical talents and passions, and to encourage the development of similar talents and passions in current and future music students. The establishment of this endowment by the families is administered by the IU Foundation.Zachary Novak showed his enthusiasm for music at a young age, playing piano and organ, singing, and conducting. He put his talents to use as a musician for several churches throughout high school and college. Zachary was known for his sharp intellect, exceptional work ethic, and dazzling smile. He had a deep passion for music which he expressed through his conducting and vibrant tenor voice. His thirst for knowledge and a compelling desire for excellence were clearly evident by the way Zachary lived his life. He graduated summa cum laude from Anderson University (AU) in 2004, with honors in music. In 2003, Zachary received the AU music department's Voice Performance Award and the Theodore Presser Award. He also won the senior men's category at the State National Association of Teacher's Singing Award, along with many other accolades. After graduating from AU, Zachary performed professionally as the featured soloist for the Anderson Symphony Orchestra, the Bach Chorale Singers in Lafayette, Indiana, the Carmel Bach Festival in California, as well as other various venues. He went on to earn a Master of Music in Choral Conducting with a minor in Voice from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Late Thursday night April 20, 2006, Zachary, along with four other IU students, died in a plane crash on their way back to Bloomington from a Bach chorale rehearsal in Lafayette, Indiana. Those friends were Garth Epply (M.M. in Voice Performance at IU), born February 7, 1981, who also attended AU with Zachary, Chris Carducci (M.M. in Voice Performance at IU) born April 18, 1978, Georgina Joshi (M.M. in Voice Performance at IU), born October 21, 1981, and Robert Samels (D.M. in Choral Conducting at IU), born June 2, 1981. All five musicians were known for their passion for life and music. All are deeply missed, but their memory and music live on.