Our History and Founder

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#003399" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="07ba5f00.jpg" border=0 width="165" height="240" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <div> Back to</div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ABOUT US"><U>ABOUT US</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Bach Ensemble"><U>HOME</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>The Bach Ensemble</B><FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> Southwest Florida's Baroque Choral Singers</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ABOUT US"><U>ABOUT US</U></A>   |   <A HREF="buy_tickets_for_the_bach_ensemble_concerts.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="CONCERTS"><U>CONCERTS</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="COMMUNITY OUTREACH"><U>COMMUNITY OUTREACH</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="CONTACT US"><U>CONTACT US</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="LINKS"><U>LINKS</U></A>          </div> <bR> <div> <B>In Tribute</B></div> <div> The Bach Ensemble was inspired by friends of founder Vic Silvestri; Loretta Walker Moylan, M.S.W. and Paul Moylan, Ph.D., who were godparents to his son, Marc. Loretta was a psychiatric social worker and Paul was a professor of foreign languages. In their late fifties, they made their own Peace Corps contribution by working among orphaned children in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Together with Vic they once hosted the Bach Aria Group, a prestigious roster of well-known opera singers and New York Philharmonic musicians, at Potsdam State College. The Moylans’ life together personified graciousness, taste, a warm outreach to humanity, and an abiding commitment to music, art, and intellectual growth.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Vic Silvestri, Ph.D.</B></div> <div> <B>Founder and President</B></div> <div> Vic Silvestri founded The Bach Ensemble as a tribute to his friends and son’s godparents, Loretta Walker and Paul Moylan. Dr. Silvestri is former Adjunct Professor of Communication at Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers, Florida. He is Professor Emeritus of Communication Studies at Emerson College, Boston, Massachusetts, where he taught for 31 years. He is the author of <I>Becoming JFK: A Profile in Communication</I> (Praeger, 2000), <I>Interpersonal Communication</I>, 3rd. ed. (American Press, 1991), as well as several articles on JFK, rhetoric, and political communication.</div> <bR> <div> In his consulting practice, Communication Skills for Professionals, Dr. Silvestri provides training to profit and non-profit organizations in public speaking, interpersonal and presentational skills, media spokesperson work, speech and voice.</div> <bR> <div> Dr. Silvestri holds a B.S. in Education from Indiana State Teacher’s College in Pennsylvania, a M.S. in Speech from Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, and a Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Public Address from Indiana University.</div> <bR> <div> A resident of Naples, Florida and a tenor with The Bach Ensemble, he is also an Alumnus of the Naples Philharmonic Chorale.</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>