AN OPERATIC AFTERNOON 

Thomas Woodman
Born and raised in Greenwich, Connecticut. His international career of opera, oratorio, symphonic and recital work was greatly influenced by his incredible experiences singing in the Greenwich School system and The First Congregational Church of Greenwich. A graduate of the Hartt School, he was a winner of The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and the Gianna D’Angelo Singing Competition while attending college.

His professional career started as a chorister with Connecticut Opera and as a soloist with Central City Opera as an apprentice artist while still in college. Upon graduation, he was hired as the Readers Digest Affiliate Artist with the San Francisco Opera and subsequently took part in the first class of The Adler Fellowship Program, a training initiative for up and coming performers at SFO. Highlights of his roles in San Francisco Opera include The Count in The Marriage of Figaro, Germont in La Traviata and Ping in Turandot. During his time in San Francisco, he was also honored to sing for Queen Elizabeth II at a State Dinner hosted by President Ronald Reagan.

Woodman’s career continued with long-term engagements with The Darmstadt Staatstheater in Darmstadt, Germany, singing Der Sekratär in Der Junge Lord in his European debut and then with The Bavarian State Opera, in Munich, Germany, where he sang Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Ping, Guglielmo in Cosi Fan Tutte and Harlekin in Ariadne auf Naxos.

Upon his return to the United States, he appeared with New York City Opera as The Count and subsequently sang Marcello in La Bohème. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Valentin in Faust and jumped in at the last moment to sing Wolfram in Tannhäuser. He continued to perform throughout North America and Europe; European highlights include performing at La Scala in Milan, Italy and in Nice and St. Etienne, France. In the United States he has appeared with the opera companies of Austin and Fort Worth (Texas), Hawaii, Indianapolis, Kentucky, Illinois, North Carolina, Anchorage, Mobile, Buffalo as well as Triangle Opera (North Carolina and Wildwood Opera (Arkansas) and Opera North (New Hampshire).

His symphonic performance include performances of Händel’s Messiah, Brahms’ Requiem and Mahler’s 8th Symphony at Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall. Locally, he has appeared with the Greenwich, Stamford, Norwalk, Bridgeport and Hartford symphonies. He currently is the bass section leader/soloist at The First Congregational Church of Greenwich and resident Voice Teacher at Greenwich High School. He also has studios in Fairfield and Wilton.

Carol Patterson Woodman, soprano,
She is a graduate of Minnesota State University (Mankato) and Bethel College in Minnesota where she studied Voice and Mass Communications.   Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, as an Air Force “brat,” Ms. Woodman has traveled extensively and been active in opera, oratorio and concert work in churches and on stages throughout the United States.  While working at San Francisco Opera in the press and public relations department, she met and married Thomas.   In 1983, they moved to Germany where Ms. Woodman was actively involved in extensive church, concert and recital work until returning to the United States in 1988.  Her local performance credits include solo work with the Connecticut Grand Opera, Trouper’s Light Opera, The Mendelssohn Choir of Fairfield and Crystal Opera.  Recently, Carol performed the Schubert Mass in G and the Joe Utterback Missa Jazzis at the First Congregational Church of Stratford and the Rutter Requiem in Old Greenwich. Carol is the Cherub Choir director at First Church Congregational of Old Greenwich and works full time as an Executive Coordinator at Starwood Energy Group in Greenwich, CT.

Carolyn Paulus, Soprano,
is a professional singer and voice teacher, who received her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Western Illinois University and her master’s degree from Indiana University. While still in the Midwest, she performed with the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Chicago Symphony Chorus and the Chicago Opera Theater. After moving to New York, she sang roles with New York City Opera, Austin Lyric Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera and Opera Ensemble of NY. Her reviews describe a glowing, fresh timbre combined with dramatic expressivity. Other performances include Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus with the Fairfield County Chorale and the AmorArtis Baroque Orchestra under the baton of Johannes Somary. She made her Avery Fisher Hall debut as the soprano soloist at the Messiah Sing-In at Lincoln Center. Carolyn has also been a featured soloist with the Mendelssohn Choir, Fairfield Orchestra, Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra, New Jersey Choral Society, Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra, Dallas Chamber Orchestra and Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra, performing not only the classical repertoire, but also cross-over pops and musical theater pieces, one of her specialties. In 2015, she appeared as Heidi in Stamford’s Curtain Call production of Sondheim’s Follies.

In addition to her Stamford voice studio, she teaches professional singers in NYC and is a member of the voice faculty at the NYU/Tisch School’s New Studio on Broadway, as well as at the University of Hartford’s theatre division of The Hartt School. Carolyn directed the Youth Choir at the First Congregational Church of Greenwich from 2001- 2020. She is thrilled to have a number of her students performing on Broadway, on national tours and on cruise ships. Carolyn resides in Stamford and is the proud mother of her and Rick Woodman’s twin daughters, Stephanie and Gillian Woodman.

Andrew Gordon I
He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory and the Juilliard School, the Organist and Music Director at Diamond Hill United Methodist Church in Cos Cob, CT, and principal keyboard player of the Greenwich (CT) Symphony. He is often heard as a chamber musician with the orchestra's principal members, including a joint appearance in performances of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. Also an adjunct professor at Western CT State University in Danbury, he coaches and accompanies students in the Voice Department, and translated Pauline Viardot’s “Cendrillon” for the department’s production this past April. His anthem for trebles, “An Evening Prayer”, is published by Oxford University Press.