Artistic:

Artistic Director, Dr. Donald Oglesby is responsible for selecting the artists who perform with the Miami Bach Society. He is also the conductor of the MBS Orchestra and Chorus. He is also involved in the programming of all Miami Bach Society concerts.

Dr. Oglesby received a Bachelor of Music degree from Birmingham-Southern College, a Masters degree in musicology from the University of Illinois and a Doctor of Music degree with distinction from Indiana University, where he concentrated in conducting.

Dr. Oglesby has been an Associate Professor of choral music at the University of Miami for 17 years and he is also Director of Choral Music at Plymouth Congregational Church, Coconut Grove. He has been president of three musical organizations: the Florida chapter of the American Choral Directors Association, and the Miami chapters of Pi Kappa Lambda and Pi Kappa Phi, both music honor societies. In December 1989, his rendition of the Messiah, by Handel was broadcast nationally on Christmas Day. In addition to the University of Miami Collegium Musicum, he conducts the U. of M. Concert Choir. Choirs under Dr. Oglesby’s direction have toured the New York City area as well as Great Britain and Europe. Currently, he is on the Publishing and Research Committee of the American Choral Directors’ Association and serves on their committee for the Julius Herford Award for outstanding music dissertations. He is one of the original founders of the Miami Bach Society.

As part of the MBS International Cultural Exchange Program, Dr. Oglesby conducted a successful 2001 three-concert summer tour in Paris and Aix-en-Provence, France.  Following that tour, Dr. Oglesby spent several months of his 2001 sabbatical at the Center for Baroque Music at Versailles.  There, he extensively researched and studied the music of the French baroque.  Mr. Oglesby is a founding member of the Miami Bach Society.

As Artistic Coordinator, Robert Heath’s major responsibilities involve researching, hiring and coordinating the outside artists who perform for the Miami Bach Society.  He is also responsible for renting venues and musical and technical equipment for performances. He works closely with the Artistic Director in selecting the works to be performed. He also has a major role as the MBS’ resident harpsichordist and organist.

Mr. Heath holds a degree in music theory from Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, with graduate and post-graduate studies in musicology at the University of Miami.  Robert has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe as soloist and accompanist on the organ, harpsichord and piano. He was the finalist in the 1990 International Aria/Concerto competition in Waterloo, Ontario Music Festival. In that same year he was the first organist to play a recital at the International Music Festival in Geneva, Switzerland. In July of 2000, he performed a harpsichord rectal in Aix-en-Provence, sister-city to Coral Gables, under the auspices of the Provençal early music group, Les Festes d’Orphée.

In 1997, Mr. Heath released his first compact disc on the Miami Bach Society label, Harpsichord Music from Italy and England. Due to favorable sales and critical acclaim, Robert recorded his second compact disc of harpsichord works entitled Bonnie Grey Ey’d Morn. This was released in the spring of 1999.

Currently, Mr. Heath is director of music and principal organist for Plymouth Congregational Church. He has been associated with the Miami Bach Society since its initial concert in the fall of 1984.

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Administrative:

Kathryn Gaubatz, Executive Director  

As Executive Director, Kathryn Gaubatz is responsible for all non-musical aspects of the organization. These include fund raising, marketing, publicity, financial and strategic planning.  She represents the group at national and international meetings and conferences.

Ms. Gaubatz holds an A.B. degree from Wellesley College in biblical history, an M.A. degree from the University of Chicago in social work and Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Case Western Reserve University’s Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations. Ms. Gaubatz has worked in the field of social work for many years specializing in the treatment of children and families with problems. In the past 20 years, she has been involved in the not for profit sector, especially in the area of botanical gardens and arboreta. She was Director of Public Relations for Fairchild Tropical Garden and headed the City of Miami’s Royal Poinciana Fiesta for ten years.

Currently, Kathryn serves on the Coral Gables Cultural Affairs Council where she represents the Bach Society in planning and promoting cultural events in Coral Gables. She is a past member of the Coral Gables Library Advisory Board. Before becoming Executive Director of the Miami Bach Society in 1995, she served on the Board of Directors, heading the publicity committee, and during the 1989/90 season, she was the group’s administrator.

Ms. Gaubatz is the originator of the MBS International Tropical Baroque Music Festival.  Now entering its sixth year, the Festival has already gained a worldwide reputation as one of the premier early music festivals in the United States.  In recognition of her work on behalf of early music, the French Government during Tropical Baroque Music Festival V presented Mrs. Gaubatz with its esteemed Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters.  This Spring, her work is further being recognized by the Miami Chapter of the American Red Cross, which has selected her to receive its Sara Hopkins Woodruff Spectrum Award for Culture..

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