I have a confession to make. When I hear the words “soprano”, “solo voice” or “aria” pertaining to a forthcoming concert, I am filled with fear and loathing, a sinking trepidation moderated only a little by a morsel of anticipation. I feel this way because I love and crave good singing almost as much as I hate and dread bad singing. So every concert with a singer new to me is like a blind date. I hope for the best, but expect to get less.

Wednesday night I got the best.

Soprano Rachel Rosales, performing with the Bronx Arts Ensemble at the Skowhegan Federated Church, was everything anyone could ask for. Her singing wedded flawless technique to emotional expression. In a mostly baroque program, featuring works of contemporaries Handel, Rameau and Boismortier, Rosales was precise, delicate and tasteful.

Along with Rosales, the ensemble, made up of William Scribner, bassoon; Marsha Heller, oboe; and Irina Rees, harpsichord, began the evening with the aria, “Meine Seele Hort Im Sehen” by Handel. The four artists melded very well, with the nasal tone of the oboe and the delicate tone of Rosales’ voice creating a pleasurable tension within the optimistic world of Handel’s music.

Next was “Sonata Sopra – ‘La Monica,'” by Phillip Friedrich Boddecker. While bassoonist William Scribner was marvelous within the ensemble, he was less than inspiring here. The piece did showcase the instrument’s resonant lower register, but there seemed to be some persistent rhythmic problems throughout.

The highlight of the evening for me came as Rosales and Heller performed a setting of William Blake’s Songs for unaccompanied soprano and oboe, by Ralph Vaughan Williams. All seven of the songs were lovely but three in particular stood out. “The Lamb” was gentle and lyrical, reminiscent of English folk melodies or old Shaker hymns.” “Cruelty Has a Human Heart,” a song with its 20th century roots showing, wailed like a blues number. Most intense of all was the solo voice of Rosales during “The Divine Image.” This was as close to emotional perfection as it gets.

After a short intermission, harpsichordist Rees presented the “Suite in E minor” by Jean Phillippe Rameau. Although Rees did little to vary the tempi among Allemande, Courante, and Gigue, she nonetheless performed with grace, sparkling trills and lovely ornamentation.

All four members came together for the cantata “Diane et Acteon” by Joseph Bodin de Boismortier. Before singing, Rosales defended the piece, saying “Some might call this a piece of French fluff. It’s just entertainment … and a bit of escapism, just like what we have now on cable!”

As I listened to the Bronx Arts Ensemble, it occurred to me that it is impossible to be filled with modern angst while this music is played. This rational, enlightening, uplifting and logical music paints a world of order and reason, in which there is no room for terror or confusion. Go hear these fine musicians while they are in the state.

The Bronx Arts Ensemble will perform at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, at the Bangor Unitarian Universalist Church; at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11 at Holy Redeemer Church in Bar Harbor; and at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12, at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Bucksport. For more information call 288-2141.