Get to know the artists, composers, staff, and board members whose combined expertise and diverse perspectives power our work.
Special thanks to Barry & Margaret Lyerly for underwriting our 2026 Season Artists, and to Sara J. McKenzie and Dee Boyer for sponsoring our 2026 Artist Residency Program.
Sopranos
Chelsea Helm
Chelsea Helm Bio
Appearance sponsored by Marianne Reuter
Sought-after as a soloist for the concert works of Haydn, Mozart, Handel, and Bach, Chelsea Helm’s “gleaming soprano” (South Florida Classical Review) has been heard most recently with Opera Lafayette, Upper Valley Baroque, the Omaha Symphony, and the Spoleto Festival.
Favorite chamber music programs in recent seasons have included the works of Barbara Strozzi, Isabella Leonarda, and Francesca Caccini (Concordia Chamber Players), vocal quartets by Baroque and Modern masters from Bach to Lang (Chatter Albuquerque), French Baroque “songs of summer” including the music of Boismortier and Rameau (Severall Friends MarketMusic), and Bach’s cantata BWV 82a “Ich habe genug” (Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity).
A champion for art song, she presents recitals each season that return to standard repertoire favorites while prominently featuring established and emerging American composers. Recent performances have included the Debussy Ariettes Oubliées, Richard Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder, Schoenberg’s Book of the Hanging Gardens; songs by Samuel Barber, Charles Ives, and André Previn; and premieres by Julia Evans.
Known for her versatile instrument, she appears regularly as a choral ensemble artist with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Conspirare, Seraphic Fire, True Concord Voices & Orchestra, The Thirteen, Artefact Ensemble, and the Washington Bach Consort, the American Soloists Ensemble, Bach Akademie Charlotte, The Benedict XVI Choir, the Carmel Bach Festival, the Clarion Choir & Cathedral Choral Society, the Oregon Bach Festival, The Sound Between, and Spire Chamber Ensemble. Of the numerous albums she has recorded with these ensembles, five have been nominated for Grammy Awards.
In addition to teaching a private voice studio, she frequently presents lectures and masterclasses on vocal technique and flexibility in varied styles of singing. She holds degrees in voice from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and Western Michigan University.
- Website: chelseahelmsoprano.com
- Image Credit: Caitlin Oldham
Seasons
9th Season
Location
Kori Miller
Kori Miller Bio
Appearance sponsored by Lore Thorpe
With a soprano voice “possessing indescribable height of emotion” (Charleston Today), Kori Miller is a dynamic artist poised to grace the world’s choral and operatic stages. Described as “obviously talented and comfortable on stage” (Charleston Today), Miller is renowned for her charismatic characterizations and “hauntingly beautiful notes” (Post and Courier).
Miller has enjoyed extensive success both as an active concert artist and professional choral singer. In 2024 and 2025, she joined the Grammy Award-winning ensemble Voces8 on tours across Sweden, London, Germany, Switzerland, Brussels, Singapore, the USA, and Australia, where she made her Sydney Opera House debut. She can be seen performing with Voces8 on YouTube and in the 2024 production of Live From London.
In addition to her work with Voces8, Miller performs regularly with distinguished ensembles such as Conspirare, Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble (VAE), Audivi, Orpheus Chamber Singers, and Santa Fe Desert Chorale.
Miller’s operatic roles include the title role in Durón’s Apolo y Dafne with the Orchestra of New Spain (2023) at Moody Performance Hall in Dallas, TX, and Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire by André Previn, which recently won the National Opera Association’s 2023 Opera Production Competition. Her performance was hailed by internationally renowned soprano Beverly Hoch as “simply breathtaking… bravissima-in-the-highest… created exactly what Blanche wanted: magic.” Other notable roles include Eve in Melani’s Il Fratricidio di Caino at the Olomouc Baroque Festival in the Czech Republic, Gianetta (L’elisir d’amore), Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro), Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi), Yum-Yum (The Mikado), and Lola Markham (Gallantry). In 2018, Miller was a Young Artist with Opera Naples, where she had the privilege of coaching extensively with Metropolitan Opera singers Bruce Ford, Sherill Milnes, and Verónica Villarroel.
Hailing from Charleston, South Carolina, Miller is currently based in Denton, Texas, where she is
pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in opera performance and vocal pedagogy.
- Website: korimillersoprano.com
- Image Credit: Lauren Salazar
Seasons
2nd Season
Location
Argyle, TX
Jennifer Perez
Jennifer Perez Bio
Appearance sponsored by Jane and Ernest Godlove
Jennifer Perez holds a Master of Music from The University of New Mexico and enjoys a career as a concert soloist and ensemble singer. She has performed with the Oregon Bach Festival, Boulder Bach Festival, Dallas Choral Festival, Highland Park Chorale, and as a soprano soloist for the Bergamo International Culture Festival. In addition to her travels, she loves participating in the rich musical community of New Mexico, making appearances with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, New Mexico Performing Arts Society, Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico, Chatter, Severall Friends, Opera Southwest, Santa Fe Pro Musica, New Mexico Philharmonic, and the Sangre de Cristo Chorale. She has a deep passion for Baroque style chamber music, particularly the works of J.S. Bach, most recently appearing as a soloist for the St. John Passion (BWV 245) with NMPAS and BWV 111 and 178 with St. John’s Music Ministries Bach Project, and she received the “Honorable Mention” award in the Boulder Bach Festival’s 2020 online World Bach Competition. She also loves the unique challenge of exploring and interpreting contemporary music, highlights including Berio’s Agnus and Carillo’s Preludio a Colón with Chatter.
World premiere performances include Jenny Olivia Johnson’s The Many Poems She Learned as a Child (2022) with PVNM, Richard Danielpour’s Passion of Yeshua (2018) with the OBF, and Hector Armienta’s Bless Me, Ultima (2018) with Opera Southwest, which was later broadcast nationally through Chicago’s WFMT Radio Network. Recent career highlights include performing the American Immigrant Experience program with the SFDC in the closing headliner concert for the 2025 American Choral Directors Association National Conference, and as a soprano soloist for the New Horizons Symphony and NMSU Philharmonic’s production of Orff’s Carmina Burana. Perez lives in Santa Fe where she serves in the Parish Choir for the Church of the Holy Faith and as a guest radio host for Classical 95.5 KHFM Santa Fe/Albuquerque
- Image Credit: Brooke Bailey
Seasons
7th Season
Location
Santa Fe, NM
Kathlene Ritch
Kathlene Ritch Bio
Appearance sponsored by Tom and Anne Conner
Known for her “powerful, crystal-clear voice,” Kathlene Ritch has sung with such noted ensembles as the New York Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta, and the Vienna Philharmonic. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in music education, she worked on a cruise ship and then moved to New York City where she made her solo debut at Lincoln Center with the American Symphony Orchestra in Listz’s Dante’s Inferno. With that same ensemble, she recorded a live concert version of Die ägyptische Helena as Hermione opposite Deborah Voigt’s Helen. Kathlene’s true passion, musical theater, has been a lifelong pursuit. Two of her career highlights were performing Sweeney Todd at Lincoln Center, and Carousel at Carnegie Hall. Kathlene now lives in Santa Fe where she teaches music classes and voice at the New Mexico School for the Arts and cantors at the Church of the Holy Faith. She is also the Music Director for Tri-M Productions, a non-profit organization with the mission to give local ‘Millennials’ opportunities to perform musicals at a professional level. Besides singing with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, she also performs with other groups around the country, including the Grammy-winning ensemble, Conspirare. When she isn’t singing or playing the piano, Kathlene is also an on-air announcer for Classical 95.5 KHFM Santa Fe/Albuquerque, for which she has won a “Golden Mike” award from the New Mexico Broadcasters Association.
- Website: kathleneritch.com
- Instagram: @kathleneritch
- Image Credit: Summer Maulden
Seasons
18th Season
Location
Santa Fe, NM
Allison Smith
Allison Smith Bio
Appearance sponsored by Judith and Chris Ford
Described as a “versatile” and “ethereal” lyric mezzo-soprano singer, Allie Smith specializes in medieval and early Renaissance repertoire as well as new music. Some notable performances include Dufay’s Nuper rosarum flores at the dedication of the BYU Music Building and Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians with the BYU Group for New Music. Additionally, her own compositions involve the looping and layering of her own voice to create colorful harmonies and lush textures. One of her choral pieces, Eleos, was premiered by the BYU Singers during their 2025 tour in Mel, Italy. You can find more of her compositions on her YouTube channel.
Allie graduated from the Brigham Young University School of Music with a Bachelor of Music Degree in Music Composition and is currently based in Provo, Utah. She was a member of BYU Singers for three years as well as other ensembles affiliated with and outside of BYU, such as Ensign Singers and the BYU Group for New Music. Additionally, she has been a featured soloist with BYU Singers as well as BYU’s China Select Choir, Concert Choir, Men’s Chorus, and Combined Choirs.
Growing up on the Space Coast of Florida, Allie enjoyed singing with her parents and three younger siblings. She started singing in choir in 3rd grade and has been singing ever since. Outside of her musical career, she enjoys reading, writing, going to the beach, traveling, and trying new experiences.
- YouTube: @alliegsmith
- Instagram: @maybeitsallie
Seasons
1st Season
Location
Provo, UT
Emily Yocum Black
Emily Yocum Black Bio
Appearance sponsored by Nancy and Murray Bern
Emily grew up in tight-knit family community in Paducah, Kentucky and music was always at the center of every gathering second only, perhaps, to the delicious food that always accompanied such gatherings. Whether it was making up songs with her grandma on the front porch swing or singing old folk, bluegrass, and hymn tunes with guitar and harmony by ear with her mother, storytelling through singing was woven into the fabric of her life from the beginning.
Emily continues that legacy of storytelling through song in the varying styles of music that she has the opportunity to perform including art song, oratorio, chamber music, choral ensembles, early music, musical theatre and popular music. She has collaborated with orchestras and chamber ensembles in major works and concerts across the U.S. including the Savannah Philharmonic, the Louisville Orchestra, the Paducah Symphony Orchestra, the Jackson Symphony, American Bach Soloists, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Spire Chamber Ensemble, Madison Bach Musicians, and Bourbon Baroque. Some of Emily’s favorite major works she has performed include Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s B Minor Mass, Berstein’s Mass, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Fauré’s Requiem.
Choral music is a foundation of Emily’s passion for vocal music. From the moment she experienced three-part accapella singing as a 5th grader in Platteville Children’s Choir (WI), she was hooked. That initial love was cultivated under her high school choir director, Art DeWeese, at Paducah Tilghman High School where she had the opportunity to sing at Carnegie Hall, attend KMEA All-State Choirs, and ACDA National Honors Choirs. Her musicianship skills were further tested and honed under Dr. Kent Hatteberg at the University of Louisville where she traveled extensively internationally with the Cardinal Singers, presenting high-caliber programs in competitions and festivals. Emily has had the opportunity to sing with several professional choirs including Conspirare, Spire Chamber Ensemble, Saint Tikhon Choir, Artefact Ensemble, and the Louisville Chamber Choir. She can be heard on the albums “House of Belonging” (Conspirare), “Benedict Sheehan: Vespers” (Saint Tikhon Choir, featured soloist), “Songs of Christmas Night” (Louisville Chamber Choir, featured soloist.
Innovative and unique recital programming is another musical outlet that Emily enjoys delving into. During the pandemic, Emily and her longtime friend and mezzo-soprano Maria Miller, created a vibrant and playful art song recital called “Once Upon a Time” through their performance duo Opera in Overalls. In June 2023, Emily performed a curated recital program titled “Peace of Wild Things” in Louisville and Paducah, KY with clarinetist Matthew Nelson and pianist David George. The program included newly commissioned art song repertoire by composer Benedict Sheehan (Let Evening Come song cycle) and Blake Wilson (The Peace of Wild Things). Other repertoire included Schubert’s Shepherd on the Rock, Meyerbeer’s Hirtenlied, Jocelyn Hagan’s cycle Songs of Fields and Prairies, and four of Canteloube’s Chants d’Auvergne. She was named a semifinalist in the 2023 Concert Artist Guild Competition which required unique and multi-disciplinary recital programming.
Emily is an alumnus several programs including SongFest, American Bach Soloists Academy, the Schloss Weissenbrunn’s Bovicelli Course, Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, Savannah VOICE Festival, and RISE Camp at Crested Butte Music Festival. She was also an Apprentice Studio Artist with Kentucky Opera and participant in John Harbison’s Bach Cantata Institute at The Colburn School. Through these experiences, she has been able to study with some of the foremost experts in these various fields and, in many cases, have extensive private coachings with faculty.
Competitions have also been a source of artistic development and growth for Emily and include the 2021 2nd Prize at the Oratorio Society of New York Vocal Competition, the 2019 Silver Medal and 2018 Sherrill Milnes Opera Award at the American Traditions Vocal Competition, First Place in the American Prize for Art Song-Professional Division, 1st Place in the Mid-South NATSAA Competition, 2nd Place in the 7th Annual Handel Aria Competition, and 1st Place in the Kentucky Bach Choir Audrey Rooney Vocal Competition.
Emily graduated with her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Vocal Performance from the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky. While studying there, she performed extensively with the U of L Opera Theatre program and the U of L Cardinal Singers, and the Louisville Chamber Choir under the direction of Dr. Kent Hatteberg.
She currently resides in her hometown of Paducah, Kentucky and teaches private voice in her studio and in area public schools. She is co-founder of the chamber choral ensemble “Paducah Singers” with her husband, Fowler. When she’s not singing, teaching singing, or taking care of a sweet baby boy named Quincy, you can be sure to find Emily on the back patio with a glass of red wine and a good book.
- Website: www.emilyyocumblack.com
Seasons
1st Season
Location
Paducah, KY
Altos
Kerry Ginger
Kerry Ginger Bio
In Memory of Dr. David Amos
- Website: kerryginger.com
- Image Credit: Buck Butler
Seasons
12th Season
Location
Chattanooga, TN
Jenna Hernandez McLean
Jenna Hernandez McLean Bio
Jenna Hernandez McLean is a music educator, conductor, and Mezzo-Soprano based in Waco, TX. Jenna has taught public school and community choirs in Texas and Oregon and has also served as a Teaching Artist with the VOCES8 Foundation. Currently, she is the Director of Choral Activities at McLennan Community College and the Co-Director of the Youth Chorus of Central Texas.
In addition to her work as an educator and conductor she also maintains an active performance schedule with professional choral ensembles around the United States such as The Crossing, The Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Ensemble Altera, Orpheus Chamber Singers, Verdigris Ensemble, Incarnatus, and The Highland Park Chorale. Previously, Jenna was a member of the VOCES8 US Scholars program. While residing in Oregon, Jenna recorded Cycles of Eternity: Works for Female Voices with In Mulieribus, a professional chamber ensemble devoted to exploring repertoire for treble voices from Renaissance to new compositions.
Jenna completed her undergraduate studies in choral music education and her graduate studies in conducting with a choral emphasis at Baylor University (Sic’em). She enjoys spending her free time finding new adventures and sharing laughs with her husband, Will, and beloved dog, Hildegard.
- Image Credit: YLK Photography
Seasons
5th Season
Location
Woodway, TX
Heather Jones
Heather Jones Bio
Heather Jones (they/them) is an embodied and evocative singing actor who has won accolades for their stage presence and versatility. This year, Heather made their Madison Square Garden debut as a soloist with the Genshin Orchestra world tour, sang backup vocals for jazz drummer Louis Cole, and appeared in the world premiere of Paola Prestini’s opera Sensorium Ex with Beth Morrison Projects. In the 2025-2026 season, they’ll sing with GRAMMY winning ensembles LA Master Chorale and Apollo’s Fire, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and in Isaac Io Schankler and Aiden Feltcamp’s new opera The Joining.
- Website: heatherbjones.com
- Instagram: @hbeeejay
- Image Credit: Anna Tse
Seasons
3rd Season
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Kristin E. Lawler
Kristin E. Lawler Bio
Appearance sponsored by Sara J McKenzie
With an eclectic range of experience Kristin’s talents and training varies from classical styles such as opera, oratorio, and art song, to more contemporary genres such as musical theater, pop, blues, and jazz.
Kristin’s most recent operatic appearances have been with Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra, Seaglass Theatre Company, and Boston Opera Collaborative where she’s taken on roles in works such as Verdi’s Don Carlo, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, and Handel’s Serse.
As a choral artist she has performed alongside Chorus Pro Musica with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9- featured on the stages of Boston Symphony Hall and Carnegie Hall. Kristin was the featured Alto soloist with the New Hampshire Symphony Orchestra as they celebrated their centennial year with Mozart’s Requiem. She maintains an active performing schedule with Nightingale Vocal Ensemble– an ensemble dedicated to curating unique and imaginative concert experiences by engaging in innovative collaborations.
Named the “Nancy P. Marriott Scholar” Kristin received her Masters in Voice Performance from the Longy School of Music of Bard College in Cambridge, MA and continues to reside in the Greater Boston Area. In addition to her life as a performer Kristin fills the remainder of her time teaching voice as a faculty member at both Stonehill College and Wellesley College.
- Website: www.kristinlawler.com
- Instagram: @kristinlawler_mezzo
- Image Credit: Kent Smith Photography
Seasons
4th Season
Location
Randolph, MA
Sarah Nickerson
Sarah Nickerson Bio
Appearance sponsored by Jeffrey Fort and Diane Locandro
Raised in a music-loving family, Mezzo-soprano Sarah Nickerson (she/her/they) loves to artistically genre-jump and brings an embodied, story-centered approach to her performances. She has been a lead actor/singer in musicals, rock operas, experimental contemporary classical, early music, opera, oratorio, and choral works. Sarah has been a member of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale for almost 20 years and has sung with the St. John Cathedral music program for over a decade. She has performed with Kinnara Ensemble (Atlanta, GA), The Thirteen (Washington, DC), Chatter of Albuquerque, and Polyphony Voices of New Mexico. Her choral recordings include Truth & Fable with the Thirteen (2019), The Road Home with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale (2018), and Provenance with Kinnara (2017). Sarah is also an ordained Inter-Spiritual minister and movement guide and founded inSpirit Studios in 2021. inSpirit is a space for folx seeking depth without dogma through movement and sacred discovery.
- Image Credit: Tira Howard Photography
Seasons
18th Season
Location
Minneapolis, MN
Erin Roth Thomas
Erin Roth Thomas Bio
Appearance sponsored by Katherine and William Landschulz
Praised for possessing “a voice of surprising power and emotion” (TheaterJones), and “great dignity and a gorgeous mezzo, finely finished and expressive” (Dallas Morning News), lyric mezzo soprano Erin Roth Thomas regularly performs with some of the finest musical organizations in the country, singing a vast repertoire that spans from early to 20th century music.
As a concert soloist, Erin has had the honor of singing many masterworks, including Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (Resurrection), Bach’s Mass in B Minor, Mozart’s Requiem, Verdi’s Requiem, and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. She has also enjoyed semi-staged productions including the title role in Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans and Juno in Eccles’ Semele.
Equally comfortable on the opera stage, Erin has performed numerous roles, including Meg Page in Verdi’s Falstaff, Acis in Literes’ Acis y Galatea, Hansel in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel, Prince Orlofsky in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, and The Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors.
In recent seasons, Erin has sung with Portland Opera, Canterbury Voices, Ensemble Iona, American Baroque Opera Company, Oklahoma Bach Choir, Orchestra of New Spain, Orpheus Chamber Singers, and Plano Symphony Orchestra, among others.
From Lufkin, Texas, and a proud graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University, Erin lives in the Dallas area with her husband, Chad.
- Website: erinroththomas.com
- Image Credit: Abi Poe Photography
Seasons
2nd Season
Location
Nacogdoches, TX
Tenors
George Case
George Case Bio
Appearance sponsored by Richard and Chris Frenk
George Case is currently a freelance musician living in Santa Fe, NM. George is a staff singer at the Church of the Holy Faith, and is the music director for the Sangre de Cristo Chorale. George was formerly Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Boston Conservatory at Berklee where he directed the choral ensembles and the graduate choral conducting program. George has also been the music director for The Boston Cecilia, a semi-professional chorus in Boston and the Newburyport Choral Society, a choral society on the north shore. Previously, George has also been the Director of Choral Activities ad interim at Boston University and the Director of Choral and Vocal Programs at The Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts at Pebblebrook High School in Atlanta, GA. George holds Doctoral and Masters degrees in conducting from the University of Michigan and a Bachelors degree in vocal performance from Boston University. George is an award-winning educator of young musicians who frequently leads clinics and workshops for high school and collegiate singers, as well as professional development sessions for teachers around the country. As a soloist and professional chorister, George has performed with major ensembles across North America and Europe, including the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Handel & Haydn Society, Kinnara, Spire Chamber Ensemble, and Skylark Vocal Ensemble. In addition to his work as a soloist, conductor, and educator, George spends his time raising his goats and chickens on his farm in northern New Mexico and volunteering throughout Santa Fe.
- Image Credit: Jonathan Cole
Seasons
15th Season
Location
Santa Fe, NM
Aaron Cates
Aaron Cates Bio
Aaron Cates, tenor, enjoys pursuing performance opportunities both as a featured soloist and professional choral ensemble member. He is especially passionate about collaborative ensemble singing, and has recently appeared in engagements with groups including The Thirteen, Washington Bach Consort, Transept, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Seraphic Fire, and Duke Chapel. Aaron has received vocal fellowships for his participation in the Charlotte Bach Akademie, the Illinois Bach Academy, the Voces8 US Scholars Program, the Quintessence Summer Choral Festival, the Seraphic Fire Professional Choral Institute, and the Baylor International Choral Conducting Masterclass & Young Artist Program. Aaron holds music degrees in Vocal Performance from the University of South Carolina and Baylor University. Aaron is a native of Charleston, SC. Aaron currently resides in the greater Washington DC area, where he serves as a staff singer for the Washington National Cathedral Choir.
Seasons
3rd Season
Location
Washington, DC
Elliott JG Encarnación
Elliott JG Encarnación Bio
Appearance sponsored by Linda Osborne
Michigan native Elliott JG Encarnación is a composer and conductor of choral and operatic repertoire. As a self-taught tenor, he has appeared as a soloist with The San Francisco Symphony, The California Bach Society, The Dessoff Choirs, The Long Island Symphony Choral Association, and Musica Sacra. He can be heard in choral contexts with premiere choral ensembles around the country, including the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Voices of Ascension, San Francisco Opera, and has recorded under the Delos and Decca labels. He has served as Artistic Director for the Opera Theater Unlimited, Prodigal Opera Theatre, and Composer in Residence for the International Orange Chorale in San Francisco.
- Website: elliottencarnacion.com
- Instagram: @musicamaxima
- Image Credit: Jonathan Estabrooks
Seasons
4th Season
Location
San Francisco, CA
Cameron Falby
Cameron Falby Bio
Appearance Sponsored by Gregory Dove
Cameron Falby (tenor) is a composer and vocalist based in Baltimore. Raised by two choir directors in central Maryland, they went on to study at Manhattan School of Music and then the Peabody Conservatory.
They work as a freelance choral singer and soloist in the Baltimore-DC area, performing everything from early music to new music to gospel and experimental. They regularly appear with local ensembles including the Choir of Emmanuel Episcopal Church, Mind on Fire, The Thirteen, the National Cathedral Choir, and Baltimore Choral Arts Society; as well abroad with ensembles including Elevation, Apollo’s Fire, and the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. They are a founding member of the Baltimore-based vocal quartet Anchorites. Cameron has appeared as a fellow at the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, Yale’s Norfolk Festival, the American Bach Soloists Academy, and with Tenet Vocal Artists. Former teachers include Phyllis Bryn-Julson, Michael Hersch, and Felipe Lara. Cameron is the recipient of a 2025 Workshop Scholarship from Early Music America.
- Instagram: @cameronfalbytenor
- Website: cameronfalby.com
Seasons
2nd Season
Location
Baltimore, MD
Erik Gustafson
Erik Gustafson Bio
Appearance sponsored by Barbara and Gregory Kok
Erik Gustafson, tenor, is active across the nation as an oratorio soloist and choral artist. A native of Portland, OR, he received his education from Arizona State University, and currently resides in Chattanooga, TN, where he is a voice instructor at Sewanee: The University of the South. Previously, he worked as a voice instructor at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO.
Erik has collaborated on two Grammy-winning recordings with the Phoenix Chorale, as well as albums with Skylark Vocal Ensemble (Boston, MA), Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Bach Collegium San Diego, Conspirare (Austin, TX), True Concord Voices and Orchestra (Tucson, AZ), Spire Chamber Ensemble (Kansas City, MO), and Sounding Light (Detroit, MI). He currently also performs regularly with the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, Oregon Bach Festival, Chattanooga Bach Choir, and Kinnara (Atlanta). He was a founding member of the chamber ensembles Quadrivium (Durango, CO) and Helios (Phoenix, AZ).
As a soloist, Erik has performed as Evangelist for the St. John Passion with Apollo Chorus of Chicago and Elmhurst Symphony Orchestra, Evangelist for the St. Matthew Passion with the Arizona Bach Festival, tenor soloist in Handel’s Messiah with Tucson Symphony, tenor soloist for Mozart’s Requiem with Chattanooga Symphony Orchestra, and has been featured as a soloist with many other organizations across the nation including the Phoenix Symphony, the Bach Vespers series at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York City, Colorado Bach Ensemble, the Delaware Valley Chorale, Abendmusik (Lincoln, NE), Phoenix Opera, and Bach Society Houston.
- Image Credit: Jon Simpson Photography
Seasons
11th Season
Location
Chatanooga, TN
Bradley Naylor
Bradley Naylor Bio
Appearance sponsored by Mimi Lloyd
Dr. Bradley Naylor was recently appointed Director of Choral Studies at Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth. There, he directs the Wesleyan Singers and civic chorus Wesleyan Chorale in their performances throughout the year. He also teaches conducting and music theory. Prior to this appointment, Bradley has served on the faculties of Ohio University, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Brown University, and the University of Georgia Hugh Hodgson School of Music. Bradley has sung in concert with ProArte Ohio (formerly LancasterChorale), Cincinnati Vocal Arts Ensemble, and as a soloist with the Evansville Bach Choir and Durham Vocal Arts Ensemble.
Praised for his supple musicianship and expressive command of a wide range of repertoire spanning the Renaissance to the present day, tenor Bradley Naylor brings both scholarly depth and communicative warmth to every performance.
- Image Credit: Daniel King
Seasons
16th Season
Location
Basses
Simon Barrad
Simon Barrad Bio
Appearance sponsored by Katherine and William Landschulz
The versatility of Grammy-nominated baritone, Simon Barrad, has been heard in genre-bending concerts across the United States and Europe. His talent for unique and innovative programming and arranging – melding new and old, jazz and drama, classical technique and heartfelt folk idioms – has led to recent features at the Metropolitan Opera, Wigmore Hall in London, the Columbus Symphony, the Ravinia Festival, Stanford Live, the Marlboro Music Festival, and Cincinnati Opera. The 2015/16 Fulbright scholar to Finland has also headlined several concerts in Europe including performances at Helsinki’s Musiikkitalo, Finland’s National Opera House, and the Berlin Philharmonie. Through his performing and as a former mentor for ArtSmart, which provides free music and singing lessons to teenagers in underserved communities, Simon strives to build a more equitable world of empathy and understanding through music.
Simon is also an avid lover and performer of jazz, new music, and ensemble singing. He is a four-time Downbeat magazine national award winner for vocal jazz, and he has performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival, ADCA conventions across the country, and the Grammys as a member of the Grammy vocal jazz ensemble. Simon regularly performs with Austin-based ensemble, Conspirare, and was the baritone soloist for their national tour of Considering Matthew Shepard. In the realm of new music, he has consistently championed new works, giving premiere performances of works by John Harbison, David Lang, Craig Hella Johnson, Mason Bates, and others, as well as performing at the John Duffy Composer Institute under the direction of Libby Larsen. As a Jewish musician, he served as the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur soloist for over a decade at the historic Plum Street Temple in Cincinnati, and is currently the soloist at San Francisco’s Congregation Sherith Israel. He recently founded the musical group JIVE: Jewish Innovative Voices & Experiences with countertenor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen and pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg.
Mr. Barrad holds a Master of Music degree from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music where he studied with Kenneth Shaw. He has collaborated with artists including Mitsuko Uchida, Jonathan Biss, Awadagin Pratt, and Ignat Solzhenitsyn. Mr. Barrad also holds a BM in Voice and a French Language minor from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. He has completed word for word translations and IPA transcriptions of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri, Borodin’s Prince Igor and a side by side comparison of the libretti of Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District and Katerina Izmailova.
- Image Credit: Jackie Stevens
Seasons
4th Season
Location
San Francisco, CA
Steven Berlanga
Steven Berlanga Bio
Appearance sponsored by Fraser and Alice McAlpine
Bass-baritone Steven Berlanga lives in Philadelphia, PA. He most recently graduated with a doctorate in music from Indiana University, and he has also studied at College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati, CSU Long Beach, and Cabrillo College. As a soloist in opera, oratorio, musical theater, and concert repertoire, Dr. Berlanga has worked with organizations including Independent Sounds Philadelphia, Choral Arts Philadelphia, Musica Tevere, Bach Choir of Bethlehem, West Bay Opera, Cabrillo Stage, New Voices Opera, Arizona Philharmonic, and the Santa Cruz Symphony. As a choral artist, he has sung with professional chamber choirs in the United States, including The Crossing, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, The Thirteen, Kinnara, and Exigence. As an educator he has worked with Play on Philly, Snyder School of Singing, Youth Orchestra Salinas, the Williston Northampton School Choirs, University of Cincinnati Cabaret Singers, CSULB Bel Canto Chorus, and Cabrillo Youth Chorus. Passionate about accessibility in classical music, Dr. Berlanga often works with organizations and programming centered around change within the industry, such as BorderCrosSing, El Sistema, the Sphinx Organization, Santa Cruz Opera Project, and Convoco Ensemble.
- Image Credit: Angel James Photography
Seasons
10th Season
Location
Philadelphia, PA
Matthew D. Nielsen
Matthew D. Nielsen Bio
Matthew D. Nielsen (b. 1984) is an active conductor, composer, baritone, producer, and sound engineer. Matthew earned a Bachelor of Music in Sound Recording Technology from Brigham Young University in 2010, and a Masters in Music in Choral Conducting in 2012. In 2017, he graduate magna cum laude with a Doctorate of Music with an emphasis in choral music from the University of Southern California.
As a professional singer, Matthew has performed with esteemed ensembles such as Seraphic Fire, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Kinnara, Bach Collegium San Diego, and Musica Angelica.
As a composer, he has received commissions from the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, The Combined Choirs and Philharmonic Orchestra at Brigham Young University, Cantorum Chamber Choir, and St. Andrew United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas. Matthew’s music has been published with Edition Peters, Walton Music, Santa Barbara Music Press and featured internationally on BYU Radio and American Public Media’s Performance Today with Fred Child.
Matthew is the author of the new textbook The Technique of Choral Writing: A Comprehensive Guide to Composing and Arranging for Vocal Ensembles.
- Website: www.mattnielsen.com
- Instagram: @matthewdnielsen
- YouTube: @keepitclassical
- Image Credit: Angel Mannion
Seasons
3rd Season
Location
John E. Orduña
John E. Orduña Bio
Appearance sponsored by Barbara and Rod Slaton
John E. Orduña is noted as a singer of great versatility, impressing with a voice “rich and powerful top to bottom” (Peninsula Reviews) in repertoire that spans the sacred oratorios of Bach and Handel, to comic roles by Prokofiev and Verdi. In recent seasons, Orduña has performed with Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Evergreen Ensemble, Grant Park Music Festival, New Earth Ensemble, Bloomington Early Music Festival, and the Artefact Ensemble. Soloist engagements include the Omaha Symphony, the Grant Park Music Festival, the Tallahassee Symphony, and the Richmond Symphony. John has also been seen on the operatic stages of Washington National Opera, Opera Omaha, Opera Columbus, Glimmerglass Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Sarasota Opera, and North Carolina Opera. He holds degrees and certificates from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the Florida State University School of Music, and the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
In addition to his performing career, Orduña actively serves the singing community, offstage, as a union representative for the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), as well as a consultant to several artistic organizations comprised of both student and professional artists. In his position with AGMA he has been involved with major collective bargaining agreement negotiations with management at numerous shops, representing hundreds of the finest working musicians in the United States and takes great joy in doing so.
- Instagram: @brownmanwithagreenthumb
- Photo Credit: Andrew Morstein
Seasons
3rd Season
Location
Ourense, Spain
Ian R. Prichard
Ian R. Prichard Bio
In recent seasons Ian has performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Chorus, Grant Park Music Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Music of the Baroque, Bella Voce, William Ferris Chorale, Constellation Men’s Ensemble, the Oriana Singers, His Majesty’s Men, and enjoys a full and diverse performance and recording schedule in Chicago’s mainstay music ensembles. As a member of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, he has had the opportunity to perform as part of a small ensemble in Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera and Beethoven’s Elegischer Gesang. Ian holds degrees and certificates in Performance and Music Education from Roosevelt University and University of South Carolina, graduating magna cum laude.
- Instagram: @iprichard_
- Image Credit: Clayton Terrill
Seasons
3rd Season
Location
Marques Jerrell Ruff
Marques Jerrell Ruff Bio
Appearance sponsored by Jeffrey Fort and Diane Locandro
Marques Jerrell Ruff is a dynamic bass-baritone, conductor, and music educator, internationally recognized for a voice praised as having “power, clarity, and brilliant shades of color” (The Hartford Courant) and described as “powerful, acrobatic, and full of soul” (GoldenPlec Magazine).
With a rich, resonant tone and wide-ranging versatility, he has appeared as a soloist with esteemed ensembles including the New World Symphony, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Charlotte Symphony Orchestra & Master Chorale, Rogue Valley Symphony, and Hartford Symphony Orchestra. His repertoire spans classical masterworks to contemporary works, earning recognition for both technical command and expressive depth.
A sought-after collaborator, Ruff has worked with conductors such as Michael Tilson Thomas, André Thomas, Robert Moody, and Darko Butorac. He is also a member of premier professional choral ensembles including Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Seraphic Fire, Exigence Vocal Ensemble, and Conspirare. His performances have taken him to leading concert halls and festivals across the United States, including a recent Carnegie Hall debut conducted by Sir John Rutter.
Equally respected as a conductor, Ruff brings an expressive, nuanced approach to choral artistry and has appeared as a guest conductor with honor choirs and professional ensembles nationwide, including an invited guest conductor appearance at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
A passionate educator, he serves as Associate Director of Choral Activities and Assistant Professor of Choral Music Education at Arkansas State University, where he conducts Scarlet Voices and United Voices.
Ruff earned his Bachelor of Arts from Central Connecticut State University where he studied Music Education and Voice Performance, Master of Music degrees in Choral Conducting and Voice Performance from the University of Missouri, and a Ph.D. in Music Education from Florida State University. He is active in several professional and service organizations.
- Image Credit: Darshae Spells
Seasons
8th Season
Location
Jonesboro, AR
Guest Artists
Nathan Salazar
Piano
Nathan Salazar Bio
Appearance sponsored by Diane and Bill Graves
Nathan Salazar is a native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and holds a Master’s degree in collaborative piano from the University of Michigan where he studied with Martin Katz. He received his vocal and piano performance degrees from the University of Kansas, where he studied with Julia Broxholm and Jack Winerock respectively. Salazar has performed in England, Scotland, Italy, Russia, and in major performance venues throughout the United States, including Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., Boston’s Symphony Hall, and Carnegie Hall in New York City.
He performed in the International Festival of Spanish and Latin American Music with renowned mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza, received a fellowship to Songfest in Los Angeles where he studied with pianists Margo Garrett and Graham Johnson, composers Jake Heggie, John Musto, Libby Larsen, and William Bolcom, and was also invited to be part of Marilyn Horne’s 80th birthday celebration at Carnegie Hall, where he worked with Ms. Horne, Martin Katz, and the legendary Christa Ludwig. Salazar has worked with such singers and teachers as Julia Faulkner, Maria Zifchak, Stephen King, Susanne Mentzer, Luis Ledesma, Wolfgang Brendel, Joyce Castle, Neil Shicoff, Stanford Olsen, Caroline Worra, George Shirley, Angela Meade, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Cecilia Violetta Lopez, Kelly Kaduce, Jonathan Burton, Stephen Powell, Edward Parks, Michael Fabiano, and Susan Graham. He has worked and performed with Skylark Vocal Ensemble, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, the Santa Fe Opera, Opera Colorado, The Handel and Haydn Society, The Boston Symphony, and the Boston Lyric Opera, where he worked on the company’s monumental 2019 production of Poul Ruders’ The Handmaid’s Tale, and Bellini’s Norma.
Recently, Salazar performed with soprano Cecilia Violetta Lopez in recital for Austin Opera, Opera Idaho, Opera Orlando, Opera Las Vegas, Opera Southwest, Opera America, Madison Opera, and Opera Colorado, where he now serves as Principal Repertoire Coach. Nathan was coach and pianist for Opera Colorado’s production of Moravec and Campbell’s The Shining, as well as Rigoletto and Korngold’s rarely performed masterpiece, Die tote Stadt.
Up next, Salazar will make his company debuts at San Francisco Opera and Los Angeles Opera in Gabriela Lena Frank’s El Ultimo Sueño de Frida y Diego.
Salazar has also served as a voice faculty member at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Nathan is currently based in Santa Fe, where he enjoys taking care of a giant bernadoodle and several chickens and goats.
- Image Credit: Evangeline Hodge
Commissioned Composers
Shawn Kirchner
Shawn Kirchner Bio
Commission and Appearance underwritten by Mary and Phil Delk in memory of Joel Brauer
Shawn Kirchner is a composer, arranger, and songwriter based in Los Angeles whose choral works are performed throughout the world. His long creative relationship with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Artistic Director Grant Gershon culminated in his tenure as the ensemble’s Swan Family Composer in Residence from 2012-2015. Equally active as a performer, Kirchner has sung twenty seasons as a tenor with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in concerts featuring the world’s leading conductors, composers, and soloists. As a pianist, Kirchner appears throughout the country in performances of his music with collaborating choirs and is celebrated for his wide stylistic range, improvisation, and musicianship.
Kirchner’s composing commissions have included numerous premieres with the Los Angeles Master Chorale at LA’s Disney Hall, as well as writing for Conspirare, San Antonio Chamber Choir, Atlanta Master Chorale, Fort Worth Chorale, Lorelei Ensemble, Tonality, Princeton Chapel Choir, Rockefeller Chapel Choir, Golden Bridge, Choral Arts Northwest, and WomenSing. His work has been performed by such acclaimed international choirs as Ansan City Choir (Rep. of Korea), Elektra Women’s Choir, the Vancouver Youth Choir, Montreal’s Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul for the CBC’s Christmas Sing-In broadcast, and by the Nairobi Chamber Choir for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s 2012 Diamond Jubilee Pageant events at Windsor Castle. Kirchner’s music can be heard on recordings by the LA Master Chorale, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Tonality, Oasis Chorale, Wartburg Choir, and Sacra/Profana, and his publishers are Boosey & Hawkes, Oxford University Press, Santa Barbara Music Publishing, and Shawn Kirchner Publishing.
Kirchner’s music finds a middle ground between classical choral and instrumental traditions and the inheritance of the folk, carol, and hymn traditions. He is best-known worldwide for his lively, contrapuntal setting of the Kenyan song Wana Baraka, which went flashmob viral on YouTube, and for Heavenly Home: Three American Songs, praised by the LA Times as “arranged with mastery.” His reimagined America the Beautiful was spotlighted in the New York Times piece “Five Minutes That Will Make You Love Choral Music.” He has also written imaginative choral cycles on the poetry of Pablo Neruda (Sonetos de Amor), Sylvia Plath (Plath Songs), Gerard Manley Hopkins (Inscapes), William Blake (Songs of Innocence), and the Psalms (Songs of Ascent.) Kirchner’s most recent concert-length work is the Solstice oratorio The Light of Hope Returning, featuring the texts of British-American novelist Susan Cooper, known for her award-winning Dark is Rising sequence. His original songwriting ranges in style from jazz and gospel to folk and bluegrass, the latter featured on his CD Meet Me on the Mountain.
As a singer since 2001 with the LA Master Chorale under Grant Gershon, Kirchner has sung the full span of the Western choral tradition, featured as a soloist on Sederunt principes of Pérotin (c. 1199) as well as in contemporary works of Meredith Monk and Arvo Pärt. He has sung in hundreds of performances with the Music Directors of the LA Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Zubin Mehta. Career highlights include a post-encore choral/piano chamber music concert with András Schiff, and touring John Adams’ Gospel According to the Other Mary with the LA Phil. Kirchner has sung on LA Master Chorale’s recordings of the music of Steve Reich, Philip Glass, David Lang, Henryk Górecki, and Nico Muhly, and also sang countertenor in LAMC’s multi-year touring production of Orlando di Lasso’s Lagrime di San Pietro. This ground-breaking, fully staged version of the Renaissance masterpiece directed by Peter Sellars was featured at the Salzburg Festival and around the world in Melbourne, Auckland, London, Mexico City, and at Cité de la Musique in Paris. As a session singer, Kirchner has sung on four dozen feature film soundtracks including Avatar, La La Land, The Lorax, and Frozen.
Raised with his triplet brother and sister in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Kirchner’s musicianship was shaped through intensive piano study with Joan Smalley and George Katz, as well as at church where he accompanied the choir and played organ. He has continued to be a church musician alongside his other musical pursuits, providing local and national music leadership for the Church of the Brethren (a historic peace church.) Kirchner’s principal creative mentor is the banjo-playing poet Steve Kinzie, with much owed as well to the trail blazed by American choral matriarch Alice Parker. Kirchner earned a BA in Peace Studies (Manchester University) and an MA in Choral Conducting (University of Iowa) where his teachers included William Hatcher, Richard Bloesch, and Donald Jenni. Kirchner’s outside interests include organic gardening, foreign languages, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Enneagram. He also works with Dr. Lucy Jones in the Tempo: Music for Climate Action leadership group, and serves on the board of Tonality, an innovative and dynamic choir committed to presenting concerts that reflect current struggles for social justice and environmental care, founded by Alexander Lloyd Blake.
- Website: www.shawnkirchner.com
Shavon Lloyd
Shavon Lloyd Bio
Sponsored by Santa Fe Desert Chorale Commissioning Club
Shavon Lloyd (b. 1997) is an award-winning composer, baritone, conductor, and music educator. As a young musician, Shavon has already had the opportunity to perform for a wide variety of audiences and compose for numerous ensembles from K-12 to professional groups.
From Middletown, NY, Lloyd began his journey as a dedicated musician in 2014 when he won his first composition contest at the age of 17. His piece, “Untitled”, was selected as the grand prize winner of the Manhattan Choral Ensemble’s “New Music for New York” composition contest. After that moment, Lloyd solidified his decision in studying music at The Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. Here he continued his compositional journey under the tutelage of Dr. David Heuser, winning a second contest in Washington, D.C. for his choral piece, “So Breaks the Sun”, which was premiered by the 18th Street Singers in July of 2018. Since then Lloyd, has been commissioned for works at the K-12 levels, collegiate choral programs, and established professional concert choirs. Recently, Shavon won a third composition contest in July 2019, sponsored by the Orpheus Chamber Singers in Dallas, Texas. In March 2020, the group premiered his work for double choir, “Alleluia”. Since then, Lloyd has been commissioned by such groups as Cappella Festiva and The ABC Bel Canto Choir.
Shavon is an active participant in the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA), contributing to both the Belonging, Equity, Diversity, and Representation (BEDR) Committee, and the Composition Committee. Regarding music education, his interests include student-centered learning through democracy and creativity in the music classroom. For the past three years, he has put this mindset into practice as the Vocal/General Music Teacher at Indian River High School in Philadelphia, NY.
As a baritone, Shavon has had the opportunity to perform alongside Patti LuPone, Lisa Vroman, Canadian Brass, and other professional soloists and ensembles. While studying with Dr. Lonel Woods, he became a 2-time winner of the CFLNY-NATS Singing Competition, and featured soloist throughout New York. At Crane, he had the pleasure of soloing in Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music and Mozart’s Mass in C minor under the baton of Maestros Duain Wolfe and Kent Tritle, respectively. In May 2020, Shavon won the Classical Singer Musical Theatre Competition for Pre-Professionals with his performance of “Soliloquy” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel. Lloyd is currently pursuing his Master of Music in Vocal Performance degree at The Juilliard School in New York City. Here, he has performed in multiple productions, including Händel’s “Atalanta” (Nicandro – cover), Purcell’s “King Arthur” (Grimbald/Cold Genius), and Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi” (Betto). Lloyd was recently selected to be a Gerdine Young Artist for The Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in 2023. He will be performing in Puccini’s “Tosca” (Sacristan cover). He will also make his professional debut as Simon in an all-black production of Joplin’s “Treemonisha”, including a world premiere of Damien Sneed and Karen Chilton’s prologue and epilogue detailing moments Joplin’s life.
- Website: www.shavonlloyd.com
- Image Credit: Paul Mardy
Moira Smiley
Moira Smiley Bio
Commission and Residency underwritten by Susan Esco Chandler and Alfred ‘Appy’ Chandler
An active composer and performer, Moira has written commissions for the LA Master Chorale, Conspirare, Mirabai, Stile Antico, American Choral Directors Association, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, VocalEssence, Pacific Chorale, NOTUS, National Concerts and countless others. Her arrangements and original compositions for choir – especially those with her signature body percussion – are performed by millions of singers around the world. The European premiere of Time In Our Voices was performed by the voices and mobile phones of Ars Nova Copenhagen under the direction of Paul Hillier. Moira‘s recent albums and choral songbook, Unzip The Horizon and In Our Voices were companions to her Voice Is A Traveler solo show. She continues composing and improvising in collaboration with artists in film, video game production, theater and dance, and her work can be heard on feature film soundtracks, BBC & PBS television programs, NPR, and on more than 70 commercial albums. Her most recent premieres include Who We Are at Carnegie Hall; her secular liturgy, The Song Among Us at Cincinnati’s Memorial Hall and Sing The World Awake at Ordway Concert Hall. Her newest touring project, Roots To Sky grows from her album of folksongs with string quartet, ‘The Rhizome Project’, accompanied by her book, The Song Rhizome.
- Website: www.moirasmiley.com
- YouTube: @MoiraSmileyMusic
- Image Credit: Fiona Small
Leadership
Joshua Habermann, D.M.A.
Artistic Director
Joshua Habermann is in his eighteenth season as Artistic Director of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, one of the nation’s premiere professional chamber choirs. Since joining the ensemble, he has broadened its repertoire to include choral-orchestral masterworks and unique concert experiences ranging from early music to new commissions. Under his leadership, the Desert Chorale has been featured at regional and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, and its summer and winter festivals are among America’s largest choral events.
Habermann’s experience with symphonic choruses spans over three decades, encompassing the full range of the choral-orchestral repertoire. From 2011 to 2022 he was director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus, where highlights included Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the Requiem Masses of Mozart, Brahms, and Verdi, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony, Rachmaninov’s The Bells, and Vaughan-Williams’ Sea Symphony. He is a frequent guest conductor, and in 2022-2023 prepared Handel’s Messiah, Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe, and Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem for the San Francisco Symphony.
A passionate advocate for music education, Joshua Habermann is a regular clinician for state and national events and has led honor choirs and choral festivals in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. In 2024, he conducted Cantatas 72, 73 and 92 for Bach Santiago (Chile), a concert series dedicated to the first full cycle of Bach Cantatas in South America. He currently teaches choral literature at the University of North Texas.
As a singer (tenor), Habermann has performed with the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus under Helmuth Rilling and Conspirare under Craig Hella Johnson. Recording credits include Requiem and Threshold of Night, both GRAMMY® nominees for best choral recording. Recordings as a conductor include The Road Home and Rachmaninov’s All Night Vigil with the Desert Chorale.
Image Credit: Tira Howard Photography
Emma Marzen has been Executive Director of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale since January 2020. Under her leadership, the Chorale has experienced transformational financial, audience, and personnel growth. In the first five years of her tenure, the organization’s net equity has risen by $3M, including a new permanent endowment and cash reserve fund, and annual operating revenues have increased by 37%. Audience retention and growth has increased dramatically beyond pre-pandemic levels, producing reliable 20%+ tickets sales revenue growth year over year. To advance the organization’s mission and goals, Emma has built a team of professional arts administrators, adding four new full-time and two new part-time employees, in addition to specialized contractors, to the Chorale’s staff.
From 2018 to 2020, Marzen served as Board Relations Manager of the Santa Fe Opera, one of the world’s leading opera companies, following her initial tenure with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale from 2016 to 2018, where she ultimately served as Assistant Director.
A singer by training, Marzen holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Business & Entertainment Industries from the University of Miami. Highlights of Emma’s collegiate years in the Frost Chorale under the direction of the late Dr. Karen Kennedy include: Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 and Holst’s The Planets with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra; a tour of the United Kingdom in May 2014, including a BBC recording at Canterbury Cathedral; and Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall, conducted by Joshua Habermann. Marzen additionally holds a Certificate in Professional Fundraising from Boston University and is a member of Chorus America’s Leadership Development Forum.
Image Credit: Tira Howard Photography
Staff
Joanna Armstrong
Sales & Marketing Director
Joanna Armstrong Bio
Joanna Armstrong joined the Santa Fe Desert Chorale staff in 2021, gaining valuable experience as Administrative Assistant before moving into marketing shortly afterwards. She moved to New Mexico to be a part of this incredible team from Virginia, where she previously worked as an Adjunct Voice Professor and the Administrative Assistant for the Voice Area at Southern Virginia University. A lover of music herself, she holds a B.A. in Music from Southern Virginia University and a M.M. in Vocal Performance from Brigham Young University. As a graduate student, Joanna also worked as the Assistant Graduate Coordinator for the BYU School of Music and spent her summers working as a Research Assistant in Music Special Collections at the Harold B. Lee Library. In her free time, she enjoys singing with ensembles in Santa Fe and Albuquerque.
- Image Credit: Erin Talley
George Case
Artist Manager
George Case Bio
Rachelle Elbert
Patron Services Assosciate
Rachelle Elbert Bio
Rachelle Elbert is a dynamic operations leader and classically trained musical theater performer with a BFA in Music Dance Theater from Brigham Young University. With a career spanning performance, corporate leadership, outdoor recreation, and customer experience, she brings a rare combination of creativity, discipline, and people-centered leadership to every environment.
Professionally, Rachelle has led teams of up to 80 employees in high-volume operational settings, including fulfillment and fitness management. Her expertise includes process improvement, safety compliance, data analysis, onboarding and training, conflict resolution, and KPI-driven performance management. She is known for building optimistic, high-accountability team cultures where people feel both supported and empowered.
Alongside her corporate experience, Rachelle has performed in regional theater productions across the country and continues to work as a vocalist and performer. Her background in the performing arts informs her leadership style—grounded in communication, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and presence.
With additional experience in outdoor recreation, trail safety, and wilderness response, Rachelle thrives in roles that combine leadership, service, and meaningful human connection. She is passionate about developing people, improving systems, and contributing to organizations that value both excellence and integrity.
Heather Lacy
Community Engagement Manager
Heather Lacy Bio
Heather Lacy joined the Santa Fe Desert Chorale staff in 2024 as Cultivation & Engagement Manager. She also runs the Chorale’s Hearts in Harmony program at The Life Link with pianist Michelle Schumann.
She previously worked as the choral director and fine arts coordinator at Henderson County High School in Kentucky. In this role, she conducted multiple distinguished ensembles and helped facilitate community performances and arts events.
Heather earned her Bachelor of Music Education (Vocal Emphasis) degree from Kentucky Wesleyan College in 2016 and her Master of Music Education (Choral Conducting Emphasis) from Westminster Choir College in 2020. She studied in person at WCC from 2016-2017, during which she was an alto section leader for the Westminster Symphonic Choir.
Anne Pearson
Development Manager
Anne Pearson Bio
Professionally, Anne thrives in fast-paced settings. She is a proactive leader who enjoys driving initiatives forward, nurturing vital relationships with stakeholders, and leveraging her strong analytical and problem-solving skills to empower teams and projects with strategic frameworks and creative solutions.
Prior to joining the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Anne led fundraising initiatives for a Nevada-based non-partisan political organization. Her responsibilities included developing comprehensive fundraising strategies and measurable goals, collaborating closely with the Board of Directors, strategically managing data resources, creating compelling fundraising communications, and orchestrating both large and small fundraising and community events.
Prior to relocating to Las Vegas in 2017, Anne was Senior Director at Vendely Communications, a respected PR and Marketing firm in Los Angeles. There, she honed her expertise in client relations, communication strategy development, and event management for a diverse range of non-profit, technology, arts, corporate, and entertainment clients.
Earlier in her career, Anne contributed to a multi-year, multimillion-dollar capital project at Disney International as Service & Delivery Manager. In this role, she directed the procurement and delivery strategy across an extensive network of 90 locations in 42 countries.
Notably, during the initial growth of the Shoah Foundation, Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust visual history archive, Anne was a key early team member. As Campaign Finance Administrator, she collaborated with fundraising colleagues on an ambitious five-year, $100 million development campaign. Her responsibilities encompassed event management, strategic plan development, donor stewardship, and database design.
A graduate of Loma Linda University with a BA in Mass Media, Anne’s interests extend beyond her professional life. She is a painter and writer, a student of comparative religions, an enthusiastic traveler, and a formally trained pianist. This multifaceted background enriches her perspective and informs her collaborative and creative approach to development.
Mark Zero
Grants Manager
Mark Zero Bio
Mark Zero is the author of six novels and a book of nonfiction under his pen name, Mark Beauregard. His novel The Whale: A Love Story was a finalist for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize and won the M.M. Bennetts Award for Historical Fiction. Before joining Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Mark worked as a nonprofit professional with many education, social-service, and arts nonprofits in Tucson, including serving as the General Manager for the Tucson Pops Orchestra.
Phone
Enrico Lagasca
Digital Content Manager
Enrico Lagasca Bio
Amid the wide-ranging demands of his repertoire, critics note: “Bass-baritone Enrico Lagasca summoned nearly as much volume as everyone else onstage put together, and matched that visceral force with vivid phrasing,” wrote Baltimore’s Tim Smith regarding the U.S. premiere of the Jonathan Dove opera The Monster in the Maze. And “Lagasca’s singing was an outpouring of devotion and grief as elegant as it was moving,” wrote Rick Perdian in Seen and Heard International regarding Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. Enrico trained at the University of the Philippines and Mannes College of Music. Visit enricolagasca.com
- Website: www.enricolagasca.com
- Facebook and Instagram: @enricolee
- Image Credit: Jiyang Chen
Michelle Schumann
Hearts in Harmony Pianist
Michelle Schumann Bio
Michelle’s most irresistible qualities as a performer include her unabashed musical expression and her ability to connect with audiences. Her performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue conducted by Peter Bay of the Austin Symphony was named the #1 Classical Arts Event of 2008 by the Austin Chronicle. Additional accolades include the 2017 award for Classical Music Ensemble; the 2009 award for “Best Instrumentalist;” and the 2006, 2007, and 2008 award for “Best Chamber Music Performance” given by the Austin Critics’ Table. While deeply steeped in the creative-cultural community of her hometown, Michelle has also been a featured performer at international festivals including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Ottawa Chamberfest, Ethos Contemporary Music Festival, San Angelo Piano Festival, Fayetteville Chamber Music Festival, International Festival Institute at Round Top, Long Beach Opera Festival, Bang-on-a-Can Summer Festival at the Massachusetts Museum of Modern Art, Banff Festival of Music and Sound, Snake River Chamber Music Festival, Victoria Bach Festival, Victoria International Festival, and Tanglewood.
Praised for her versatility, Schumann has helped to lead an eclectic array of projects demonstrating her commitment to unexpected creativity in collaboration. Project highlights include designing and performing the music for Ballet Austin’s “Truth and Beauty: The Bach Project” which featured solo piano music by J.S. Bach and Philip Glass and was later aired on the lauded PBS-KLRU program, “IN CONTEXT.” In addition to performing the solo piano program, Schumann also led a baroque ensemble from the harpsichord for Bach’s Orchestral Suite No.2. In 2010, Schumann served as music director, conductor, and pianist for Michael Nyman’s chamber opera The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, in a collaboration with Austin Lyric Opera during the Austin Chamber Music Festival. In 2006 and 2008, Michelle’s pianism took to the dramatic stage in a staged production of Schubert’s Die Winterreise, directed by the Viennese Maverick producer Andreas Mitisek of the Long Beach Opera. Michelle has also been an enthusiastic proponent of the music of John Cage and has developed a cult-like following for her annual “Happy Birthday, Mr. Cage!” concert which she has been producing, performing, and directing since 2000. Highlights of the series includes a collaboration with film-collage artist Luke Savisky in an acclaimed rendering of Cage’s “Sonatas and Interludes for Prepared Piano;” and a co-production with the Austin Zen Center of Cage’s most meditative music, set for an encore presentation at the Brooklyn Zen Center in 2011.
From 2006 to 2024, Michelle served as Artistic Director of the Austin Chamber Music Center, “fearlessly expanding our definition of chamber music” (Austin-American Statesman). Following her ground-breaking first season with the Austin Chamber Music Center, she won multiple awards from the Austin Critics Table, including the coveted award for “ Body of Work/Season.” Praised for “her whip-smart sense of programming” (Austin-American Statesman), Schumann’s specialty is developing unexpectedly integrated and thought-provoking programs. Her brand of performance includes an enthusiastic interplay with the audience, with whom she shares surprising insights about the music, composers’ lifestyles, and the social context of music performed. Her trademark includes bringing diverse music together under a cohesive narrative, producing not simply concerts, but events. She was named “Best Classical Musician” in the Best of Austin 2019 Readers Poll by the Austin Chronicle.
Michelle has enjoyed performing with some of the finest musicians gracing the world’s stages, including violinists Soovin Kim, Charles Wetherbee, and Brian Lewis; cellists Clancy Newman and Sara Sant’Ambrogio; and the Jupiter, Cavani, Carpe Diem, and Chiara String Quartets. Michelle’s other collaborations include the Meridian Arts Ensemble, American Repertory Ensemble, American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, the Austin Symphony Orchestra, and Long Beach Opera.
Schumann was artist-in-residence and professor of piano at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor where she was the founder and Artistic Director of the Hillman Visiting Artists Series. She received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of Texas at Austin and additionally holds a Young Artist Diploma from the Cleveland Institute of Music and a Performance Diploma from the Vienna Conservatory. Her principal teachers included Anton Nel, Gregory Allen, and Marilyn Engle with additional teaching mentors including Emmanuel Ax, Peter Serkin, Ursula Oppens, Anne Epperson, and James Dick.
Board of Directors
Catherine Gronquist
President
Catherine Gronquist Bio
Cathy Gronquist moved to Santa Fe in 2008 after 27 years living and working in London, England. A Westerner by birth, she received a BA and MBA from the University of Denver. Gronquist spent her career in London working for Morgan Stanley International as a Managing Director in Fixed Income and latterly, Global Research Management. Gronquist join the Santa Fe Botanical Garden Board in 2009 and served as Secretary and then President and was instrumental in the fundraising which led to the build out of the garden’s site on Museum Hill in Santa Fe which opened in 2013. She joined the Board of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale in 2018 and has served as Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee and currently as President of the Board of Directors. A long-time amateur singer, Gronquist has especially enjoyed Santa Fe Sings and getting to know and hearing the outstanding professional singers of the Desert Chorale. Cathy and her husband Guy were awarded the SFDC’s Angel Award in 2024.
Diane Graves
Vice President
Diane Graves Bio
Diane Graves joined the Board in 2021. Diane is a native of Pittsburgh, PA, and grew up in Ohio, where she participated in multiple choirs and choruses, thus developing a love for great choral music. She attended Emory University in Atlanta and received her B.A. in English as well as a master’s in Librarianship there. Diane spent the majority of her work life in academic institutions in Ohio, Georgia, Chicago, Mississippi and Virginia, completing her career at Trinity University in San Antonio, TX, where she retired as Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs and University Librarian/Professor in 2017. She also took career side-trips, including a stint on the staff of the Florida Senate and another working for a firm that sold systems and services to college and university libraries.
Felicia Morrow
Treasurer
Felicia Morrow Bio
Felicia is honored to contribute to the SFDC Board, as well as the Finance and Endowment Committees. She has spent her career in international work, focused on investing in emerging markets. She earned her MBA with a focus on finance from Harvard Business School and holds a BA from Stanford University.
In addition to her work with SFDC, Felicia actively serves on the boards of the International Folk Art Market and Actinver, a Mexican financial group. She has also served on the board and audit committee for a Colombian investment firm.
Felicia and her husband Dan have 3 children and 8 grandchildren. New Mexico has been home to her family for four generations.
Gregory Dove
Secretary
Gregory Dove Bio
Richard G. Andrew
Member
Richard G. Andrew Bio
Murray Bern, M.D.
Member
Murray Bern Bio
Murray Bern has had 44 years experience as a physician, with 41 of those years focused upon the fields of Hematology and Oncology, with experience in the clinical, research, teaching and managerial components of the profession. He has had a wide range of writings, lectures, memberships in professional organizations and hospital leadership roles.
He received a B.A. degree from Vanderbilt University and his M.D. degree from Tulane University School of Medicine. He completed his postgraduate training at the New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston City Hospital (Harvard Service) and the Center for Blood Research, in Boston, Massachusetts. His academic appointments were at Harvard Medical School and more recently at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Department of Medicine and its Comprehensive Cancer Center.
His administrative responsibilities have included serving as Director for Education for medical residents, Department of Medicine and as Section Chief of Hematology at the New England Deaconess Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. He was Section Chief of Hematology and Oncology at the New England Baptist Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. He was cofounder of the Cancer Center of Boston and served as its Director of Hematology and Medical Supervisor of its laboratory, and later as its President. He has been the President of the Foundation for Hematology Research and the Cancer Center Research Foundation, Inc.
While working as a physician he was on the Advisory Boards or the Boards of Governors of a variety of organizations. He was a member of several medical organizations, serving on committees in some.
He has published research papers and abstracts for scientific meetings dealing with topics within the fields of Hematology and Oncology. He contributed to and edited books and has lectured regionally, nationally and internationally on those topics. He participated in post-graduate lectures for Harvard Medical School.
He and his wife, Nancy, moved to Santa Fe in 2014 where they built a home. For many years he enjoyed racquetball, squash, fly fishing, reading, hiking, gardening, completing home repairs and listening to music.
Douglas Brooks
Member
Douglas Brooks Bio
Douglas Brooks is a native of Northern Illinois, where he served on several not-for-profit boards for the performing arts, parks and recreation, and youth. He graduated from high school in Connecticut, and studied Architecture in college in Massachusetts. He and his wife Helen moved permanently to Santa Fe in 2016. He has worked for the last eight years at the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque as design and construction leader for the new hospital.
Mary Delk
Member
Mary Delk Bio
Chris Frenk
Member
Chris-Frenk Bio
Jeffrey C. Fort, J.D.
Member
Jeffery C. Fort, J.D. Bio
Jeff began his attraction to singing at 8 years old in a church youth choir, continued through high school and college choirs (including making a record in college) and thereafter in various church choirs. “Joining the Desert Chorale Board was a great opportunity. I had heard the Chorale perform in Santa Fe for years. Dave Bueschel did not have to ask twice.”
As a member of the Illinois bar for 50 years, Jeff has specialized in environmental law. He has successfully represented clients in every kind of matter, from compliance advice to court disputes in Cook County “smoke courts” and federal district and appellate courts, to the United States Supreme Court in a landmark case involving Lake Michigan.
Over the last 20 years, Jeff has focused on air quality and climate protection issues. He took his knowledge of the use of offsets under Title 1 of the Clean Air Act and applied those principles to the creation and use of offsets to meet obligations for international climate agreements. He continues to assist clients in helping them show that their innovations and approaches to reducing their air emissions are far better than required by law and in doing so help them be recognized by third party validators so as to receive “carbon credits.”
He has been recognized by many leading authorities on environmental matters. Among those recognitions are:
- by the Financial Times as among the 10 most creative lawyers in North America in December 2022
- by Chambers & Partners as among the top 15 lawyers in the field of “Climate Markets”
- by several publications including Chambers & Partners, US leading Lawyers, Best Lawyers and Leading Lawyers over the past decades in environmental law and climate issues
Joshua Habermann
Artistic Director, Ex-officio Member
Joshua Habermann Bio
Joshua Habermann is in his seventeenth season as Artistic Director of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, one of the nation’s premiere professional chamber choirs. Since joining the ensemble, he has broadened its repertoire to include choral-orchestral masterworks and unique concert experiences ranging from early music to new commissions. Under his leadership, the Desert Chorale has been featured at regional and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association, and its summer and winter festivals are among America’s largest choral events.
Habermann’s experience with symphonic choruses spans over three decades, encompassing the full range of the choral-orchestral repertoire. From 2011 to 2022 he was director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus, where highlights included Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, the Requiem Masses of Mozart, Brahms, and Verdi, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, Bernstein’s Kaddish Symphony, Rachmaninov’s The Bells, and Vaughan-Williams’ Sea Symphony. He is a frequent guest conductor, and in 2022-2023 prepared Handel’s Messiah, Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe, and Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem for the San Francisco Symphony.
A passionate advocate for music education, Joshua Habermann is a regular clinician for state and national events and has led honor choirs and choral festivals in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. In 2024, he conducted Cantatas 72, 73 and 92 for Bach Santiago (Chile), a concert series dedicated to the first full cycle of Bach Cantatas in South America. He currently teaches choral literature at the University of North Texas.
As a singer (tenor), Habermann has performed with the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus under Helmuth Rilling and Conspirare under Craig Hella Johnson. Recording credits include Requiem and Threshold of Night, both GRAMMY® nominees for best choral recording. Recordings as a conductor include The Road Home and Rachmaninov’s All Night Vigil with the Desert Chorale.
- Image Credit: Tira Howard Photography
Chelsea Helm
Singer Representative, Ex-officio Member
Chelsea Helm Bio
Favorite chamber performances in recent seasons have included David Lang’s Little Match Girl Passion with Atlanta’s Kinnara, Bach’s cantata BWV 82a “Ich habe genug” with the Bach Vespers series at Holy Trinity Lutheran in New York City, Schoenberg’s Das Buch der hängenden Gärten with CMI San Antonio, and a program of works by women composers of the Italian Baroque with Concordia Chamber Players in New Hope, PA.
Also an active choral artist, Ms. Helm appears and records regularly with Seraphic Fire, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, True Concord Voices & Orchestra, DC’s The Thirteen, Kansas City’s Spire Chamber Ensemble, the internationally touring American Soloists Ensemble, and Conspirare, with whom she was nominated for a GRAMMY® award for Best Choral Album.
Ms. Helm holds a Master of Music in Voice Performance from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance and Music Education from Western Michigan University. Also a WMU Gold Company alumna, Ms. Helm recorded a Downbeat award-winning album in 2013 with vocal jazz quartet the Four Corners. She enjoyed bringing her jazz background to Santa Fe during the 2019 Summer Festival, with a special program spotlight, Late Night with Chelsea Helm and the Bert Dalton Trio.
Ms. Helm is an adjunct teacher of voice at Southern Virginia University and is on the faculty of the Classical Music Institute’s ASCEND program in San Antonio, TX. She has presented art song recitals in New Mexico, Virginia, Utah, Texas, and in her home state of Michigan. She is now based in Washington, DC.
- Website: chelseahelmsoprano.com
- Instagram: @chelseahelmsoprano
- Image Credit: Caitlin Oldham
Stephen Hochberg
Member
Stephen Hochberg Bio
Christine M. Lorillard
Member
Christine M. Lorillard Bio
Christine Metteer Lorillard was a law professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles for 34 years, specializing in Federal Indian Law. She has been Professor Emerita since 2013. She holds a B.A, M.A., and Ph.D. from UCLA, as well as a J.D. equivalent from Southwestern’s accelerated two-year program.
After many years spent working on cases involving the Indian Child Welfare Act, Christine branched out to work in the area of International Children’s Rights, working with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). She was also Director of the PLEAS Program (Part Time Legal Education at Southwestern, a four-year day program for students with parenting responsibilities) from 1992-2002.
After retiring and moving to Santa Fe in 2013, Christine served on the Board of Directors of the Botanical Garden, and its Development, Membership, and Master Planning committees; the Board of Directors of the Vista Grande public library; and on Museum of New Mexico Foundation’s Advancement Committee for the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. She is currently a docent at both the Botanical Garden and the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture.
Christine is a lifelong pianist, starting lessons at age eight. Her love of piano was re-kindled during COVID, when she bought a new piano and started playing again in earnest, if only for her husband, Pierre, and her dog, Raven.
Barry Lyerly
Immediate Past President
Barry Lyerly Bio
Barry Lyerly’s career includes being a speaker, author, and trainer. He created his own seminar and consulting business in 1983, focusing on management and organization development. His clients included the Bank of America, McDonald’s Corporation, the National Association of Realtors, Hartmarx Corporation, Morton International, La Rabida Children’s Hospital, University of Chicago Hospitals’ Academy, and Ace Hardware Corporation. A featured speaker several times for the American Society for Training and Development’s International Conferences, in 2000 he co-authored Training from the Heart, a best-selling book in the training profession. Before starting his own business, Barry was the Director of Training for Marshall Field’s in Chicago.
Barry’s interest in music began in middle school, where he became a percussionist. While in high school he attended the National Band Camp in Gunnison, Colorado, and was selected to be part of the All-Southern California High School Band, rehearsing at UCLA and performing at Shrine Auditorium. As a teenager Barry attended concerts by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and can still remember memorable performances — such as Bruno Walter conducting Death and Transfiguration by Richard Strauss and a very young Geog Solti conducting a spirited Rossini overture. He was introduced to professional singers when his parents took him to attend a concert by “Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians” on his 16th Birthday.
During the 1970’s, while on the staff at Albion College in Michigan, he managed their Lecture/Concert series, bringing to campus and community such artists as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Jean-Pierre Rampal, the Stradivari String Quartet and Emanuel Ax.
While living in Chicago, Barry was on the Board of Directors of the Rembrandt Chamber Players (composed of musicians from the Lyric Opera of Chicago orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra) from 2007 until 2010. While on the Board, he assisted with strategic planning, financial management, and staff selection and development, serving as co-president one year.
Barry has been on the Board of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale for three consecutive three year terms. He served as President from March 2020 until February 2024. Barry assisted in a special fundraising campaign, “Keep Our Voices Singing,” during the Covid 19 period and facilitated creating a Strategic Plan during the same time period.
Barry holds an MA in Counselor Education from the University of Iowa and a BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado. He and his wife Margaret live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Their two sons and grandchildren live in Arizona and North Carolina.
Emma Marzen
Executive Director, Ex-officio Member
Emma Marzen Bio
Emma Marzen has been Executive Director of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale since January 2020. Under her leadership, the Chorale has experienced transformational financial, audience, and personnel growth. In the first five years of her tenure, the organization’s net equity has risen by $3M, including a new permanent endowment and cash reserve fund, and annual operating revenues have increased by 37%. Audience retention and growth has increased dramatically beyond pre-pandemic levels, producing reliable 20%+ tickets sales revenue growth year over year. To advance the organization’s mission and goals, Emma has built a team of professional arts administrators, adding four new full-time and two new part-time employees, in addition to specialized contractors, to the Chorale’s staff.
From 2018 to 2020, Marzen served as Board Relations Manager of the Santa Fe Opera, one of the world’s leading opera companies, following her initial tenure with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale from 2016 to 2018, where she ultimately served as Assistant Director.
A singer by training, Marzen holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Business & Entertainment Industries from the University of Miami. Highlights of Emma’s collegiate years in the Frost Chorale under the direction of the late Dr. Karen Kennedy include: Mahler’s Symphony No. 3 and Holst’s The Planets with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra; a tour of the United Kingdom in May 2014, including a BBC recording at Canterbury Cathedral; and Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem at Carnegie Hall, conducted by Joshua Habermann. Marzen additionally holds a Certificate in Professional Fundraising from Boston University and is a member of Chorus America’s Leadership Development Forum.
- Image Credit: Tira Howard Photography
Fraser A. McAlpine
Member
Fraser A. McAlpine Bio
Carmen Paradis
Member
Carmen Paradis Bio
Carmen Paradis grew up in Edmonton, Canada, where she attended the University of Alberta medical school. She subsequently trained in general surgery at McGill University in Montreal, plastic surgery at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio and hand surgery at Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York, New York. After twenty years in private practice she received a masters degree in bioethics at Case Western Reserve University and worked as a bioethicist at the Cleveland Clinic, specializing in research ethics, for ten years. She has served on multiple medical committees and boards, helping to shape the trajectory of medical practice. Having retired, she moved with her husband, Brian McGrath to Santa Fe in 2015. She has served on the board of the Desert Chorale since 2020.
Alison Sowden
Member
Alison Sowden Bio
Alison Sowden spent most of her career working for educational and arts institutions in top financial roles. She began her career at what was then Coopers and Lybrand in Philadelphia and got her CPA. After graduate school, she worked for Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. She served as Vice President for Financial Affairs at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. She was Vice President for Finance at the Art Institute of Chicago, and Chief Financial Officer for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. While at The Huntington, in 2013 she was awarded the Nonprofit CFO of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal.
Before and during retirement, she has served on a number of not-for-profit boards and is currently a trustee and Chairman of the Finance Committee for Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles and serves on the board of the Pfaffinger Foundation (which provides grants to journalists and others in the news industry who have worked at former Times Mirror companies). She also works with the Pasadena Conservatory of Music in an advisory capacity.
Patricia Stanley
Member
Patricia Stanley Bio
Susie Wilson, D.M.A.
Honorary Director
Susie Wilson Bio
Directors Emeriti
Mary G. Brennan
David A. Bueschel
Mark Edw. Childers
Margie Edwards
Kirk Ellis
Allison Elston†
John Greenspan†
Kathleen Davison Lebeck, J.D.
Sheryl Kelsey
Lynn F. Lee
William H. Lynn
Dorothy Massey
Ian McKee†
Laurie Meyer
Haydock Miller†
Margaret K. Norton
Jane Clayton Oakes†
Mary Lou Padilla, Ph.D.
Nina Hinson Rasmussen†
Don Roberts†
Brooke Bandfield Taylor
Jane Thomson
Frances White†
Brahna Lauger Wilczynski
Mac Wright†
† in memoriam
