Get to know the artists, composers, staff, and board whose combined expertise and diverse perspectives power our work.
Sopranos
Altos
Tenors
Basses
Guest Artists
Composer-in-Residence
Kile Smith
The music of Kile Smith has received three Grammy nominations and is hailed nationally and internationally for its strong voice, sheer beauty, and “profoundly direct emotional appeal.” Craig Hella Johnson has called Kile “one of our most important composers … his voice is unlike any other … utterly unique.” He has been commissioned by The Crossing, Conspirare, Piffaro, Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Chor Leoni, William Ferris Chorale, Helena Symphony, Lyric Fest, Westminster Choir College, Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania and iSing Girlchoirs, Choral Arts Washington (DC), Choral Arts Philadelphia, Newburyport Chamber Music Festival, Gaudete Brass, and many others. Kile’s first opera, The Book of Job, co-commissioned by Conspirare and The Crossing, premieres in Austin and Philadelphia in the 2023/24 season.
Major choral works of Kile’s are heard in New York, Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Canada, England, and New Zealand, and has been performed by Seraphic Fire, The 24, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the Sofia Philharmonic, the Grand Rapids and Delaware symphonies, Orchestra 2001, and Network for New Music, and he has written works for Philadelphia Orchestra concertmaster David Kim and principal horn Jennifer Montone. Gramophone called Vespers “spectacular,” American Record Guide, “a major new work,” Fanfare, “a magnificent achievement,” and Audiophile Audition, “a masterpiece of the deepest kind … easily one of the best releases of the year of any type … a crime to pass up.” Ten CDs with Kile’s music have been released since 2018.
He’s been Composer in Residence for Lyric Fest, the Helena Symphony, the Jupiter Symphony, and the Church of the Holy Trinity, Philadelphia. Kile has hosted Fleisher Discoveries on radio and podcast since 2002, and is a contributor to the arts and culture magazine Broad Street Review. Sought out as a narrator, he has brought Peter and the Wolf, ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, Casey at the Bat, Hansel and Gretel, and his own Bremen Town Musicians to the concert stage. Kile’s website is kilesmith.com, and he is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and SoundCloud.
Leadership
Joshua Habermann, D.M.A.
Artistic Director
Joshua Habermann is in his fifteenth season as Artistic Director of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale. Since joining the ensemble he has broadened its repertoire to include not only a cappella literature but also choral-orchestral masterworks and unique concert experiences that combine music, images, poetry and the spoken word.
Habermann has led honor choirs and choral festivals in North and Latin America, Europe and Asia. As a singer (tenor) he has performed with the Oregon Bach Festival Chorus (Eugene, Oregon), and Conspirare (Austin, Texas). Recording credits include three projects with Conspirare: Through the Green Fuse; Requiem, a Grammy nominee for best choral recording in 2006; and Threshold of Night, a Grammy nominee for best choral recording and best classical album in 2009.
From 2011-2022, Joshua Habermann served as director of the Dallas Symphony Chorus, the official vocal ensemble of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, where he prepared the 200-voice chorus for classical series concerts. Highlights with the DSO include performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, Verdi’s Requiem, Berlioz’s Te Deum, and Britten’s War Requiem, which was performed for the ACDA national convention in 2013. Recent international collaborations include performances of Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, and Duruflé’s Requiem with the Swedish Radio Orchestra, as well as tour performances in Spain, France, Sweden, Estonia and Finland.
From 1996-2008 Habermann was Assistant Conductor of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, and Professor of Music at San Francisco State University, where under his direction the SFSU Chamber Singers received international engagements in Havana, Cuba, and undertook concert tours in Germany, the Czech Republic, and China. National invitations included the Waging Peace Festival in Eugene, Oregon, multiple appearances at the California Music Educators Convention, and an appearance at the American Choral Directors Association regional convention in 2008.
From 2008-2011 Habermann was Director of Choral Studies at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, where he led the graduate program in conducting, and directed the Frost Chorale. Notable projects in Miami included an appearance at the Florida ACDA convention and collaborations with the New World Symphony and conductor Michael Tilson Thomas in music of Ives, Schubert and Beethoven. During this same period Habermann led the Masterchorale of South Florida in performances of masterworks such as Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Haydn’s Creation, and Mozart’s Requiem.
A native of California, Joshua Habermann is a graduate of Georgetown University and the University of Texas at Austin, where he completed doctoral studies in conducting with Craig Hella Johnson. He lives in Honolulu with his wife Joanna, daughter Kira, and son Kai.
Image Credit: Tira Howard Photography
Emma Marzen
Executive Director
Emma Marzen joined the Santa Fe Desert Chorale as Executive Director in January 2020.
Emma most recently served as Board Relations Manager of the Santa Fe Opera, one of the world’s leading opera companies. In her previous role as Assistant Director of the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Emma was responsible for the coordination and execution of development, community engagement, operations, and programming initiatives. She was promoted to this role after less than two years as Box Office Manager and Community Liaison.
Emma holds a Certificate in Professional Fundraising from Boston University, and a Bachelor of Music in Music Business & Entertainment Industries from the University of Miami. While an undergraduate, she managed the Frost School of Music concert facilities and led the Frost School of Music’s student-run record label ‘Cane Records, garnering the 2016 Independent Music Award for Best Album Compilation with its release “For the Record.”
Emma is a professionally trained singer and a native of Baltimore, MD. She and her husband, Sean Johnson, a professional jazz musician and founder of Mesa Creative Solutions, live in Santa Fe, NM.
Image Credit: Tira Howard Photography
Staff
Amanda Sidebottom
Operations Director
Enrico Lagasca
Digital Content Manager
Board of Directors
Current Board
Barry Lyerly, President
Diane Graves, Vice President
Catherine Gronquist, Treasurer
Greg Dove, Secretary
Cathy Sickles, Assistant Treasurer
Hon. Barbara J. Houser (Ret.), Assistant Secretary
Murray Bern, M.D.
Kathryn King Coleman
Tom Conner
Jeffrey C. Fort, J.D.
Joshua Habermann, Artistic Director*
Chelsea Helm, Singer Representative*
Stephen Hochberg
Sheryl Kelsey, Ph.D.
Emma Marzen, Executive Director*
Fraser A. McAlpine
Sara McKenzie
Felicia Morrow
Carmen Paradis
Patricia Stanley
Susie Wilson, D.M.A.**
* Ex-officio Member
** Honorary Director
Directors Emeriti
Mary G. Brennan
David A. Bueschel
Mark Edw. Childers
Margie Edwards
Kirk Ellis
Allison Elston†
John Greenspan†
Kathleen Davison Lebeck, J.D.
Lynn F. Lee
William H. Lynn
Dorothy Massey
Ian McKee†
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
