Sarah Brauer, mezzo-soprano, received her Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Arts from the University of Southern California and her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Rice University. Ms. Brauer has performed with the Oregon Bach Festival, the Houston Bach Society and the Salem Chamber Orchestra. Recent operatic roles include Ramiro in Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera, Eustazio in Händel’s Rinaldo, and the world premier performance of Margaret Truman in Primiani’s Truman Project for OPERA America 2006. Ms. Brauer currently sings with the Sangre de Cristo Chorale and Holy Faith Episcopal in Santa Fe. Ms. Brauer is a student of Susanne Mentzer. This is Sarah’s debut season with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

 

Brianne Conner, soprano, holds a Master of Music in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Baylor University and a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance with a minor in Behavioral Science from East Texas Baptist University. Locally, Brianne has sung with the Cathedral of St. John Episcopal Choir and with the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Her choral experiences have taken her to England, Italy, South Korea, and China, as well as throughout the United States to participate in choral festivals and performances. She maintains a small private piano studio and adjudicates piano festivals throughout the Southwest. This is Brianne’s fourth Solstice concert with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

Monika Cosson-Sheppard, mezzo-soprano, has per- formed the operatic roles of Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, both at Loyola University; the High Priestess in Aida and Cronie in The Ballad of Baby Doe with New Orleans Opera; and Flora in La Traviata with Jefferson Parish Performing Arts Society. Featured artist and concert appearances include; Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Superior Music Festival in Marquette, Michigan; Brahms' Ein Deutsches Requiem at the University of Southern Mississippi; Mendelssohn's Elijah with the Symphony Chorus of New Orleans; Kodaly's Te Deum conducted by Victor Yampolsky with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra on their Classics Series; Faure's Requiem and Rutter's Requiem with Loyola University; and Britten's Ceremony of Carols with Pensacola Chorale Society and Santa Fe Desert Chorale. Her Santa Fe appearances include "Lisa" in Nino Rota's I due Timidi with The Santa Fe Opera; Verdi's Requiem and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with Santa Fe Community Orchestra; Ralph Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem and Schubert's Mass No. 6 with Sangre De Cristo Chorale; Felix Mendelssohn's Psalm XLII (As the Hart Pants) and Hear My Prayer, both with Canticum Novum; "La Vergine Degli Angeli" from Verdi's La Forza Del Destino with The Santa Fe Men's Camerata. Upcoming engagements include Mendelssohn's Salve Regina with Canticum Novum. A student of Regina Rickless, Ms. Cosson-Sheppard resides in Santa Fe where she teaches voice. This is her second Solstice concert with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

 

Felice Lamoreux, alto, has been a member of various choirs since a very young age including the Santa Fe Children’s Choir, which provided the children’s chorus for the Santa Fe Opera summer season. During these seasons she was a paid performer in Giacomo Puccini’s La Boheme and Tosca, as well as Emmerich Kálmán’s Countess Maritza, in which she had a small solo part. In high school, Felice was a member of the Capital Academy of the Performing Arts at Capital High School which performed various musicals and plays including her playing the lead role in the musical Alice in Wonderland. She was also chosen for New Mexico’s All-State Choirs from 2000 to 2002. She is now an anthropology student at the University of New Mexico, a member of Las Cantantes, New Mexico’s only collegiate women’s choir and is pleased to be singing her debut season with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

Julia Lindquist-Bland graduated from UNM with a degree in English. After teaching in Japan, she moved to Washington, D.C., and received her Masters in English Education from The George Washington University. Music has been a part of her life all along. She started out playing piano and expanded her musical endeavors to study voice and perform in chorus and professional ensembles in the D.C. area. She sang with the Master Chorale of Washington in the Kennedy Center, traveling to Prague to sing in the Dvorak Festival. She was a member of the Washington Bach Consort, performing Handel’s Messiah with the National Symphony Orchestra. She sang the role of “Adina” in the Elixir of Love, and “Pamina” in The Magic Flute at the Crittenden Opera Studio. Last year she returned to New Mexico with her family, and is currently a member of the Cathedral Choirs of St. John. Julia is pleased to return for her third season with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

Renée Motteler, alto,  is a Grammy ® Award winning member of the Los Angeles Chamber Singers & Cappella, who received the award for Best Small Ensemble in 2006 for the album Padilla: Sun of Justice.  She recently moved to Albuquerque from Southern California and is a section leader for the Cathedral of St. John Episcopal Choir. Renée received her Master’s Degree in Jazz Studies with a concentration in vocal performance from California State University, Long Beach in 2006.  Renée has performed all over the world with jazz choirs and as a soloist at the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Ozone Jazz Festival, Neuchatel Jazz Festival, IAJE, Cuesta College Jazz Festival, and the Berkeley Jazz Festival, among others. In California, she was the cantor, alto section leader, and assistant conductor at St. Cyprian Catholic Church in Long Beach for 15 years. Renée has been a classroom teacher from elementary up through college age students, teaching vocal jazz, beginning music, choir, band, orchestra, and private voice lessons. She was also a lead/back up singer with the rock groups Gregg Young and the 2nd Street Band and the Gypsy Beggars. Renée has appeared in television commercials and has worked in the studio recording demo tapes for composers of classical, show tunes, jazz, and rock music, as well as recording jingles used commercially. This is Renée’s fourth Solstice concert with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

 

Ashley Overholt, mezzo-soprano, received her degree in Music Education from Azusa Pacific University in 2007. She recently moved to New Mexico and will be completing her Master’s Degree in Education at the College of Santa Fe this summer. She is in her second year teaching piano and directing choir at Ortiz Middle School in Santa Fe. She also teaches private voice lessons in the Albuquerque area. She has sung with choirs all over the world, including recent trips to Italy with Azusa Pacific Chamber Singers where she sang at St. Peter’s Basilica and to South Korea with Azusa Pacific University Choir and Orchestra. This marks Ashley’s debut season with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

Mika Proctor, soprano, has had a passion for singing since she was a small child. She is a native of eastern New Mexico and has lived in the Albuquerque area since 2001. Mika received her Bachelor's degree in Music with emphasis in Vocal Performance from Eastern New Mexico University in 2000. She received a Master's degree in Education from Wayland Baptist University in 2006. She began her teaching career in Clovis, and currently teaches elementary music at Cielo Azul Elementary in Rio Rancho. She is a member of First Baptist Church in Rio Rancho where she is the Director of the Children's Choir and sings on the praise team. During the summer, she enjoys directing at the Baptist Convention's Music Camp at Inlow camp. Summer 2009, she will be the head clinician for the music camp. Mika is currently the President-Elect of the new NM chapter of Kodály Educators (Enchanted Educators of Kodály-EEK). She is married to Corey and they have two precious daughters. Mika is delighted to be a returning for her third Solstice concert with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

Arianne Wagg, soprano, is a classical pianist who began her formal training at age 11. She has performed in masterclasses in the US, Germany and Malaysia. She has sung with choral groups since she was 8 years old, including the Albuquerque Girls Choir, and several local church choirs. She has also sung with collegiate ensembles including Las Cantantes at the University of New Mexico, and the women’s ensemble at Florida Southern College. She is a soprano section leader at the Cathedral of St. John in Albuquerque. She is currently pursuing a degree in piano performance at UNM, and plans to study musicology. In addition, she has a private piano studio in Albuquerque, and gives regular recitals. When she is not performing, she enjoys spending time with her two-year old son and her family. This is her debut season with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

Monica Whitaker, soprano, began singing in an Episcopal church choir as a teenager in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. She graduated with a B.A. degree in Vocal Performance from Kalamazoo College and later attended Bay View Summer Music Conservatory (Michigan) as a scholarship recipient. Ms. Whitaker earned a M.Mus. degree in Vocal Performance and a M.A. degree in Theatre Management from the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor. She has performed with the Portland’s Choral Arts Society, Albuquerque’s Soli Deo Gloria and Opera Unlimited – a small touring troupe which brings children’s opera to schools throughout New Mexico. For more than a decade, Ms. Whitaker has served as a soloist and member of the Cathedral Choirs of St. John. Ms. Whitaker is a charter member of Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico and serves as Treasurer on its Board of Directors.

Meredith Wilder, alto, graduated from Eldorado High in 2007 and is currently attending the University of New Mexico. As a member of Faith Lutheran Church, Meredith has spent some time working with the church choir and praise band. Ms. Wilder was in the New Mexico All State choir three years in a row, which gave her a true appreciation for the inner workings of a choir and the choral sound. At UNM, she sings in the women’s choir, Las Cantantes, and is working toward a degree in music education. Outside of school, Meredith is a singer/songwriter and performs her music around Albuquerque. This marks her third Solstice concert with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

 

Erik Clack, tenor, is a senior at the University of New Mexico. He is currently pursuing his Bachelors degree in Music with an emphasis in Vocal Performance, studying under Sam Shepperson. Most recently, he portrayed the young musical genius Mozart in Rimsky-Korsakoff’s Mozart and Salieri and the equally humorous and menacing Monostatos in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. Besides opera, Erik is also active in oratorio and art song. He is aggressively preparing for two student recitals which will include works such as Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe and Benjamin Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Strings, and Horn. Erik is a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society and is also activly participates in barbershop quartet singing. He serves as assistant director of the Duke City Chorus, a male barbershop chorus in Bernallio County. Erik plans to graduate in May of 2009 and then pursue a Master’s degree in Music. Erik is thrilled to be a part of Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico for his second Solstice concert.

 

Jay Hill, tenor, holds an undergraduate degree in voice performance from Baylor University, where he graduated from the Honors Program with Distinction. He also holds a law degree from Duke University and maintains a private practice with the Albuquerque firm of Vogel Campbell & Blueher, P.C. He first appeared with the Desert Chorale in 1990 and has sung a number of winter seasons and for portions of various summer seasons. Earlier this year, he returned as a featured performer on the Friends of the Desert Chorale’s popular Music & More series presenting a program of patriotic and political songs entitled Politics! Politics! Other recent solo engagements include a performance of Beethoven’s Mass in C at St. James Cathedral, Chicago. In addition to the Desert Chorale, Mr. Hill appears frequently with Santa Fe Pro Musica and as a chorister and soloist at The Cathedral of St. John, Albuquerque. He also has appeared with Música Antigua de Albuquerque, Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico, and the Santa Fe Opera. In June, 2009, he will join Desert Chorale veteran David Farwig as a guest of Albuquerque Baroque Players. Other future plans include a program featuring Benjamin Britten’s Abraham and Isaac cantata with countertenor Robert Isaacs, to be presented both locally and in New York. He is pleased to be singing his second Solstice concert with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

 

Christopher Ihlefeld, bass-baritone, received his undergraduate degree in vocal performance from Rollins College. He began his professional singing career early with the Orlando Opera Company in the soprano role of “Shem” in Benjamin Britten’s oratorio Noye’s Fludde. Christopher has performed several major choral works with Santa Fe Pro Musica, Canticum Novum, Coro de Cámara, Sangre de Cristo Chorale, Cara Musica, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and New Mexico Pro Coro. This is his twelfth year as cantor and bass section leader at Holy Faith Episcopal Church in Santa Fe. When Christopher is not singing, you’ll find him managing municipal bond portfolios at Thornburg Investment Management Company. This marks his second Solstice concert with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

 

Nick Jones, baritone, is a senior at St. Pius X High School. He plays a variety of instruments including guitar and piano, but his instrument of choice is voice. He has participated in choir since his freshmen year of high school under the direction of Mr. Aaron Howe .He has auditioned for and made the last three years of New Mexico Allstate Choirs. He had a part in ALT’s High School Musical, and has had parts in many school musicals in the past few years. He currently is taking music classes at SPX where he sings in the Show Choir, Breath of Heaven and the Advanced Vocal Ensemble. He is attending EMSU, majoring in Music Performance and Education. This marks his second Solstice concert with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

 

Stephen Lewis, bass, is a recent transplant to Albuquerque. Born in the tiny northeastern Tennessee town of Erwin, he moved to Amarillo, Texas with his family at the age of five. After graduating from Amarillo High School, Stephen matriculated to Dallas Christian College where he completed a bachelor’s degree in Bible and Church Music. Heading back to the paradise of west Texas, Stephen enrolled in a graduate choral conducting program at the outstanding Texas Tech University. There in Lubbock, he studied conducting with Drs. John Dickson, Pamela Elrod, Gary Lewis and John Hollins; studied voice with Karl Dent and Gerald Dolter; and sang in the Texas Tech University Choir, the Lubbock Chorale and Madrigal Singers. In Lubbock, Stephen caught the music theater bug and performed roles in West Side Story, The Music Man, Beauty and the Beast, Annie Get Your Gun, and finally, Oklahoma! After four years in Lubbock, Stephen moved to the renaissance hill town of Asolo, in northern Italy, to study business. Completing his MBA last summer, Stephen then found his way to the gorgeous desert climate of Albuquerque. Currently, Stephen works as a banker for Wells Fargo Bank and sings in the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra Chorus, and also as a bass section leader in the Cathedral of St. John. This marks his second Solstice concert with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

  

Lee J. Rickard, bass, is an astronomer by trade, and is currently the Executive Project Director for the Long Wavelength Array, working out of the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development at the University of New Mexico. He has a Ph. D. in astrophysics from the University of Chicago. He began singing in the choir at St. Andrew Episcopal Church in Arlington, Virginia, about 15 years ago. Until his move to Albuquerque last year, he also sang with the Master Chorale of Washington (originally the Paul Hill Chorale) and studied with Anne Hurley. This marks his second Solstice concert with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

  

Michael Stokes, tenor, is a junior at the University of New Mexico. He is currently studying under Jacqueline Zander-Wall, mezzo-soprano, in pursuit of a Bachelor's Degree in Vocal Performance. Recently, he played the role of flamboyant Frenchman Triquet, in the UNM Opera Studio production of Eugene Onegin. Also, he was recently named the state representative for the MTNA Young Artist Competition. Currently he is organizing a tribute concert to the heritage of Gabriel Fauré in French art song, and plans on donating the proceeds to a worthy musical cause. While his studies at UNM keep him busy, Michael also finds time to record original music. He has published three full-length recordings of all-original material, one of which is currently available on iTunes. He was awarded an honorable mention in the International Songwriting Contest in 2006. He would like to thank his mother and father for their constant support and guidance, and Jacque for her wisdom and tutelage. He would also like to thank Polyphony for their dedication to the production of beautiful and enchanting music. This is Michael’s debut season with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.