Rosters

Soloists from Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico and Chorus Master Maxine Thévenot join forces with instrumental musicians from around Albuquerque in our 9th annual performance of Handel's 'CHILDREN'S MESSIAH'
(click this to learn how you too can join the chorus for this fun community sing-a-long event)

'Children's Messiah'
Soloists

Joanna Armstrong, soprano

Hayden Eberhart, soprano

Jordyn Tatum,
soprano

Darci Balkcom,
alto

Esther Moses,
alto

John Piccolini,
tenor

 
tenor

Alfredo Beltrán, baritone

Javier Ortiz,
bass-baritone

Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico and Chorus Master, Maxine Thévenot join forces with Maestro Joe Illick and his all-star orchestra  in two performances of Beethoven's Symphony 9 in d minor, Opus 125 at the Lensic Theatre, Santa Fe, NM

SOPRANOS

Janelle Anyanonu

Joanna Armstrong

Abigail Clarke
Hayden Eberhart

Megan Garcia

Brianna Joyce

Jenna Kloeppel

Jennifer Kuchar

Jennifer Perez

Amanda Sidebottom

Hannah Stephens

Jordyn Tatum

ALTOS

Sandy Beery

Laurie Fleenor

Trish Henning

Sage Herrick

Karah Inagraham

Yasmeen Lookman

Christina Martos

Esther Moses

Renée Motteler

Kirste Plunket

Mary Quinn

TENORS

Colin Burdge

George Case

Gabriel Deyarmond

Tjett Gerdom

Eric Parker

Nathan Salazar

Curtis Storm

John Tiranno

Marcos Vigil

BASSES

Carlos Archuleta

Alfredo Beltrán

Travis Bregier

Edmund Connolly

Lars Fabricius-Olsen

Jude Harb

Ross Holmen

Javier Ortiz

Robert Peckham

Maxine Thévenot,
Chorus Master

PAST ROSTERS


in partnership with Lensic Theatre, Santa Fe, New Mexico

ZOZOBRA: The Revenge
An Opera with libretto by  Douglas Preston and music written by Joe Illick
Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico comprise The Opera Chorus along with an offstage voice.

Hayden Eberhart

A native of Dallas, Texas, Hayden Eberhart is thrilled to join the Santa Fe Desert Chorale again for her fifth season. Hayden currently lives in Albuquerque, where she also sings with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

Hayden is a co-founder and administrative director of Los Angeles-based PRISM Choral Ensemble, a nine-voice conductorless choir that focuses mostly on a cappella music from the Renaissance (prismensemble.org). She has also been a member of the Los Angeles Master Chorale since 2009, where she is a part of the 21-singer world tour of Orlando di Lasso’s Lagrime di San Pietro, staged by Peter Sellars. As a soloist, Hayden has performed Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Respighi’s Lauda per la Natività del Signore, Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light, Fauré’s Requiem, Osvaldo Golijov’s Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra, and Bach’s St. John Passion. She has also sung on over a dozen film soundtracks, including Star Wars: The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, The Conjuring, Frozen, and Big Hero 6.

Hayden earned her bachelor’s degree in music from Pomona College in Claremont, California, and master’s degree in vocal arts from the University of Southern California. When not making music, she works as a proofreader and enjoys reading fantasy and mystery novels, baking bread, and hanging out with her two-year-old son.

Jennifer Perez

Jennifer Perez holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from The University of New Mexico. She enjoys a career as a concert soloist and ensemble singer primarily within the Western U.S., and she has had the pleasure of appearing as a soloist for the Bergamo International Culture Festival’s performance of Mozart’s Requiem (2011) in Bergamo, Italy. In addition to the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, her ensemble experience includes the Oregon Bach Festival, Boulder Bach Festival, Dallas Choral Festival, New Mexico Performing Arts Society, Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico, Chatter, and the New Mexico Philharmonic.

Ms. Perez has a deep passion for Baroque style chamber music, particularly the works of J.S. Bach. Recent chamber engagements include intimate ensemble performances of Bach’s Magnificat (BWV 243) with the OBF and Der Herr denket an uns (BWV 196) with the BBF, and she received the “Honorable Mention” award in the BBF’s online World Bach Competition in 2020. She also loves the unique challenge of exploring and interpreting contemporary music and regularly performs such works with Albuquerque’s eccentric chamber group, Chatter. Among her many memorable performance experiences are the chattering vocalizations of Berio’s Agnus, the meditative tintinnabuli style within Pärt’s Stabat Mater, and the intense aspects of human emotion and experience conveyed through Lang’s Death Speaks and Heroin.

World premiere performances include Jenny Olivia Johnson’s The Many Poems She Learned as a Child with PVNM (2022), Richard Danielpour’s Passion of Yeshua with the OBF (2018), and Hector Armienta’s Bless Me, Ultima with Opera Southwest (2018), which was later broadcast nationally through Chicago’s WFMT Radio Network. Ms. 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.

Amanda Sidebottom

Soprano Amanda Sidebottom's heart is in collaborative music-making. A graduate of the Historical Performance Institute at Indiana University, she has enjoyed appearances with period chamber ensembles Brooklyn Baroque, The Soul's Delight, and Queen's Consort. As half of the duo Well-Tuned Words with lutenist Erik Ryding, she toured in the U.S. and Europe and recorded Great Wonder, an album of songs by Dowland, Danyel, and Campion. A recent east coast transplant, she has been fortunate to perform with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico, as well as in Oklahoma City with Tactus Chamber Ensemble. Amanda is the operations director for the Santa Fe Desert Chorale and can be spotted most weekends attempting to expand her lung capacity on its many, picturesque hiking trails.


Darci Balkcom

Darci Balkcom is a voice teacher, Alexander Technique teacher, and mezzo soprano working in New Mexico. As a professional performer, Darci has sung Oratorio and opera with groups such as Boulder Symphony, New Mexico Philharmonic, Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico, Santa Fe Desert Chorale, and Quintessence. In 2009, she had her international debut with La Musica Lirica in Novafeltria, Italy. Her most notable opera and musical theatre roles include Florence Pike in Albert Herring, Dido in Dido and Aeneas, Mercedes in Carmen, Terentia in Beautiful Bridegroom, Miss Pinkerton in the Old Maid and the Thief, Cherubino in Le Nozze de Figaro. Darci has been the featured mezzo soloist in Mozart’s Mass in C, Hadyn’s Lord Nelson Mass, Bach’s Magnificat, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Bach’s Cantata 161, and Beethoven's Mass in C.

Darci completed a Bachelor and Master's degree in vocal performance from the University of New Mexico along with completing a 1600 hour Alexander Technique teaching certification. She has studied with coaches and teachers such as Olga Perez Flora, Michael Hix, Adriana Hardy, Neil Rosenshein, and Nina Hinson.


Kehar Koslowsky

Mezzo-Soprano Kehar Koslowsky is an accomplished choral and solo artist located in Santa Fe, NM. She has performed with the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, New Mexico Bach Society/New Mexico Performing Arts Society, Zia Singers, New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus, Santa Fe Opera Guild, and Santa Fe Women’s Ensemble. Kehar is an active recitalist, performing regularly in the TGIF series at the First Presbyterian Church, and has performed in the Los Alamos Brown Bag series, and Ghost Light Sessions at the Lensic. While in Washington DC, she worked with conductors Kenneth Slowik and J. Reilly Lewis as a Bach soloist, and performed with the Washington Bach Consort, Woodley Ensemble, Cathedral Choral Society, and at St. Michael’s Cathedral and St. John’s Church Lafayette Square. Her opera roles include Diana in Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld with the Janiec Opera Company; Desdemona in Rossini’s Otello with Maryland Opera Workshop; Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, Rosina in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte with the Crittenden Opera Studio. Kehar loves being a part of the rich New Mexico music community, and loves early music, new compositions, oratorio, jazz, hiking, belly dancing, and chilling with her cat in Santa Fe. 


Ashli Saenz

Ashli Saenz has been a fixture on the opera stage since the age of 16, kickstarting her career with Teatro Nuevo Mexico (TNM). While pursuing an undergraduate degree in vocal performance at the University of New Mexico (UNM), Ashli continued to perform with TNM, UNM Opera, and the UNM Chorus. Currently, Ashli serves as a resident chorus member and recurring comprimario singer with Opera Southwest (OSW).

 

Ashli continued her education after graduating from UNM and now has a master’s in business administration (MBA) and a number of professional certifications. By day, Ashli is a Program Manager supporting the Department of Defense. Ashli currently sits on The Board of Directors at Musical Theatre Southwest (MTS) as the Vice-President, and chairs the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee, and Co-Chairs the Development and Outreach Committee with her husband Raul Saenz, who also sits on the Board of MTS. Ashli continues to make a mark in the NM opera world, the defense sector and musical theatre, with dedication and a seamless blend of artistic and professional integrity.

 

Despite having sung at The Lensic numerous times in choral settings, Ashli is eager to witness the stage adorned for an opera.

 Curtis Storm

Curtis Storm, tenor, is a regular soloist and collaborative musician throughout the Southwestern United States. Described by the New Mexico Review of the Arts as "sonorous", Curtis has been singing in the Southwest since 2010.

In that time he has been featured soloist in recital with renowned collaborative pianist Robert Spillman, in the world premiere of the American Choral Association's Alice Parker Award-winning Requiem for Eagles by David Lingle with the San Juan Symphony as well as in performances with New Mexico Philharmonic, the St. John's Bach Project, and Red Rock Strings. Additionally, Curtis has sung with Ensemble Music New Mexico, and currently with Quintessence: A Community of Singers, and Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

Curtis has also appeared in several Opera Southwest productions, including the North American premiere of Alì Babà as cover for Thamar, as Soldier in the world premiere of Zorro, and 1st Coryphée in Le Comte Ory. 2023 also included his first appearance at The Santa Fe Opera in the chorus of The Flying Dutchman. He concluded his 2023 season by appearing in two immersive opera world premieres; Glory Gone and The Paños Prophesy. Finally, his 2024 season will include singing in the world premiere of the opera ZOZOBRA: The Revenge by Joe Illick and Douglas Preston at the Lensic Theatre in Santa Fe.

Curtis is also the co-founder and administrator of the nonprofit organization Opera on Tap New Mexico, in which he organizes performances of classical voice in bars and breweries as a means of advancing the accessibility of the art form for people not normally exposed to it.

John Tiranno

Tenor John Tiranno has been called “ardent and mellifluous” as well as a “clear-voiced tenor” by The New York Times. Upcoming and notable past performances include Handel’s Messiah and Berlioz’s Roméo et Juliette (Santa Fe Symphony), Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Mozart’s The Magic Flute (Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra), Berlioz's Requiem (La Jolla Symphony & Chorus), Mahler song cycles Das Lied von der Erde and Songs of a Wayfarer (ChatterABQ), Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 and Paul Moravec’s The Blizzard Voices (Oratorio Society of New York), Saint-Saëns Requiem (Festival Internazionale di Musica e Arte Sacra), creating the role of The Young Man in Gisle Kverndokk’s opera Upon this handful of earth (New York Opera Society & Sacred Music in a Sacred Space), Bach's B minor Mass and the U.S. premiere of Juraj Filas’ Oratio Spei – Requiem (Sacred Music in a Sacred Space), and recitals at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology in Jedda, Saudi Arabia. In 2018, he formed the Young Tiranno Duo with his wife, violinist and pianist Elizabeth Young.

Marcos Vigil

Born and raised in Las Vegas, New Mexico, tenor Marcos Vigil holds a Bachelor of Music degree from New Mexico State University as well as a Master of Music degree and Professional Studies Certificate from Manhattan School of Music. Performances include Ein Soldat in Viktor Ulman’s Der Kaiser for Atlantis with The People’s Theater of Denver, Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore with Mid-Ohio Opera, Don Eusebio in L’occasione fa il ladro with Little Opera Theater of New York, King Nebuchadnezzar in The Burning Fiery Furnace with Opera Brittenica in Boston, Don Raimro from La Cenerentola with Capitol Heights Lyric Opera of New York, and Count Almaviva from Il barbiere di Siviglia with Opera Company of Brooklyn. Mr. Vigil was also twice a participant in the Martina Arroyo Foundation’s Prelude to Performance summer program, where he performed the role of Prunier in Puccini’s La rondine as well as the role of Beppe in Donizetti’s Rita, where Opera News hailed his performance as “a comedic and vocal tour de force.” Concert performances include the Art Song Festival of Cleveland, as well as performances in Colorado, New York, Trinidad and Tobago, and Las Vegas, New Mexico. Mr. Vigil has also appeared as tenor soloist in performances of Messiah with Metro Chamber Orchestra of Brooklyn and with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

Tjett Gerdom

Tjett Gerdom is originally from Iowa and has a degree in Music Education from Cornell College.  Since moving to New Mexico, he has been a featured soloist with the New Mexico Performing Arts Society, Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico, the Santa Fe Community Orchestra, Santa Fe Music Works, Coro de Cámara, the Los Alamos Symphony Orchestra, the Los Alamos Oratorio Society, the Los Alamos & Taos Choral Societies, and has thrice performed at Opera on the Rocks at Bandelier National Monument. In addition to singing, Tjett has Conducted the Los Alamos Symphony Orchestra, the Los Alamos Choral Society, and the Los Alamos Oratorio Society. Tjett’s musical career has granted him the privilege of making music in many fantastic and historic places, including; St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Pantheon in Rome, Symphony Hall in Chicago, Wells Cathedral, the great Cathedral in Salzburg, and at Carnival in Nice, France. 

Alfredo Beltrán

Baritone Alfredo Beltrán is a freelance professional singer in the Albuquerque Area. Alfredo also currently serves as the Bass Section Leader of the Cathedral Choir at the Episcopal Cathedral of St John (ABQ). Aside from singing with Polyphony, other local area musical engagements for Alfredo have included serving as a guest soloist with the New Mexico Philharmonic and as a chorister and solo artist with Opera Southwest. Outside of the local area, Alfredo has participated in productions with Heartland Opera Theatre in Joplin, MO, Varna International's Opera Academy in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, Opera in the Ozarks in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and as a guest soloist with New Mexico State University’s Music Department in Las Cruces. 

Alfredo has both a Bachelor and Master of Music Degree in Voice Performance, the former from the University of New Mexico, and the latter from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Javier Ortiz

Bass-Baritone Javier Ortiz has played over 35 leading and supporting operatic roles and has appeared as a soloist in 15 major orchestral works with opera companies and orchestras across the USA. Internationally, Javier performed "Mozart Arias and Duets" in concert at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, appeared as a soloist for the 25th Anniversary of the Netherlands Opera's residence in the Muziektheater, sang Sarastro's arias from Die Zauberflöte with the Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, and joined the Rotterdam Opera Days in concert and as Colline in La Boheme. He played the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Pluton in La Descente d'Orphée aux Enfers, and Colline in La Boheme with Opera Studio Nederland. Javier also toured Mexico with the Chicago Arts Orchestra as the bass soloist in Al Combate by Ignacio Jerusalem in celebration of UNAM’s designation as a UNESCO world heritage site.

Javier recently played Zachariah in an off-Broadway version of Nabucco and Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas with The American Baroque Opera Company. His 2022-2023 season included Man #2 in Frida and Doctor Grenvil with both Opera Southwest and El Paso Opera, Gomez in Zorro with Opera Southwest, and Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro with The Roswell Symphony. 

Edmund Connolly, Fire Spirit (off-stage voice)

Praised for ​​”his charismatic voice — a warm, rich tone, which soars with ease from a high top to lush lows” (Albuquerque Journal), British baritone Edmund Connolly is a multi-faceted musician based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In addition to his work as a solo and consort singer, keyboard player and choral director, he is in his tenth year as a member of the performing arts faculty at Albuquerque Academy, teaching chorus, voice and music theory. He also works as a recording engineer for concerts and recitals, and enjoys the creative challenges of composing and arranging music for various forces.

Born in London, England, and raised just outside Oxford, Edmund Connolly earned his BA (Hons) in music at Robinson College, Cambridge, where he was organ scholar, and his MMus in vocal performance at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. During more than a decade in London, Edmund was an opera soloist and chorus member for companies including English Touring Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera, singing and understudying more than 25 roles in several languages. Concurrently, he was a frequent deputy with the BBC Singers, the UK’s only full-time professional chamber choir, and performed and recorded with groups including the Dmitri Ensemble, the Gabrieli Consort, and English Voices, under conductors including Bob Chilcott, David Hill, Paul McCreesh and Donald Runnicles.

Since moving to Albuquerque in 2012, Edmund has served as Assistant Organist-Choir Director at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John. As baritone soloist, he has appeared with the New Mexico Philharmonic in Bach’s St. John Passion, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony; and with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico in works ranging from Henry Mollicone’s Beatitudes: Mass for the Homeless to James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross. As the voice and piano/organ duo Air & Hammers, Edmund and his wife, pianist and organist Maxine Thevenot, continue to explore both new and established repertoire for voice and piano/organ, and released their first duo disc, Desire in Spring, on the Raven CD label in 2015.

SOPRANOS  for Cantos Sagrados

Joanna Armstrong

Soprano Joanna Armstrong moved to Albuquerque in 2021 from her hometown of Buena Vista, VA. She regularly makes the drive north to Santa Fe where she works for the Santa Fe Desert Chorale as their Marketing & Communications Manager and sings with The Santa Fe Symphony Chorus. Before moving to New Mexico, she worked as an adjunct voice professor at Southern Virginia University and sang as an apprentice artist with Opera Roanoke. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Southern Virginia University and a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from Brigham Young University. Previous roles include the title role in Handel's Theodora, Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos, Nella and Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Martha and Mary Magdalene in Rob Gardner's Lamb of God, Dido in Dido and Aeneas, and Lily in The Secret Garden. Joanna is honored to be joining Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico this season.


Hayden Eberhart

Hayden Eberhart is a native of Dallas, Texas, and currently lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has sung with the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, Polyphony New Mexico, Golden Bridge, and fourteen seasons with the LA Master Chorale, where she has been a part of the Lagrime di San Pietro world tour, and soloist in Messiah and Brahms’s Ein Deutsches Requiem. She is also a co-founder and Administrative Director of Los Angeles-based PRISM Choral Ensemble, a nine-voice, conductorless professional choir focused on early music (prismensemble.org). She has appeared as a guest artist with Pasadena Master Chorale, LA Daiku, Hollywood Master Chorale, and the Pomona College Choir and Orchestra. She can be heard on such film soundtracks as Frozen, Big Hero 6, The Conjuring, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, among others.

Megan Garcia

Megan Garcia is a born and raised member of the Albuquerque community. She recently graduated from the University of New Mexico with honors, magna cum laude. She received her Bachelor of Music with a concentration in Vocal Performance. During her time at UNM, Megan sang in the treble ensemble, 'Las Cantantes' and in the mixed Concert Choir ensemble. She was also involved in the UNM Opera Program performing in scenes and full productions. She is currently a soprano section leader in the choir at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John, Albuquerque. She sings with the professional vocal ensemble, Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico and is passionate about creating music with others. In addition to singing music from the sacred choral canon, she also enjoys singing in the barbershop style with her community ensemble, "Route 66 Sound."

Christina Haroldson

Christina Haroldson was born and raised in Glendale, Arizona where she began her choral training with the Phoenix Girls Chorus at age nine. After completing her BA in Music, Christina took part in the OperaWorks program in LA and the Schumann Liederfest in Germany. While working on her Master of Music in Voice Performance at ASU, she taught music theory and sight-singing for the Arizona Girl choir Association and performed with the Southwest Shakespeare Company in Mesa, Arizona. After completing her Masters, Christina moved to New Mexico where she enjoys being a wife and mom, directing the Sandia Youth Homeschool Choir, and teaching private lessons.

Brianna Joyce

A born and raised New Mexican, Brianna Joyce is a soprano and a music educator with Albuquerque Public Schools.  They hold a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education with choral emphasis from the University of New Mexico, and currently teach elementary music to grades Prek-5 at Governor Bent Elementary School.  

During their time at UNM Brianna sang in the treble choir Las Cantantes, the Concert Choir, and was a chorus member in four UNM Opera Theatre productions.  Before joining the Cathedral Choir at the Cathedral of St. John in 2022, Brianna was a choral scholar and soprano section leader at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church.  

In addition to singing, Brianna enjoys playing nine other instruments, some of which include violin, piano, and french horn.  When they aren’t teaching, Brianna loves to read science fiction, paint, and spend time with their pets.  This is their first season with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.  


Amanda Sidebottom

Soprano Amanda Sidebottom's heart is in collaborative music-making. A graduate of the Historical Performance Institute at Indiana University, she has enjoyed appearances with period chamber ensembles Brooklyn Baroque, The Soul's Delight, and Queen's Consort. As half of the duo Well-Tuned Words with lutenist Erik Ryding, she toured in the U.S. and Europe and recorded Great Wonder, an album of songs by Dowland, Danyel, and Campion. A recent east coast transplant, she has been fortunate to perform with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico, as well as in Oklahoma City with Tactus Chamber Ensemble. Amanda is the operations director for the Santa Fe Desert Chorale and can be spotted most weekends attempting to expand her lung capacity on its many, picturesque hiking trails.

Jordyn Tatum

Born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Jordyn Tatum joined the Cathedral Choristers in 2008, and is now the Chorister Assistant and a soprano choral scholar in the Cathedral Choir. She is currently in her last year at the University of New Mexico, studying Music Education with a concentration in voice, and is taking secondary studies in pipe organ. She has toured with the Cathedral Choir both nationally to Washington D.C and New York City, and internationally to England. She has been a featured soloist on three commercially released CDs through Raven CD, and has had the opportunity to premiere new choral music by composers in residence including Stephanie Martin, Cecilia McDowall, Sarah Quartel, Philip Moore, Andrew Carter and most recently, Zachary Wadsworth with the Cathedral Choir. Apart from music, she enjoys being in nature, baking, and woodcarving. This is Jordyn’s third season with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.


ALTOS for Cantos Sagrados

Sage Herrick

Born in Española and raised in Albuquerque, Sage Herrick (she/they) is a proud member of the New Mexico community. 


Sage joined the Choir of the Cathedralof St. John in April 2023 under the direction of Dr. Thévenot. Before joining the Cathedral choir, Sage sang with Lehigh University Choral Arts as a soprano and alto. They also served as a cantor and choir member at St. Anne's Church in Bethlehem, PA. 

Outside of music, Sage works in healthcare administration for vulnerable populations and enjoys reading. 

This is Sage's first season with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

Kehar Koslowsky

Mezzo-Soprano Kehar Koslowsky is an accomplished choral and solo artist located in Santa Fe, NM. She has performed with the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, New Mexico Bach Society/New Mexico Performing Arts Society, Zia Singers, New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus, Santa Fe Opera Guild, and Santa Fe Women’s Ensemble. Kehar is an active recitalist, performing regularly in the TGIF series at the First Presbyterian Church, and has performed in the Los Alamos Brown Bag series, and Ghost Light Sessions at the Lensic. While in Washington DC, she worked with conductors Kenneth Slowik and J. Reilly Lewis as a Bach soloist, and performed with the Washington Bach Consort, Woodley Ensemble, Cathedral Choral Society, and at St. Michael’s Cathedral and St. John’s Church Lafayette Square. Her opera roles include Diana in Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld with the Janiec Opera Company; Desdemona in Rossini’s Otello with Maryland Opera Workshop; Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier, Rosina in Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte with the Crittenden Opera Studio. Kehar loves being a part of the rich New Mexico music community, and loves early music, new compositions, oratorio, jazz, hiking, belly dancing, and chilling with her cat in Santa Fe. 

Renee Motteler

Renée Motteler is celebrating her 16th season as a member of Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico. She received her Master’s Degree in Jazz Studies with a concentration in vocal performance from California State University, Long Beach. Renée received a  Grammy® Award for Best Small on Ensemble for singing with the Los Angeles Chamber Singers & Cappella on the album Padilla: Sun of Justice. Renée has performed all over the world with jazz choirs and as a soloist at the Montreux Jazz Festival, among others. In California, she was the cantor, alto section leader, and assistant conductor at St. Cyprian Catholic Church in Long Beach. She was also a member of Zephyr: Voices Unbound. Renée has appeared in television commercials, on the radio, 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. 

Kirste Plunket

Kirste Plunket has worked as an investment professional for over 25 years. She has also pursued her passion for the performing arts. It’s been her great honor and fortune to have sung for Dr. Thévenot at the Cathedral of St. John and Polyphony since 2017. Favorite past roles have included singing the role of Amy in Sondheim’s (I’m Not) Getting Married Today with Nate Salazar and Coro de Camara, and playing Mary in It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at The Santa Fe Playhouse. When not headed to the office or to rehearsals, Kirste enjoys swimming, Zumba and dabbling with improv comedy

Mary Quinn

Mary Quinn has spent a lifetime singing in choirs. Before moving to New Mexico, she spent many years singing professionally and semi-professionally in choirs in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a special emphasis on early music. She has translated a range of Spanish poetry and zarzuela texts for professional performance and has published articles on early zarzuela, Baroque opera, and vihuela music and poetry. She is Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of New Mexico. Her current research focuses on literary, aural, and visual cultures of seventeenth-century festivals of the Habsburg Empire. She has been an enthusiastic member of Polyphony since 2010.

Autumn Quinto

Mezzo-soprano, Autumn Scott Quinto, is a native New Mexican who grew up in Albuquerque. She holds an MM in vocal performance from Baylor University where she graduated in May 2020. She also holds her BM in vocal performance from the University of New Mexico. Her professional experience blends operatic, choral, and concert singing. She now resides in Oregon, but still sometimes sings with the Cathedral of St. John’s choir as well as Polyphony Voices of New Mexico. When not performing, you might catch Autumn eating pizza, playing with her mini dachshunds, baking cookies, hiking with her husband, or playing her lever harp. 

TENORS for Cantos Sagrados

George Case

George Case is currently a freelance musician living in Santa Fe, NM. George was formerly an 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 143-year-old semi-professional chorus in Boston and the Newburyport Choral Society, an 84-year old 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 Master’s degrees in conducting from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor's 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. 

Tjett Gerdom

Tjett Gerdom is originally from Iowa and has a degree in Music Education from Cornell College.  Since moving to New Mexico, he has been a featured soloist with the New Mexico Performing Arts Society, Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico, the Santa Fe Community Orchestra, Santa Fe Music Works, Coro de Cámara, the Los Alamos Symphony Orchestra, the Los Alamos Oratorio Society, the Los Alamos & Taos Choral Societies, and has thrice performed at Opera on the Rocks at Bandelier National Monument. In addition to singing, Tjett has Conducted the Los Alamos Symphony Orchestra, the Los Alamos Choral Society, and the Los Alamos Oratorio Society. Tjett’s musical career has granted him the privilege of making music in many fantastic and historic places, including; St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, the Pantheon in Rome, Symphony Hall in Chicago, Wells Cathedral, the great Cathedral in Salzburg, and at Carnival in Nice, France.  

Fred Graham

Fred Graham has recently performed as tenor soloist with the New Mexico Symphonic Chorus (Albuquerque), Durango Bach Festival (Durango, Colorado), St. Bede’s Episcopal Church (Santa Fe), and the St. John’s Bach Project (Albuquerque).  He is a staff singer at Holy Faith Church (Santa Fe).  Fred serves as Vocal Coordinator at New Mexico School for the Arts, New Mexico’s free public high school for the arts. In addition to earning a Bachelor of Music degree in voice from Centenary College of Louisiana, he received a Master of Sacred Music degree from Boston University, where he completed a double major in voice and organ.

Nate Salazar

Nathan Salazar holds a master's degree in collaborative piano from the University of Michigan, where he studied with Martin Katz. Salazar has performed in England, Scotland, Italy, Russia, and in major performance venues throughout the United States. He performed in the International Festival of Spanish and Latin American Music with renowned mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza and has been featured at 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 for Marilyn Horne’s 80th birthday celebration at Carnegie Hall, where he worked with the legendary Christa Ludwig. Salazar has worked with such singers as Julia Faulkner, Maria Zifchak, Stephen King, Susanne Mentzer, Luis Ledesma, Wolfgang Brendel, Joyce Castle, Neil Shicoff, Stanford Olsen, George Shirley, Angela Meade, Caroline Worra, Jennifer Johnson Cano, Cecilia Lopez, Kelly Kaduce, Edward Parks, Stephen Powell, Jonathan Burton, Michael Fabiano, and Susan Graham. He has worked and performed with Skylark Vocal Ensemble, Polyphony, the Santa Fe Symphony, Santa Fe Pro Musica, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale, the Santa Fe Opera, 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.

Salazar performed with Mexican-American 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 Coach. Most recently, Nathan was coach and pianist for the company’s production of Korngold’s Die tote Stadt. Up next is Salazar’s company debut with San Francisco Opera. 

Curtis Storm

Curtis Storm, tenor, is a regular soloist and collaborative musician throughout the Southwestern United States. Described by the New Mexico Review of the Arts as "sonorous", Curtis has been singing in the Southwest since 2010.

In that time he has been featured soloist in recital with renowned collaborative pianist Robert Spillman, in the world premiere of the American Choral Association's Alice Parker Award winning Requiem for Eagles by David Lingle with the San Juan Symphony as well as in performances with New Mexico Philharmonic, the St. John's Bach Project, and Red Rock Strings. Additionally, Curtis has sung with Ensemble Music New Mexico, and currently with Quintessence: A Community of Singers, and Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico.

Curtis has also appeared in several Opera Southwest productions, including the North American premiere of Alì Babà as cover for Thamar, as Soldier in the world premiere of Zorro, and 1st Coryphée in Le Comte Ory. 2023 also included his first appearance at The Santa Fe Opera in the chorus of The Flying Dutchman. He concluded is 2023 season by appearing in two immersive opera world premieres; Glory Gone and The Paños Prophesy. Finally, his 2024 season will include singing in the world premier of the opera ZOZOBRA: The Revenge by Joe Illick and Douglas Preston at the Lensic Theatre in Santa Fe.

Curtis is also the co-founder and administrator of the nonprofit organization Opera on Tap New Mexico, in which he organizes performances of classical voice in bars and breweries as a means of advancing the accessibility of the art form for people not normally exposed to it.

BASSES for Cantos Sagrados

Alfredo Beltrán

Baritone Alfredo Beltrán is a freelance professional singer in the Albuquerque Area. Alfredo also currently serves as the Bass Section Leader of the Cathedral Choir at the Episcopal Cathedral of St John (ABQ). Aside from singing with Polyphony, other local area musical engagements for Alfredo have included serving as a guest soloist with the New Mexico Philharmonic and as a chorister and solo artist with Opera Southwest. Outside of the local area, Alfredo has participated in productions with Heartland Opera Theatre in Joplin, MO, Varna International's Opera Academy in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, Opera in the Ozarks in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and as a guest soloist with New Mexico State University’s Music Department in Las Cruces. 

Alfredo has both a Bachelor and Master of Music Degree in Voice Performance, the former from the University of New Mexico, and the latter from the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Travis Bregier

Travis Bregier, baritone, has his musical roots in West Fargo, ND, appearing in numerous musical and theatrical productions, choral concerts, and recitals from middle school through university. He earned his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in vocal performance at North Dakota State University (Fargo). Presently, he is Assistant Choir Director at First Presbyterian Church of Santa Fe.

Alongside Dream Big, Travis is also a music mentor with the Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, and teaches voice and piano at The Candyman: Strings & Things. He has been a soloist in concerts on the TGIF Concert Series, and has appeared with Santa Fe Pro Musica, Polyphony: Voice of New Mexico, Chanticleer, Performance Santa Fe, and Opera Southwest (Albuquerque). Recently with Tri-M Productions (Santa Fe), he performed the role of Senex in Sondheim’s “Forum” and one of the male leads in “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.”

Edmund Connolly

Praised for ​​”his charismatic voice — a warm, rich tone, which soars with ease from a high top to lush lows” (Albuquerque Journal), British baritone Edmund Connolly is a multi-faceted musician based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In addition to his work as a solo and consort singer, keyboard player and choral director, he is in his tenth year as a member of the performing arts faculty at Albuquerque Academy, teaching chorus, voice and music theory. He also works as a recording engineer for concerts and recitals, and enjoys the creative challenges of composing and arranging music for various forces.

Born in London, England, and raised just outside Oxford, Edmund Connolly earned his BA (Hons) in music at Robinson College, Cambridge, where he was organ scholar, and his MMus in vocal performance at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. During more than a decade in London, Edmund was an opera soloist and chorus member for companies including English Touring Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera, singing and understudying more than 25 roles in several languages. Concurrently, he was a frequent deputy with the BBC Singers, the UK’s only full-time professional chamber choir, and performed and recorded with groups including the Dmitri Ensemble, the Gabrieli Consort, and English Voices, under conductors including Bob Chilcott, David Hill, Paul McCreesh and Donald Runnicles.

Since moving to Albuquerque in 2012, Edmund has served as Assistant Organist-Choir Director at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John. As baritone soloist, he has appeared with the New Mexico Philharmonic in Bach’s St. John Passion, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony; and with Polyphony: Voices of New Mexico in works ranging from Henry Mollicone’s Beatitudes: Mass for the Homeless to James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross. As the voice and piano/organ duo Air & Hammers, Edmund and his wife, pianist and organist Maxine Thevenot, continue to explore both new and established repertoire for voice and piano/organ, and released their first duo disc, Desire in Spring, on the Raven CD label in 2015.


Jude Harb

Jude Harb is a Music Theory and Composition student at the University of New Mexico. He has written pieces for choir, piano (prepared), new music ensemble, vocal sextet, fixed media, and vocal/piano duet. He is also a practicing baritone, honing his voice to flexibly sing in a variety of genres and ensembles. He has sung in many ensembles around Albuquerque such as Polyphony (The Creation by Franz Joseph Haydn, Summer Fusion of Sights and Sounds), Quintessence (6th Annual Summer Choral Festival in 2019, 2022-2023 Season), Opera Southwest (Pelleas et Mélisandre by Claude Debussy, Le Comte Ory by Gioachino Rossini, Chorus), Musical Theatre Southwest (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Chorus), and the New Mexico Gay Men’s Chorus (The Drop that Contained the Sea & To Shiver the Sky by Christopher Tin). He is a regular singer with the choir at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John in Albuquerque, and he has performed with the UNM Concert Choir and UNM Opera (Signor Deluso, Signor Deluso by Thomas Pasatieri; Sid, Albert Herring by Benjamin Britten; 1 st Armored Guard & 1 st Priest, Die Zauberflöte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart). Outside of music, Jude loves to spend time with friends, go on walks, and make puns.

Javier Ortiz

Bass-Baritone Javier Ortiz has played over 35 leading and supporting operatic roles and has appeared as a soloist in 15 major orchestral works with opera companies and orchestras across the USA. Internationally, Javier performed "Mozart Arias and Duets" in concert at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, appeared as a soloist for the 25th Anniversary of the Netherlands Opera's residence in the Muziektheater, sang Sarastro's arias from Die Zauberflöte with the Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, and joined the Rotterdam Opera Days in concert and as Colline in La Boheme. He played the Commendatore in Don Giovanni, Pluton in La Descente d'Orphée aux Enfers, and Colline in La Boheme with Opera Studio Nederland. Javier also toured Mexico with the Chicago Arts Orchestra as the bass soloist in Al Combate by Ignacio Jerusalem in celebration of UNAM’s designation as a UNESCO world heritage site.

Javier recently played Zachariah in an off-Broadway version of Nabucco and Aeneas in Dido and Aeneas with The American Baroque Opera Company. His 2022-2023 season included Man #2 in Frida and Doctor Grenvil with both Opera Southwest and El Paso Opera, Gomez in Zorro with Opera Southwest, and Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro with The Roswell Symphony. 

PROGRAM

Offrande for cello & organ by Kaijo Saariaho

Cantos Sagrados, for choir and organ by James MacMillan

The Year of the Horse for 'cello and SSATB choir by Cecilia McDowall
(world premiere performance: commissioned in memory of Roan Mulholland)

from A Child of Our Time by Michael Tippett
-Steal away--Go down, Moses-

Holding the Light by Brittney Boykin

from Snow Angel for choir, piano, and djembe by Sarah Quartel

-God will give orders--Sweet Child-


Earth Song by Frank Ticheli


Let my love be heard (A Prayer) by Jake Runestad


The Road Home by Stephen Paulus

8th Annual Children's Messiah, G. F. Handel
a roster of soloists and section leaders

SOPRANOS

Hayden Eberhart

Megan Garcia

Renée Honn

ALTO

Esther Moses

TENORS

Curtis Storm

BASSES

Alfredo Beltrán 

Jude Harb

'Tune in to Mozart' Community Sing Event  
a read through of 'Requiem in d minor' K. 626, W. A. Mozart 

SOPRANOS

Megan Garcia

Jordyn Tatum

Jennifer Perez

ALTOS

Renée Motteler

Darci Balkcom

Amanda Sidebottom

TENORS

George Case

Curtis Storm

BASSES

Alfredo Beltrán

Travis Bregier

SOPRANOS

Joanna Armstrong

Hayden Eberhart

Laurie Fleenor

Megan Garcia

Christina Haroldson

Jenna Kloeppel

Jennifer Perez

Lillian Ridout

Ashli Saenz

Amanda Sidebottom

Jordyn Tatum

Rose Wu

ALTOS

Darci Balkcom

Sandy Beery

Carla Bond

Trish Henning

Sage Herrick

Kehar Koslowsky

Esther Moses

Renée Motteler

Mary Quinn

TENORS

Colin Burdge

George Case

Kevin Chavez 

Gabriel Deyarmond

Eric Parker

Jason Rutledge

Curtis Storm

BASSES

Alfredo Beltrán 

Travis Bregier

Edmund Connolly

Lars Fabricius Olsen

Ed Fancovic

Jude Harb

Ross Holmen

Aaron Howe